Today's episode, John 10: 22-30, takes place on the Feast of the Dedication. But what does that mean? Well, it means the dedication of the temple and the feast is what you and I call Chanukah, described in the Old Testament in the 4th chapter of I Maccabees, also in the 10th chapter of II Maccabees The feast goes back to the Seleucid occupation of the holy land, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes defiled the Temple by sacrificing to Zeus on its altar, rendering that holy place ritually impure. Judas Maccabee and his brothers led a successful revolution to free their land. Then in triumph they purified and dedicated the Temple to divine service. Naturally, Chanukah was second only to Passover in having political significance for Jews, as it coincided with restoring Jewish hegemony in their land.
Jesus is walking in the Temple on that occasion and is asked whether he is the Messiah, the king expected again to lead a revolution to drive out occupiers, but also expected to bring in God's Kingdom in its fullness (a perfect world), convert all nations to Israel's God and raise the dead. Following rabbinic custom, Jesus doesn't answer directly. He says look at my deeds. There inquirers will find that Jesus has re-written the messianic job description. He offers spiritual liberation and peacemaking.
Jesus then goes on to describe himself in shepherdly language, an analogy easily lost on many. Objectively, sheep are woolly and cute, but also stupid, gullible and easily panicked. Jesus' appropriate analogy concerns the relation between shepherd and sheep, the essence of which is dependence, and radical trust. It is out of that relationship that we carry on our assignment, ceaselessly struggling to help bring in the Kingdom of God, a world of justice and peace.
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