True and false sheep

 

Hannukah--- the Feast of Dedication    v19-30

The searing light of truth once again exposes the darkness of the Pharisees’ hearts.   Jesus words cause division among them and leads Him to declare those who are true and those who were not.  They are arguing amongst themselves, extreme positions are laid bare.  Some said He had a devil and was mad;  others, how could one who is mad speak as He does; and can a devil open the eyes of the blind?  There is an important aside here, with the reference to the feast of dedication and the fact that it was winter. It was not only winter weatherwise, their hearts were frosty in their unbelief toward the Son of God.  The Feast of dedication was not one of the set feasts instituted by the Lord, but here it is recognised, and continues until this day. It is a commemoration of the great work of the Maccabees during the previous 200 years under Greek, then Roman occupation.  This takes place late November early December and lasted for eight days.

The Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, is a Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights.   Hanukkah is celebrated during the Hebrew month of Kislev (late November or early December), beginning on day 25 of Kislev and continuing for eight days and nights.  Many believe that the reason why they celebrate Hanukkah for eight days is that the Maccabees, upon recapturing Jerusalem, conducted a belated Feast of Tabernacles celebration.  Solomon himself had chosen that very same Feast of Tabernacles to dedicate the Temple when it was newly built.

From Jewish legend, “The story of Hanukkah, which tells the origins of the Feast of Dedication, is recorded in the First Book of Maccabees.  Hanukkah is called the Feast of Dedication as it celebrates the Maccabees' victory over Greek oppression and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.  A miraculous event occurred during the rededication of the Temple when God caused the eternal flame to burn for eight days on one day's worth of oil.  To remember this miracle of provision, candles are lighted and burned during the eight days of the Feast of Dedication.”   A converted Jew has given this perspective,  “Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that reaffirms the ideals of Judaism, and commemorates in particular, the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the lighting of candles on each day of the festival.  Although not mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, Hannukah came to be widely celebrated and remains one of the most popular Jewish religious observances.”  The main issue arising from this is that Hanukkah was instituted to commemorate Divine preservation of the people under foreign domination, which festival was associated with a Divine miracle, and brought joy and thanksgiving to them.  Conversely, the leaders have just witnessed a Divine miracle in their midst in the healing of the blind man, yet there is no joy, no celebration, just argument and dissension!  What should have been a time of joy became a time of debate.  They demand He tell them plainly if He is the Messiah.  The doubts they had were borne of unbelief, and Jesus defines what it means to be one of His. 

“Jesus answered them, I told you and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.  As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand, I and my Father are one.”

There is nothing plainer than that, He is one with the Father, and His sheep hear His voice.  If they don't hear his voice, they are not His people, and they are missing out on the greatest deliverance that has ever come to mankind: the gift of eternal life, and the guarantee that they will never perish.

The Hanukkah, the festival of lights, was a time for exchanging gifts-much like we exchange gifts at Christmas in the Western world.  The Good Shepherd gives the priceless gift of eternal life; life that is of such a quality, that He describes in chapter 17 as the knowledge of God.  No gift like this, never ending life of bliss to learn forever the wonders of Deity.  It was a time for celebration of victory over their enemies, knowing that all danger is removed.  The word for “never” is emphatic and can be stressed six times over-there is no possibility that His people will come to any harm.  The guarantee that God Himself shall not rescind His word to them they shall never, never, never, never, never, never, never perish; the guarantee that no man, and no creature shall be able to prise them from the Divine grasp.  That’s what it means to belong to Him.  His sheep hear His voice, and they follow Him.  That is the definition of a disciple.  His sheep are secured with unbreakable Divine protection-note the double security, "none shall pluck them out of my hand...no one can pluck them from my Father's hand."   They are secure in the unbreakable union of the Father and the Son.   No one will break the eternal union of Divine beings, nor the union between the believer and their God.