My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me

 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

 

- John 10:19–30 

In recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, which is coming to a conclusion.  He has been debating the religious leaders.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them,  "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 said 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." 

 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"   My study bible comments here that those who respond in faith are not merely impressed by the signs, but perceive the holiness of Christ's words.

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  The Feast of Dedication took place approximately three months after the Feast of Tabernacles.  We have just finished reading through a large section of John's Gospel which took place at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-10:21).  The Feast of Dedication was known as the "Festival of Lights" and is also called Hanukkah.  This feast commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem, which took place after the Seleucid King Epiphanes had desecrated it in 167 BC (see 1 Maccabees 1-4).  At this festival, my study bible notes, the leaders of Israel's past were commemorated, many of whom were themselves shepherds.

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."  My study bible indicates that both what Christ told them and also the works He had done have already answered their question.  Only the Messiah could open the eyes of the blind, or perform the miracles that already bear witness to Christ.  Additionally, only the Messiah could speak to the hearts of people as Christ has (7:46; 9:21).  

"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."   As I said to you is yet another indication that these are the same Pharisees whom Christ was addressing three months earlier (10:1-5).   And once again Christ returns to His repeated them of total dependence upon and union with the Father.  My study bible comments that in this final statement (and He will continue in tomorrow's reading), Jesus reveals Himself to be fully God:  One means one in nature or essence.  He is God before all ages, and He remains God after the Incarnation and for all eternity.  The plural verb are (in "I and My Father are one") indicates two distinct Persons, and at the same time confirming a continuous unity.  

 

My study bible comments on this powerful statement:  "I and My Father are one."  And in tomorrow's reading, we will see the response of the religious leaders, who obviously understand Christ's meaning when He says that He and the Father are one.  But let us also look at something important about Christ's statement of unity with the Father.  It is not simply a declaration about Himself and about His identity, in response to the question of the Pharisees (referred to in the text as the Jews, meaning the religious leaders, not the Jewish people).   One highly powerful significance of Christ's unity with the Father is precisely in His relationship to the sheep, of which Jesus speaks.   In fact, it is significant in terms of why exactly the Pharisees cannot "hear" Him, cannot accept or understand His answers to them.  They are not of His sheep.  But this, too, ties back to the Father and Christ unity with the Father.  Jesus says of His own direct relationship with the sheep:  "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."   He is continuing a major theme of His discourse from the Feast of Tabernacles, that He is the good shepherd (see Saturday's reading, above).   What are the characteristics of His sheep?  For one thing, they are the ones who hear His voice.  He knows them, and they follow Him.  He will also keep them as His own forever, and no one will steal them away.  And here is the tie with His father, and through the sheep, those who love Christ as their Good Shepherd, "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."  It is the Father who has both given the sheep to Christ, and who will keep them safe with Christ, where others cannot snatch them away.  We turn here to themes that tie in with Christ's remark to Peter, after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ:  "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (see Matthew 16:15-19).  That the sheep are Christ's to begin with is primordially given by the Father, just as Jesus proclaims that it is the Father has revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ.  Let us make particular note that Peter likely has no idea how he came to this realization.   As far as we know, the Gospels do not tell us that Peter had a profound conscious vision or revelation to come to this understanding.  Instead, this faith and understanding has come from somewhere deep within himself, and it is Christ who reveals its true origin.  What this means is something that will be repeated by Jesus in John's Gospel, and especially at the Last Supper.  It means that God the Father is so deeply intertwined in us that where Christ relationship with the Father is and where our relationship with the Father and Christ is cannot be separated into separate threads or meanings or experiences.  It means that we are all in all, so to speak, and that this communion runs so deeply within us that we experience it as one.  For human beings to be "taught by God" (6:45, citing Isaiah 54:13). implies a stupendously powerful message about how honored and beloved we are by God, for it is the Father who delivers and gives the sheep to Christ.  At the Last Supper, Jesus prays for all of His sheep, those whom He knows and those who are to come, saying, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;  that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me" (17:20-21).  It is an affirmation of what we read here, and tying all these threads together.  In short the unity of Father and Son is extended through the sheep, those who know Christ's voice.  If you know His voice, if you desire to follow, consider what great things are truly at work to make that possible for us.  Consider the great honor we're given by the Father of all things.  Tying in with the themes of the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), let us dwell on the words of St. James, also found in the Dismissal Prayer of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).  Whatever else has happened or will happen in our lives, whatever sad or hard instance of this world interferes with our joy or contentment, consider this greatest gift of all, and that it is the Father working in us -- in you -- who gives it.  Nothing can take away from such a great and profound honor for human beings, and our Lord affirms it so for us.  Let us remain loyal to our Good Shepherd, and understand the deep love that binds us together with Christ and the Father.