| “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” |
| —John 20:23b |
During this Season of Advent, I believe in order to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must study the broad context of His earthly ministry. Thus comes this series of blog posts that may seem more appropriate for another Season of the Church Year.
A few years ago, the church I attended at that time held a public community event on the Saturday before Palm Sunday called God’s Garden. The event provided a wide variety of activities and craft projects for families and children that emphasized the true meaning of the culmination of Christ’s life here on earth. The many opportunities to learn more about Jesus and His sacrifice on Calvary’s cruel cross, included one truly wonderful sight: right there in the church parking lot a pen held some sheep. That’s right. We had sheep in the parking lot! The sheep reminded the families attending the event that Jesus is sometimes called the “Lamb of God.”
One of the really neat things about the sheep occurred whenever the shepherd—who brought them to the parking lot in a trailer pulled by his truck—spoke to them. No matter how much noise teemed around them, whenever the shepherd spoke, even in the most quiet and gentle voice, the sheep stopped whatever they were doing, looked up, and turned toward the shepherd,so they could be sure to hear what he was saying. It was a truly amazing thing to watch.
A portion of Scripture captures a somewhat parallel event in the life of Jesus, found in John 20:22-30:
22 Then came the Feast of Dedication 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, 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. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
In this Bible story, Jesus tells a crowd that has gathered, asking him to declare whether or not He is the Son of God, that they are not His sheep. He says that He has already answered their question and even done miracles to show them He is God’s Son, but they do not believe. “You are not my sheep,” Jesus says. Then, He goes on to say, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”
You know, dear friends, that statement of Jesus presents a wonderful truth. When we belong to Jesus, we hear what He is trying to tell us through His written Word—the Bible. And, we also hear what He is trying to tell us when He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit in the depths of our hearts. You see, it’s very simple: we who belong to Jesus—who love Him as our Savior, Lord, and King—need to listen to His voice and follow Him.
