David Bahn – Reflections

John 10:37-42

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹ Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.⁴¹ And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”⁴² And many believed in him there.

Sometimes we may wonder whether or not we have any impact for good in the lives of others. Whether it’s raising our children to be productive and faith-filled, successful and well-adjusted, or witnessing to our neighbor or co-worker, we might sometimes ask: is anything getting through? I’m not certain whether John the Baptizer ever felt that way – though there is good reason to think he did (cf. Matthew 11:2-3). But a look at this passage (and the fuller context of John 9 and 10) reveals that John’s witness proved effective because he spoke the truth.

Too many times we think we have to build fancy and convincing cases for the cause of Christ or even a moral and just way of living. While there are times to do so, the power of our witness and calling in Jesus is not in our ability to convince someone to buy into our way of thinking. John was apparently not a miracle-worker, but everything he said about Jesus was true. And that won the day.

John was a firebrand of a man. He shook people up and confronted them boldly – in the manner of Old Testament prophets. But in the end it was simply the truth of his witness that made the difference. Maybe you are a firebrand. Perhaps you see many people brought to your way of thinking along life’s way. But the power of our witness lies in the truth about Jesus. He is the Son of God, full of grace and truth. That witness has power.

John 10:21-42

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 among my sheep. 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.”

³¹ The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— ³⁶ do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸ but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹ Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.⁴¹ And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”⁴² And many believed in him there.