I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

- John 10:1-18

Over the course of the past two readings, we have been reading about the man blind since birth, whom Jesus healed. This is the sixth of seven signs in John's Gospel, and the only one in the whole bible in which a person blind from birth received sight. His disciples asked Jesus who sinned that the man was born blind. Jesus told them that the blindness was an occasion for God to be revealed. He said, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." He spat on the ground and made a clay, put it on the man's eyes, and then told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. After this the man could see. The neighbors who knew him asked who healed him, and took him to the Pharisees. The Pharisees told him that Jesus was a sinner, and healed on the Sabbath, but the formerly blind man said that Jesus was a prophet. In yesterday's reading, the Pharisees called the parents of the blind man, questioning whether he was truly blind since birth. The parents verified his blindness, but out of fear of the leadership wanted to say nothing about the healing, saying, "He is of age; ask him." Then the Pharisees questioned the blind man, insisting that Jesus was a sinner. The blind man replied, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." He later told them, "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." Then they cast him out of the temple. Jesus found the blind man later, and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Are we blind also?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains." In today's reading, Jesus continues speaking with the Pharisees.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. If we think of the man who was blind, we have a kind of analogy to the sheep that respond to the voice of the shepherd, the voice they know, and trust. The man could not see, but he responded to the voice of Christ, the voice that knew him deeply, knew his "name" in some sense, as he was truly called. Jesus called to this man, first for healing, and then for true sight. As he was cast out of the temple, he came into the fold of Christ, and into faith.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." My study bible notes: "In calling Himself the door, Jesus signifies He will bring His flock into an enclosed sheepfold with a central gate. Normally a hired guard would tend the gate while the shepherds rested through the night. But Jesus is the tireless Shepherd, always guarding the entrance. No one can enter except by way of Him." To go in and out and find pasture gives us a sense of true rest, of abiding in Him. That is, the sheep have found their true dwelling place, where they may take rest, find peace, and the things which they need for life.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep." Now we begin to glimpse the revelation of what makes the true Shepherd, and that quality is love. Not only has He come out of love that these sheep may have life and have it more abundantly, but that He will also lay down His life for the sheep. There is no greater love than this.

"But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep." Who is a person who doesn't really care? One who is selfish, thinks only of himself -- one who would leave the sheep to scatter. My study bible says, "The hireling, the noncommitted religious leader, is contrasted with the shepherd, one who considers the sheep his own. The hired hand looks primarily after himself."

"I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd." Jesus speaks now of the Body of Christ, those believers, or sheep, who will also come from other flocks. They too will respond to His voice, those whom He calls by name, because He knows us deeply and truly, who we are within ourselves. My study bible says, "Other sheep are the Gentiles, who will be brought into the one flock under the one shepherd. Hence, the Church cannot be divided along denominational, ethnic, cultural or family lines."

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." Here, we seem to have a true turning point in the Gospel. The division between Himself and the leadership is going to come to a head, and He will voluntarily lay down His own life in order to be glorified, as the Father has commanded. My study bible says, "The Lord makes it clear this atoning death will be voluntary. Though He is God, He does nothing apart from the authority of His Father. If we seek to experience God's love and His power, we do so as Christ Himself does: by obeying willingly the Father's commands. As He laid down His life for us, we lay down our lives for Him, willingly and out of love."

Let us consider the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep. He is love, as John will write in His Epistle that God is love. Jesus knows us, more deeply than we know ourselves. When He calls us by name, He calls us by a true name, the person that we truly are within, and even in time as He leads us in faith, into the place where we may take rest in this pasture, and in the abundance of life that He promises to us. We know the hirelings, those who do not care but only for themselves - those who wish to use the sheep for their own selfish purposes. Ultimately, it is all about the love between the Father and the Son, and then extended to the sheep, among the sheep, and reciprocated back in faith. How do you experience this calling? How do you experience this rest, this pasture? The door is there for us. The Good Shepherd is ready to lead, with truth and with love. How do you respond?