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Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
As we read and study these concluding verses in John Chapter 10, we need to remember that it is December time, and it is the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, called today Hanukkah. It could be regarded as being similar to our lights on trees around December. It had had real meaning and significance but, like Christmas to most people, the real significance had been lost or forgotten.
Around 175 years previously, there was a Greek occupation of Israel, and a man named Antioch Epiphanes polluted the Temple in Jerusalem, by placing a pig on the altar and desecrating the House of God. He was mocking God and the people of God.
A Jew named Judas Maccabeus was raised up and he cleansed the Temple and restored the worship and there was a great dedication. The lamp would burn once more. The lamp, a symbol of the presence of God, must never go out. The light must shone and must go on shining. But, it did not last long. Yes, there were lights burning, but not much brightness in the nation. Sin soon crept back in and now Rome was occupying Israel.
Israel had been overrun and conquered yet again and they were looking for another Judas Maccabeus.
We are looking for someone. Tell us plainly. Do not keep us in suspense. It is all there in verse 24. Political and nationalistic hope appeared to be riding high. If Jesus Christ had said “Yes”, it would have been true, but tragic. Jesus would have been acclaimed as some kind of political leader, but the wrong type of Messiah.
They wanted to be free from Rome. Jesus wanted them to be free from sin. There is a big difference.
Jesus Christ wants us to be set free from sin. People have that longing to be set free from one set of political rulers only to come under another set of political rulers. Is that not so very strange?
Verse 25. Jesus made it very clear that the fault did not lie in how He spoke and what He said, but in their listening. Look at the miracles. That should be enough. What more can I say?
Verse 26. You do not believe me because you are not my sheep. That is strong. Why is it that God’s Word can be proclaimed and preached and taught, and some people will get so much out of it, and others will get nothing.
Here is the answer. There can be no response to the Word of god where there is no desire for a real relationship with Jesus Christ. Is Jesus Lord? Is Jesus Christ graciously guiding you and lovingly leading and controlling you, or are you planning to do something of what he disapproves?
Verse 27. My sheep listen to My voice. They listen and I know them. They follow and I give them eternal life. They will never perish and no one will ever be able to snatch them out of My hand. That is safety, and that is spiritual security, irrespective of what the political leadership and government might be like.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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