Coptic Orthodox Answers

In name Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers Deep Dive. We saw the last few times how Christ healed the man born blind on the Sabbath, and therefore, the Pharisees weren't very happy. So, they took this man, they judged him and cast him out of the synagogue. So, they rejected him from Judaism. Once he was out, Christ went to see him and He accepted him into Christianity and the man believed that Christ was the Messiah.

And then, Christ had a discussion with the Pharisees and the Jews, telling them: How is it that you are not happy, because a man that was born blind, one of your sons, was now healed? And then He told them: I came to make whomever that were blind now to see. So, Christ came to heal. And obviously, that phrase is meant not only from a physical sickness, but also from a spiritual sickness.

So, the Pharisees, again, weren't very happy with what Christ was telling them. And then, He went through the discussion of the good shepherd, telling them: I am the good shepherd. I am the one that truly cares for the sheep, right?, and therefore, I care for that blind man. You are not a good shepherd, and therefore, you reject the sheep. You're not willing to heal the sheep.

Let us continue now with verse 22.

'' 22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem...'' (John 10:22)

The Feast of Dedication is a commemoration of the Maccabeans in the 2 nd century B.C. when they revolted against oppressors and rededicated the temple at the time. So, this is Hanukkah 1

today, so:

'' 22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.'' (John 10:22-23)

They say in Solomon's porch, it's a bit warmer there, and that's why Christ was there and everybody else was there. And because there was walls around, they were able to encircle Him.

'' 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.''

1 Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for dedication, therefore referring to the feast that is mentioned in the text.

25 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. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 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. 30 I and My Father are one.'' '' (John 10:24-30)

So, the Jews asked Christ: Tell us plainly. Are you the Messiah? And Christ redirects the question to His works. So, He does not answer plainly like they request, because He has been telling them in many different ways and still they have not been listening to what He has to say.

So, He tells them, pretty much: It depends on your definition of the Messiah. If your definition the Messiah is uh... someone that comes from God that came to save you and to give you healing and resurrection and to kill death and to restore you from everything that you're in, all of this corruption, then yes, I am the Messiah and I have been showing you this through my works. But if your definition of the Messiah is someone that will come to establish an earthly kingdom, then no, I am not the Messiah.

So, He does not answer them directly. He pinpoints to the works, the signs He has been doing. He's telling: Like, listen, like, regardless of the definition of the Messiah you have, look, you cannot ignore these miracles. And therefore, believe Me. And then, He says: These works, these miracles have been done in My Father's name, so again, I am consubstantial with the Father. We are one in essence. So, He's answering them indirectly: I am the Messiah. But then, he tells them: You don't believe Me. You are not of my sheep, because what you seek is earthly and not heavenly.

Let's read verse 26 and 27 again:

'' 26 ''But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.'' '' (Jean 10:26-27)

We find here that Christ, again, brings division. Why does He bring division? Because Christ is the truth. Some people seek truth, some people seek their own agenda. So, automatically, the truth divides. That's why we say things like truth hurts. You can't handle the truth, because within, you're not willing to handle the truth. Here we find that there is division. Although Christ in Himself does not want to bring division, but people's reception of the message brings division.

It's very easy for us to look at these Jews and the Pharisees and say: How is it that they've been doing this, man? Like, these people are, you know, I can't believe... If I were in their shoes, I would never do such a thing. But if we think about it a bit more deeply, we find that these people...their focus or what led them to the rejecter... rejection of Christ is their earthly focus.

And if I ask myself the question: Am I really focused on Christ?, 's'ike yeah, of course, I'm a Christian! OK, but if I'm a Christian, how do I spend my time? You know, when I talk to the youth, for example, I ask them always the question: Is God more important than school, than your exams? Is He more important than work? And the answer is always: Yes, of course! And it's answered very quickly.

However, the follow-up question becomes: How much time do you spend with God? How much time to do you pray, read your Bible, partake of the Eucharist and that liturgy, offer repentance, examine yourself, all of these things? And if I compare that amount of time with the amount of time that I study or the amount of time that I spend with my friends or play games, whatever it may be, can I generally say: yes, I am in love with God, I have this passion for Him, I have... like I love Him with fervence?

And again, and maybe it's not fair to ask that question, because it's a process for all of us to get there and we go from glory to glory until we attain sainthood. But we have to really examine ourselves. Do I really love Him? You know, we wonder: if Christ would have come during these times, you know, many people would still reject Him regardless if He does miracles or not, especially if He doesn't do miracles. But even if He does miracles, many people will reject, because His morality, His ethics, His teaching... people are not able to cope with them. And often, Christians as well are not able to cope with them.

So, we ought to revise ourselves. We need to show God our love through our actions, not through our mouth, not through our words. We really need to offer to Him our hearts. We are not better than these people. Again, we are saved by grace. We just need to respond to that grace in a manner that is proper to the person of Christ, that He is the beautiful one, He is the spouse, He is my best friend. And I want to go and live in an intimate relationship with that being who is the source of life.

Then Christ says, in verse 28: I give them eternal life. I give them, Christ, the Logos, the Son of God gives them eternal life, because I am the Being. I am the one who exists. I am the source of life itself. I am in the Father. I share in His essence. Therefore, I give them eternal life. So, He answers I am the Messiah, in other words. And then He says: No one can snatch these sheep out of my hand or in the... from the Father's hand.

So, you think you're able to cast out this blind man from the Old Testament Church? You can't. Nobody can snatch these sheep out of my hand nor my Father's hand. I have this

authority. You don't have this authority. You are not real shepherds. And then He says: I and My Father are one. I and My Father are one. Here, St. Cyril explains what that means:

''And we say the Son and the Father are One, not blending their individualities [or persons] by the use of that number [So, He's saying they're not the same person. Being one, here, or the number one, does not mean one person], as do some who say that the Father and the Son are the same [Person], but believing the Father by Himself and the Son by Himself to personally subsist ([or] exist) [So, both persons exist]; and collecting the two into One Sameness of Essence also knowing them to possess one might so that it is seem without variation now in One and now in the Other. I and the Father are One. By the word ''One'' He signifies the Sameness of their Essence: and by the word 'are' He severs into two that which is understood, and again binds them up into One Godhead.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John 10)

So, when Christ says I and the Father are one, are is in plural, mean... and here, the implication is that there are two persons, but the one is talking about the essence, the divine essence that the Son and the Father and the Holy Spirit share together.

Obviously, since Christ proclaimed His godhead and made Himself equal to the Father, again, the Jews are about to go crazy on Him. So, the verse 31, it says:

'' 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, ''Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?'' 33 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.'' '' (John 10:31-33)

Again, this is one of the verses that demonstrate that Christ said that He was God, because they really understood Him very well, because... and that's why they wanted to stone Him, right?

'' 34 [So,] Jesus answered them, ''Is it not written in your law, 'I said, ''You are gods'' '?'' (John 10:34)

Notice how He responds very calmly, right?, and wisely.

'' 35 ''If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 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'?'' '' (John 10:35-36)

When Jesus tells them Is it not written in your law, 'I said, ''You are gods'' '?, He's referencing Psalm 82 in the Masoretic text 2 and this psalm talks about judges, so people that were judging the Israelites and these judges are called gods, because these judges have been given an attribute from God. So, God, who is the judge, who has authority in Himself, has shared that attribute with people. And therefore, on His behalf, these judges are judging the Israelites.

But the point He's making here is that these judges in Psalm 82 are called gods. If they're called gods, should I not call Myself the Son of God, I who am who I am, I who am consubstantial with the Father, the real God, capital G? Of course, I'm gonna calls Myself God!

Verse 37:

'' 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 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.'' 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.'' (John 10:37-39)

Again, they wanted to seize Him, because He's proclaiming that He is God. But notice the sarcasm here. He says... Christ says earlier that the Jews cannot take the sheep out of His hand or out of the Father's hand. But yet He is able to escape their hand. Now what does it mean the Father is Me and I in Him? Of course, we have to go back to St. Cyril to understand this. So, St. Cyril says:

''Therefore, as there is but One Godhead in Father and Son and Holy Spirit, we say that the Father is seen in the Son, and the Son in the Father... [In other words, he's saying this phrase could be said, because they both or both persons share the one godhead or the one essence, the one divine essence.] because, being the genuine Offspring of the Essence of the Father, He [who is the Son] shows forth the Father in Himself [He's the icon of the Father], and Himself also is shown forth in the Father. For He says that He wills and speaks and effects the same things as the Father, and easily performs what He wishes, even as the Father does, in order that He may be acknowledged in all respects Consubstantial with Him, and a true Fruit of His Essence; and not merely as having a relative unity with Him, only in similarity of will and the laws of love; which unity we say belongs also to His creatures.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John 10)

So, creatures, humans, are able to have this relative unity with God through the Son, right? So, we have this relative unity with the Father through the Son. And we're able to share in love and even in some humility, you know, but that's not the kind of unity that the Son has

2 The Masoretic text is the original text of the Hebrew Bible to which vowels have been added by the Masoretes, in order to clarify certain terms that were originally ambiguous, because they had been written with consonants only.

with the Father. The Father and the Son are consubstantial, meaning the Son shares in all respects, fully with the Father, His attributes, because they share that same godhead. So, the unity between the Father and the Son is not the same as the human unity with the Triune God.

Verse 40:

'' 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, ''John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.'' 42 And many believed in Him there.'' (John 10:40-42)

So, when He went to the place where John the Baptist was baptizing, you know, some of John's followers were there and they said: Although John never did any miracles, what he said about You was true. And therefore, we believe in You.

Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.

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Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.