I’ve been in the coffee shop before and at a neighboring table the people were speaking a language I didn’t understand. They may have been sharing important information that would change my life, but to me it was nothing more than strange sounds.
Though Jesus and the people of his day all spoke Aramaic, when Jesus talked about himself and the Father, most people could not understand what he was saying. What he said made no sense to them because they were on a different spiritual wavelength than he was. We see this today (John 10:22-30).
“The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area of 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 Messiah, tell us plainly.”
This was the feast that we call “Hanakkuh;” It celebrated the day of liberation, when the Maccabees reclaimed Jerusalem for the Jews. It was like a fourth of July for them. Just as the Maccabees rallied to defeat the enemies of Israel, so the people were excited because they believed a new Messiah was about to come who would free them from the oppression of the Romans. This great Messiah would be the new Judas Maccabeus. So many signs indicated that Jesus was the one they were looking for, but the people were frustrated that he didn’t come out and say clearly, “I am the Messiah!”
Jesus had already indicated in many ways that he was the Messiah, yet he spoke in a language that these politically minded people could not understand. He was going to be a new Judas Maccabeus, yes, but on a different level. He was going to defeat not a foreign power, but the originator and perpetrator of all darkness.
He went on to explain why these people could not understand what he was talking about.
“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 the sheep of Jesus could recognize the Shepherd’s voice. To the others, Jesus was just another voice among the rabbis of his day. Jesus spoke a language of the heart, and those who had given their hearts to Jesus knew what he was saying. Just the way a woman’s voice is just another voice among many, yet to her child it is the most beautiful and comforting voice in the world. Only a child can really hear its mother’s voice.
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.”
The Good Shepherd gave his sheep a share in his own life, and that life would not end at death. All the armies of the world could not snatch even one sheep from the arms of this Shepherd.
Jesus closed by saying,
“The Father and I are one.”
Jesus was much more than the Messiah. He was God’s Son, and as such, he was also God.
When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are given the capacity to hear Jesus’ voice. Amid the clutter of noise in our world it is difficult to distinguish His voice from others. Nothing, however, is more important than listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd, the only One who can give us eternal life.
