The Unbelief of the Jews

Pastor Carol Grace ♦ April 30, 2010 ♦ Leave a comment

John 10:22 Then came the Feast of Dedication [b] at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ,[c] tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all [d]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

33 “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods'[e]? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Footnotes:

John 10:9 Or kept safe

John 10:22 That is, Hanukkah

John 10:24 Or Messiah

John 10:29 Many early manuscripts What my Father has given me is greater than all

John 10:34 Psalm 82:6

I am constantly amazed at the lack of belief and the absence of faith of the Jewish leaders who questioned Jesus.   Their list of offenses seem to grow with each encounter with Jesus.  (1)  Jesus healed on the Sabbath (2) Jesus was just a man, so how could He be God (3) Jesus surely was a demon and that is how he performed  miracles.

It is true that Jesus was a man, but He was not just a man.  Jesus was fully man and fully God.  He entered this world as a baby because that is how people come into this world.  He grew to be a man because how else could He identify with the trials of mankind?  But He was God because God was a part of  His DNA.  He was born of the virgin Mary so He was man, but conceived by the Holy Spirit, so He was God.  He experienced a new beginning as a baby a little over 2,000 years ago, but at the same time He was present from the foundation of the world.  If you are having a hard time wrapping your mind around this dichotomy, you are not alone.  Head knowledge leaves us cold when trying to understand these truths, but faith buoys up to the point where, if we can’t understand, at least we can believe.

If Jesus had been acting on his own behalf, wouldn’t He have drawn attention to Himself, and even tried to glorify Himself?  He did not do these things.  Instead, when He healed He said tell no one.  When He preached He pointed toward God.  He said everything He did was because of the Father.  The Jewish leaders of the time knew the Scriptures, and they recognized that much of what Jesus said came directly from the Scriptures.  Why were they blinded to the truth?

I think it is the same reason people today are blinded to the truth of who Jesus is and who He will always be.  There is a spiritual veil that has yet to be lifted from the faces of those who oppose Jesus.  As the days draw closer to His return, and I believe His return is imminent, I pray that the veil would be lifted so that all can recognize Jesus for who He is, and believe, and be saved.