It’s No Secret

Scripture: John 10.22-30; Psalm 23


It’s Hannukah in Jerusalem. The festival then, as now, remembers that the Old Temple built by Solomon was desecrated by the Seleucid King Antiochus. Antiochus had erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple. This sparked the Maccabean revolt and a period of freedom and autonomy for Judea lasting until the Roman occupation. Hannukah is the feast of rededication of the Temple to the One true God. It also hints at the anticipation of the Messiah who will set God’s chosen free forever from oppression and foreign rule.

Not much is left by this time of the Old Temple in its original form. Just Solomon’s porch. This sacred spot was used by Jewish kings to speak to the people and make rulings on important occasions. Jesus is walking on this porch when the Jews gather around him and want to know, “So are you the Messiah or not? Clear it up once and for all!”


The question implies that Jesus has been playing it coy. Think of all the candidates for the presidency in 2008- John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton. They began running last year. They were running before they had told anyone they were running. They were raising money. They were positioning themselves. But they didn’t want to look like they were positioning themselves. They didn’t want to be too obvious with their asking for money. And when asked if they were ready to declare themselves candidates, they played it cool, even coy. They waited until they deemed the time was right.

Jesus wasn’t being coy.

“I told you and you don’t believe me.”

There was, according to Jesus, a second testimony:

“The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me. . .”

Jesus was saying, Look at my track record. And what an impressive one it is
Dallas Willard writes, “The biblical and continuing vision of Jesus is of one who made all of created reality and kept it working, literally “holding it together” (Colossians 1.17).

“Jesus knew how to transform the molecular structure of water to make it wine. That knowledge also allowed him to take a few pieces of bread and some little fish and feed thousands of people. He could create matter from energy he knew how to access from the heavens, right where he was.

He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life. He knew how to suspend gravity, interrupt weather patterns, and eliminate unfruitful trees without saw or ax. He only needed a word. Surely he must be amused at what Nobel prizes are awarded for today.

All these things show Jesus cognitive and practical mastery of every phase of reality: physical, moral, and spiritual. He is Master only because he is Maestro. “Jesus is Lord” can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate before saying, “Jesus is smart.”

So, it would be amusing, if it weren’t rude and offensive to consider the question asked of Jesus, “So, are you a viable candidate for Messiah or what?”

How could so many people be so thick and uncomprehending? How could they watch Him feed thousands with so little, let alone watch the dead rise, and not believe and follow?

“You do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.”

Remember the debate I referred to a month or so ago between the atheist, Sam Harris, and the Christian pastor, Rick Warren? There were letters to the editor in a subsequent issue of Newsweek in regard to the debate. Some of the letters remarked how unintelligent and ill-equipped Warren seemed. They inferred that Warren’s comments on how he sees God everywhere were nonsensical to the issues at hand.

My reaction to those comments were, “Did you read the same debate that I did?” Although Warren is not a philosopher by training, and there are a few names that I would have loved seen debate Harris, I thought Warren handled himself quite well. His comments were cogent and incisive. My reaction to the debate versus those other reactions illustrates quite well the limitations of argument over the issue at hand: atheists and agnostics don’t see much room or use for religious belief in a discussion of truth. What is rational is only what can be measured or verified. For a follower of Jesus, however, believing in Him is the most rational course you could take in your life. For a believer, Jesus has offered and continues to offer proofs and evidences for those who know how and where to look.

And more than that, for those who know how to listen.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

There is some mystery here as to why some people can hear God’s voice and why some can’t. It’s like the Red State/Blue State dichotomy in politics. The supposition is that people living in these colors have different sets of values and ways of seeing the world and their lives. Admittedly, this dichotomy is a superficial one that is maybe only useful for political elections.

The difference between belief and unbelief is a much more fundamental structure in our lives. It is a Grand Canyon-size difference. No, the difference between the person of belief and the person of unbelief is the size of the Universe. The two people can work in the same office or factory, live on the same street, and shop in the same stores, but they live in different worlds. Because they are attuned to very different voices.

I remember the summer I spent in Holland and the quiet summer nights I would walk out to the dike and look across the ocean. By the dike was a small sheep farm. At dusk, as I was watching a beautiful sunset, the shepherd would step outside his farmhouse and whistle for his sheep, and immediately they would call back and come running. They knew his voice.

There is a bit of mystery to why some can hear and obey God’s voice when others don’t know what they’re talking about. But it’s not all mystery.

In “How to Train Sheep” the shepherd writes “sheep love routine.” This is how they learn. They don’t seek to please like a dog. But they do learn through repetition and positive reinforcement. Sheep get to know the shepherd who is good to them, and spends time with them.

The Secret of learning to hear God’s voice in our lives is spending time talking to and listening to God every day. It’s letting the Maestro show you how the rhythm of life works for you. It’s no secret really. It just isn’t always done. And that’s the shame. The fingerprints of God are everywhere, in culture, in nature, in our relationships, in the Word. But so many don’t want to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd.

How can you listen more clearly this week?