The Book of John | June 28, 2026 - Modern Worship

Prayer stands at the front because nothing truly moves forward until prayer has had its place. John sets John 10 in the middle of the feast of dedication, the celebration many would recognize as Hanukkah, a remembrance of God’s faithfulness, deliverance, and sustaining power. The feast remembers a temple reclaimed and rededicated, and John places Jesus right there in the temple, in winter, under Solomon’s colonnade.

Jesus is met with a demand: “If you are the Christ, just tell us plainly.” Truth, though, is not always rejected because it is unclear. Truth is often rejected because it is inconvenient. Jesus had already told them, and his works in the Father’s name bore witness about him, but willful disbelief had turned hearing into deafness and seeing into blindness. The warning from Saul’s rebellion presses the point: arrogance and self-rule can dress themselves up as sorrow, while the heart still worships itself.

Jesus contrasts that hard unbelief with the life of his sheep. His sheep hear his voice, he knows them, and they follow him. That following is not vague religious talk. The life of a disciple is an immersive, lifelong practice: be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do as he did. His sheep are given eternal life, not just someday, but now, as a state of being in him. Death may take hold of mortal flesh, but because of Christ, death loses its final grip.

Jesus declares that no one can snatch his sheep from his hand because no one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. Then Jesus says plainly, “I and the Father are one.” The raised stones show that the claim was understood as a claim to deity. Psalm 82 and the language of “gods” do not lower Jesus into the category of created spiritual beings. Colossians 1 lifts him high: Jesus is the image of the invisible God, creator of all things visible and invisible, the one in whom all things hold together.

Jesus mercifully calls hardened hearers to believe the works if they will not believe his words. John closes with a sharp contrast: some seek to arrest him, while many across the Jordan believe because everything John had said about him was true. The contrast is absolute. Good deeds cannot replace receiving the good shepherd. Jesus calls people out of bondage into eternal care, loving relationship, and the joy of promises that stand firm.

Romans 8 gives the final shout of confidence. Christ died, was raised, intercedes, and holds his people in a love from which nothing in all creation can separate them.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Willful disbelief can blind the soul [37:59] Willful disbelief does not leave a person neutral. Resistance to revealed truth reshapes perception until evidence becomes noise and mercy feels like threat. The danger is not merely intellectual doubt, but a stubborn posture that trains the heart to dodge the very light meant to heal it. [37:59]
• 2. Jesus’ sheep follow his voice [39:44] Jesus describes his people with three living marks: they hear him, they are known by him, and they follow him. Inner assurance matters, but obedience gives visible shape to that relationship. Discipleship is not a religious label; it is a life being formed by nearness to the shepherd. [39:44]
• 3. Eternal life begins now [41:33] Eternal life is not only a future destination after death. Jesus gives a present participation in his life, even while mortal bodies weaken and grief becomes real. The hope of resurrection does not deny death’s sorrow, but it does deny death the final word. [41:33]
• 4. Christ holds all things together [48:38] Jesus is not merely a helper within creation; he is the creator and sustainer of all things. His promise of security rests on more than tenderness, because his hands are the hands in which all things hold together. The sheep are safe because the shepherd is also God. [48:38]
• 5. Good works cannot replace receiving Jesus [52:44] Kindness and moral effort may bless others, but they cannot stand in for surrender to Christ. Jesus does not reveal himself simply to improve behavior, but to bring people out of bondage into life with him. The decisive question is not whether a person has done enough good, but whether Jesus has been believed and received.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [31:31] - Prayer Before Everything
• [32:16] - The Feast of Dedication
• [33:09] - Winter in Solomon’s Colonnade
• [34:10] - “Tell Us Plainly”
• [35:00] - Inconvenient Truth and Self-Deception
• [37:17] - Unbelief and the Shepherd’s Sheep
• [39:44] - Hearing, Being Known, Following
• [41:12] - Eternal Life in the Shepherd’s Hand
• [45:07] - Jesus Claims Oneness with the Father
• [46:18] - Psalm 82 and the Unseen Realm
• [47:42] - Christ Over All Creation
• [51:08] - Believe the Works
• [52:19] - Belief and Disbelief Laid Bare
• [54:38] - Romans 8 and Unshakable Hope

Bible Reading

John 10:22-42
“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So 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.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My 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. I and the Father are one.’ The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, “I said, you are gods”? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’ Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, ‘John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in him there.”
[31:56] [33:01] [34:10] [37:06] [37:17] [39:40] [41:04] [45:09] [45:37] [51:04] [52:01]

Romans 8:31-39
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor 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.”
[54:55]

Colossians 1:15-20
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
[47:42]

Observation questions

1. In John 10, what three things does Jesus say about his sheep, and what does he say he gives them? [39:40]
2. What details does John include about the setting at the start of this passage, and why might the Feast of Dedication matter for what follows? [32:16]
3. After Jesus says, “I and the Father are one,” how do the people respond, and what reason do they give for wanting to stone him? [45:09]
4. At the end of John 10, what contrast appears between those who wanted to arrest Jesus and those across the Jordan who believed in him? [52:19]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus says, “I told you, and you do not believe,” and then points to his works. What does this show about the real problem in that crowd: lack of information, or resistance to what was already being shown to them? [35:00]
2. Jesus says his sheep hear his voice, are known by him, and follow him. What does that suggest about the difference between merely admiring Jesus and actually belonging to him? [40:18]
3. Jesus gives his sheep eternal life and says no one can snatch them from his hand or the Father’s hand. How should that shape the way believers understand assurance when life feels fragile or threatening? [41:12]
4. Colossians says that all things were created through Christ and that in him all things hold together. How does that deepen the meaning of Jesus’ promise to keep his sheep secure? [48:38]

Application questions

1. Truth is often rejected not because it is unclear but because it is inconvenient. Where is there a temptation right now to duck, dodge, or rationalize what Jesus is making plain? [35:07]
2. Jesus’ sheep hear his voice, are known by him, and follow him. Which of those feels most encouraging right now, and which feels most challenging in everyday life? [39:44]
3. Following Jesus is a lifelong practice of being with him, becoming like him, and doing as he did. What is one concrete step that could help deepen that pattern this week? [40:27]
4. Eternal life begins now, even while bodies weaken and grief remains real. How does that truth speak into current fears about sickness, aging, loss, or death? [41:33]
5. No one can snatch Christ’s people from his hand. In what area of life is there a need to rest more honestly in that security instead of living as though everything depends on personal strength? [43:56]
6. Good works cannot replace receiving Jesus. Is there any way moral effort, kindness, or religious activity has become a substitute for real surrender to him? [52:44]
7. Nothing in all creation can separate God’s people from the love of God in Christ. What would it look like to face this week with that confidence instead of being driven by fear? [54:55]