Gospel: John 10:22-30
How often in life do we have to hear something more than once before it finally sinks in? Is there a particular number of times we must be told something before we believe it? How well do we read the world around us – how often do we bear witness to what’s taking place – and understand what we’re seeing?
These three questions are quite relevant as we consider this passage from John’s Gospel. We’re already well into Jesus’ ministry and his disciples, friends, and the crowds following him have heard and witnessed some incredible things. Yet here we are, with so much having taken place – and they’ve not yet really figured it out. In this passage, it’s specifically the members of the Jewish community asking Jesus, “Are you the Messiah?” Just a few verses later it’s this same group who wants to stone Jesus because of what they consider blasphemy: stating that he and his Father are one.
For those questioning Jesus, and perhaps even for some more supportive of him, the answer has been in front of them – with them – the entire time. Yet they still ask the question. They make a request that Jesus share with them the statement of fact to which many at that time had already borne witness, time and time and time again.
“If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”[1]
Somehow, I don’t think the answer they got was the one they were expecting. It’s human nature to hope that we get what we ask for, and so undoubtedly they were waiting for Jesus to simply turn and say, “Okay. I am the Messiah.” But he didn’t.
No, instead he began to lecture them. “I have told you,” he says, “and you do not believe.”[2] You’ve seen what I’ve done in the name of God, and you do not believe me. Essentially he tells them, in the words of Cynthia Jarvis, “Take a look at my life; take a look at my actions. My behavior shows you who I am.”[3] Jesus being just as much human as he is divine (the divinity upon which his critics would shortly seize), I wouldn’t doubt there was a bit of exasperation in his voice. I even wonder if he didn’t during his prayers and conversation with God ask, “What else do I need to show them before they believe?”
Setting aside for a moment those who were skeptical of him, was this moment possibly a matter of others simply needing reassurance or could it in fact have been a request growing from a fledgling faith that wasn’t yet deeply rooted? With everything they’d seen and heard from Jesus they had to have been amazed, overwhelmed, and stunned. But no amount of amazement in the world seemed to give them what they in their deepest selves were seeking, and what they may have been lacking: true, abiding faith.
I think what they were seeking was, in the words of the beloved hymn by Fanny Crosby with which we’ll close this service, blessed assurance. They’d received a “foretaste of glory divine;” they’d witnessed “perfect delight” and seen glimpses of “visions of rapture.”[4] They may have known on some deeper level what they’d gotten during this time with Jesus, but by their request they seemed to give a sense that they may not have fully understood … or believed.
Jesus tells them they don’t believe because they’re not yet numbered among his sheep, the flock of the Good Shepherd. Yet he’s given them all they need; he’s taught them; he’s demonstrated to them; in his words, he’s already told them the answer to the question they’re asking. They are agonizingly close. They know the answer. They just don’t believe.
In today’s world it’s easy to lose the assuredness that God is with us, moving and working among us. Despite all of the miracles that take place amid the difficulties and pain of this life – the tremendous ones that burst forth like incredible flames in front of us and the small, almost imperceptible ones that take place just out of sight – we ourselves may feel the urge to make the same request: “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
When we do – and if you’re like me, there will be moments when you will ask – may we hear again the words of Jesus: “I have told you.” May we always be mindful of the gifts we’ve received, the gifts of all we’ve seen, heard, and witnessed that make the presence of Jesus real and tangible in our lives.
Amen.
[1] John 10:24 (NRSV).
[2] John 10:25 (NRSV).
[3] Cynthia Jarvis, “John 10:19-30: Pastoral Perspective.” Feasting on the Gospels: John, Vol. 2, Kindle edition.
[4] Lyrics of “Blessed Assurance,” by Fanny Crosby. https://hymnary.org/text/blessed_assurance_jesus_is_mine#Author