resurrection Is…pt.3

John 10:22-30

Resurrection Is Believing.

Throughout this Easter season, we’ve been asking one central question: what is Resurrection? And more personally, how do we experience it in our lives? On the Second Sunday of Easter, we explored how Resurrection brings us peace with God, power from the Holy Spirit, and a message to proclaim. On the Third Sunday, we learned that Resurrection gives us a renewed purpose—the calling God places on our lives. Now, as we arrive at the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the lesson deepens: Resurrection comes to us by faith.

In John 10, we find Jesus walking through Solomon’s Portico—the porch of the Temple—during the wintertime, as the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) is underway. The people encircle Him and ask directly, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Their demand is one we’ve all echoed in our own way. We want clarity. We want certainty. We want Jesus to eliminate mystery and speak in unmistakable terms. Yet Jesus responds not with a new answer, but with a challenge: “I told you, and you do not believe.”

This raises an important question. When did Jesus ever tell them plainly that He was the Christ? It’s true that He hadn’t said the words directly, but He insists He has already revealed it. The difference lies in the way it was revealed. What Jesus deems as plain can still seem mysterious to those who refuse to walk by faith. But to those who do walk by faith, Jesus’ identity is already clear. This is the core of the lesson: knowing who Jesus is does not come by evidence, logic, or visible proof—it comes by faith.

We often want to remove faith from the equation. We say things like, “Just tell me plainly,” because we don’t want to be caught believing something that can’t be proven. We want to see all the evidence, evaluate the facts, and then make a “wise” decision. But that’s not how faith works. In fact, the moment we remove all mystery, we no longer have faith. Faith always involves a level of trust, even when we don’t have all the answers. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” And God has chosen faith as the way to receive His gifts. He doesn’t require us to earn salvation or prove ourselves. Instead, He asks us to believe—even when belief requires trust without full understanding.

Jesus responds to the crowd’s demand for a plain statement by pointing to three ways He has already revealed that He is the Christ—three ways that require faith to understand. First, Jesus points to His works: “The works I do in My Father’s name, these testify about Me.” In other words, His miracles are not what make Him the Messiah—He performs them because He is the Messiah. There’s a key theological distinction here. Works don’t make someone holy; it’s holiness that produces true works. Similarly, our good deeds don’t make us Christians. We do them because we are Christians. Faith comes first, and our works flow from it. Yet many of us muddy the waters when we explain our faith to others. We often emphasize behavior—“I try to live a good life”—instead of the grace that saves us through faith. The resurrection life will express itself in good works, yes—but those works are evidence of faith, not a substitute for it.

Second, Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice.” His sheep are those who recognize Him—not by sight, but by hearing. They follow Him, not because they’ve weighed all the evidence, but because they trust His voice. And Jesus makes it clear: the reason some people don’t believe is because they aren’t His sheep. Only those walking by faith can hear the Shepherd’s call and follow. It’s not that Jesus hasn’t spoken; it’s that not everyone has ears to hear. Those who want certainty and proof will always miss it. But those who trust, even amid uncertainty, will know exactly who He is. They may not be able to articulate everything, but they’ve encountered His voice, and it’s enough. As a side note, I often think of how my own mother taught me to believe—not by argument, but by presence and trust. She made me believe, against what I heard from others, that I wasn’t defined by what I feared about myself. That’s what Jesus does for His sheep. He speaks faith into our fears and invites us to follow.

Finally, Jesus makes a bold statement: “I and the Father are one.” This is perhaps His clearest claim to divinity, and yet He offers no physical proof—only the word itself. It’s a statement that cannot be verified scientifically or rationally. It must simply be believed. Again, we see the pattern: Jesus reveals Himself, but in ways that always require faith. For those who walk by faith, these signs are sufficient. For those who demand certainty, they will never be enough.

This is what Jesus teaches us: our relationship with Him is built and sustained by faith. And this has always been God’s design. He did not choose to redeem us through logic or provable evidence but through grace received by trust. God does not require that we understand everything about Him—He only requires that we trust Him. There is a deep mystery to God. We will never know Him fully, not even after a lifetime of study. But the beauty of the Christian life is this: we don’t have to know everything to receive everything. All that God offers—His grace, His forgiveness, His resurrection power—comes to us by faith.

That means Resurrection comes by faith. Forgiveness of sins comes by faith. Eternal life comes by faith. You may want God to prove that He can resurrect the dead things in your life. You may want the plan laid out before you fully commit. You may want a little more certainty before you step into baptism, or clarity before you trust God with your future. But Resurrection doesn’t come through clarity—it comes through faith. Not by working harder, not by helping God “figure it out,” and not by unlocking some vault of evidence. It comes by faith in Jesus. Faith in the One whose voice speaks to His sheep. Faith in the One whose works point to the truth. Faith in the One who is one with the Father.

And here’s the poetic twist. In John 10, Jesus doesn’t say the words, “I am the Christ.” But later, after the Resurrection, in Acts 3, something remarkable happens. Peter stands in that very same place—Solomon’s Portico—and makes the declaration plain. “You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead,” he says. “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” The plain statement came—but not from Jesus. It came from His sheep. From one who walked by faith and had seen the Risen Lord.

So here’s the question that remains: will you walk by faith?

Will you trust what Jesus has already revealed, even when it’s not as plain as you wish it were? Will you hear His voice, even when others demand proof? Will you live in the power of Resurrection—not because you’ve seen every answer, but because you’ve come to believe?

Resurrection comes by faith. And faith is the door to every good gift God is waiting to give.

Peace Be With You,

Pastor Bruce