Easter Four, 04/21/2013

Sermon on John 10:22-30, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

"At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." [English Standard Version]

"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." [Revelation 7.17]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

Three weeks ago, overwhelmed by the Lord's grace, fear and mercy, we stepped from the rescuing thunder of Easter Day into its great Fifty Days. Because of that grace, fear and mercy, the Son's crucifixion and resurrection has continued to roll through our lives.

Admittedly, such lives may be few and they may constantly be distracted (the attractions of the world's gods are always working on us), but those rescued lives are the lives of the Lord's baptized people. He is steadily drenching us with the realities of his crucifixion and resurrection, ensuring that the great Fifty Days in which we find ourselves will dominate all the other days of the year, a drenching occurring first in the Church and then reaching into the world.

As we look into today's Gospel, we see the extraordinary gift of the Lord's dying and rising. The people splashed by the water of the Son's Life belong to him, they pay close attention to him. The Son knows such people deeply and they seek to follow him. The Son gives them eternal Life and they will never be lost, even when it appears they are. There is no one or no reality that will steal these people from the Son. The

Father who has given these people to the Son is greater than anyone, no one can steal them from the Father. Further, the Father and the Son are one!

The Son's dying and rising for the world's people is an extraordinary gift. Through the four holy places of Baptism and the Scriptures, of the Eucharist and Forgiveness, that gift continues to roll into and around our lives. All this occurs while the world, which birthed us, seeks to draw us away from our Baptisms to its life with its arguing and distorting, its absorption and rebellion, realities that are draped in attractive ways. As the Lord's Scriptures and Sacraments roll through our lives, and his Life gets reflected to others through our own, the following question should be raised concerning him. Is he actually the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord's Anointed One, the One marked for crucifixion and resurrection?

This question should be raised today because it is floating up from the Jewish people who are crowding around Jesus in today's Gospel. The faithful Jews are remembering how the Lord God restored sacred worship to the Jerusalem temple through Judas Maccabeus.

Nearly two hundred years before our Lord's ministry (163 BC to be precise), the Syrians had profaned the Jerusalem temple by putting one of their idols (the middle Eastern version of the Greek god, Zeus) on the temple's altar. After three years of this profaning activity, Judas Maccabeus drove the Syrians out, built a new altar and re-dedicated the temple. The Jewish people crowding around Jesus are remembering this historic event (it always took place in December and it still resonates today among observing Jews - it is called Hanukkah). This Jewish feast is one of renewal (the literal meaning of "dedication").

As the Jewish people ask Jesus if he is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah, it is helpful to note that just before their questions, Jesus has been describing himself as the Good Shepherd. This puts him on familiar ground with his questioners because there are frequent references to shepherds in the Old Testament. David (Israel's most significant king) is referred to as a shepherd and Israel's future kings are spoken of with the same imagery. Jesus' comments to his questioners suggest he may be the future King, that Shepherd who would be the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ.

The reason his questioners demand that Jesus make his remarks more clear is because they understand the Messiah one way but he understands the Messiah another way. When they wonder why he is keeping them in suspense, the literal meaning of that Greek phrase is "Why are you taking away our breath of life?" This reminds us (as John's Gospel unfolds) that although Jesus lays down his own Life for those who follow him, he also provokes judgment and takes away the life of those who reject him! His questioners tend to think of the Messiah only in political and self-understanding ways. They are looking for a shepherd-king who will drive the Roman troops out and restore their country to world prominence. Jesus, on the other hand, sees the Shepherd-King as the Lord's servant, the One who will break the hold that the unholy trio - sin, Satan, death - has on the people and gift them with his eternal Life.

It is because of these differences in understanding that the questioners demand of Jesus that he tell them plainly if he is the Messiah. In his response to them, Jesus does not explode in anger and frustration. Instead, he points them to the works he has been doing throughout his ministry. These works have been throwing off glimpses of his soon-to-be crucified / resurrected Life. The questioners cannot see that because they are dominated by their own ways of thinking and doing. Jesus knows why they cannot see and why they cannot understand - they aren't his sheep, they aren't part of his baptized people. It is this reality that explains why we (the few) see ourselves continuing to be drenched with the realities of the Lord's crucifixion and resurrection and why others (the many) are wrapped up in their own lives.

The world believes that its life is its own. The world strides into those places where the Lord God is to be worshiped, sweeping its presence out and filling it with the gods of its own making. In the world's view, it is not vital if people belong to the Son and listen to him - it is better to pay attention to one's self or to those we highly respect. In the world's view, it is not vital if people are not known by the Son - it is better to follow one's own knowledge and instincts. In the world's view, it is not vital if people are not given the Son's eternal Life - it is better to work up the life that one desires. In the world's view, it is not vital if people can always be stolen from the Son - it is better to protect one's self from potential theft. In the world's view, it is not vital if the Father is no greater than any one or any reality - it is better to make sure we can take care of ourselves. In the world's view, it is not vital if everyone can steal from the Father - it is better to concentrate on the possibilities that others may be able to steal from us. In the world's view, it is not vital if the Father and the Son are no longer one - it is better to concentrate on the gods we can create and maintain.

The world always thinks it can stride into those places where the Lord God is worshiped, sweeping those places of his presence and filling them with its own gods. The world, however, is wrong, wrong, wrong! Three weeks ago, the Son's crucifixion and resurrection blew the world's life to death! Three weeks ago, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit swept their eternal presence back into the world!

It is true that such Life is intersecting with only those who are few, with only those who are humbled, with only those who are baptized. But this Life is an extraordinary gift, one that slices into the world through the Son's Cross and rescues people caught up in the grip of the unholy trio.

The few, the humbled and the baptized are exultant that they are in these great Fifty Days of Easter! Because of the Lord's grace, fear and mercy, they see that the Son is the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the One marked for crucifixion and resurrection.

While many in the world question this identity of the Son, there are still the few who are full of gratitude and faith, the few who are delighted to reflect the Son's Life to those who are still asking questions about him!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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