How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
The motive of the Judeans for their interest in Jesus seems to be at best one of seeking entertainment. They desired the excitement of suspense followed by some sort of climax of revelation. But Jesus had already revealed himself. These crowds were not interested in what Jesus had to say about himself, and therefore also misunderstood the works that he did in his Father's name.
Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe.
The Judeans wanted him to be the messiah they were expecting. But the heart of the revelation of the messianic identity of Jesus was always tied up with his plan to suffer and die, to give his life as a sacrifice for sin. The Judeans were looking for someone great who would be victorious. But Jesus would act first as servant and would appear to be defeated before he would be raised on high as victorious king. He gave amply testimony to his identity, but always made his identity an invitation to follow him on the way of self-forgetful love.
The works I do in my Father's name testify to me.
It was all too easy to misunderstand the works if they didn't want to accept the truth of the identity of the one doing them. We can see this in the readiness of some to prefer their own strict interpretations of the law to those which made mercy preeminent. This was the sort of thinking that said, 'If you are even wasting your time healing these nobodies you ought at least not do it on the Sabbath'. It seemed, probably, like he was intentionally inviting a weaker posture in matters of religion in order to heal the crowds that followed him. And a strong posture in religion seemed to them to be the only thing that preserved their religion in spite of the Roman occupation. But those who thought this way were prejudiced against Jesus from the beginning. Jesus did, in some sense, invite a weaker religious posture, meaning that he invited those who thought so highly of themselves to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God that in due time they could be exulted. And Jesus himself was the perfect demonstration of that to which he also invited those who heard him.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
Those who did not accept Jesus were not among his sheep because they didn't recognize his voice. This was not because they were preoccupied with the voice of the Father, for the Father would have drawn them to Jesus. It was instead because their own voices and that of the unregenerate world filled their minds. The word of Jesus found no place in them (see John 8:37) just as he himself found no room at the inn in Bethlehem.
Happily, we need not give up on these recalcitrant crowds that were not at that moment among the sheepfold. We know that the flock was never meant to be closed off to new members, that Jesus always had other sheep who were not members of the flock that he desired to lead. And these crowds were at least in proximity to the one thing that could change their hearts, minds, and stance in relation to the flock. They were in the presence of Jesus, hearing his voice. What they needed next was a moment like that when Peter realized that Jesus was the Son of God by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. And we can be certain that if they let down the careful guard of the ego they kept over their hearts that this revelation would be given to them as well.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.
The Father and I are one.
We can see in the shared divine purpose of the Father and of Jesus Christ our best hope for ourselves, these crowds about whom we read, and the world. Our own skill, intellect, and merit comes up short. We tend to fail even at cooperating with grace working within us and empowering us. But if the Father himself desires us to remain in the hands of his Son Jesus who are we to argue? How can we stand in his way? Only with the most hardened hearts and closed minds could we achieve this undesirable feat. Let us instead listen to the voice of Jesus so that we can be counted among those happy sheep of the Lord Jesus, forever safe in his Father's hand.
It is because the Father desires all to be saved that even those things which appear to be mistakes, failures, or tragedies can be made to work mysteriously for the good of a larger purpose.
Those who had been scattered by the persecution
that arose because of Stephen
went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,
preaching the word to no one but Jews.
There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however,
who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well,
proclaiming the Lord Jesus.
The joy about which we read in today's psalm as only a reflection of the joy that the Lord himself takes in his flock. Let us join in this festival of praise.
They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
"This man was born there."
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
"My home is within you."
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