The Feast of Dedication celebrated the restoration of the temple by
Judas Maccabeus after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Ephiphanes.
After Ephiphanes sacked Jerusalem, it seemed like the Jewish people
would never be able to worship in the temple again, yet God graciously
allowed the temple to be restored.  Jesus fulfills the meaning of this
feast, since he delivers his people so that they can truly worship
God.

While Jesus was in Jerusalem, he was surrounded by Jews that demanded
that he tell him plainly whether or not he was the Messiah.  Knowing
that a simple “yes” or “no” answer could easily be misunderstood by
those seeking a political Messiah or could be used by those seeking
incriminating evidence against him, Jesus gives them a very wise
answer.  His answer reveals his identity to his sheep, but conceals it
from the wolves.

He tells them that they are unable to understand who he is because
they are not his sheep.  If they were his sheep, they would be able to
see the unity that he has with his Father.  For example, he gives his
sheep eternal life, and the Father also is involved in giving eternal
life, since the Father holds the sheep in his hands, keeping them from
falling away.  From this example, it should be quite plain to see that
the Son and the Father are one God.

It was plain enough that the Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus. They
thought that he was a mere man claiming to be God.  Jesus then throws
them off balance by telling them that they are too blind to judge even
the most simple manners, therefore they cannot judge him.  He
effectively tells them, “If the term ‘god’ may legitimately be applied
to mere men, then how much more should it be applied to me, who the
Father set apart and sent into the world?”  He is saying that they
don’t even know their own Scriptures well enough to see that he
fulfills Scripture.

His challenge slows them down enough that they are able to listen to
the next thing he says.  He tells them to look at the works he has
done, which bear testimony to his divine nature, and in seeing these
works, believe that he is indeed the Messiah.  These words renewed
their zeal to murder him, but the time had not yet come for him to
die, and so he escaped from their hands.

When Jesus speaks about a shepherd and his flock, he uses an image
that was quite common in the Old Testament.  In the Old Testament, God
was considered to be the shepherd of his people Israel.  Like a good
shepherd takes care of his sheep, so God takes care of his people’s
every need.  He finds the ones who are lost, helps the weak ones,
gives medical treatment to those who are sick, and ensures that they
always have good pastures (Ezk 34:11-16).  They are his sheep.

The Jewish religious teachers of Jesus’ day should have acted like
undershepherds to the great shepherd, taking care of the needs of the
people of Israel.  Yet, they were more like robbers than shepherds.
They took from the people, but failed to give what was needed.
Figuratively speaking, they killed and ate the sheep and used the wool
for their clothes (John 10:3).

Ironically, the religious leaders failed to understand the words that
Jesus spoke against them, because they were not his sheep.  Jesus then
uses two more shepherd/sheep metaphors to further explain the his
relationship with his people.

The first metaphor helps us to understand that Jesus is not just a
good undershepherd.  He is the “door” that allows men to enter into
the presence of God the Father.  Robbers by nature avoid doors,
preferring to sneak into a sheepfold by climbing the wall.  Thus, the
religious leaders show themselves to be robbers when they deny that
Jesus is the way to God.  The religious leaders kill the sheep, but
Jesus gives life to the sheep.

The second metaphor helps us to understand how Jesus provides
salvation for his sheep.  A good shepherd would have been responsible
for making sure that the sheep were safe from wild animals.  Jesus is
a good shepherd, indeed better than the best shepherd, since he
accepts death so that his sheep will not have to die.  Remarkably, the
sheep that Jesus died to save are not only to be found in Israel, but
throughout the earth.

In this passage, the light of the world brings about remarkable
effects.  For the man who was born blind, the light illuminates his
entire world.  It permits him to see clearly, both physically and
spiritually.  For the Pharisees, however, the light exposes their
blindness.  Though they have seen the light, they nonetheless refuse
to perceive it.

Jesus and his disciples saw a man who was begging who had been blind
from birth.  Jesus healed the man, so as to display the glory of God
among men.  The man’s neighbors had trouble believing what had
happened.  The evidence seemed to be undeniable.  The man whom they
knew quite well could now see.  Some tried to deny the undeniable,
however, saying that perhaps it was another person that just looked
like him.  Those who knew him well confirmed that it was indeed the
man, and the man himself insisted that he had been healed.

Though the healing was a spectacular victory of the light over the
darkness, all the Pharisees saw was a breach of the technicalities of
their law.  They decide to interrogate the man and his parents.  His
parents refuse to help the man during the interrogation, since they
feared that the Pharisees would expel them from religious worship if
they said anything that could be interpreted as being in favor of
Jesus.  They let the man fend for himself.

Happily, the man was a much more zealous witness than his parents.  As
he defends himself before the Pharisees, he is gradually able to
assess the magnitude of Jesus’ work in his life, and ends up with a
much deeper appreciation of Jesus than he had at first.  In the
beginning of the conversation, the simply reports the facts (9:15).
Then, he gives Jesus the highest honor he can think of at the time,
calling Jesus “a prophet” (9:17).  As the Pharisees continue to badger
him, he begins to think of himself as a disciple (follower) of Jesus
(9:27-28).  Then he confesses that Jesus is sent from God (9:33).  The
Pharisees could no longer bear listening to the man, and they expelled
him from the place of worship.

Jesus, the light of the world, found the man and revealed more about
himself, telling the man that he was the expected Messiah.  The man
responded in the only way that was appropriate, he worshiped Jesus as
the Almighty God.   The Pharisees however, though they had seen and
understood a great many things about Jesus, continued in their
blindness and unbelief.  The light exposed their blindness and
sinfulness for the entire world to see.

This section of Scripture seems to begin with good news: “As he was
saying these things, many believed in him” (John 8:30).  However, we
quickly see that the “belief” that these people have is extremely
shallow.  They say that they are followers of Jesus, but when he says
that a right relationship with God may only be obtained by faith in
him, they are offended. These people help us to understand what
happened to so many people during Jesus’ time of ministry.  Many of
the Jews who first believed in Jesus had only a shallow belief, and
would eventually turn against him.  They hated Jesus because, in
reality, they hated the one who sent him.

Their hatred of God the Father and God the Son is revealed in three
exchanges.  First, Jesus challenges their superficial belief by saying
that only those who continue to abide in his words are able to
experience true freedom.  They object that they have no need to be set
free.  They were the physical descendants of Abraham, and as such they
were spiritually superior to all other nations.  Jesus responds that
they were enslaved by sin.

This leads to the second exchange, which involved their true lineage.
Jesus tells them that if they were the spiritual children of Abraham,
they would have joy over him as Abraham did.  However, they are
neither his children nor God’s children, since they hold their hands
over their ears whenever Jesus speaks.  They desire to kill him,
because they have been influenced by their true father, Satan.

The third exchange involves Jesus’ identity.  It begins with the Jew’s
insisting that Jesus is irreligious and possessed by a demon.  Jesus
responds by saying that he is not irreligious, he seeks only to honor
his father.  Those who hear his words and believe in him will have
eternal life.  This statement seems ridiculous to the Jews. After all,
Abraham died.  How can Jesus claim give eternal life, thereby making
himself to be greater than Abraham?

Jesus responds by saying that he does not glorify himself, but the
Father is the one who glorifies him. Jesus says that he saw Abraham
rejoice over the glory he had been given by the Father.  The Jews
regarded this as the most ridiculous statement of all!  How could a
mere man, less than fifty years old, claim to have seen Abraham?
Jesus responds by saying that he has not only seen Abraham, but
existed before Abraham existed.  He is God.  The Jews tried to stone
him, but were unable to do so, for his time had not yet come.