Anglican Devotional 16 March 2024 – I And The Father Are One

The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 16 March 2024 – I And The Father Are One

TOPIC: I And The Father Are One

READ: John 10:22-42 (NKJV)

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
10:24. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? 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, they bear witness of Me.
“But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand.
“I and [My] Father are one.”
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and 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 the Scripture cannot be broken),
“do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
“but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father [is] in Me, and I in Him.”
Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
And many believed in Him there.

THE MESSAGE:

In our passage today, the Pharisees confronted Jesus to declare His identity and He told them that He is truly the Messiah but His nature is beyond the Messiahship they were expecting – He is the Son of God! Jesus explained that only His sheep hear His voice and follow Him and no one can take them away from Him. He told them that He and His Father are in perfect union. Unfortunately, despite all the efforts of Jesus, the Pharisees could not connect with the word of God because they had a fixed mind of whom their messiah should be.

The oneness of Jesus with the Father brings to us eternal safety and joy. The bond that binds us to Christ and God is so strong that no man can take us away from Him. When you are in Christ, you are already in God’s hands, and the Trinity’s omnipotence and unity are your safety. Beloved, we have this heritage in Christ, so let us appropriate it through a sound faith in Christ by being a true sheep in the fold of Christ. Again, we see a principle in this text: After several efforts to convince the Jews failed, Jesus left to offer the same Gospel to others who were ready to listen, instead of engaging in further unfruitful discussion. In like manner, we should avoid unnecessary argument that will never yield transformation in our evangelical outreaches.