THE LATER JUDEAN MINISTRY

-The Jews Seek to Stone Jesus at the Feast of Dedication

-John 10:22-39

-“The feast of Dedication was one of eight days’ duration and...was kept in honor of the

 renovation and purification of the temple in the year B.C. 164, after it had been desecrated by

 the Syrians under Antiochus Epiphanes.  As this feast was commemorative of national

 deliverance, the rulers considered it an opportune time to tempt Jesus to declare himself to be

 the Messiah, or coming Deliverer from the present Roman oppression” (McGarvey/Pendleton,

 pg 484).

-At Solomon’s porch, the Jewish leaders gathered around Jesus and asked Him to plainly declare

 whether or not He was the Christ.

            -Jesus had previously made this very clear through His words and works.  But, since they

             were not a part of His fold, they ignored and rejected such evidence.

-Verses 28 and 29 address the wonderful assurance that Christians are blessed with.  This doesn’t

 mean, as Calvinism teaches, that it is impossible to fall from God’s grace.

            -“The utmost security of the saved in Christ lies in the fact that no external power shall ever

             be able to dislodge them from the Master’s love and protection...Yet it must be remembered

             that a believer himself may turn away from the truth, become entangled with sin and

             overcome.  The sovereign right of choice is never taken away from any man” (Coffman,

             1974, pg 263).

            -Being outside of the fold of God, these Jewish leaders didn’t have such hope or assurance.

-When Jesus expressed His complete unity with the Father, the Jewish leaders took up stones to

 kill Him.  Jesus then asked them for which of His many good works were they wanting to stone

 Him.

            -They could not deny the good works, but overlooking their significance, they charged Him

             with blasphemy.

-Jesus then quoted from Psalm 82:6, a verse in which the judges - those who were to properly

 execute sound judgment based upon God’s word - were referred to as gods.  Jesus then

 reminded them that “the scripture cannot be broken.”  They were not to set aside the word -

 neither are we.

            -“...[T]hey were regarded as God’s delegates or ministers, and as such the inspired Psalmist

             addresses them, calling them gods.  Compare also Ex. xxii.28.  If it was not blasphemy to

             call those gods who so remotely represented the Deity, how much less did Christ blaspheme

             in taking unto himself a title to which he had a better right than they, even in the subordinate

             sense of being a mere messenger” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 487).

            -Side note:  Some claim that the Law consisted only of the Pentateuch.  Jesus’ reference to

              this verse in Psalm 82 as part of the law clearly refutes such a mistaken position.

-Jesus once again appealed to His works - clear evidence that He was indeed a man sent from

 God. 

-The words of Jesus stopped the Jewish leaders’ attempt to stone Him.  Yet, they still sought to

 take Him but Jesus escaped.

            -“They sought to arrest him, and still even by physical force.  How he escaped we are not

             told.  [Here ends the three months of stormy ministry in the life of Jesus in Jerusalem.

             Twice they attempted to mob him (8:59; 10:31); twice efforts were made to arrest him

             (7:32,45; 10:39); and also secret plans to assassinate him had been laid (7:19; 8:37)”

             (Lipscomb, pg 164).

-With this occasion, the Later Judean Ministry is brought to a close.