Who is Jesus? Certainly a question that would get many different responses. I wonder what Jason, that we've heard of, what he would say about who is Jesus. I wonder if you were to go to the campus at IU and ask students coming and going in their week this week, who is Jesus? You would certainly get a variety of responses. Even here tonight, if we went around the room, we'd likely get a variety. of responses. How would you answer that question? If you'd open your Bibles with me to John chapter 10, we'll take a look at one passage of scripture and how God answers that question. It won't be an exhaustive answer to that question, but page 1276 in the few Bibles, John chapter 10. We're going to read from verses 22 through the end of the chapter. And you'll note, as we begin the reading, that John provides a reference point here. It's December, it's wintertime, probably about four months before Jesus' crucifixion. And so somewhere around, I was trying to do the math earlier, 1900 and 70 or 80 some years ago, 80 some years ago. So just a point of reference of where this takes place. And then this interaction in which we have some answers to that question, who is Jesus? Listen as I read from the word of God, John chapter 10 verses 22 through 42. At that time the feast of the dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews therefore gathered around him and were saying to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name, ye bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hands. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hands. I and the father are one. The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, I showed you many good works from the Father, for which of them are you stoning me? The Jews answered him, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God. Jesus answered them, has it not been written in your law, I said, that you are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming? Because I said, I am the Son of God. If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." Therefore they were seeking again to seize him, and he eluded their grasp. And he went away again, beyond the Jordan, to the place where John was first baptizing, and he was staying there. And many came to him and were saying, while John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. And many believed in him there. Having heard the word of God, let us pray. Father, as we've just sung, we would indeed pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of our heart together would be acceptable in your sight. We pray that you would do this through Christ, our Redeemer, in whose name we pray. Amen. Who is Jesus? Well, at least three answers to that question, or maybe three questions about answering that question in this passage before us this evening. The first question that I think the passage asks is, is he the Christ? Jesus the Christ that of course was the question that the Pharisees that the Jews asked of Jesus there in verse 24 how long do you keep us in doubt if you are the Christ tell us plainly that was their question tell us plainly don't don't be secretive about it don't hide it just let us know is are you in fact the Christ Now, sometimes when we use the name Jesus Christ, we use Christ almost as a last name. We think of, you know, Jesus was his first name and Christ was his last name. And yet, when we study the scripture, we understand that that's, though that would seem culturally accurate to us, it's not biblically accurate, that Christ was a designation. The Christ, as it's noted here, is the Messiah, the one who was to come, the one who is to be sent from God. Are you this one? Don't keep us in suspense. Don't continue to make us wonder. Tell us plainly if you are the Christ. What is it that they wanted? Well, we know from the whole of the New Testament that they wanted a political rescuer. They wanted a Messiah to come in and change their circumstances, to take them to freedom from the oppression of Rome. They wanted no longer to be under Roman authority. It's fascinating if you watch the political spectrum at all, that whenever there's a change of administration, the fanfare, the excitement, certainly it happened here in the United States with the election of President Obama, and no matter which way you voted, you couldn't miss the fanfare, the excitement, the hope. There is a change coming. There's going to be good out of this. That was the sense. And the same thing happens in Australia. I suppose it happens world round. But it's interesting, usually a new political party comes into power and there's a lot of excitement, a lot of fanfare, and then things kind of dwindle to four years later, or eight years later, or maybe even longer than that. There's another change of administration. change of political leadership. And there, again, develops that sort of an excitement, that sort of fanfare. This is the one. He's the one who's going to rescue us, in a sense. He's the one who's going to lead us to prosperity. He's the one who's going to lead us to a sense of a greater accomplishment of who we are as a people. And in many ways, that's what the Jews wanted. They wanted a rescuer. They wanted a political rescuer. They wanted change. And they thought perhaps that Jesus was this one, this one who would come as the King of Israel who would be raised up. He would lead Israel to overthrow the Romans and lead the Jewish people again into political freedom and significance. And we know that that's true. As we read the scripture, we know that even the disciples, even those closest friends of Jesus struggled with understanding that was coming to grips with what it was that Jesus said he was going to do as they wrestled with that question. Is he the Christ? Remember, just before Jesus was read, was ascended into heaven. What was the question that the disciples asked him? Lord, is it now? Lord, is it now that you're going to establish the kingdom? And the sense behind that was, are you going to be king now here on earth? And Jesus said, you don't understand, but you will receive power and you will be my witnesses. That was again, there, those closest to Jesus struggled with that. So it shouldn't surprise us that these who were often his most hostile enemies would be struggling with that. They wanted a Messiah who would come and lead them as a political leader. They really didn't know their scripture very well. They didn't know the Old Testament promises. They didn't understand that the Word of God promised in the Old Testament that a Messiah would come, not as a political leader, but as God's divine representative who would save his people from their sins. That's what the Messiah was promised to do. And so they said to Jesus, tell us plainly, are you the Christ? And what was Jesus' answer? I have. He has repeatedly. He says, I continue to tell you that I am the one who was sent from God, that I am the one who was to come, and in fact, who has come. And I have come for the purpose of saving my people from their sins. You can look through the Gospel of John, a book that John wrote so that people would know who Jesus was. and they would believe in him. John 20, 30 and 31. These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing, you might have life in his name. So what is it that John told us? If you had your Bibles open, look back to John chapter 5, verses 26 and 27. The father has life in himself and has granted the son to have life in himself. He has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Jesus was God's representative, had been given God's authority to execute judgment. Chapter 6, verse 29, Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in the one whom he has sent. The sent one, everyone knew that was the Messiah, the one who was sent from and by God. John chapter 7, again, I'm just giving you a taste that John had this message that Jesus had in fact when he He said, I told you, why don't you believe me? He wasn't pretending. He had been clear that he was sent by God. So chapter 7, verses 37 and 38. On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And then again, in chapter 10, verse 10, the thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it abundantly. I have come. I've been sent by God. I've been sent not as a political rescuer, but as the Messiah, the one who was promised to save God's people. And so the question we can ask fairly easily, and we can answer fairly easily, is he the Christ? Yes. Yes, he is. He's not the Christ the Jews wanted. He's not a political savior. That was far too small a task. Christ could have come and restored the Jews as a, as a, as a prospering nation, as a center of attention in the, in the world economy, but that was too small a task. Instead, Christ came. that He might be the Savior, the Christ, the One who would save His people from their sins. Is He the Christ? Yes. Well, the passage goes on to ask and answer a second question. Who is Jesus? Is He the Shepherd Savior? Is He the Shepherd Savior? Notice he goes on and goes immediately after having said, I have told you that I am the Christ and you need to believe in me. He goes on to give them evidence that he is in fact the Christ and the Shepherd Savior. Notice in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. This picture of God being a shepherd of his people was as old as God's revelation to his people nearly. God had promised that he would be the shepherd to his people. Psalm 23, very familiar to us. It was very familiar to the Jews of Jesus' day. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And Jesus here is claiming that I am that shepherd. I know my sheep. I know them intimately. They are given to me, in verse 29, they are given to me by my Father. Verse 14, before we read, I am a good shepherd and I know my sheep and I am known by my own. This knowledge of Christ that he knows his sheep. It's an intimate knowledge. If Christ is God and we'll come to that question in a minute, then he knows everything. Have you ever had the experience that you wanted? Well, I'm sure you have had the experience that you want to get to know someone better. Maybe. For some of you young men, it was a young lady and you wanted to get to know her better. Or maybe it was just a coworker or a friend or a neighbor, but you had an interest in getting to know that person better. But if you ever had the experience that you got to know that person, the more you got to know them, the less you liked them. Maybe some have had that experience about you. But what is it that God knows? What is it that Christ is saying? I know about my sheep. He's saying, I know everything there is to know about them. And you know that there are things that you really don't want people to know about you. There are things you'd just as soon keep a secret. Thank you. I don't know how many times Nancy and I have said to our children, you don't have to tell everything that happens at home. You know, they're things that we want to keep a secret. And if people live in our home, we have two young men living in our home now in Australia, and they know more about us than they did six months ago. And some of the things they know about us are things I'd rather they didn't know about us. And I hope they don't tell. But Jesus says, I know my sheep. I know them intimately. I know everything there is to know about them. But Jesus' knowledge of his sheep is a caring, living, aware knowledge. He knows what you are like. And if you are his sheep, he loves you and is changing you to be more like him. I know my sheep, he says, and not only does he say he knows his sheep, but he says he gives them eternal life. Verse 28, I give them eternal life. Eternal life lasts a really long time. I give them eternal life. We know what it is to have something run, something fail, something quit working just after the warranty runs out. Well, the storekeeper says, sorry, you know, it was a one year warranty and that ran out last Tuesday. You know, I can sell you a new one. It's even better than that one. I'll give you a deal. But the frustration of things that break and they don't work and they don't last as long as they should. We don't have to be concerned about that when it comes to eternal life. Eternal life given by Jesus to his sheep lasts for eternity, lasts forever. It's not a one year guarantee or a five year guarantee. It's not even a lifetime guarantee. It is forever. I give them eternal life. 17 times in John's gospel. He repeats this phrase, this idea of eternal life coming from Christ. We know some of those verses. John 3 verse 15. Whoever believes in Him, that is in Jesus, should not perish, but have eternal life. Verse 16, one of the best-known verses in the Bible, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Verse 36, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life. Chapter 4, verse 14, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto everlasting life. Chapter 5 verse 24, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has everlasting life. Chapter 6 verse 40, this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up on the last day. Verse 47, I most assuredly I say to you he who believes in me has everlasting life. Jump forward to John chapter 17, Jesus high priestly prayer. And what is it that he prays in verses two and three? Father, as you have given me authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. And then. Chapter 20 verses 30 and 31 that I already mentioned. John writes, these things I've written to you that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing you may have life in his name. Doesn't use eternal life there, but it's the same sense of the word. I just give you that survey to make sure you understand that John understood that Jesus was serious about giving eternal life to those who are his. This shepherd, Jesus gives eternal life to his sheep. And He will never lose them. Never lose one. It was a week ago tonight. We were staying with a family in Lafayette. Our kids are staying with their siblings in their university housing or apartment housing. And I walked in the door of the place where we were staying, some folks in the church there, and I said, I've lost my wife. And I really have. She was supposedly following me to their house from the church, and I made the second to last turn, and she wasn't behind me anymore. And I knew her cell phone was dead. I knew she didn't know the streets of Lafayette very well. I didn't know them all that well myself. I didn't know if she'd had car trouble, and that actually the car that was behind me most of the way that I thought was her maybe wasn't her at all. And so I called my children. I said, I've lost your mother. If you hear from her, let me know. I mean, it's funny now, but it wasn't funny then. It wasn't a panicky kind of feeling, but it was a concern. Did she write down? Is she following someone else to somewhere else in Lafayette? And who knows where she's going to end up? How's she going to get in touch with me? She doesn't know. I mean, I don't know her. We have temporary cell phone numbers while we're here. I don't know hers. It's in my phone. She doesn't know mine. It's in her phone, which has a dead battery. She doesn't know my kids' cell phone numbers. I didn't know what was going to happen. Well, my wife's pretty resourceful, and she found a payphone, hard to find these days. She found a phone book, sometimes even harder to find if you can find a payphone. And she couldn't find at home the name of the people that we live with because people don't have landlines anymore, and they don't have a landline. Their cell phones were in the phone book, but she found Dave and Jenny's number in the phone book, and she called them, and they called Zachary, and Zachary called me. And I went and found her and we came back home. It was, it wasn't traumatic, but it was concerning. You know, what, what sort of trouble has she had? And, and, uh, I mean, we can have far more traumatic kinds of fears of losing someone. Jesus said, I will never lose my sheep. Never. Verse 29, no one can snatch them out of my hand. No one, not you, not me, not anyone can snatch the sheep of Christ. out of his hand, and not even the evil one, though he may try with all of his might, not even the sheep themselves. Imagine a parent walking down a busy road with their child holding hands, and that child may want to run free, that child may want to just dart into the street, but that parent, if they are wise, and if they are caring, are going to hold that child tightly by their hand. Now, with children and parents, sometimes parents grip slips. Sometimes parents get distracted. Sometimes a child can dart out or not follow instructions and come into either very close to coming into trouble or coming into trouble. But Jesus says, I will never lose my sheep. And then goes on to add for emphasis in verse 30. Not only will I not lose them, but my father will not lose them. Is Jesus the shepherd savior? Yes. He knows his sheep. He gives them eternal life. He will never lose one. The third question about who is Jesus that this passage asks and answers, is he God? Is he God? Again, if you were to ask people that question, who is Jesus? How many of them would say, well, he's God. Oh, they might say he was a good teacher. He was a, you know, a man who lived before his time. He just, he was at the wrong time in the wrong place in his culture. But not very many people on the street or in the campus, or maybe in your neighborhood would say, Jesus is God. But is he? Is he God? That was the question that he's asking here and interacting with these Jews. Is he God? Well, what does he say? How does he answer that question? He says, I'm one with my father. I'm one with my father. Verse 30, I and the father are one. Is Jesus just a mere man? Is Jesus just a good teacher? Know what he claims here. And the Jews understood what he was claiming. I am one with God. Now sometimes people can misinterpret scripture and they can say that that's what we all aspire to, that we would become one with God. Now there's a true sense that we have a oneness with God in terms of fellowship, in terms of the grace of God poured into our hearts through his son, but we don't become little gods and we don't somehow become God. It's not that God just gets bigger and bigger as all of us become him, as some people would falsely teach. Jesus here was claiming equality with God. And the Jews understood that. Verse 33, they picked up stones to stone in verse, I'm sorry, verse 31. And then verse 33, why did we do that? We did that because you a mere man have blasphemed by claiming to be God. Well, Jesus said, I am one with the father. And that's why I do the things that I do. That's why I teach the things that I teach. I and the father are one. That goes on to answer that claim or that question in another way in verses 34 and following he says I was sent by the father I was sent by the father verse 34 quotes from Psalm 82 and Jesus here is arguing from the lesser to the greater in Psalm 82 God is rebuking unjust judges and as God rebukes these unjust judges he calls them gods He calls them mighty ones. The word can have a sense of the supreme deity or mighty beings. We would say today they were little g gods. They were powerful ones. They were mighty ones. God recognized that even though he was rebuking them for their injustice. And so Jesus is saying, if God could call them little G gods who were unjust judges, why cannot the eternal son of God, the one who is God, claim to be God? What we might say, the big G God, the only true God, that's the claim that Jesus was making. And of course, that's a difficult thing to understand. What does it mean that Jesus and God are one and the same? We had some Mormons show up on our doorstep one cold winter night back in July of last year. I know that sounds odd to you, but that's what happens in Australia. It's cold winter nights in July. And as we were, um, I didn't want to invite them in my house, but I stood on the porch and engaged with them, trying to challenge them in their false beliefs and, and proclaim Christ to them. One of them, of course, they don't believe that Jesus is God. They believe he's a lesser being. And I kept insisting that Jesus said that he is one with God, that Jesus is God, and that the Father is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God. One of them said, in sort of a mocking way, well, is God some kind of ventriloquist? And the sense is, is God a ventriloquist that holds this dummy Jesus on his lap and moves his mouth? And when Jesus is speaking, God, you know, you can't say his lips move like a good ventriloquist, but the dummy's lips move. Well, that was nearly the end of the conversation. I said, we can stop right here because I won't listen to blasphemy about God. I said to them, I don't understand what it means. I don't understand how it is that God can be one God in three persons. But the scripture makes clear that that is the case. And we just have to accept that. And that's what Jesus here was saying. I am one with God. I am sent by the Father. He and I are identical in essence. but distinct in person. Is He God? Yes. He is the eternal Son of God. He is eternally God the Son. Well, let me ask a fourth question. Three questions about who is Jesus. Is He the Christ? Is He the Shepherd Savior? Is He God? This question gets a little bit more personal. Do you believe in Him? Do you believe in Jesus The people said it's quoted there in verses 40 and 41. They said the things John spoke about this one are true John didn't perform any miracles, but everything he has said about this Jesus is true. Well, what did John say about Jesus? back to chapter 1 verse 32 This is the eternal Son of God. I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and he remained on him. I And I did not know him, but him who sent me to baptize with water said to me, and upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and I have testified that this is the Son of God." And it goes on to say, this is the one who takes away the sin of the world. And the people here in John chapter 10 said, the things that John said about this one are true. The things that John said about Jesus are true. Well, how do you answer the question? How do you, how do you answer the question? Do I believe in him? It says there that many believe in Jesus. Verse 42, many believed in him. How do you answer the question? Do you believe in him? Well, again, if we go back to verses 27, we see that Jesus answers how you can answer that question. Do you believe in him? Hear his voice. Hear his voice. Verse 27, my sheep, hear my voice. My sheep, hear my voice. Do you listen to him? Well, how do you hear the voice of Jesus today? Is it is it in dreams? Do we do we hope tonight when we go to sleep, we'll have a vision of Jesus and we'll see him standing there in front of us and he'll be speaking to us. Or some would say that's the way that we would expect, but we don't believe the scripture teaches that. How do you hear the voice of Christ? You hear it in his word preached. You hear it in his word as you read it. You get up in the morning and get into the Word of God, you hear the voice of Christ. When you come to a preaching morning and evening, do you come to hear the preacher? Or do you come to hear Christ? Let me go so far as to encourage you, when you come to church, don't listen to the preacher. Now let me tell you what I mean. Don't listen to the preacher. But listen to him of whom the preacher preaches. Don't just hear the words of a man, but hear Christ as he is preached to you. Listen to him. Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice. Do you believe in him? Are you a sheep? Then hear his voice. It goes on to say in that same verse, verse 27, follow me. My sheep hear my voice. They follow me. Do you believe in Him? Follow Him. That was always the call of Jesus to those who would be His disciples. What was it that Matthew records as Jesus' early call in His ministry? He came upon these fishermen, and what is it that He said to them? Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. He goes on, and that call to follow Jesus is repeated in all of the Gospels. He said in Luke chapter 9, if you have anyone that you, if there's anything that you desire before me, you can't be my disciple. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Did you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Christ today? Will you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Christ tomorrow? And the day after that, and the day after that, there's some who are content. And I know many of you, but I don't know all of you. And I don't know any of your hearts completely, only so much as you choose to reveal. But many people are content to say, well, I believe in Jesus. I think he existed. Maybe I believe he is the Christ in some way, the savior of his people in some way, but I have a life to live. You know, we don't have to get hung up about this, do we? I mean, we don't have to be fanatical about this, do we? Is it OK if I just sort of have an interest in Jesus? Isn't that enough? I mean, I go to church every Christmas and every Easter. Isn't that enough? No, Jesus said, follow me. We drove from Lafayette to Terre Haute, from Terre Haute to Bloomington today. And I was the lead car both times. We had three this morning, two this afternoon. And my wife told me they couldn't hear me, but I kept saying to the driver in the car behind me, follow me, keep up. I mean, when someone's following me, I want them to stay right with me. I don't want to lose them, as sometimes happens. I want them to follow close behind me. Well, that's what Jesus wants of us in a far greater importance. Follow me. You know, in our culture we have maybe a growing problem, certainly a growing definition of a problem, of stalking. Stalking, by legal definition, is the willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another person. And I don't want to make life a stalking in any way. It's a crime and it often leads to greater crimes against people. But we understand the idea. A stalker is someone who can't get enough of the person involved. They want nothing more than to be near them. They want nothing more to be close to them. They want nothing more than to follow them. And I would suggest that if you believe in Jesus, you are called to stalk him. You are called to a willful and repeated and deliberate following of Jesus Christ. That's what Christian discipleship is. I can't get enough of this Jesus in whom I believe. Who is Jesus? Is He the Christ? Yes. Is He the Shepherd Savior? Yes. Is He God? Yes. If you're following along in the outline or if you're just listening, I can give you the answer to those three questions. But I can't give you the answer to the fourth question. Do you believe in him? Only you can answer that. If your answer is no, then I urge you, please come. Please follow him. If you're not that interested, I urge you to reconsider because you will die in your sins. If you don't believe in Jesus, I fear for you. But if you do, if you can say yes, if you're filling out the outline and you say, do I believe in him? Yes. then rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Hear His voice and follow Him. Follow Him this week by grace more than you did last week. Do you believe in Jesus? Hear His word and follow Him. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we do pray that we might hear Christ tonight. You alone know the hearts of each one here. You know everything about them. Christ, you know them intimately. You know if there's some here who are only casual or disinterested in following Christ. You know if there's some here who would say, yes, I believe in Jesus, but to look at their lives, do they listen to his voice? Do they follow him? We'd be left to wonder. And some perhaps would look at us and be left to wonder. But might we indeed believe that Jesus is the Christ, son of God? And might we by believing have life in his name, eternal life, knowing that we will never perish because he holds us in his hand. And might we be those who follow him. And in following him, might we lead others to follow him too by grace. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.