The feast of the Dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. 23 And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
The eight-day festival of the feast of the Dedication (Hanukkah) was instituted by Judas Maccabeus (1 Mac. 4:52; 2 Mac. 10:5) and began on “the morning of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that is, the month of Kislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight” of the Jewish calendar. This is approximately December 14, 164 B.C. using the Gregorian calendar.
Jesus went to Jerusalem for the feast. He was in the Temple area where the religious leaders had previously tried to stone him (Jn. 8:59). It was winter so he walked on Solomon’s Portico on the Eastern side of the Temple so he would be sheltered from the desert winds (v. 23). The Jews demanded that Jesus tell them publicly if he was the Messiah (v. 24). Jesus did not confirm or deny that he was the Messiah but told them that the works he has done in his Father’s name testified to who he is (v. 25). Jesus told them that they do not believe because they refuse to listen to the Father, so the Father does not draw them to him (Jn. 6:44-45). Jesus knows his sheep and they hear his voice, they know who he is, and they follow him. They will receive eternal life and will not suffer eternal damnation as long as they follow him.
Jesus had previously told the scribes and Pharisees, “If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins (Jn. 8:24),” and Jesus again reaffirmed that comment by saying, “The Father and I are one (v. 30).” Jesus will not lose anyone the Father has given to him, and when he was about to return to the Father he prayed, “And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are (Jn. 17:11).”
Almighty God, we live in the hope that we will be among the faithful who will spend eternal life with you. Through our faith and repentance may we be sanctified by the new covenant signed with the blood of your Son. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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