John 10 Round Two: Jesus Gives Life on the High Beam

What if the clearest path through a dark world isn’t a tactic, but a voice? We dive into John 10 where Jesus names Himself both the Gate and the Good Shepherd, promising not mere survival but abundant life. Think high beams on a night road: the dangers don’t disappear, but the way forward becomes visible. That’s the difference His presence makes—clarity, courage, and a peace that holds when everything else shakes.

We start with why John’s Gospel centers on Jesus’ identity more than biography, then move into the sharp contrast between the shepherd who enters by the gate and the thieves who climb in to exploit. From there, we unpack the famous line “life to the full” and show how abundance is about purpose, resilience, and communion with God, not comfort on demand. Jesus doesn’t stop at access; He promises care. As the Good Shepherd, He knows His own, calls them by name, and lays down His life—by choice, with authority to take it up again—so protection isn’t theoretical but blood-bought.

The setting matters too. During the Feast of Dedication—Hanukkah’s roots of miraculous provision—Jesus stands as the greater provision, the Light that doesn’t go out. When pressed to “say it plainly,” He points to the works the Father gave Him, then states it without hedging: “I and the Father are one.” Some reach for stones; others reach for faith. We talk about why His works validate His words, why assurance rests in His hand that no one can overcome, and how hearing His voice becomes the turning point from drifting to direction.

If you’re hungry for guidance that doesn’t flinch in the dark, this conversation will meet you there. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs clarity today, and leave a review telling us where His voice is leading you next.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Stage For John 10
• 1:17 Why John Writes And What Matters
• 2:25 The Gate, Thieves, And True Shepherd
• 4:16 Life To The Full Explained
• 6:09 Jesus The Good Shepherd
• 8:21 Feast Of Dedication Context
• 10:15 I And The Father Are One
• 12:22 Believe The Works Or Remain Blind
• 13:38 Light That Exposes And Guides
• 15:00 Prayer And Final Encouragement

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Hello, everybody. Hope you are doing well. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. And today, another, another good one. This is one that you've probably heard before, but we're going to talk about it anyway. And if I were to give John chapter 10 a title, it would be Jesus Gives Life on the High Beam. Jesus gives life on the high beam. I'm going to try to explain what that is. And also we're going to talk about a festival that maybe you've never heard of before. The festival called the Feast of Dedication. Before we get into that, though, as always, if you like what we're doing here and you're watching this on the YouTubes, make sure you are liking this video, subscribing to this channel. Also, leave us a comment. We would love to know what all God is doing in your life. Or you can go to our Facebook group that is Bible Breakdown Discussion and let us know what God is doing in your life. And I want to ask you this question: Have you ever been driving down the road and someone had their high beams on coming your direction? What did you do? Do you just, do you flick your lights at them or do you just keep going? Like how do you handle that? I want to know down in the comments below. That's what we're going to be talking about today. Now, remember the context of the Gospel of John. John was written by the apostle John. And according to John himself, he called himself the disciple that Jesus loved. And it is thought, you know, Jesus had 12 disciples. Of the 12, he had three that were kind of his inner circle, James, John, and Peter. And then John was like his best friend, closest person on earth to Jesus. And so if you think about it, John is written by Jesus' best friend. And he's saying, hey, listen, I'm not going to focus on the biography of Jesus. There's other gospels doing that. The Gospel of John doesn't focus on the blow-by-blow account of the entire life of Jesus. He focuses on the final year of Jesus' life. And really, more importantly, he focuses on the message of Jesus. And the number one message of Jesus is he is God. He's not just a good man, not just a good teacher, not just a healer. He is God come down in the flesh to rescue all of us from our sin. And seven different times he tries to describe, or he does describe who he is. We've already seen how he talks about how he is the different aspects of things. He called himself the bread from heaven, and he's going to talk about being the way, the truth, and the life. And today he's going to talk about being the good shepherd. And in doing that, he's going to say one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible about how he gives life and life to the full, life more abundantly. So we're going to jump in, and I want to kind of tell you my high beam story in just a moment. But if you have your NLT Bible open, John chapter 10, you're going to read along with me. Let's read about this example Jesus uses to describe the difference between him and an imposter. He says it like this. Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs it some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger. Instead, they follow, or excuse me, they will run away from him because they don't know the voice of strangers. Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they didn't understand what he was telling them. So Jesus said again, Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the gate. Other translations, by the way, would say, I am the door. I am the entrance into the kingdom of heaven. I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. That they may have life and have it in abundance. So pause for a moment. So one day I was traveling down this road, and I had been traveling down it for a long time. It was out in the middle of a rural area, and I couldn't, couldn't hardly see. And I was really concerned there was going to be deer out there. And I'd already seen a couple of dead deer on the side of the road. So I knew they were out and about and I could not see. And I'm doing my best. I'm trying, I'm going, I'm going. I can't see anything. And then I, for some reason, it finally hits me, and it was like, wait a minute. I have not turned on my high beams, my bright lights. And I don't know why I hadn't. I just hadn't done it. And so I'm like, well, yeah, that would that this would be about the right time because I have no idea where I'm at. I I keep on coming up on these unexpected turns. So I pull up my high beams and all of a sudden, boom. I mean, it was amazing. I it was, of course, it was I could see so much clearer. I could, I could finally see what's in front of me. And that is exactly what I think about when I think of this verse. The Bible says the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it in abundance, have it on a high beam, have life full blast. And what I think about when I think of this verse is the thief is like us going down a dark street at night. There's villains on the left and villains on the right, and there's confusion in front of us, and we can't hardly see anything. And we're trying to see our way through life, but we can't. It's hard, it's dark, it's treacherous. And Jesus says, But if you come into the kingdom by me, which is the only way, it's like taking that dark, lonely life and boom, lighting it up with life. And that's what Jesus is trying to do. He's trying to say, without me, your life is full of darkness, your life is full of sin, your life is full of broken places. That's why Jesus came. Jesus came to fix all of that, to take the dark places in our life and to brighten them up. And so if anyone ever asks you, What hope have you got? You say, You know what my hope is? Is that because of Jesus, I no longer walk in darkness. But here's what I love about Jesus. Not only is he the doorway into the kingdom, but he is also our guide who takes care of us along the way. Because this is what he says. All the way through verse 10, he says, He is the high being. He is the one who helps us get into the kingdom of heaven. But then he says this in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away as he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn't care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep, but I have other sheep that are not from this sheep hen. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father. Again, the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, He has a demon and he's crazy. Why do you listen to him? Others were saying, These aren't the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? And so what Jesus was saying is, is he saying, Not only am I the doorway into the kingdom, but I am the kingdom as well. I am the one who leads you and guides you. And he's even saying, check my resume. Everybody else, they run, they scatter, they hide. Who's standing in the gap for you? And then he's even going further, and they don't realize it yet, but he's saying, and I'm going to prove it. I'm going to lay down my life for you, and then I'm strong enough to take it back again. So Jesus, he's already said that he is the bread. Now he is saying, I am the door, I am the gateway into the kingdom of heaven, and then also I am the good shepherd. I am the one that takes care of the flock. Now, here's the next verse. The Bible says in verse 22, then the festival of dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's colonnade. The Jews surrounded him and asked, How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly, I did tell you, and you don't believe. Jesus answered them. The works that I do in my Father's name testify about me, but you don't believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one will be able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Now, pause. First of all, they are telling him, You haven't told us who you are. Tell us who you are. And he just got through saying, I am telling you because I keep telling you that I and the Father are one. So he's going back to remember them, I am statements. He's using the holy name of God, saying, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the gate, I am all these other things. He is putting it out there for them. They're just not paying attention. But I'll also love, just for the sake of saying, he said, it said that at the festival of dedication took place in Jerusalem, Jesus was walking. Well, what is the festival of dedication? Well, so right after the book of Malachi in the Old Testament, and right before the book of Matthew, it was about 400 years of prophetic silence. And what I mean that by that is, is God wasn't speaking through a prophet at that time that was considered divinely inspired. That doesn't mean nothing was happening. At that point, the Persian Empire fell to the Greeks, the Greek Empire ended up falling to the Romans, and all this kind of stuff was going on. Well, during that time, all of these countries who were moving through also were taking over Palestine, taking over the Jewish nation. Well, at one point, there was a group of people, this is between Malachi and Matthew, so at 400 years of prophetic silence, there was a time when they wanted to restore restoration of the house of God and the house of worship and all these things. And so they ended up working on starting to rebuild the temple and all this. And there was a group of people called the, our family called the Maccabees, who decided they were not happy with the corruption going on and all the paganistic worship. So they wanted to restore holiness to the people of God. And there were all these wars and a lot of people died. Well, at one point, they wanted to dedicate the house of God again. Now later, King Herod, during the the just before the lifetime of Jesus, and during the lifetime of Jesus, he would go and expand on the temple of God. But during that time, they wanted to restore worship to the house of God. But according to legend, they only had like one small little thing of oil that was considered ceremonially clean. Well, they lit that oil as a way to celebrate dedicating the temple, and it ended up lasting a total of eight days. It was only been enough to last a few hours, but it lasted full eight days, a complete and total miracle. And so later it would become an annual feast that they would worship. And so that's what actually is happening here is Jesus is celebrating the feast of supernatural provision in the face of adversity. And isn't that amazing that during this feast, Jesus is saying, Hey, you know what the real supernatural provision is? Me. I've come to set you free. All right, let's pick up from there, verse 31, finish our chapter. Again, the Jews picked up stones or rocks to kill him. Jesus replied, I have shown you many good works from my father. Which of these works are you going to stone me? We're not stoning you for a good work, the Jews answered, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. Jesus answered them, Isn't it written in your law? I said, You are gods? Other words, that context is from the Psalms, talking about you are leaders, you are spiritual authorities. If he called these whom the word of God called gods in Scripture and cannot be broken, do you say that you are blaspheming to the one the Father set apart and sent to the world? Because I said I am the Son of God. If I am not doing my Father's works, don't believe me. But if I am doing them and don't believe me, wait a minute. Sorry, verse 38. But if I am doing them and you don't believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father. These they then they were trying to again seize him, but he escaped from their grasp. Verse 40. So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him and said, John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man is true. And many believed in him there. And so as you can see, wherever Jesus goes, he just shed light, high beams into the situation. When he's talking about the gate, he's saying, I came to give you light. That that life was going to light up your life. So I'm going to give you life and life to the full. And then he goes and he talks to the to the Jewish leaders, and his words just show light to them. It just brightens up really the darkness in their own life. And then even when they want to stone him, his light, the life of his life just brightens up and says, Hey, which one of these things? It's just like everywhere Jesus goes, he just brings perspective. He brings life. And here's the thing: not everybody is interested in the life that Jesus gives. And so what I love about Jesus is he doesn't back up from that. He doesn't say, Well, how can I make you happy? Instead, he says, This is the truth. I love you enough to tell you. Because he even told him, you know why you don't understand? Because you're not my sheep. He wants them to be, but you're not going to understand unless you are. And to me, as we get ready to finish our time together, that's one of the greatest paradoxes when it comes to the gospel. If you have the gospel in your life, you understand how precious and how valuable it is. If you don't have the gospel in your life, you don't. And so it's almost one of those things where I've told people before, I wish I could tell you what it's like to experience salvation. But I can't. You have to experience him for yourself. And then when you do, nothing else will satisfy. Because it's just like going down that dark road. Going on that dark road, I feel like I have villains all over me, I can't hardly see ahead of me. And then I turn on those high beams, and boom, the light shines everywhere. And once you see, you can never unsee. And I think that's what it's like to be in the kingdom of God. So it's like if I could just convince you to receive the life that Christ has, nothing else will satisfy. Well, the Lord's been sharing a lot with us, and I've been doing a whole lot of rambling. So let me pray for us. I'm going to read our scripture and we'll be done for today. Father, thank you so much. Your words are true. Thank you, Jesus, that you are the door, you're the gate that leads us into the kingdom of God. And you are the good shepherd. You lead us and you guide us and you never leave us. I'm thankful for what you're doing in our life. I'm thankful, Lord, that your word says the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but you have come that we have life and life to the full. And that life lights up our life and it expels the darkness. Thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Don't forget, John 20, 31 says, These are written that you may continue to believe that Jesus is God, and that by believing in Him, you will have life by the power of His name. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for John chapter eleven.