So Near yet so Far.

Your desire oh Lord, according to your word, is that we should delight ourselves in You. I want to do that Lord teach me how please.

“Draw close to Me and close your eyes, allow your imagination to go as you recollect all the things you have learned about Me over the years. All the experiences you have had where you have known that you have met Me and experienced My presence. As you do that remember that I am a good God and that I am for you. I demonstrated this by giving my Son to die for the world, but at the same time to die for you personally. As you recollect all these things allow yourself to give your heart fully to Me and experience My Presence and you will find the utmost delight in Me.”

We come today to the last part of John ch 10:22-42. So far in ch 10 Jesus has revealed that He is the Gate for His sheep to enter through. He is also the Shepherd, the good Shepherd who cares for His sheep and knows each one by name. He is the true shepherd demonstrating that by being prepared to die for them. The response of the Jews was divided vs 19, many saying He was demon possessed. Yet some were skeptical and wanted to believe because of the miracle of the healing of the blind man.

The story now moves to a feast in Jerusalem and the temple. The question in the air still remains, “Who is this Man?” Jesus’ reply focuses again on the miracles He has done. Remember John has actually called them “Signs “, which define their purpose. Jesus once again links His ability to do them to His close relationship with the Father, to underline His identity as the true Messiah.

This only seems to aggravate the situation as the Jews recognize that He is claiming divinity and equality with God His Father and they now start accusing Him of blasphemy. The penny won’t drop with them however, because they have prejudged Him and cannot accept this claim. This claim is really at the center of the gospel and ultimately it is because of that that He was crucified.

It is, in fact only His sheep who recognize His voice. Vs 27 The Jews were actually blocked from recognizing Jesus, form of judgement. Vs25, 26. Jesus once again emphasises the value of being one of His sheep; He gives them eternal life and they are completely secure in His love as nothing can snatch them out of His grasp. These are really important truths and we should never lose our awe at them.

The great irony of this passage lies in the contrast between the opening vv and the end. The passage opens at the temple which was physically the place for the Jews to meet with Yah. Yet instead of the people enjoying the fact that God is visiting them personally, they reject Him. At the end of the chapter Jesus is in the wilderness as far as He could get from Jerusalem, preaching. And guess what. There He is accepted and many believed in Him v 42.

This is a great reminder that we should not expect to meet with Jesus at any specific place. He is equally present everywhere. I wonder how often we encounter Him without recognizing Him. Simply because we are not expecting to meet Him at that moment. I am more and more convinced that Jesus is far more present in our lives than we expect or anticipate.

This is also a reminder that we should not prejudge persons or situations. Jesus is a completely free agent and present in a multitude of places and situations. We should never try and put Him in a box and think we have Him all figured out.

To end with we can never be reminded too often of Jesus’s deity and our security in our relationship with Him. God bless and see you all next week.