John 10:19-42 - Bob Davis

And thank you, praise team. Don't they always

do a great job? Amen? They do. I don't know if

you realize, we are blessed with Josiah and our

team up here, and that song, the shepherd, the

good shepherd, and he leads me and he's all I

ever need, it's like that is an absolutely perfect

song for our text this morning, and so thank

you. My name's Bob Davis. Forgive me if some

of you are like, who is this guy up here? Because

I've been gone most of the summer. Just a...

quick word of explanation. My wife and I work

for a ministry called Operation Heal Our Patriots,

which is about 17 weeks in Port Allsworth. So

all summer long, we're back in and out, in and

out for weeks at a time, leading couples in a

marriage event that's looking to restore and

redeem their marriages. And so many coming to

Christ, many being baptized, many couples renewing

their marriage vows. And so for the summer. Alaska

summers are already busy, right? So this takes

us away for quite a while. So anyway, that's

who I am. And welcome. We're glad that you're

here this morning. And we're picking up in John

John 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10. And there's a little piece here that

we didn't have up on the screen. That was 19,

20, 21. It's kind of a little transition piece

that we'll get into for just a moment. But we're

wrapping up a significant portion of John over

this week and next. Whether you realize it or

not, these first 10 or 11 chapters of John have

been really like going fast, right? If you listen

to an audio book, it's at like 1 .52, right?

Times the normal speed, meaning that this is

like three years of Jesus's life and ministry,

right? These first 11 chapters. And it's about

ready to go. And slow way down, and we're going

to zoom in as we come to Jesus' questioning and

his arrest and the Passion Week and his crucifixion

and so forth, right? Like the whole second half

of the book is basically two weeks, right? The

first half of the book is three years, right?

So whether you realize that or not, in our text

today, we're going to hear the final rejection

of Jesus by the Jewish leadership. So at this

time, in John chapter 10, Jesus has been unpacking

John 10 · chapter mention

what John calls a figure of speech, right? So

we heard this last week, and if you look in verse

6, it says, this figure of speech Jesus used

with them, and that figure of speech is all about

the shepherd and his sheep. In this word picture

that Jesus paints, there's a sheepfold, of course,

which is a flock, and Jesus is the door, the

entry into that sheepfold. And in verse 11, he

tells us that he is the good shepherd, and there

are both Jewish sheep and some other sheep outside

of this flock, right, that are a part of his

flock. And Jesus' words that his mission given

to him by the Father is to lay down his life

for his sheep. Now, that would have absolutely

resonated with this culture, right? These guys,

they would have known, right? They would have

understood what it means for the shepherd, right,

to stand up. You know, David talked about a bear

and a wolf or this or that, right? So predators,

things, you know, the thief, if you will, right,

trying to come in. Well, he's going to stand

up and fight them off to protective sheep. But

the challenging piece that he said, not only

will I lay my life down, but I have the power

to take it up again. And so in verse 19, where

this transition piece we pick up, it says that

there was again a division among the Jews because

of these words. Many said of him, he has a demon

or he's insane. Why would we listen to this guy?

Others said, these are not the words of one who

is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the

eyes of the blind? It's these words preceding

the text that has caused them to answer this

way. I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life

for my sheep. I have other sheep I will bring,

and for this reason the Father loves me because

I lay it down and I take up my life again, right?

So no one takes it from me, but I lay it down,

and I have the authority to lay it down and the

authority to pick it up again. These are the

words that are sparking this response by this

crew, right? Now, some of his... listeners obviously

think Jesus has gone crazy. This is not normal

language, right? I mean, we can resonate with

the idea of laying down. No greater love than

to lay down your life for a brother, right? I

mean, from the military, we get that deeply.

And military or not, you understand that. But

dead people don't take their lives up again.

He said, I have the authority to take it up again,

right? If there's a resurrection, They're not

doubting that, right? At the end time, they think

that, you know, at least part of them think there

will be a resurrection, but God does that. Not

a dead person to himself, right? And obviously,

therein lies the point. This isn't just some

random person. This is Jesus that we're talking

about here. And so, we come to verse 22, and

John is very intentional. about letting us know

that the Feast of Dedication was taking place

in Jerusalem, and it was winter, right? He just

like drops those little tidbits in there along

the way, right? And it was winter. And that'll

be somewhat important as we jump into the text

today. Interestingly, The feast of dedication

that you see there is not one of the three major

biblical feasts that we read about in Scripture.

So, meaning you're not going to go look through

the Old Testament and see explicit instruction

of how this feast was to be conducted or observed,

right? It's just not there. The three different

biblical feasts or festivals are Passover. The

Feast of Weeks and the Feast of the Tabernacle,

right? So we don't have time to get into all

of them, but John uses them as chronological

markers throughout the gospel. And so we know

that the Feast of the Tabernacle or Feast of

Booths, right? You remember this, the little

shelters, right? This happens in the previous

chapters where we just went through. And it happens

each year in September, October, right? In that

time frame. And the Feast of Dedication takes

place in November, December. So that's where

we find ourselves right now. So from last week's

text to this week's text, you know, weeks, maybe

a couple months have gone by, right? There's

a little bit of time in here. And so that's where

we find ourselves right now. So what exactly

is the Feast of Dedication and why is John talking

about it? So you've probably heard the term Hanukkah

before, right? Hanukkah, yeah? It's not just

Jewish Christmas, right? That's not a thing,

right? Hanukkah is an eight -day winter festival

that commemorates the cleansing and the rededication

of the second temple in Jerusalem. After it had

been defiled by the Syrian Greek king Antiochus

IV, right? So this guy comes in, they overthrow,

they take over the temple. He goes as far as

to take all the stuff down that points to Yahweh,

right? And he builds his own altars and they

sacrifice pigs upon them. They discourage or

disallow circumcision. They absolutely, their

way of life is disrupted and plagued by this

king. And it goes on for a few years, right?

And maybe you've heard of the Maccabean Revolution.

So a guy by the name of Judas Maccabeus leads

the charge to overrun this pagan king and restore

the temple. And after the first sacrifice is

made to Yahweh in the restored and reclaimed

temple, right? Purified and in right order again,

the Jews begin to meet each year after that.

And they assemble in their homes. and they light

candles to remember how God delivered them from

darkness and oppression and how the temple was

restored. So I want you to see the irony here

as we start into this that John is telling us

that it's during this time when things were renewed

and restored that Jesus, the great deliverer

and purifier of the temple, he's the great one

that does this, is walking in the covered porch

section. of the temple. It's called Solomon's

colonnade, right? So think big pillars and it's

just, you know, it's a side. It's not the inside,

the main. It's the porch, if you will. And he's

walking along and he would not be received. He

would not be recognized as the one who truly

is cleansing and purifying and renewing. And

so, As we jump in, let me try to give you a big

picture of what's happening in these verses that

we're going to go through this morning, and then

we'll unpack it in some detail. So, Jesus is

walking in the temple, and according to verse

24, the Jews gathered around him and said to

him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If

you are the Christ, just think about that for

a moment, if you're the Messiah, the long -hoped

-for one who would bring the kingdom of God to

pass, tell us, In other words, the figure of

speech that you've been using with all the talk

about sheep and the shepherd and the door and

all that stuff, it's not plain enough. We want

some plain speech, Jesus. Are you or are you

not the Messiah? And what happens then is that

Jesus answers them way beyond what they expect.

They're on the brink of killing him for blasphemy.

And to defuse this crisis because it's not yet

time for his death, He deflects their rage with

a very particular biblical maneuver that he pulls.

And in that little time that this buys him before

they try to seize him, he offers one more invitation.

One more attempt at winning them over and accepting

who he is. And then John transports us across

the Jordan for a closing scene which contains

a key to faith. And so that's kind of the 50

,000 meter view of the map. Now we're going to

pull in a little bit. And so... In verse 24,

if you look with me, if you don't have a Bible,

they're back here. We have these books of John.

They're great because you can write notes and

stuff in here. And so if you're new here and

you didn't bring it, like there's one back there

for you, we want you to take it, right? So here

in verse 24, we see that the Jews gather around

them and they say, how long are you going to

keep us in suspense? If you're the Messiah, tell

us. This phrase can actually, this question can

be interpreted a couple of different ways, right?

How long will you plague us, right? I want you

to think of Antiochus IV. He literally plagued,

like the Jews, a little differently, obviously,

a lot differently, but this idea that he was

a thorn to them, like we can't wait for him to

leave because he's disrupting our way of life.

Why are you trying to take away our way of life?

And I wonder, are they more concerned about their

traditions and their way of life, so much so

that they're literally missing Jesus, right?

You know the scriptures, Jesus tells them, but

I'm the one they're pointing to, and yet you

don't know me, right? So he's basically saying

that their previous way of worship, because Jesus

is about to disrupt everything, right? Their

focus, their purpose. Their lifestyle was about

to be rendered useless, right? The old temple

practices, like that's not going to do it anymore,

right? That's not what this is about. He was

ushering in an absolute change to their way of

life, what they orbited around. And so here they

are. John paints this picture. They are at this

feast celebrating the good old days returned,

right? They're celebrating the good old days

brought back, and Jesus is going to tell them,

yeah, that's all going away. I'm replacing all

of that. And so they're irritated. And they say

to him, this is not a genuine curiosity kind

of thing. They are irritated with him. Tell us

plainly. No more stories. And I love... what

Jesus says. He says, I told you. I told you.

I gave you an answer. I told you, and you don't

believe. He's really saying that that's what

the figure of speech that he's been using is

all about. The door, the shepherd, the laying

down of his life. Think Isaiah 53, right? He's

literally using their scriptures. And painting

this picture of who he is, the one who has invincible

supernatural authority to take back his own life

and is gathering a people to live forever in

joy. I told you that's my answer. But not only

have I told you, but I've shown you. Look in

verse 25. In verse 25, he says, I tell you and

you don't believe. Jesus answered them, the works

that I do in my Father's name testify about me,

but you don't believe. Why? Because you're not

one of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I

know them and they follow me. Now folks, this

is the way Jesus always operates. Not only is

he going to tell you in his word, but he's going

to show you. And he's done that. His words and

his deeds clearly reveal his Messiahship. And

I think it's worth this sidebar discussion real

fast of what the folks are expecting by Messiahship.

You probably already know this, right? But historically,

the idea of Messiah was one who would come to

purge Jerusalem from the Gentiles who have trampled

her to destruction. So think the Messiah, the

Christ, is going to be a guy like Judas Maccabeus.

Who will come and set them free from their physical

enemies. They're looking for someone to overthrow

Rome, right? I mean, they're under the thumb

right now. They're oppressed right now. They're

being plagued by Rome. They're looking for someone

to overthrow that. And they're frustrated. So

they're not asking with hopeful anticipation

here. And it seems that they're past the point

of genuine concern. They want Jesus to plainly

dismiss. this crazy idea that he's the Messiah

so that they can be done with him. Or, please,

please, Jesus, let us catch you blaspheming,

right? Let us catch you saying more than that

because we all think you're saying something

more than that. And if you're saying what we

think you're saying, yeah, well, we're going

to end that. We're going to stone you. And so

now Jesus is going to go way beyond plain speech.

Verse 25, I've told you and I've shown you, you

don't believe because you're not of my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they

follow me. So Jesus, he's making it clear. Their

unbelief is not a lack of evidence, right? It's

not a result of that. It's not because they haven't

seen enough, right? Nor is it a result of an

unclear message. The question that they're asking

Jesus is rooted in a hard and unbelieving heart.

They do not believe because they are not among

his sheep. I don't know about you, but that makes

me go, well, what did Jesus' sheep look like,

right? Like, how do you know? How do I know if

I'm one, right? And he tells us, he tells us,

my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they

follow me. Jesus' sheep follow him. They know

the voice of the good shepherd and they follow.

Last week, Caleb mentioned, you know, deployed

a lot of times combat deployments overseas, Middle

East, and you get to see all kinds of stuff whether

you want to or not. And I just happened to be

at this place where there's a wadi, right, where

there's this collection of water and the hills

and a lot of these shepherds, and most of them

are pretty young, right? They're young, they're

boys, right? The boys and their families leading

these flocks of sheep. And it's not very... pretty,

actually, when you look at it. Like, they're

kind of ratty looking. They're not the sheep

that you see at the fair here this week, right?

When you go in and look at, like, they're kind

of dirty, and they got clumps of crap all over

them, and they've been, I mean, it's a sight

to see, and it smells. There's flies everywhere,

right? I mean, it's, and these sheep, they all

gathered at this waterhole, and The sheep intermingle

like four, five, six, I don't know how many shepherds

were there watering their sheep at that time

of the morning, right? And after they were done,

when the shepherd was satisfied that his sheep

had had enough water, he makes his own peculiar

call, and he begins walking away. He's just walking

away, making his call, and guess what happens?

All of the sheep that were intermingled, his

sheep separate, and they walk out, and they're

just following this boy. Kind of cool looking

to see it happen, right? Why didn't any of the

other sheep follow? They weren't a part of his

flock. They didn't know his voice, right? Why

would they follow? I don't know that dude. They

don't follow him, right? Only his sheep followed.

If you are following Jesus, if you know his voice,

I've got great news for you this morning. You

are a part of his fold. You are one of his sheep.

And that's going to get really important and

really good here just in the next couple of verses

why that's important, right? So they do not recognize

his voice. Therefore, they don't follow him.

Their rejection of Jesus is proving they do not

belong to Jesus. And I get the feeling that they

probably didn't care a whole lot about it, right?

Like, oh boy, I don't belong to your metaphorical

sheepfold, Jesus, big whoop. Like, you think

they were bothered by it? No, they're irritated,

right? They're ticked off at him. But look at

verse 28 and 29. I give them eternal life, and

they will never perish. No one. Let that sink

for a second. No one will snatch them out of

my hand, Jesus says. My Father who has given

them to me is greater than all. No one is able

to snatch them out of the Father's hand. It's

only those who belong to Jesus to hear his call

to come and believe and who respond in obedience

that will be given eternal life. Eternal life

is not something that one can earn. It's freely

given, right? You guys know Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

2. We are saved by grace through faith, and this

is not of your doing. It is the gift of God,

not a result of works so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ

Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand

that we should walk in them. We must always understand

and remember that eternal life is a gift. You

bring nothing to the table. You realize that,

right? You got nothing to offer. There's no trade.

There's no barter, right? So the lowest of the

low to the guy or the gal that you think is the

most saintliest person, it's all level at the

foot of the cross. We bring nothing. Paul says

we are all but filthy rags. You got nothing.

Except the gift that Jesus gives you. And when

does the gift become your gift? When you receive

it, right? Until that point, it's just a gift,

right? But when we receive the gift that Christ

offers, when we receive it, it becomes ours.

And it sounds simple, but it's not simplistic.

The hope of eternal life does not rest on your

shoulders. It rests upon the shoulders of Jesus.

If your faith resides in Jesus, rest in the fact

that no one... will ever be able to snatch you

out of his hand. And how do we know that no one

will be able to snatch you out of his hand? We

know this to be true because of verse 29. 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. So I want you to notice three

things here as we go through this. First, when

the father gives his sheep into the omnipotent

hand of the son, right? When the father gives

them to the son, they are still in the father's

hand. Verse 29 says, 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.

So even though they are in the Father's hand,

he has put them into the Son's hand, and they

are still in the Father's hand. This is hard

to get, right? How can they be in both hands

at the same time? It's kind of like he's got

you. Like you're here. You're not just sitting

here like a sitting duck. Literally, the Father

and the Son, they've got you. You can't get in

here. No one can pluck them out. So what does

this imply? This is the second thing. Look with

me in verse 30. In verse 30. Verse 30 is the

equivalent of the Bruce Lee one -inch punch,

right, to these Jews. If you know, you know what

I'm talking about, right? Like the ha, like it

is the, it's just this little thing, and the

result is way, like it's, this is huge. As a

matter of fact, he gives the clearest statement,

Jesus, of his own identity. anywhere in Scripture.

So if you want to say, ah, well, did Jesus ever

say he's God? Like literally right here, John

John 10:30

chapter 10, verse 30, the clearest statement

of Jesus' divinity from his own lips, he says,

I and the Father are one. Right? So he's trying

to talk about this idea still of you're in his

hand, but you're in my hand, and you're here.

I and the Father are one. And his final answer

about his identity is way beyond Messiahship.

Right? Way beyond what they're expecting. It's

about oneness with God the Father. And the third

piece here, notice that Jesus takes us to this

answer by showing us how this oneness serves

our salvation, our eternal joy, our safety. The

Father and I are one. No one can take you. From

my father, because my father is stronger than

all. And when you're in my hand, you're in his

hand. And when you're in his hand, you're in

my hand. His omnipotence, our unity is your safety,

your salvation. And so this lesson here, right

out driving it home, Jesus takes us to the heights

of doctrinal truth about himself. He is one with

the father. In the beginning, this is all of

John, he tells us this, right? In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.

But he does it by showing us the immediate application

for our lives. No one can snatch you from my

hand or the Father's hand. Which are one hand.

Have I beaten that enough yet? Like, are you

picking this up? Are you getting it, right? In

other words, doctrine, theology, biblical propositions

like I and the Father want are always related

to the implication for human life. Don't be afraid

of doctrine. Just be afraid of disconnected doctrine

that has no bearing, right? That doesn't make

a difference for life or eternity. So Jesus'

answer to the question in verse 24 is yes. I

am the Messiah and infinitely more. And all of

this is absolutely relevant for your eternal

safety. And so what's their response? What do

you think? What's their response? They're going

to execute him here and now, right? The Jews

picked up stones again to stone him. And Jesus

answered them, I've shown you many good works

from the Father, right? Here they are. They're

like, this is it. Like, he just said it. Let's

go, right? And they all pick them. They're not,

you know, they're not out there getting some

pea gravel. Like, Jesus, here you're like, they're

picking up weapons, right? They're picking up

rocks. They're going to stone him for what he

said. And he says, I've shown you many good works

from the Father, right? In verse 31. For which

of them are you going to stone me? He says, it's

not because of good works that we're going to

be stoned, but for your blasphemy. Because you

being a man, make yourself God. So what's clear

here is that the Jewish leaders understood verse

30, where Jesus said, I am the Father of what?

They heard blasphemy. And verse 33, blasphemy

because you being a man, make yourself God. They

heard that he's claiming to be deity. This is

what they're hearing. And this is not the first

time they've accused Jesus of this. Back in John

5, listen to verse 18. This was why the Jews

were seeking all the more to kill him, because

not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he

was even calling God his own father, making himself

equal with God. So they're not just saying in

10 .33, you're acting like a god, a little g.

They are saying you are making yourself equal

with God. The same as God. And so their response

in Jewish culture is understandable, right? It's

blasphemy, which is punishable by execution,

a man claiming to be God. So the question is,

were they right? Were they right? Because I think

we all know that we could read this differently,

right? I could say Caleb and I are one, right?

We're of one heart, one mind, right? We're on

the same page. Jesus could be saying one in purpose,

one in action, one in affection, but that's not

what he was saying. It was something far greater

than that, and they understood it. They were

right, and Jesus knew they were right because

the whole context of the gospel of John is saying

Jesus is saying what he's saying, right? That

they were right. Listen, quickly, very quickly,

six passages. We already talked about John's

prologue. In the beginning was the Word, and

the Word was with God, and the Word became God,

right? Or excuse me, the Word became flesh and

dwelt among us. John chapter 5, truly I say to

John 5 · chapter mention

you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord,

but whatever he sees the Father doing, for whatever

the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

No human can say all that the Father does, right?

I do. John 8. Jesus says to them, truly, truly,

I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. The ego

of me, right? The very name of Yahweh, the name

of God himself. He's saying this very intentionally.

John 10, we just read, I have authority to lay

my life down and take it up again. No mere human

can take up their life when he's dead. John 12,

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory

and spoke of him. And John considers the glory

of God that Isaiah saw to be the glory of Jesus.

And later in John chapter 20, we're going to

John 20 · chapter mention

read, Thomas answered him, my Lord and my God.

And how did Jesus receive that? As truth and

as worship and called it faith. So we know that

the charge of blasphemy in John 10, 33 is based

on something that Jesus' adversaries were seeing

correctly. He was claiming to be equal with God,

and for that they were about to kill him. And

so in verse 31, it says they picked up stones.

What will Jesus do to diffuse this explosive

moment? Because it's not yet his hour to die,

right? I mean... Nowhere in the gospel story

is it that, yep, and Jesus got stoned to death

and the story ended that day, right? Obviously

not. And so this is not the way it was planned

by the Father. And so what he does to divert

their hostility here is this exegetical maneuver.

And I owe this to John Piper. This is all Piper

right here about this idea of a maneuver, right?

The Heisman, right? He's slipping away. He's

diverting them, right? He says, is it not written

in your law? That I said, you are gods with a

little g. If he called them gods to whom the

word of God came, the scripture cannot be broken.

Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated

and sent into the world, you are blaspheming

because I said I'm the son of God? So the reason...

that we call this a maneuver, is because there's

nothing conclusive here, right? He's hearkening

back to a psalm. He's hearkening back to, you

know, their own scriptures where God used the

term little g, God, somewhere along the way for

one of his prophets, his teachers, right? And

so he's saying if God used that term to refer

to a lesser being who the recipients of his word,

can he not use it for me? So it's almost like

this, like I said, exegetical maneuver. It's

not a conclusive argument. It's a deflection.

A diversion. It doesn't settle the issue. It's

a maneuver. But it is true. And so a valid pointer

to a certain openness of language, but it's not

conclusive. But what the maneuver did was it

stopped the rocks from flying. It took the heat

out of the kitchen for a moment and bought Jesus

some time. And so they are just about to seize

him in verse 39. But he gives one more plea.

And folks, don't miss this. Because if there

was still a chance for them, there's a chance

for you. He says in verses 37 and 38, If I'm

not doing the works of my Father, then do not

believe me. But if I do them, even though you

do not believe me, believe the works that you

may know and understand. And that word know and

understand is the same word. It's just a past

tense and a present tense of the word gnosko,

which means to know, to really know, right? So

it's a, I now know and I continue growing to

know, growing in knowledge, right? So it's this

ongoing thing. This is what Jesus is inviting

them to, that you might know and know me more.

That the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

And again, they sought to arrest him, but he

escaped from their hands. So in the face of opposition

and rejection, Jesus continues to offer the invitation

to come and believe. What a picture of grace.

They've got rocks to pummel him. Have you ever

been hit by a rock, right? I mean, have you literally,

could you, Craig, could you imagine, dude, if

I got close to you and not just me, but how about

all the dudes that are going to be at Steak and

Stogie's on Friday night, right? Look, shameless

plug, right? There it is, right? Imagine, like.

Craig's blaspheming, and 25 dudes standing around

you with intent, boy, I'm going to get him. When

I was a kid, I grew up in South Florida for a

couple of years, and my sister and I used to

have to walk about a half a mile to school. And

we literally would walk, and I'm talking kindergarten

and second grade. It was like that back then,

right? Both ways uphill in the snow. Wait, it

was Florida, no snow. And so on the way home

every day, the fifth and sixth graders got out

of school before us. And there were these three

or four boys that would hide in the woods. They'd

hide in the bushes. There ain't no woods in South

Florida, whatever that is down there, right?

They'd hide and they'd wait for my sister and

I to come walking by. And it didn't take very

long every day when we walked home, like we were

just, we were scared to death. We're looking

because these boys had come out and they had

rocks. Thank God they didn't have rocks like

this. They had, you know, little skipping kind

of rocks, right? And they would come out with

a handful and just chase us and pelt us with

these rocks. And I mean, I remember my head bleeding

and running home screaming and these boys tore,

right? That's nothing compared to what they're

about to do to Jesus. Right? They literally,

they want to take his life from him. And in the

middle of that threat, Jesus is still thinking,

they don't know. They don't know what they're

doing. Father, how can I penetrate their hardness?

How can I get to their heart? How can I extend

this invitation to them again? In the middle

of that threat, Jesus is still offering. Have

you continually rejected Jesus your whole life?

Folks, I got to tell you, when Jesus calls, right,

when he's walking away from the water hole and

you stay at the water hole and you don't follow,

you might not think that's rejection, but you're

not following. And there's only two kinds of

people. Those who stay at the water hole, keep

on drinking after he left, or those who pick

up and go and follow, right? There's no in -between,

like, no, you're either, nah, I'm good, I'm going

to do my own thing, or you're following him.

So if you've not been following Jesus, the invitation

to come and believe is not yet off the table.

That's incredible to me. How about this? Do you

know someone who this describes? Don't give up

praying for them. Don't give up just continually

pointing and talking and sharing the hope of

the gospel just like Jesus. Because if Jesus

continues to love, offer hope to those who are

seeking to kill him, man, what a remarkable picture

of loving your enemies, right? In the middle

of that, he's still doing this. If Jesus continues

to do that to folks who are ready to kill him,

I think we can probably extend love and grace

and hope to those who wrong us. And you would

think that the story's over, that it ends with

opposition and unbelief. And John could have

stopped right here and turned, right, to chapter

11, Lazarus, but he didn't. And for some reason,

he gives us another snapshot of Jesus across

the Jordan to the northeast where many believed.

Why is it that he wraps up chapter 10 this way?

So he departed again across the Jordan to the

place where John had been baptizing earlier and

he remained there. Many came to him and... and

said, they said this to Jesus, John never did

a sign, but everything John said about this man

was true, and many believed in him there. Is

there a key there for us? A key maybe to the

kind of soil in which faith springs up and grows

because so much of this passage that we've just

read has been about the words and the works of

Jesus, so it is doubly important, as I close

with this, if the team wants to prepare to come

forward here again to lead us in response, so

it's doubly important here for us to see that

John did no work. John did no sign, and yet many

believed in him there. Folks, that... That is

phenomenally encouraging to me. And it should

be to you as well. Why? John did no sign. And

yet many believed in Jesus. Why? Because John...

consistently pointed to Jesus. He threw the spotlight

utterly on Jesus. His very life orbited around

Jesus. When we live our lives in this way, following

the shepherd, knowing his voice, pointing consistently

to him when we interact in our daily walk and

talk in our circles of influence, Jesus will

do the rest. He'll do the rest. We are simply

called to be faithful followers, and you might

doubt, I don't know, I don't know if I got any

impact for the kingdom or not. Let me ask you

this. Can you follow Jesus? Can you point to

him? If that's not true for you today, come talk

to one of us. The offer's still there, but if

the answer's yes, then you know his voice, you're

a part of his fold, and he has you in his hand.

Amen? As we've heard probably a couple times

already today, this is the center of our DNA

here at Radiant Church. We follow Jesus. We are

a family of missionary disciples following Jesus,

pointing to Jesus, doing life together, encouraging

one another, especially when we're not doing

a great job at following. Come on, man, let's

go. This is how we live. We do this together.

He's doing the miracles. He's the one that's

redeeming hearts and minds and changing lives.

We're just pointing to him along the way. Telling

our stories about how Jesus has changed us. And

that sounds just like John the Baptist's legacy.

Following and pointing to Jesus. You remember

what John said? He must increase. I must decrease.

No signs. Nothing miraculous like that. I'm just

pointing to him. Following him. Humble faithfulness.

And so as we move to a time of response. We have

the opportunity to receive the bread and the

cup, the work of Jesus this morning. We don't

earn that. He gave it freely. And yet it came

at the greatest cost, His body broken, His blood

shed, that you and I might be free and secure

in our relationship with Him for eternity. That

is good news, folks. So as we stand together,

as we get ready for the team to lead us in worship

and response, I just want you to think about

that gift that the Lord has given you. And how

are you doing at following him and pointing to

others, right? How are you doing? What's that

look like in your life? Because that's what he

calls us to. Amen? What a gift.