Introduction
We have a weird temporal jump this week. Traveling from resurrection appearances all the way back to Jesus’ 2nd (of 3) Jerusalem visits in the Gospel of John. This is mostly because it’s Good Shepherd Sunday and we need a reading from the 10th chapter of John. However, this year I’m appreciating our return to this part of the text in particular.
This is the section when the gathered people are questioning Jesus being the Messiah. They have heard of his power and miracles (especially after the healing of the man born blind) but also his pushback against their religious authorities and they are demanding to know his intentions. And I like returning to that place, because it’s not unlike where the church is after the celebration of the resurrection. All these people come and worship with us, we’re on cloud nine, we’ve seen the good that Jesus can do (in bringing the large celebratory numbers into the church). But now we are demanding his next intentions. We are demanding to know what the Messiah does after the resurrection. What happens to/for us?
So, let’s jump into the narrative and see how this text meets us where we are in this season of the Church.
Narrative and Liturgical Context
This text drops us into a winter scene during the Festival of the Dedication (Hanukkah), a season commemorating the rededication of the temple after its desecration by foreign rulers. The festival was layered with meaning. Although it’s unclear exactly how this festival was celebrated in 1st century, we know that it was a celebration of light, freedom, and divine faithfulness during times of foreign oppression.
During this festival, Jesus walks in Solomon’s Portico, meaning that he’s in the temple complex. Most scholars don’t focus on Solomon’s Portico too much and it probably is just a detail that places us close to the temple. However, the portico seems to be a place of gathering for the apostles in Acts. In Acts 3:11, Peter and John address a gathered crowd after a healing. And in Acts 5:12, the apostles gather together publicly again as more join them. This is less critical for preaching but it’s interesting when these details pop up again and again and we potentially see important details of the early church (‘This was a place where we gathered’). Anyway, back to the story. Jesus, participating in the festival and near the temple, faces challenge: “Tell us plainly if you are the Messiah.”
An important note is that the Greek helps us know that things are escalating here. Because this is a festival, there are certainly religious authorities but probably other lay folk as well. And so, the translation could be “The crowd gathered around him” (v. 24). But in John’s Gospel, this often signals opposition. The Greek ἐκύκλωσαν (gathered) can imply encirclement, even threat. This isn’t a neutral inquiry but pressure. “Tell us plainly if you are the Messiah.”
On Good Shepherd Sunday, this passage may feel like an odd fit, less pastoral imagery and more confrontation. But it’s also a turning point in the Gospel of John. By this moment, Jesus has already spoken of himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11–18), and now his identity becomes the focal point of rejection and division. There’s tension between revelation and recognition and between Jesus’ words and the world’s response.
A Demand for Clarity
The crowd demands clarity, but Jesus offers connection. Their question is straightforward, “Are you the Messiah?” Yet Jesus doesn’t answer in a way that satisfies them. Instead, he points to relationship, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” For Jesus, messiahship is not a political category or a theological title, it’s known through belonging, listening, following. It’s experienced rather than debated. Even as we heard in last week’s Gospel, Jesus at the very end still tells Peter and the others to “Follow me.” Continue to be in relationship.
And this is where the text turns tender. Jesus affirms the unbreakable security of that relationship: “They will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” These are words meant not for the skeptical crowds but for those already listening, those who know his voice. This isn’t about persuasion, it’s about promise.
This is the beauty of this Easter text. So many people want quick fixes and quick solutions right now. Jesus tells us that, not just messiahship, but discipleship is about relationship. And that is a long process. But one that can bring us new life.
Preaching Possibilities
“Tell Us Plainly”: When Answers Don’t Satisfy
This is a text for those still asking questions, and those frustrated by the absence of certainty. This week might name the ways we long for plain answers, especially in a noisy world where truth feels slippery. We long for an end to political division. We long for a time when we can all “just get along.” We long for a time when the Church actually lives in the current century and not constantly behind the time.
In response, Jesus doesn’t dismiss the question, but he doesn’t bow to it either. He redirects it from speculation to relationship, from titles to trust.
This we week might explore how Easter faith isn’t about perfect understanding, but about being known and held. This is good news for listeners who feel like they’re not “getting it right” or who live in seasons of spiritual fog. And it’s really tough news for people who are frustrated that it doesn’t feel like things are moving fast enough. But the truth is that if the Church is going to make meaningful change, it will be through relationship over years, not in one fell swoop overnight.
“My Sheep Hear My Voice”: The Quiet of Recognition
In a cacophony of competing voices, Jesus says his sheep hear his voice. This can be an entry point to preach about spiritual discernment and recognition. About how we come to recognize the voice of the Shepherd in the rhythms of Scripture, community, and daily grace. It’s easy to get ramped up from the call to arms, to get battle ready for the fights ahead from the passionate voice that’s angry and scared. It’s easy to begin labeling our neighbors as enemies because they are of differing political opinions or ideologies from the pundit on our favorite news channel. It’s easy to begin cutting off all relationships other than our inner circles because the world is just too bad when we just talk with each other. But there’s a voice that calls us in a different direction, through a different gate, walking a different way.
“Peace be with you.” That’s what that voice said after the resurrection. “Just as I have loved you, so too should you love one another.” That’s what the voice said on the night of the betrayal. “Follow me.”
In the resurrection appearances, people often don’t recognize Jesus at first (Mary in the garden, the disciples on the road). But recognition comes in relationship. The calling of a name, the breaking of bread. Here too, the sheep follow because they know his voice.
“No One Will Snatch Them Out of My Hand”: Security in a Fractured World
This line may resonate most deeply for those grieving, afraid, or unsure. It’s not triumphalism, it’s assurance. Eternal life in John is not just a future hope but a present belonging. This might be especially powerful if named for the vulnerable. For those doubting their place in the church, those who fear they don’t “belong,” those who’ve been made to feel less-than by religion itself.
Jesus’ promise here is scandalously inclusive. Not determined by perfect theology or unshakable belief, but by being known by the Shepherd.
Micah Krey 
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