Listen, Don’t Just Hear                                             John 10:22-30

I have a question for you. When you are in a conversation with someone, or if you are having a disagreement with someone, how often are you hearing them talk but are not listening to what they say, you’re just waiting for your turn to say what you want? I know I’m guilty of this. Sometimes we don’t listen because we really don’t want to, or we already have our minds made up.

Today Jesus is addressing this issue. Jesus is in Jerusalem celebrating in the Temple. Some of the other people there come up to him and ask him if he is the Messiah. Vs 24, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Now after a few years of traveling the countryside and preaching to the masses I could understand if Jesus got frustrated and short tempered but Jesus just replies with a simple statement, Vs 25, “I did tell you but you did not believe.” And Jesus goes on, ”The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me but you do not believe…” (John 10:25-26)

These people hear what Jesus says but they do not listen. These people see what Jesus does but they do not see God in it. These people see and hear what Jesus says and does and they can’t come to the right conclusion.

This reminds me of a story I heard. A man thought his wife was becoming hard of hearing so he called their doctor. The doctor told him to try a little experiment to see how bad it had become. The next night while she was cooking dinner he tried it, he stood forty feet away from her and asked what was for dinner, no response. He moved to thirty feet and asked again, still no response; twenty feet and still no answer. Finally he comes right up beside her and says again, “What’s for dinner?” She looks at him and says, “For the fourth time, chicken.”

The people in our reading are like this; they see what’s going on but draw the wrong conclusion. They are so immersed in their own beliefs about faith and what the Messiah will be like that they cannot see he is right in front of them.

Jesus says in John 9:39, “For judgment I have come into the world so the blind will see…” Jesus has fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish, he has healed the lame, cured the diseased, gave sight to the blind; he has preached the truth about the Kingdom of God, all this and these people don’t see it. They don’t believe. What will it take?

Why don’t people today believe? I believe many people don’t want to see and listen because the truth will upset their lives. Jesus wanted these people and he wants us to see who he is and to believe in who he is. But he also expects something from us. He wants us to follow his lead; our emotional responses, the way we respond to others, our politics, the very view point from which we approach life; all of it must have him at the center.

We are bombarded with so much, so many voices telling us we’re great, we’re horrible, we’re right, we’re wrong; how do we discern what is really correct? How should we really act?

Did you know that almost from birth a baby knows its mother’s voice? In a crowded room with a multitude of stimulation; colors, voices, motion; a baby will turn toward the sound of its mother. Our reading’s verse 27, “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me.”

When we believe, when we accept Jesus we are like the baby in a crowded room. When we are overwhelmed by choices or bombarded by a variety of ideas, we will be able to hear Jesus voice over the clamor. Like the baby turns toward its mother we will turn to Jesus and all our actions will emanate from our faith.

So now we can see what Jesus is contending with and why he responds the way he does.

When I read a scripture I like to pick it apart and ask questions. Why does Jesus have this conversation now? Why does it happen in the Temple? Why in this part of the Temple? Does the place and time have any significance? I think it does.

Jesus is at the Festival of Dedication also known also as the Feast of the Maccabees. It remembers the time Israel rose up against their oppressors. The time they re-entered the Temple and found an unspoiled container of oil. The time the lamp was supposed to stay lit for only a day and God kept it lit for eight days. Today this feast is called Hanukkah.

Why is this important? Jesus is celebrating the God of ancient Israel, he is showing a direct lineage between God and himself; the Messiah. By being there and having this conversation there Jesus is saying he’s here to honor God and to do God’s work.

As we read this scripture remember the Bible says where exactly in the Temple Jesus was when this transpired. Verse 23, “Jesus was in the Temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” We know nothing in the Bible is filler so there must be a reason this is mentioned.

King Solomon had the Temple built in 827 BCE. For close to 400 years it stood until the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and destroyed it in 587 BCE. The Old Testament Book of Ezra tells of the Temple being rebuilt. It was then modified by Herod. The area on the east side was covered by a roof to give protection from the weather. When you walked through this area you would be in the Court of the Gentiles.

Verse 24, “The Jews who were there gathered around him…” Some of the Jewish people there in the court yard were questioning Jesus. Not only would there be other Jewish people listening, there would also be Gentiles. These Gentiles are there because they have heard of the God of Israel, they heard the prophecies of a Messiah coming. I imagine some of these Gentiles have heard Jesus speak, maybe witnessed one of his miracles.

Jesus is in this spot at this time for a reason. Jesus is telling his Jewish brothers that everything is in place to prove who he is, and since they refuse to see and believe, he is letting the Gentile’s know.

By talking to Jew and Gentile together Jesus is telling the world God’s plan is to offer salvation to all mankind. Jesus is planting the seed that later will bloom in Paul’s mission of spreading his message to the  Gentiles.

I have a friend whose father collapsed at home. When the paramedics got him to the hospital the doctor told the family they were moving him to ICU but said to prepare because he most likely would not live through the night. The family called me and we prayed together. We prayed for peace, strength and for God’s will to be done. A week later they moved this man to a nursing facility and the family was told he would probably spend the rest of his life there. All through this the family prayed. Three months later he walked up the porch stairs and into his home. He became a believer and gave his life to Christ.

Our reading shows us there is only one God. That he has been working for humanity since time began, first through the nation and people of Israel and the prophets, and now through his son.

Our reading has Jesus showing us that he comes as the prophets foretold and that he came to honor God by working for all mankind. That God is interested in everyone no matter where you are born, no matter your nationality, no matter what you have done.

And our reading asks us what we need to see and hear to believe. Only we can answer that for ourselves. What happened for my friend and her family doesn’t happen for everyone and I wish I could give you a reason why not. But I believe that if we look around us with open eyes and an open heart God will give us everything we to make the right choice. We will see and hear what we need to believe, but it is up to us to make that decision.

We must be willing to accept Christ not only as our savior but also as our Lord. Christ as our savior took our sins upon himself at the cross. Christ as our Lord means we are willing to follow him wherever he leads. It means we are willing to accept the changes that will occur in our lives because of our faith.

For mankind the choice God asks us to make is a simple one; believe or don’t believe; but the consequences of our decision is eternal.

God bless you