Jesus: The Eternal Divider John 10:19-21

Text:  “When the Son of man (Christ Jesus) shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall SEPARATE them one from another, as a Shepherd DIVIDETH His sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep (saved) on His right hand, but the goats (lost) on the left.  Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Matthew 25:31-34.

Good morning, separated Christian!  When the Lord God redeemed your soul and mine, He made an Eternal division.  He made an Eternal separation when He brought us - by His grace and faith in Christ’s Atonement alone - into His family, the universal Church.  The Lord God made an Eternal division.  Thank you, Lord God, for separating ‘…your people…’ from this world of sin and shame.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!

“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a Son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call His Name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.”   (Matthew 1:21)

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him/her that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”  (John 6:37)

You and I are therefore separated Christians; we have been chosen by God the Father for Salvation; given as a gift to God the Son, Christ Jesus, and ‘…sealed…’ by God the Spirit for time and for Eternity.  We are the ‘…sheep…’ of His Heavenly Pasture.  Wow!  What a gracious Lord God!

“O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker.  For He is our God; and we are the people of His Pasture, and the sheep of His hand…”  (Psalm 95:7)

“Know ye that the Lord He is God; it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His Pasture.”  (Psalm 100:3)

Our selected Bible verses today inform us that ‘…There was a division therefore AGAIN among the Jews for these sayings.’  (V.19)

So, let us ask ourselves, what causes such ‘divisions’ among men, and families, and even entire nations - when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks?

The Lord Jesus in the previous verses declared openly that He was the ‘Good Shepherd’, that He would ‘…give His life for the sheep…’; that God the Father knew Him personally, and that He not only knew God the Father, but that He was, in fact, God the Son, the Lord of all life, Who had ‘…power…’ to lay down His life, and ‘…power to take it again.’  (Vs. 11; 15-18)

By saying these things, the Lord Jesus Christ was declaring Himself to be the Son of God with power; He was claiming to be co-equal with God the Father!  IF He was genuine, He was making the most significant statements ever made in the Jewish tradition.  IF He were not genuine, then He was committing the biggest act of religious blasphemy ever heard.  The people listening would, personally, determine which truth applied to them.

“There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.” (V.19)

Some immediately decided that Christ Jesus was demon possessed; that He was mad; that His Word was not even worth listening to!  (V.20)

Others were more circumspect, knowing that the words Jesus spoke were not the words of ‘…Him that hath a devil…’; and then brought in the relevant nature of Christ’s miraculous work in healing the blind man. (V.21)

“Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very works sake.”  (John 14:11)

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”                (James 2:17)

Jesus spoke.  Some believed.  Some did not.  Has anything changed today?  God’s Eternal Division continues. 

The Word of the Living Lord God is sent forth - as He always has been sent forth - to call God’s elect souls into His Kingdom.  Are we still listening?

“So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void (empty), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it (I.e. granting faith to God’s chosen and Divinely elected people).  (Isaiah 55:11)

“…Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

Thought:  On which side of Christ’s Eternal division will you stand?