Fourth Sunday of Easter April 25, 2010
Scripture	John 10:22-30 22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem . It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico 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 Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
Devotional	Jesus is speaking to members of the Jewish religious establishment in Jerusalem , which John refers to the “Jews.” The issue concerns Jesus’ identity. What is the latest gossip? Everyone wants to know. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” C. K. Barrett says this ought to be translated as: “How long will you annoy us, or vex us?” Jesus is not offering them a chance to attack him for making claims. The Jews were divided about who Jesus was and what he was done. Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:19-21) Some were serious about wanting to know who Jesus is, while others want him to make a claim so they can reject him. Jesus’ answer, “I have told you, and you do not believe.” Jesus’ reply does not clear thing up. Jesus has healed the blind man and claims to be the good shepherd but they have not heard anything to convince them that he is the Messiah. Christ is doing the works of the Father but some do not believe. Will they ever believe or will the request for more proof continue? It is critical that the contemporary interpreter read v. 30 in the context of Johannine theology and not through the lens of the Christological controversies of the second through the fourth centuries or of the Trinitarian doctrine that developed out of those controversies. The Greek word “one” is neuter, not masculine, so that Jesus is not saying that he and God is one person, nor even of one nature or essence. Rather, he is saying that he and God are united in the work that they do. It is impossible to distinguish Jesus’ work from God’s work, because Jesus shares fully in God’s work. What does this say about a disciple of Jesus today? If we share with God in God’s work does this make us one with God? Can a disciple be united in the work that God and Jesus do in the world today? Gail R. O’Day, “The Gospel of John: in The New Interpreter’s Bible. Vol9 p. 667