10:14,15
Jesus repeats the claim that He is the good shepherd, and again stresses the fact that we are His, and He also says that we know Him. The implication of this is that since the Pharisees, in general, did not know Jesus they did not belong to Him. Notice also that Jesus is speaking about belonging to Him, He is putting Himself in the place of God here.
He then likens our knowing Him to the way that Father and the Son know each other. Knowing Jesus is no mere religious phrase, it is not just an intellectual assent, but an intimate relationship. we should see the high expectations that Jesus has of His relationship with us and we should pray that we will experience so much more of this.
Jesus then repeats that He lays down His life for the sheep. Just think about this for a moment, isn’t it amazing that God should lay down His life for you?
10:16
Israel was not the only fold in which Jesus had sheep. Note that the sheep belong to Jesus. He knows who they are and He has a definite plan to get them. He is bringing all the sheep of His flock into His fold.
“There will be one flock and one shepherd”. This is central to Paul’s theology and is why he reacted so strongly to Peter’s actions described in Galatians chapter 2. John also wanted his hearers to know that there is one shepherd and one flock. It was always God’s plan that all the world would be blessed (Gen 12:2,3). Israel had a habit of forgetting this, though the prophets reminded them periodically. In Jesus this plan is fulfilled. It is also a reminder that Israel will be saved in exactly the same way as everyone else, through faith in Jesus Christ.
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