2019.03.08 Hopewell @Home ▫ John 10:22-42

Read John 10:22-42

Questions for Littles: What was happening in Jerusalem (John 10:22)? What season was it? Where was Jesus in John 10:23? What did the Jews do to Him in John 10:24a? What did they demand (verse 24b)? How does Jesus respond in John 10:25? What does Jesus say bear witness of Him in addition to His words? What is His explanation for their unbelief in John 10:26? Who do hear His voice (John 10:27)? What else do they do? What does Jesus give them (John 10:28)? Who can snatch them out of His hand? Who has given Jesus’s sheep to Him (John 10:29)? Who can snatch them out of His Father’s hand? What does Jesus say about Himself in John 10:30? How do the Jews respond in John 10:31? What does Jesus ask in John 10:32? What do the Jews say they are stoning Him for (John 10:33)? What does Jesus point out about language in John 10:34-35? What does Jesus say the Father did to Him in John 10:36? What does He present as proof that He is the Son of God (John 10:37)? How does Jesus describe His relationship with His Father at the end of John 10:38? What did they seek in John 10:39? What happened? Where did Jesus go in John 10:40? Who came to Him there (John 10:41)? What did they say? What did they do (John 10:42)? 

In the Gospel reading this week, we find people who cannot save themselves and others who cannot be stopped from being saved.

First, those who cannot save themselves. The Jews’ unbelief is so hard and sad. Jesus has told them plainly who He is—and then when He tells them again, they want to kill Him! Notice, by the way, that Jesus does not deny their charges of what He is claiming about Himself. He simply attests that His claims are true! He has even done works—works that John the Baptizer hadn’t displayed—that prove that He and His Father are One. But they still can’t believe.

But then there are those whose salvation cannot be stopped. We know why. When they hear Jesus’s voice, they know Him, and He knows them. He gives them eternal life. No one can snatch them out of His hand. He gives them eternal life, because His Father was the One who gave them to Him. No one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. Their salvation goes all the way back into God Himself—how can anything in all creation and time ever undo that?!

Therefore, even though there was just recently a very public attempt on His life, they are glad to come to Him and believe in Him.

If salvation starts in God Himself, what does that mean for your own salvation? 

Suggested songs: ARP23A “The Lord’s My Shepherd” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome…”