“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” John 10:24
What has Jesus been doing right from the beginning? How many times has he already told them that he was the Christ, that he and the Father were one? How many miracles had he already done that were very convincing? How many lives had been changed because he was the Christ? And every time, stones were picked up to begin stoning him and yet, his time had not yet come, so he walked away unharmed.
Are they asking because they want to be convinced?
Are they asking because they think he might be the Messiah and they don’t want to miss him if he is?
Are they asking him because they know what he will answer and then they can stone him?
“Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you did not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’” John 10:25-30
“You do not believe because you are not my sheep.” John 10:26 To which shepherd do they belong? Could they become his sheep if they wanted to? Did they want to become his sheep? Or were they just trying to corner him so they could stone him?
“My sheep listen to my voice.” John 10:27 Since he had told them before that he was the Christ and they are again asking, it would seem that they weren’t listening to his voice. It would seem that their reason for questioning was not so that they could become his sheep, but rather so they could justify their desire to kill him. If they could get him to say the words that they considered blasphemy, they could be justified in putting him to death.
There are those who like to engage Christians of today in conversations about the Bible and their beliefs, not so that they can become believers and understand what the Bible is instructing, but so that they can ‘stone’ or ‘crucify’ the believer by ‘smacking down’ everything they say.
Jesus has a great response for them. “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 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.” John 10:37-38 Jesus is saying to them, “If you can’t believe what I am saying about being the Christ, then at least believe what you are seeing!”
I believe that Jesus is asking them to just take one small step towards him – to use what little faith they might have to move in the right direction. If they took that step, maybe later they could take the next one and actually believe that he is the Christ.
But, of course, the people were obligated to pick up stones and try to stone him again. Why? Not for the miracles he did. Not even because he did some of them on the Sabbath or even because of his invitation to them to take a step of faith. But because once again, he was calling himself God and because they did not believe he was God, they were obligated to begin stoning him. And once again, his time had not yet come and he walked away unharmed.
When I find myself in the situation where someone is putting me up against the wall in order to ‘prove me wrong’ or to ‘stone’ me so they don’t need to listen to me anymore, I need to pray for discernment and wisdom in my response in order to best represent my Father well. Like Jesus, I need to hold out the invitation to grasp what they can and hold on to it. And like Jesus, I need to live my faith well in order for them to have something to see. While they can deny what I believe, they cannot deny what they see and if they see that Christ makes a difference in my life, maybe they can take that one small step towards God that will later open up their ability to believe.
God, help me to live my beliefs well so that others can see and believe.
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