John 10 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00John 10:1.
2. 0:02Now in the previous chapters, Jesus has
3. 0:05been expounding and revealing the
4. 0:07incarnation, the almighty in human
5. 0:10flesh. And in the chapter nine, the
6. 0:14immediately preceding chapter, he has
7. 0:16healed the man born blind as a metaphor
8. 0:20of revelation
9. 0:23of who he is. the clay of human nature
10. 0:27washing the eyes to see the light of the
11. 0:31world to see God in human form. And so
12. 0:35these themes are going to continue.
13. 0:40Jesus has just answered some Pharisees
14. 0:42who were in his crowd when they said,
15. 0:45"Are we blind also?" He said, "If you
16. 0:48were blind, you would have no sin. But
17. 0:50since you say we see, your sin remains.
18. 0:55John 10:1. Truly, truly, I say to you,
19. 0:59he who does not enter by the door into
20. 1:02the fold of the sheep, but climbs up
21. 1:05some other way, he is a thief and a
22. 1:08robber.
23. 1:10But he who enters by the door is a
24. 1:13shepherd of the sheep. To him the
25. 1:16doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his
26. 1:20voice, and he calls his own sheep by
27. 1:23name, and leads them out. When he puts
28. 1:27forth his own, he goes ahead of them,
29. 1:30and the sheep follow him because they
30. 1:33know his voice. A stranger they simply
31. 1:37will not follow, but will flee from him
32. 1:40because they do not know the voice of
33. 1:42strangers.
34. 1:44And this is a metaphor of the man who
35. 1:47was born blind and was able immediately
36. 1:50to become a follower. Was able to say,
37. 1:54"Show me the Messiah, the son of man,
38. 1:56that I may believe in him." And then
39. 1:58say, "Lord, I believe in him." And begin
40. 2:00to worship. Because his heart condition
41. 2:04as a lamb, his heart condition as
42. 2:07belonging to God in his pasture prepared
43. 2:11him to recognize the shepherd's voice.
44. 2:15But the Pharisees cannot follow. Jesus
45. 2:18has been telling them from John 6 and 7
46. 2:20and 8 where I am going you cannot
47. 2:24follow. But then he's told them some of
48. 2:26you can come. In John 7, he said, "If
49. 2:28anyone is thirsty, he comes after me."
50. 2:32And he talked about the Holy Spirit. So
51. 2:35now he's he's elaborating that again.
52. 2:38He's saying that
53. 2:40he who enters by the door into the fold
54. 2:42of the sheep is the true shepherd.
55. 2:46He comes in the open. He walks in
56. 2:49through the opening God has granted.
57. 2:52Amen. He is authorized through the gates
58. 2:55of God's authority.
59. 2:58But he says those who come over the
60. 2:59wall, those who climb up by some other
61. 3:02way are thieves and robbers. Those who
62. 3:06who want the affections and the devotion
63. 3:10and the loyalty of this man, the blind
64. 3:14man's parents, and who deceive people.
65. 3:17They're thieves and robbers. The
66. 3:19Pharisees are. When he puts forth his
67. 3:22own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep
68. 3:24follow him because they know his voice.
69. 3:28He's telling them, "Your problem is not
70. 3:30your physical eyesight. It's that you
71. 3:32don't know my voice. You don't know the
72. 3:34voice of God or else you would recognize
73. 3:36it in me." A stranger, they simply will
74. 3:40not follow. How could that man become a
75. 3:42follower after saying, "Show him to me
76. 3:45that I may believe in him." He doesn't
77. 3:48even know what Jesus looks like, but he
78. 3:50instantly follows because he knows his
79. 3:52voice. He doesn't rely on his
80. 3:55perspective. He relies on his voice.
81. 3:58This figure of speech Jesus spoke to
82. 4:01them, but they did not understand what
83. 4:04these things were which he had been
84. 4:06saying to them. So John is telling us
85. 4:09that this is a figure of speech. This is
86. 4:11a metaphor what he's just said. But they
87. 4:13didn't get it. So what he's going to say
88. 4:16next is going to double down on this
89. 4:19metaphor and help them understand it.
90. 4:22So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly I
91. 4:24say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
92. 4:28All who come before me are thieves and
93. 4:32robbers." But the sheep did not hear
94. 4:35them. I am the door. If anyone enters
95. 4:39through me, he will be saved and will go
96. 4:43in and out and find pasture.
97. 4:46The thief comes only to steal and kill
98. 4:50and destroy.
99. 4:52I came that they may have life and have
100. 4:55it abundantly.
101. 4:58I am the good shepherd. The good
102. 5:01shepherd lays down his life for the
103. 5:04sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a
104. 5:07shepherd, who is not the owner of the
105. 5:10sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves
106. 5:13the sheep and flees.
107. 5:16And the wolf snatches them and scatters
108. 5:18them. He flees because he is a hired
109. 5:21hand and is not concerned about the
110. 5:24sheep.
111. 5:26So in all of this, Jesus is telling them
112. 5:30the difference between the way he is
113. 5:32going to shepherd the flock and the way
114. 5:34the Pharisees are going to shepherd the
115. 5:35flock. He's saying, "I am the door,
116. 5:39which means I am the portal through
117. 5:42which you can find access to the
118. 5:45father."
119. 5:47Isn't that what the Bible tells us? We
120. 5:49have confident access by one spirit to
121. 5:53one father. That through his blood, the
122. 5:56blood of Jesus, he has opened and
123. 5:58inaugurated a new and living way.
124. 6:03Jesus is going to change our
125. 6:04understanding of the father. He's going
126. 6:06to take our blindness away. The veil
127. 6:09that lay over our hearts that made us
128. 6:11think God hated us and was out to kill
129. 6:14us, that veil is going to be washed away
130. 6:16through the clay of his human nature.
131. 6:19And we're going to see who God truly is.
132. 6:23And if we enter this relationship with
133. 6:25God through Jesus, then we're going to
134. 6:28have life. We're going to find pasture
135. 6:30and water.
136. 6:33But the others, the others who give us a
137. 6:36different view of God, they come as
138. 6:38hierlings.
139. 6:40They didn't lay down their life for the
140. 6:41sheep. They're not going to die for the
141. 6:43sheep. They're not focused on meeting
142. 6:46the needs of the blind man and his
143. 6:48parents. They're focused on protecting
144. 6:51their job as the hireling.
145. 6:55But Jesus is not focused on that. He's
146. 6:57willing to die. He's willing to stand in
147. 7:00front of the wolf. The wolf is the devil
148. 7:03and in his crius victor atonement, he's
149. 7:06going to step in front of judgment and
150. 7:09absorb in himself all that the devil had
151. 7:12planned for us so that the sheep behind
152. 7:16him can be saved and find refuge.
153. 7:21I am the good shepherd and I know my own
154. 7:24and my own know me. Even as the Father
155. 7:29knows me and I know the Father, and I
156. 7:32lay down my life for the sheep.
157. 7:35I have other sheep which are not of this
158. 7:39fold. I must bring them also, and they
159. 7:43will hear my voice. This is the whole
160. 7:47pivot that he's been saying for all the
161. 7:50chapters, for five chapters. You don't
162. 7:53hear my voice because you don't belong
163. 7:56to God. You're not submitted as a sheep
164. 8:00in his fold.
165. 8:03But he says, "My own know me, and they
166. 8:07hear my voice, and they will become one
167. 8:10flock with one shepherd.
168. 8:14For this reason, the Father loves me
169. 8:17because I lay down my life so that I may
170. 8:21take it up again.
171. 8:24The death that he's going to suffer is
172. 8:26the death of judgment. As the instrument
173. 8:30of death, the wolf comes against him.
174. 8:33But the father loves him because he's
175. 8:36absorbing that death on behalf of the
176. 8:38sheep.
177. 8:40No one has taken it my life away from
178. 8:44me, but I lay it down on my own
179. 8:47initiative.
180. 8:49I have authority to lay it down and I
181. 8:52have authority to take it up again. This
182. 8:55commandment I received from my father.
183. 9:01A division occurred again among the Jews
184. 9:03because of these words. Many of them
185. 9:05were saying he has a demon and is
186. 9:08insane.
187. 9:10Why do you listen to him? Others were
188. 9:13saying these are not the sayings of one
189. 9:17demon-possessed.
190. 9:19A demon cannot open the eyes of the
191. 9:21blind, can he?
192. 9:24At that time, the feast of dedication
193. 9:27took place at Jerusalem.
194. 9:30It was winter and Jesus was walking in
195. 9:33the temple in the portico of Solomon.
196. 9:37The Jews then gathered around him and
197. 9:40were saying to him, "How long will you
198. 9:42keep us in suspense?
199. 9:46If you are the Christ, the Messiah, tell
200. 9:49us plainly."
201. 9:53They want words. They want words they
202. 9:56can argue with. They don't want to trust
203. 10:00the fruit, the presence,
204. 10:03the undeniable miracles
205. 10:06in front of them. Jesus answered them,
206. 10:08"I told you and you do not believe the
207. 10:12works that I do in my father's name,
208. 10:16these testify of me."
209. 10:20So when they ask him, "Are you the
210. 10:21Messiah?" He says, "The works that I do
211. 10:24in my father's power, authority, and
212. 10:28name, they're the evidence.
213. 10:32But you do not believe because you are
214. 10:34not of my sheep.
215. 10:39My sheep hear my voice and I know them
216. 10:43and they follow me."
217. 10:45He's telling them, "You're not part of
218. 10:48the flock because you don't have an ear
219. 10:51for the voice of God.
220. 10:53You have an ear for someone else's
221. 10:55voice. You have an ear for the hierlings
222. 10:59who are serving themsel and manipulating
223. 11:02you."
224. 11:04Jeremiah spoke about these hireling
225. 11:06shepherds when he said, "They are false
226. 11:09shepherds who shepherd themsel. They're
227. 11:11caring for themselves."
228. 11:14The whole point is you don't hear God's
229. 11:16voice. Because you haven't surrendered
230. 11:18yourself to be one of his sheep. Why do
231. 11:21you not hear my voice? Because you do
232. 11:23not belong to God.
233. 11:25My sheep hear my voice and I know them
234. 11:27and they follow me. And I give eternal
235. 11:30life to them and they will never perish
236. 11:34and no one will ever snatch them out of
237. 11:37my hand.
238. 11:40My father who has given them to me is
239. 11:43greater than all and no one is able to
240. 11:46snatch them out of the father's hand. I
241. 11:50and the father are one.
242. 11:55So he says my hand the father's hands.
243. 11:57But then he says there aren't two hands.
244. 12:01There's one hand. His hand is the
245. 12:04father's hand.
246. 12:07I and the father are one.
247. 12:12Jesus is the father in human visibility.
248. 12:18The Jews picked up stones again to stone
249. 12:22him. Why?
250. 12:24Because he said he was the second person
251. 12:27in the godhead? No. Because he said it's
252. 12:30my hand. It's the father's hand. I and
253. 12:33the father are one. Jesus answered
254. 12:36them,"I showed you many good works from
255. 12:38the father.
256. 12:40For which of them are you stoning me?"
257. 12:44That's a very calm question to be asking
258. 12:47when stones are about to fly.
259. 12:50But he says, "I showed you many good
260. 12:52works from the father."
261. 12:55The father is not stopped by the
262. 12:58Sabbath.
263. 13:00Only the flesh is stopped by the
264. 13:02Sabbath. and the Sabbath is why they
265. 13:04keep attacking him. But it should be
266. 13:07evidence to them that he is the father.
267. 13:11I showed you many good works from the
268. 13:12father. For which of them are you
269. 13:14stoning me? The Jews answered him, for a
270. 13:17good work, we do not stone you, but for
271. 13:19blasphemy. And because you being a man,
272. 13:23make yourself out to be God.
273. 13:27They knew exactly what he was saying.
274. 13:29They knew he was not making himself
275. 13:32one-third of the godhead. They knew he
276. 13:34was claiming to be the I am.
277. 13:37Jesus answered them, "Has it not been
278. 13:40written in your law, I said you are
279. 13:42gods? If he called them gods, to whom
280. 13:45the word of God came, and the scripture
281. 13:47cannot be broken, do you say of him whom
282. 13:50the father sanctified and sent into the
283. 13:53world, you are blaspheing because I
284. 13:55said, I am the son of God.
285. 14:01If I do not do the works of my father,
286. 14:03do not believe me.
287. 14:06But if I do them,
288. 14:08though you do not believe me, believe in
289. 14:11the works, so that you may know and
290. 14:13understand that the father is in me and
291. 14:19I in the father.
292. 14:25What was the divinity living in Jesus?
293. 14:28The father is in me. He said, "And I am
294. 14:34in the father." There's union. There's
295. 14:37the reconciliation. Jesus was living,
296. 14:40breathing, walking, talking, acting
297. 14:44reconciliation between the divine and
298. 14:47the human, between man and God. He was
299. 14:52the son of man and he was the son of
300. 14:54God. Therefore they were seeking again
301. 14:57to seize him and he eluded their grasp
302. 15:01and he went away again beyond the Jordan
303. 15:04to the place where John was first
304. 15:07baptizing
305. 15:08and he was staying there. Many came to
306. 15:11him and were saying while John performed
307. 15:14no sign yet everything John said about
308. 15:16this man was true. Many believed in him
309. 15:20there.