The passage John
10:22-30 contains the most important message of Jesus Christ; he
revealed to the Jews that he is the Son of God, and sums up the
message that he taught all through his public ministry. He addresses
Jews with a message of the greatest importance that underscores the
immense implication of how people should act in response to Jesus’
words.This passage from the Gospel according to John is a kind of
"timeless" wisdom to be remembered in any case, as it
reflects Jesus' self-understanding and how people should perceive
Jesus.
In the passage, one
can read that the Jews “assembled” around Jesus, A rather neutral
word “assembled” is used in the translation, as if the crowd
calmly came to listen to the well-known professor. However, the
original text says that the Jews “encircled” Jesus. Saint John
uses this verb to put emphasis on the threat to Jesus’ life.
Jesus says he will
not let the sheep that come to him to be pulled out of his hand.
Jesus draws a clear picture of wolves descending on the weak sheep
and wiping them out, he promises to be a good shepherd and protect
his herd. When Jesus says that he and His Father are the one, this is
a symbol of how a conversation that began with a conflict is finished
with harmony. A sheep that comes to Christ comes to God, as Father
and Son are the one.
The message of the
passage fits what the literary context teaches the reader, in
prophesying harmony in the world. Certainly today, a lot of attempts
to retain harmony and unity in the society, are frequently thrown
straight back to the peoples’ faces. So far the final promise of
unity, clarity and hearing is still not realized.
Saint John tries to
explain not only that Jesus’ words generated a schism among the
Judaic hearers, but that he intended to speak to those who had
ears to listen and were able to distinguish the Lord’s