20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 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. 30 I and the Father are one.”
To Be One
When we have been in painful relationships, to be one with another person seems unattractive. If we have had a father or mother who belittled us, beat us, or showed no interest in us, we find it hard to accept love and affection which we have never known. Some people throw themselves desperately into relationships hoping that they will be known. Some people hide themselves because of the fear and the pain. Some people are so damaged that they cease to feel anything deeply, they languish in apathy and despair.
Jesus wants to be known and he wants to know us. That is a hard concept for me. I don’t attach well with males. I can play alongside them, but it is harder to believe that they wold want to selflessly invest in me. By faith I accept that to Jesus I am precious. I am protected in the palm of his hand. I belong to him and he belongs to me. He was firmly secure in his relationship with his heavenly father, I was designed for that kind of security. To become more attached to Jesus is a tedious and slow journey. My mind defaults to sinful patterns that it has learned from youth. Sin so quickly entangles me. However, in Jesus’ strength I push on into union with God. He invites me into the embrace of the Trinity. Even typing this I tremble. I fear that I am an imposter. However, my feelings of being an outsider don’t belong here. Jesus assures me and he holds me close.
Prayer
Jesus, you have paid the price so that I can be united with God. I have fears and I am wounded in ways that are revealed to me with ever-increasing depth. Let us all find rest in you and lead us on a path to healing and wholeness.
Questions
- With whom did the people believe Jesus had a relationship?
- How does Jesus describe his relationship with the Father?
- How does Jesus describe those who are his?
- Whose are you?
- How is Jesus holding you close and leading you into an intimate relationship with him?
Plymothian 
1. A demon
2. I and the father are one
3. We are his sheep who he knows and we follow him.
4. I belong to Jesus Christ.
5. Daily I’m learning more of our lord and Savior.
The people thought Jesus had a demon. Jesus said he and the father are one. Jesus describes those who belong to him as sheep. I belong to Jesus Christ. I am his! Jesus is holding me close comforting me as I try to seek his will for my future.
How does Jesus describe his relationship with the Father?
How does Jesus describe those who are his?
“Jesus claims that He and the Father are One. I believe He also mentions that we are in His hands because He is in the Father and the Father holds us in His hands, thus Jesus takes part in that. Those who are His, know His voice. For those who do not follow Jesus, He does not know them.”
1. A Demon.
2. He is one with the Father!
3. They are His sheep, and know Him and are known by Him.
4. I’m one of Jesus’ sheep 🙂
5. Missions Conference is always a bit of a struggle for me, because I honestly don’t feel called to overseas missions. Around Mission Conference I can start to feel hostile and afraid that people will try to guilt me into something I genuinely don’t feel like God wants me to do, but God has been graciously using Missions Conference as a time to bring me back to surrender and trust in Him – I am willing to go wherever He sends me, but I will not go unless He sends me!
The people believe that it is with a demon that Jesus is in union with, not the father. That implication had deep ramifications for they are attributing not only his works, but his identity to the one who is in opposition to. Additionally, those who belong to Christ have an intimate closeness and communication with him. They hear the voice of Jesus and they are drawn to him. Those who hear his voice follow his calling and thus, Christ has insured them eternal life and security in the palm of his hand.
1. They questioned whether he had a relationship with a demon.
2. He says that he and the Father are one.
3. As his sheep who can never be removed from his hand.
4. I belong to Jesus.
5. Jesus speaks to me through the support of the people around me, which is not something I have always experienced in the past. He has also been teaching me in a new and deeper way how he speaks to me in Scripture.
1. A demon.
2. The point Jesus comes to in the end of the passage is that he and the Father are one.
3. Jesus says his sheep recognize his voice, showing the role of human will in our relationship with him. He also says that no one can snatch us out of his or the Father’s hand. He is the ultimate protector.
4. I belong to God and I came by way of Jesus, the gate and the good shepherd.
5. Jesus is holding me close by placing people in my life who truly love and
want to serve him. When I contrast their way of life with the world’s, Jesus makes it clear that the alternative, although seemingly fun for a little while, is to have one’s soul totally destroyed and implement near irreversible habits on the body and mind.
1. With whom did the people believe Jesus had a relationship?
They believed Jesus was possessed by a demon.
2. How does Jesus describe his relationship with the Father?
He describes it as one of complete unity, “I and the Father are one”.
3. How does Jesus describe those who are his?
They are part of his flock, they know Jesus’ voice and are given eternal life, never to be snatched away from the Father.
4. Whose are you?
A sheep belonging to the fold of the Master Shepherd. What comfort it is to know that!
5. How is Jesus holding you close and leading you into an intimate relationship with him?
By testing me. Through small things, Jesus is putting me though trials in order to display himself as faithful. It hurts, but it is good,
Jesus says that He and the Father are one. That must have sounded like such a huge claim, and yet it was and is true. I feel in myself this desire to be known, and it is incredible to think that God, the Creator of the universe, knows me, and wants me to know Him and know that I am known. I want to be a sheep who knows His voice from familiarity and who is attuned to it. I want to belong to God and have that define me. He says that I do belong to Him, which is pretty amazing. I just need to live like it now.
1. a demon
2. like a Shepard
3. like they are part of God’s flock
4. I am His
5. by reminding me of His presence in my life and that He is guiding me and will not forsake me… I LOVE what Elizabeth Elliot wrote: “The Shepherd is much more interested in making sure that the sheep get to where they belong than the sheep are in getting there — much more interested.”
Here is Part 2 to yesterday’s post:
APPLICATION
1) Summary: Sharing the gospel with others is a natural outflow of our heart. As our understanding of what He has done and is still doing in us increases, so does our love and gratitude toward Him, and so will our sharing of the gospel. Learning the Word within community helps us to grow in both these areas much more than alone because we see Christ in each other as well as in the Word (Gal. 2:20), and we can help each other learn, grow, and hold each other accountable (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 10:24-25).
2) Food for thought: Based on the Great Commission passage (Mt. 28:18-20), are making disciples commanded? Were the eleven disciples in this passage commanded to go out, or were they sent out on a God-ordained mission, backed by the power of the Spirit, in the authority of Jesus’ name?
3) Prayer: Father, thank you for the gift of your Son, which cost you more than I will ever know. As I write these things I am reminded of past prayers, and of the old adage “be careful of what you pray for, because you might actually get it”. Several requests that I have made that you have given in accordance with your will, I thank you for: 1) Help me understand the gospel better so I can better share it with others, 2) Help me love you more, 3) Give me opportunities to share the gospel with Michelle, Carrie, and Bonnie, and 4) Give me a hunger and thirst for you and for your Word. Thank you for the community of believers I am so blessed to be a part of at Bloomingdale Church and also at Moody. Help me to continue growing and to encourage the growth of others, as well as be a light in the darkness. Amen.
We are Christ’s sheep. I know that I am his, but sometimes I act as if I am my own. Those selfish situations always end badly and I realize that I am very much not my own person and i am so thankful for that. Christ never leaves me even when i turn my back on him. Jesus is leading me into a deeper and more intimate relationship with him by giving me peace in difficult situations so that I know he is always near and by putting others in my life who are willing to show me what God has done in my their lives and who guide to always walk with Christ.
They think that he is possessed by a demon. He describes the relationship as him being one with the Father. He describes them as his sheep that can never be snatched from his hand. I am a part of Jesus’ flock; I am not my own. Jesus keeps me in his hand by constantly pointing me back to him.
What an awesome relationship Jesus has with the Father, and He invites us into their perfect, loving communion! We are His sheep that He has adopted into His family through His saving work on the cross. I belong to Jesus. He holds me close and leads me into a more intimate relationship with Him by showing me His faithfulness and teaching me to trust Him day by day.
1) The people thought that Jesus had a relationship with a demon.
2) He said that they are One.
3) He says that He knows His sheep and that no one can snatch them out of His hand.
4) I am His sheep who follows Him and am protected by Him.
5) Jesus holds me close by guiding my life. He is faithful!
The people claimed that Jesus was speaking from demonic interaction. He describes a union with the Father that he invites us into. They are fully known and find their personhood in their relationship. This is who Jesus says I am: his lamb, his daughter, one with him, invited near, cared for and treasured. I am his, although I act as though I am my own. My past relationships have taught me to expect empty promises and manipulation, abuse and control. The promises Jesus makes to me are lofty, how can he keep them? How do I trust when he seems distant? My name, Rachel, means lamb. Like a lamb, I wander, bleating for help. I am struggling to learn the Master’s voice. But he is gentle and patient.
Very rich reflection, Rachel. God give you strength.
Some of those who were listening to Jesus in this passage believed that He had a relationship with the devil. Or, in other words, that He had a demon. Conversely, Jesus says that He and the Father are one, and that the words and actions of the Father are true about Jesus, as well. The Father, Jesus says, is “greater than all” and Jesus is one with Him.
Jesus describes those who are His as sheep, stating that they know His voice (as seen in the last post) and He knows them. He goes on to elaborate that those who are His will have eternal life, and they no one is able to remove them from the gentle ownership of Christ.
There have been several times over the past couple of years in which people have offered me comfort in the form of reminding me that I am a child of God. As I struggle and grow through finding my identity apart from the things that I do or earn (diligent in school, dutiful daughter, energetic teacher, etc), many wise people have patted me on the back, nodding their heads helpfully- “Just remember, you’re a child of God.” This is accurate, of course, but somehow in those moments it seemed rather pithy and band-aid like, as if to stick a label of “God’s” on my life and heart could smooth over all the moments that I felt my proverbial footing whipped out from under me by the unsteady nature of all the transient things I find my identity in.
However, I think this verse captures a wonderful aspect of being God’s child that I have missed in the past: I belong to God, yes, but I belong to a God who knows me. In the past, I accepted my status as God’s child with a rather nonchalant passivity because I figured His love and acceptance was like that of the other humans around me: relatively shallow and based upon the quality of the work I produced for them. However, to realize that GOD KNOWS ME to a greater depth than I even know myself, and is STILL my God, and STILL will not allow me to be removed from His hand- that is something truly, unbelievably, significant. With this understanding, I marvel that I am His child, and I revel in the freedom and grace of that status. (And it is through realizations and growth such as this that I believe Jesus is holding me close and consistently drawing me closer to Him).
1. A demon.
2. They are One.
3. They are His sheep.
4. I am also one of Jesus’ sheep! How comforting that is!
5. Jesus is holding me close to him in the never-ending reminders that he will always love me and that he will always be for me no matter what happens to me.
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