Christ's sheep Archives | Moment to Moment

(This is a slightly revised version of an article I wrote a few years back.)

Back in John 10:26-27, Jesus said to the Jews,

But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

We see Jesus saying something similar to Pilate in chapter 18.

Everyone who is of the truth, listens to my voice. (John 18:37)

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to the truth. A world of people who, like Pilate, ask, “What is truth?”

“Your truth” has become the catchphrase of this generation.

Everyone gets to determine their own “truth” and no one has the right to contradict them.

But when Jesus prayed to the Father, he prayed,

Your word is truth. (John 17:17)

Do we believe that?

Christ’s sheep listen to his voice and follow him. If we don’t do those things, we don’t truly belong to him and the truth is not in us.

When the Bible contradicts what you believe, do you change your thinking to match God’s? Or do you try to change the Bible to match your thinking?

Can you say with Jesus, “Father, your Word is truth”?

Or are you still clinging to your own “truth”?

Following our Shepherd’s voice

[The shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice…

I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. (John 10:3-4, 16)

In a lot of ways, John 10 echoes chapter 8. In chapter 8, Jesus says those who are truly from God listen to and obey him.

You see the same theme here. The main characteristic of Jesus’ sheep is that they listen to and obey him.

A sheep is sometimes dumb and will wander away from its shepherd. But ultimately it still recognizes and delights in its shepherd’s voice. And when the shepherd calls, it comes running.

The blind man that was healed in chapter 9 was one of Jesus’ sheep. When Jesus called, he delighted in his Shepherd and followed. (John 9:35-38)

The disabled man in chapter 5, on the other hand, I have doubts about. Though Jesus healed him, we see no signs that he delighted in and followed his Shepherd. Rather, to save his own neck, he reported Jesus to the religious leaders. (John 5:14-16)

That said, none of us are perfect sheep.

All of us sometimes fail and stray from our Shepherd.

How then do we know if we are truly his sheep?

It shows in our foundational attitude toward our Shepherd: We trust him, delighting in his voice, and following wherever he leads.

Is that your heart?

Whose sheep are you?