Can someone close to Jesus, nearly in His “inner circle,” get seriously ill, and even die? Of course, yes!

Some of the older commentators and godly men of the past actually felt that the closer one walked with the Lord … the more apt he or she would be to suffer hardships!

For sure, some saints do endure more trials than others! (Compare the life of the Old Testament Patriarch Job to that of prosperous Abraham!) Philippians 1:29 was given as a Proof Text to me once when I had gone through an extended time of sickness … “For unto you it is GIVEN in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”

Wow!

And in the video Lesson, I unashamedly called Mary and Martha’s Message to Jesus a “prayer.” Here it is again … “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”

Can the Lord give us the “desires” of our heart, without our pleading and pleading for them?

I believe so. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the DESIRES of thine heart.” No strenuous prayers mentioned!

One commentator labeled the two John 11 sisters as “introverted Mary” and “extroverted Martha!” I think he may be right!

Jesus heard of Lazarus’ sickness, then waited two days before returning to Bethany (20 miles or so between the Jordan River where Jesus was to the village of Bethany near Jerusalem) … thus arriving on the “third day” as calculated by John!

From this clearly pronounced timeline I deduce that the death (and resurrection) of Lazarus has some symbolic reference to Jesus’ Death and (on the third day) Resurrection!

Actually, the one led to the Other!

One more quote … “When feeling God’s (heavy) Hand, remember God’s (loving) Heart!”

Oh, the amazing Lessons remaining in John chapter 11!

But first, watch this one …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Undoubtedly the single greatest Statement in the Lesson consists of Jesus’ powerful Words … “THE FATHER IS IN ME, AND I IN HIM.” (John 10:38) This Declaration matches Jesus’ great Assertions in each of the three other short Sermons in the chapter. “

“I am the Door.” John 10:9

“I am the Good Shepherd.” John 10:11

And “I and the Father are one.” John 10:30

What a chapter!

One Bible commentator further expressed “The Father is in Me and I in Him” this way … “The Father is locked into Me and I (Jesus) am locked into Him!”

He (that author) says that the “locked into” idiom accurately expresses the intensity of the Greek preposition “en” (translated “in”) as used here.

Interesting and powerful!

“We cannot be plucked from the Hand of Jesus, but here Jesus is plucked (by His Father) from the hands of the mob trying to stone Him!” I like that quote!

I think it might have been old Matthew Henry who said; “Jesus’ Works are not only miracles, they are Mercies too!”

In Exodus 7:1 the Lord specifically called Moses a “god!” In the sense of a powerful man as delegated, endowed by God! Read it … “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.”

Wow!

This is the same spirit in which judges are called “gods” in Psalm 82. (With a lower case “g,” mind you!) And Jesus knew this little Psalm very well! And in this Lesson used it as a Defense to refute the bungling Pharisees, the blind leaders of the Jews!

Exodus 22:28 gives another example of “rulers” (as delegated by the Lord) being called “gods!” Read it too … “Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.”

On the unity of the Bible … It is called “Scripture” (singular) 32 times within its 1,189 chapters. And It is called the “Scriptures” (showing it vast range of Wisdom) 21 times (plural)!

“Thou makest Thyself God,” the Jews acknowledge of Jesus … so appropriate are those words in John’s Gospel. John who is an evangelist for the Deity of Christ! Remember John 20:30-31 … “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, THE SON OF GOD; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

Wow!

They tried to stone Jesus to death? Yes, according to verse 31 and probably again in verse 39. But if enigmatic Psalm 88 is Messianic, and I believe it is, read verse 15 … “I (Jesus) am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.” No doubt, many satanic attempts were made on His Life prior to the Cross!

While on the other side of Jordan Jesus (too) worked “no miracles” (as far as the Scripture indicates) … yet still many people “believed on Him!” (Verse 42) Clearly they “believed” because of what they “heard,” not what they “saw!”

After all, “Faith cometh by HEARING and hearing (not seeing) by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

Just a few scattered thoughts I forgot (or lacked time) to mention in video Bible Class today. Why not now just watch the whole Class?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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The noun “theology” literally means “a word about God.” And here is basic New Testament theology in a Line … “I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE.” (John 10:30)

This Quote impressed me, describing Jesus’ Messiahship. “JESUS OFTEN REVEALS JUST ENOUGH OF HIMSELF TO MAKE FAITH POSSIBLE, YET HE HIDES JUST ENOUGH OF HIMSELF TO MAKE FAITH NECESSARY!”

Someone said of our being “in Jesus’ Hand” and also “in the Father’s Hand” … that we are “IN HIS GRIP!” And I might add, a glorious “DOUBLE GRIP” at that! (Son and Father!)

This too … “IF ONE THINKS HIMSELF TO BE AN OWL (SO WISE) INSTEAD OF A SHEEP … HE OR SHE WILL HAVE NO SENSE OF NEEDING A SHEPHERD!” This was the Jewish Leaders’ Problem, too wise in their own eyes!

The Greek word for “dedication” in verse 22 is “egkainia.” Its only two “relatives” in the New Testament occur in Hebrews 9:18 and Hebrews 10:19-20. In both References the BLOOD of Jesus is mentioned! The Jews are here celebrating the Temple, Jesus is thinking about the Cross! The offering of His Blood to wash away sin!

Remember Jesus’ Words …

John 2:19-21 … “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.” Jesus and the Blood again!

This “dedication” and “Blood” theme occurs in a chapter where Jesus mentions “laying down His Life” three times!

John 10:15 … “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

John 10:17 … “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”

And John 10:18 …“No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”

I need to say this as well. Be careful doubting your Security in Christ! You might offend the One Who loves you and died for you and is in Heaven now on your behalf, interceding every minute for us, for His Church! Do not take being “in His Hand” lightly!

Jesus distinctly as “Lamb,” as in Isaiah 53 … that Word Picture is only specifically used by John among all the Gospel Writers!

Now … to the place our (video) class ended. I was saying of John 10:30 … “I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE” …

“I and My Father” prove Personhood in the Trinity, in the Godhead.

And the verb/adjective words “Are One” prove the Unity, the Singularity of Essence in the Godhead!

“TRINITY” … truly a majestic word meaning “three” (tri) in One (unity)!

Wow!

Watch the Class with us now …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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The “word pictures” of John chapter 10, those of sheep and shepherd, are allusions to several Old Testament Passages of Scripture.

Psalm 23 is an obvious example. But we must add Isaiah 53 to the list, called by one Bible teacher “the most important single chapter in the Bible!” Several Paragraphs in Zechariah as well. Like … “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.” (Zechariah 13:7, quoted by Jesus and applied to Himself in Mark 14:27.) But especially Ezekiel 34, virtually the whole chapter. Which contrasts Israel’s list of Bad shepherds with the Lord’s “Good Shepherd!”

Someone asked … How can Jesus be both the “Door of the Sheep” and the “Good Shepherd” simultaneously? Answer … As the Initiator and Medium of our salvation, He is the “DOOR!” Then as the Provider and Protector of the sheep in His fold, He is the “GOOD SHEPHERD!” (The Beginning and the End!)

Sheep are notoriously “dumb” animals, comparatively speaking. But one thing they can do, and do well, is “hear” their Shepherd’s Voice and then “follow” in His Steps!

In class we noticed Jesus’ (and John’s) emphasis on “hirelings,” men who do not care for the flock and tend them (even abusing them at times) only for the money involved, a paycheck. In so doing a verse in John’s longest Epistle came to mind.

Bear in mind, hirelings are also antichrists at heart! “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:18-19

One last quote I wish I had included in the video class … “Thousands of sheep have died for their shepherds (in innumerable blood sacrifices in ancient Israel), but only ONE SHEPHERD has died for His sheep!” That’s Jesus!

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Jesus as the “Door” …

Remember that the Old Testament Tabernacle had only one door, one gate! And that opening was 30 feet wide! A picturesque way of saying “Whosoever will may come!” (Exodus 38:18)

Come to think of it, the Ark Noah built also had only one door! Only one way to safety, t5o avoid judgment! (Genesis 6:16)

Jesus is the only Way to Heaven!

The Holy Spirit is called “The Spirit of Truth” three times in the Gospel of John! (John 14:17 and John 15:26 and again in John 16:13) It is He Who opens the door to the sheepfold!

The only other Porter I can find in the New Testament is in John 18:16-17. This “door keeper” (the same Greek word as “porter” in John 10:3) is a damsel, a young lady! (I have heard the Holy Spirit characterized as the Feminine Influence in the Godhead, the Trinity! Partly because of His Gentleness and Warmth.) And He certainly does play a vital part in the New Birth, recall!

Hearing or knowing the Shepherd’s Voice (Jesus’ Call) is a recurring theme in John chapter 10. See verses 3 and 4 and 5 and 8 and 16 and 27! That’s amazing! (Add a verse from John’s First Epistle to this “hearing” data … “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6

A quote I forgot to include … “OUR LORD FEEDS US BY HIS PLAIN SIMPLE) WORDS. BUT HE EXERCISES US BY HIS OBSCURE (HARD) WORDS!”

See if Numbers 27:16-17 sounds like Jesus our sweet Shepherd. “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.”

Compare now to Mark 6:34 … “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.”

Amen!

This may be Matthew’s way of saying that Jesus is the Door, the Gate to eternal life … “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

After several of Jesus’ great “I AM” Statements, He soon issues a Gospel invitation!

This is classic! “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:35-37

This one is more compact. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12, “I AM” then an “INVITATION!”

And here in our chapter of course … “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9-10, any man!

Seems like I omitted a lot!

Still, I invite you to watch the Class now …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell