Preached on May 11, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla. Based on John 10:22-30.
This passage opens by putting us in a certain place at a certain time. Jesus is in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon, during the Festival of Dedication. We normally call this holiday something else: Hanukkah. It is also sometimes called the Festival of Lights. It is the major Jewish holiday that was created most recently.
Let me take you back to the time of the Maccabees. In 167 BCE, Judea was under the control of the Seleucid Empire. The emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes ordered the desecration of the Temple. He had an altar to Zeus erected and ordered pigs—the most unclean of animals—to be sacrificed on the existing altar. This action provoked a revolt that succeeded in 164 BCE.
So, the Jews had re-captured the Temple, but it was still desecrated. The altar had to be re-built, and then they had to light the menorah. Unfortunately, all of the oil available had been defiled, and it would take eight days to make and purify new oil. Miraculously, one day’s worth of oil lasted all eight days. Maimonides, also called the Rambam, one of the greatest rabbis of the Middle Ages, wrote:
When, on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the Jews had emerged victorious over their foes and destroyed them, they re-entered the Temple where they found only one jar of pure oil, enough to be lit for only a single day; yet they used it for lighting the required set of lamps for eight days, until they managed to press olives and produce pure oil. Because of this, the sages of that generation ruled that the eight days beginning with the twenty-fifth of Kislev should be observed as days of rejoicing and praising the Lord. Lamps are lit in the evening over the doors of the homes, on each of the eight nights, so as to display the miracle. These days are called Hanukkah, when it is forbidden to lament or to fast, just as it is on the days of Purim. Lighting the lamps during the eight days of Hanukkah is a religious duty imposed by the sages.
So, Jesus is in the Temple that had been consecrated miraculously by a light that did not fail. But we know that Jesus Christ is the Light of the World, the Light that will never fail. He came to his own people at this auspicious time to remind them that the Light comes from God the Father, and that he is of one essence with the Father.
This event occurs pretty close to the end of Jesus’s ministry. Throughout the Gospel of John, there is a succession of “signs,” miracles that indicate Jesus’s divine nature. At this late juncture, his opponents are still trying to figure out just who he is and what he’s going to do. So they ask him to state plainly whether or not he is the Messiah. I think the context of the question, being asked in the Temple during Hanukkah, helps us to understand just what they were asking.
The Jews were an oppressed nation. In 63 BCE, they became a client state of the Romans, and then lost all independence in 37 BCE. They looked back to their freedom that preceded the Romans and yearned for a savior who would return them to those glory days. Remember that in 586 BCE, Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and remained a conquered nation for centuries. As I said a few minutes ago, by 167 BCE, they were ruled by the Seleucid Empire. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes began persecuting Jewish practices and ultimately desecrated the Temple. Mattathias, a priest, was commanded by some soldiers to perform a sacrifice to the Greek gods in his home village, but instead he resisted and killed one of the Seleucid officials. This began a rebellion, led by Mattathias and his sons. When Mattathias was killed in 166 BCE, his third son Judah took command. He was nicknamed HaMakabi or “The Hammer.” Judah Maccabee went on to defeat the Seleucid army and took Jerusalem on the 25th of Kislev, December 14, 164 BCE.
So the Jews were gathered in the Temple to celebrate a great military victory, led by someone apparently designated by God to liberate God’s people from a foreign occupying army. Just as Judah Maccabee freed Judea from Seleucid rule and re-consecrated the Temple, the Jews were seeking a Messiah who would lead them to victory over the Romans, free them from oppression, and purify the Temple. This is the context for the question: Are you the Messiah?
Jesus says, in effect, Yes, I am, but not the kind of Messiah you are expecting! Jesus’s actions, the six great signs reported in the Gospel of John up to this point as well as many others that weren’t recorded, demonstrated his divine nature and his earthly mission. He came not to destroy, but to build up. He came to feed the poor, heal the sick, and free the prisoner. He came to bring forth God’s kingdom, not through force but through love.
Today is sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday. When Jeff changed the anthem, I said, “Yeah, I was just thinking that the liturgy and music was a little light on allusions to sheep and shepherds.” Sheep and shepherds are common motifs throughout the Bible. God has been likened to a shepherd since at least the time of David, who wrote that “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Modern Americans don’t have a lot of experience with sheep, so I looked up the kinds of things a shepherd does to care for their sheep:
- Planning for where to graze the sheep, to ensure access to good food and water—still water because sheep are afraid of moving water.
- Finding supplemental hay etc. during times of scarcity.
- Protecting the flock from predators.
- Herding the flock together so they can be protected from harm.
- Separating out sheep who are causing problems, or who need special attention due to illness or injury.
Through it all, shepherds develop a close, personal bond with their sheep. It is true that sheep know their shepherd’s voice and follow it. Jesus calls us to follow him in what he does. We have been chosen to be a part of his flock, and in turn he protects us and cares for us. Jesus’s contemporaries were looking for a strong leader to lead a pack of wolves against the Romans, but God chose instead a Good Shepherd to guide a flock of sheep. In this passage and others, Jesus promises to always be with us, to care for us and protect us and guide us, to restore our souls, to leads us in paths of righteousness. Jesus promises that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Out of gratitude for this love and care and protection and guidance, we are called to live out our lives as Jesus’s sheep. What does that mean? Well, let’s turn to another famous passage in Matthew 25. When the King comes in his glory, he will separate people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. To the sheep he says, “Come, inherit the kingdom, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” When did the righteous do this? Just as they did to one of the least of his brothers and sisters, they did it to Jesus.
This is what it means to be a sheep of Jesus’s fold. We are called to pursue Jesus’s righteousness and do as he did, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger. As I have said so often, the core of the Gospel is that the kingdom of God is at hand! Our King comes not only at the end of the age, but each day in the oppressed and forgotten and marginalized people of this age. God’s kingdom is an existence of universal human flourishing. It is shalom, a peace that transcends an absence of conflict and encompasses wholeness, completeness, perfection. As the body of Christ, we are called to exhibit the kingdom of God here and now.
The Matthew 25 initiative from PC(USA) is built on three pillars: building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism, and eradicating systemic poverty. Each congregation that signs on to become a Matthew 25 congregation needs to live out one or more of these pillars in its local context. Given what I know from having been in this church for 17 years and having spoken with about ¼ of the members, I believe we are well-positioned to address poverty. This pillar is described on the PC(USA) site like this:
Eradicating systemic poverty involves addressing the root causes of economic inequality and providing support to those in need. Through advocacy, service, and partnership, we work to create just systems and opportunities for all people to thrive.
I would say that we do an excellent job of meeting today’s needs. We support the Mission, GRACE, and Russell House with our time, talent, and treasure. Through them, we help individuals escape poverty and abusive circumstances. I think we should keep doing what we’re doing in this area, and expand as we are able.
But where we fall short is in addressing the root causes of poverty. The Mission recently posted a few reasons why people are homeless. Top reasons include: a lack of affordable housing—even in Rolla!; lack of a living wage; escaping domestic violence; medical debt; and mental illness, often related to PTSD or childhood trauma. I don’t know what I can do about any of these on my own, so I cook lunch once a week and hope that helps a little bit. As a congregation, though, we have a lot of resources. I’m not talking about money or space. I’m talking about people, smart and caring people, people who have time and social capital that can impact society.
Recently, a group started up in Rolla called Voters for Informed Action, which among other things has engaged in a letter-writing campaign and hosted a town hall. There is a separate but related group called Abide in Love that is supporting ICE detainees in the Phelps County Jail. These are things that any of us can do. The point is to pick something that enough people care about, then get together and DO SOMETHING.
And it doesn’t have to be big and earth-shaking. Here’s a story from PC(USA) about one congregation’s Matthew 25 efforts, published about a year ago:
The Mission Team at Calvary Presbyterian Church recently decided to donate funds for a new commercial stove and convection oven for the Chevy Chase Center. Their current, residential-style, donated stoves were no longer holding temperature and were becoming dangerous. It was hard for us on the Mission Team to see this organization that has given so much to our community just limping along.
Recently, the stove and oven were delivered and installed, and a few of our team members, along with some of the Chevy Chase Board members, gathered to celebrate!
This is a case where a church invested in some capital that will enable an organization to serve the poor for many years to come. Another story I read described a project that investigated the needs of various poor families in their rural area and bought them things like refrigerators and stoves. What good is fresh food if you do not have a reliable refrigerator? What good are ingredients if you have no way to cook them? Without a stove and refrigerator, many families would need to buy ready-to-eat food, which is usually less nutritious and more expensive.
See, solving the problem of poverty is too big a problem for us to solve on our own, but God amplifies whatever we do, combines it with the efforts of like-minded individuals and congregations and organizations, and little by little, establishes the kingdom of God.
So, what can we do? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” Do you hear his voice? Do you hear him calling from the margins? What is he calling you to do, and what is he calling us all to do together? Jesus was not a military leader like Judah Maccabee, Judah the Hammer. He was the Prince of Peace and the Light of the world who came so that all might have abundant life. Let us seek together a way to foster God’s kingdom, to foster universal human flourishing, or at least a little more flourishing here in Rolla among the poor, neglected, and abused. Amen.
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