May 11th, 2025
Atonement Lutheran Church
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C
Sermon on John 10:22–30
In the Name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
John 10:22-30: “22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.””
It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and for Timmy and his siblings, there was nothing to do. They decided to play hide and seek. They took turns on who of them would be hiding and who would seek them. They had lots of fun hiding from each other and finding new and more difficult places to hide, and the challenge of looking. As evening began, Timmy was able to find his younger brother Johnny, but had not yet found his sister Jill. Timmy and Johnny looked everywhere for her, under beds, in closets, under the kitchen table, behind the chairs, and the couch in the living room. They could not find her anywhere. It wasn't until Mom came home from work and called out Jill’s name that Jill emerged from her hiding spot and ran to her mother and hugged her fiercely. Jill heard her mother’s voice and responded to it.
In our text today, Jesus is confronted by a group of Jews seeking clarification on who Jesus is. The Jews' question, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly”, reminds me of my children. My children would ask me all kinds of questions, and instead of giving them the answer right out, I would have them try to reason out the answer, through application or thinking through the problem. When the answers were really tough, beyond their understanding, they would “whine” at me to just tell them the answer.
These Jews are like that. They do not understand. They wanted Jesus to tell them in simple, plain language that He is the Christ, the Messiah; but “25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.” The Jews did not understand the teachings about the Kingdom of God, the preaching of Jesus, and the miracles done by Jesus.
Christ continued and said, “27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” The Jews could not understand because they could not hear Christ's message of salvation, the forgiveness of sin, and life eternal with God; they could not hear His Gospel message.
You and I have a similar problem. We, too, have trouble hearing the Gospel message, don't we? How often have our desires for the things of this world overcome our desire for the things of God, His love and mercy? Too often. Our desires are disordered, and this causes us to sin against God. Our disordered desires, our sins, separate us from God. Our sin deafens us to the voice of Christ and His Gospel message.
Though sin deafens and blinds us, God's will not leave us in this state. God, out of His love for us, sent us the Holy Spirit to revive us and to give us faith. In the waters of baptism, God gives us faith through the Holy Spirit and works the forgiveness of sins, rescues us from death and the devil, and gives eternal life to all those who believe in God and His promises.
We are also given the Lord's Supper, where we celebrate Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave for the forgiveness of our sins. In the Lord's Supper, we partake of Christ's very body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, to give us eternal life and salvation. For as Martin Luther says in the Small Catechism, “For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.”
When our sins are forgiven, we are given not just a new life in Christ, but also a new desire for Christ and the good works that have been prepared for us to do. In Christ, we are no longer deafened by our sin but hear the blessed call of Christ. And like Jill, who ran towards her mother after hearing her voice, so do we run towards Christ and His love, mercy, and forgiveness when we hear His voice.
We also have the assurance that God will protect and defend us. And like a mother who fiercely holds and protects her child from danger. Christ holds and protects all those who believe in Him. Christ says in our text, “29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.””
Christ will never abandon us or leave us. No one is able to separate us from the love of Christ Jesus. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)
And when we sin, we separate ourselves from God and His mercy, forgiveness, and love. We began to desire the things of this world – money, power, sex, etc. – and turn away from God. All these things keep us separated from God. Even though our desire becomes disordered through our sinful actions, God still loves us. God desired to be with His creation and have eternal life with Him. When Christ said, “I and the Father are one.” He is stating that He is God who took on human form. Christ lived a righteous and sinless life to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. It is through this sacrifice on the cross that we can look back to our baptism and remember the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit and the promises of God. It is because of His sacrificial death on the cross that we partake in the sacrificial meal, the Lord's Supper, to receive the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
We cannot bring ourselves to saving faith in Christ. No. Christ calls us to saving faith and with the Holy Spirit, we are given saving faith. And when we hear the saving voice of Christ, in faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, we respond. We respond to His voice of love, mercy, faithfulness, and His saving work on the cross. Like Jill in our story, we too will run to the voice who calls us out of the darkness of sin and death. We run to the voice Who Saves us, and we hold tightly to His words of salvation. We hold on by going to Church, listening to the Word of God rightly preached, reading our Bible, praying, and doing the good works that have been prepared for us to do.
Know that Christ is calling you. Respond to His call of salvation and eternal life. And know that the love of God surpasses all our understanding, and let His love guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
