We’ve heard the joke about the fellow who had a banana sticking out of his ear. Someone called his attention to it by saying, “You have a banana in your ear,” to which the fellow replied, “I can’t hear you; I have a banana in my ear.”
Today we read about a group of people who had “bananas” in their ears. Refusing to remove the “bananas” they remained deaf to the voice of Jesus (John 10:22-30).
“And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’”
What was going on with these people? They had listened to Jesus teach, they had watched him heal people, and they had spent time in his presence. Still they did not believe. How did Jesus answer their question? Had he said, “Yes, I am the Christ,” would they have responded by falling to their knees and surrendering their lives to him? Of course not. They would have continued to deny him by saying something like, “Prove it. Walk in Pilate’s house, knock him to the ground, and take over the government.”
“Jesus answered them, ‘I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Only Jesus’ sheep could hear his voice. Only Jesus’ sheep could realize that he was the Messiah. It takes an act of faith to have inner blindness and deafness removed, so that one can see the face of God in Jesus Christ. Those who refused to enter the sheepfold of Jesus insisted on keeping their ears stopped up when Jesus spoke.
In today’s first reading (Acts 11:19-26) we hear about the establishing of the Church at Antioch in Syria. Paul and Barnabas went to them and taught.
“For a whole year they met with the Church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.”
The title “Christian” focused on the fact that these believers accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah– contrast with those who, though they believed that God was going to send a Messiah, did not believe Jesus was the one. In fact they did what they could to stamp out both him and his movement. Those who became Christians were the ones who repented of their sins, submitted to the waters of baptism, and became part of the “messianic” community. These were the sheep who had entered the sheepfold through the one gate and one shepherd, the risen Jesus. They bore witness to the fact that the messianic age had come and that the doors of mercy were thrown open to anyone who was willing to embrace Jesus as Lord, Savior, and Messiah.
Being a “Christian” today is ambiguous. Though many bear that title and even have membership in a Christian church, not all have really met Jesus and turned their lives over to him. Not all are willing to lay down their lives for him and allow his messiahship to govern their lives.
We want to be part of Jesus’ flock. We want to be able to hear his voice, and rejoice in the fact that we’ve been given the faith to recognize him as the one and only Messiah.
“My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27).
