Knowing Jesus & Being Known By Jesus
John 10:22-42

People often blame others for their faults.
Not too many people try to take responsibility for their actions.
Many politicians promise one thing during the campaign and when they fail to live up to their campaign promises, they quickly blame others as to why they were not able to.
Little kids blame others when they make mistakes.
Why do we blame others?
I believe it is because we learned from our first ancestor, Adam.
After the creation, God told Adam that he could eat from any tree, except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
This was to remind Adam that he still had to be reliant upon God in his life.
Adam was not happy with this command.
Eve had no problem with the command.
Eve was simply deceived by the serpent.
When the serpent told Eve that their eyes would open and know the good and evil, she believed it.
She trusted the words of the serpent more than the word of God.
1 Timothy 2:14 – “But the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”
Adam was not deceived.
He willfully sinned.
So God comes to Adam first.
Eve says that she sinned because she was deceived by the serpent, but Adam shifts the blame to God and the woman.
Genesis 3:12 – “the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
The woman was a secondary cause for his sin, but God was the primary cause, Adam contends.
We all live this way, shifting blames unto others and even God.
Because of sin in our lives, rather than taking up responsibility, we blame others.
How often do we blame God for the problems we have created ourselves?

In our text, we see people doing the same thing.
They claim that the reason they do not accept Jesus as the Messiah is actually Jesus’ own doing.
v. 24 – “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Tell us straight up if you want us to believe you.
Don’t go around saying things in figures of speech or in parables, but let us know if you are indeed the Messiah.
But Jesus’ answer to them was he already told them.
v. 25 – “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me.’”
Jesus says that he already told them, and all his works also testify about it.
The problem is not that Jesus was hiding his identity; rather, they did not want to believe him.
There are many evidences in their plain sight.
Not only that, many have already heard him and trusted him.
Samaritans did not believe in Jesus because of the witness of the woman, but since they heard him themselves.
A noble person took Jesus at his word and his son was healed.
Peter confesses, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
And in the Gospel of John alone, 7 of Jesus’ miraculous signs were recorded, starting with turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana to raising Lazarus from the dead, which we will see in the future soon.
There are countless numbers of more miracles not recorded in John.
All these testifies that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.
Furthermore, more people, at the end of our text today, come to believe and trust in Jesus.
So the reason these Jews do not believe in Jesus is not for lack of evidence, but because they did not want to believe.
They did not believe because Jesus was not the Messiah they were hoping for.
They wanted the Messiah to be in the mold of what they wanted.

What kind of Messiah is that?
It is a political Messiah.
It was not the Messiah who healed the sick and takes care of the poor, but the Messiah who would drive out the Romans and give them rich life.
But Jesus spends his time allowing lame to walk, opening the eyes of the blind, and healing the sick.
So they did not want to believe in this Messiah, and they blamed Jesus for their failure to trust him.

The problem is not the lack of evidence.
The problem is their hardened hearts that reside in darkness.
They do not accept the evidences presented to them.

As one is driving, a cop pulls him over.
The cop asks if he knew why he pulled him over.
The cop proceeds to ask if he knew the speed limit.
Well, about that speed limit, is it 55 or 65? Because I was going around 65.
The cop says – you were indeed going 65 and sometimes 70. But the limit is 55. Did you not see the sign?
About that sign…I saw it a quarter of a mile ago. If you wanted the drivers to know the limits, there should be more signs, about every 100 ft or so.
How would the cop respond?
Would the cop say, “You are right. Go on, and we will put up more signs by next week?”
The problem is not the lack of signs.

What is interesting about this story is that this took place at the time of the Feast of Dedication, and it was winter.
What is the Feast of Dedication?
In 167 BC, the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes forbid the Jews from continuing to practice their religion, and forced them to worship Zeus, and put the statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem Temple.
Jews revolted, and led by Judas Maccabeus, defeated the Seleucid army, and in 164 BC, they purified the defiled Temple and rededicated it.
The feast is celebrated with sense of joy and lighting of lamps, and is today known as Hanukkah.
At the backdrop of this feast, where they were lighting the light to drive away darkness, they were hardening their own hearts like winter ice, and rejecting the One who came as the true Temple and the true Light of the world.

Once again, it was not because of lack of evidence.
It is not because they did not hear the Word.
No, even if there was no word, they should have known, because according to Paul in Romans 1, it was already made plain for them in nature, but they chose to ignore it and not give glory to God.
But God, being ever so merciful, did speak to them, and yet, they did not accept Jesus.
Not only that, they tried to stone Jesus.

What about us?
Do we hear the words of Jesus and believe?
It is important to know Jesus and believe in him.
Why? Because on the line is eternal life.
Jesus came into the world as the true light of the world and true temple, and those who trust him will receive eternal life.
This is the life that no one can take away.
If you can lose it, then it’s not eternal life.
If you trust in Jesus, then Jesus will grab hold of you and not lose you.
Since God is greater than anything, he will forever hold us in his embrace.
If we trust in Jesus, then we will enjoy the eternal life in its fullness.
Believe and trust in him.
There are plenty of evidences to do so.
Do not turn away from those evidences.

Some of you might be saying I already do believe.
In fact, probably all of you here today are thinking that.
So this message has nothing to do with me.
No, please hold on, and I will show you why it is important message to you as well, in a moment.

It is important to know Jesus.
But it is more important to be known by Jesus.
Jesus needs to know me.
The reason this Jews did not accept Jesus, according to Jesus, was that they were not his sheep.
As we looked at for the past two weeks, Jesus’ sheep hears his voice.
The reason we can hear Jesus’ voice is because we are his sheep.
It is because Jesus knows us.

Let me make it clearer.
The reason we are able to hear Jesus’ voice and know him is because he first knew us.
God made us Jesus’ sheep first and foremost.
Because God chose us first, we are able to choose him.
This is the grace of God.
Some people might say, that’s Calvinism and predestination, something that only Presbyterians believe.
Some people might say that it has no impact in Christian life.
Some people might even say that it makes God responsible for who believes and who doesn’t.
No, no, no.
This is not just a Presbyterian doctrine, but it’s the doctrine taught in Scriptures, and it has tremendous impact in our spiritual walk.
We don’t have time to discuss this in depth, but if you are interested, please ask.
We were all, at one point, spiritually dead and could not choose God.
But God, in his grace, made us part of Jesus’ flock.
And because of that, since we are now a part of Jesus’ flock, we can hear the voice of Jesus.
We need to be thankful for this amazing grace, that made us, who were good as dead, alive as part of Jesus’ flock.

Then, isn’t God responsible for those who do not believe?
No!
The responsibility lies on the person – how does he respond to the grace and revelation of God.
As I shared earlier, Romans 1 clearly states that things about God has been made clear through the nature.
But the responsibility lied with those who chose not to believe in God.

In conclusion, the reason we can hear God’s voice is because God had been gracious to us.
By God’s grace, we are given an eternal life.
Then, we need to live the life of thanksgiving.
This is the big impact I was talking about.
If we needed to work up a favor from God through our good lives, then there is nothing more tragic, because we can never live up to God’s standard.
But since God already accepted me, I simply need to live my life in thanksgiving to his grace.

As I stated earlier, what does this mean for us who already believe?
v. 27 – “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Do you hear Jesus’ voice and do you believe him?
Then you need to follow him.
Do you truly hear him?
Then follow Jesus.
Live not your own life, but the life that Jesus wants you to live.
Follow him wherever he goes.

I pray that we will all know Christ, and be known by him.
So that we may live the life that honors God in thanksgiving.