John 10:22-30

            {Prayer}

            Let me tell you a story.

            There is a couple, lets call them Melissa and Brad. Melissa and Brad are going to have a baby. Brad says Melissa has become much more intentional about talking to their son. In one of their pregnancy books, Melissa read how babies can hear their mother’s voice around 26 weeks. So, Melissa talks to her baby, even though he is still in the womb.

            Melissa loves the idea, that when her son is born, he will recognize her voice. Her husband teases here about it. Brad leans down and jokingly uses his best pirate voice to form a connection with his son. Melissa, though, is serious. She speaks to her baby because she wants him to recognize and trust her voice.

She says, “Imagine what it’ll be like when our baby is born. He’ll be surrounded by strange noises and new people. But when I speak, he’ll know that he’s with someone who loves him, someone who’s been speaking to him even before he was born.”

            This story not only reminds me of when Jessica and I were expecting our kids, but it also reminds me of today’s Gospel reading on this Good Shepherd Sunday, which also happens to fall on Mother’s Day.

Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

            Jesus uses this metaphor of a shepherd and sheep to describe our relationship with God. God has created a world where, when He speaks, His children will not only hear Him … they will recognize His voice. The voice of their Shepherd. Earlier in John 10, Jesus said, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out … they know his voice” (10:3-4). This is a picture of intimacy, of trust, of familiarity.

            To really appreciate what Jesus is saying, let’s dig into the text with first understanding the scene.

            John tells us it is winter and the time for the Feast of Dedication, better known as Hanukkah. Jesus is walking in Solomon’s Colonnade, a covered porch area in the temple courts. The religious leaders come up and surround Him. They’re not there to marvel at Jesus or learn from Him. They’re there to confront Him. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). But the thing is … Jesus has already told them. He’s told them again and again and again. He’s told them, not only in words but through the things He done. All the signs and miracles … they all testify to His identity as the Christ. And yet, they still do not believe.

            And this is where Jesus draws the line between belief and unbelief with a shepherding metaphor. “You do not believe because you are not my sheep” (10:26).

            Then He turns to those who do believe and says, “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (10:27). Let’s break this down some.

            That first part … “I know them” … that’s incredibly personal. Jesus doesn’t just His sheep as being there. He knows them. He knows you. Psalm 139 echoes this truth … “O Lord, you have searched me and known me … You discern my thoughts from afar … Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether” (139:1, 3-4).

            Before you even spoke a word … God knew you. Before you even knew how to listen … God had spoken to you.

            Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice.” The Christian life isn’t first about speaking or doing … it’s about listening. It’s about being with God, intentionally being with Him. This takes us back to the first target in the Red Letter Challenge – Being. Being with God doesn’t start with doing. It’s starts with listening … listening to His Word, hearing His voice, and spending time in His presence.

            We need to be with God and listen carefully. We need to do this because there are so many other voices. Voices that demand. Voices that lie. Voices that tear down. 

            A teenager who listens to her likes on an Instagram post. Several times a day she checks her phone to see if she is loved.

            A college student who listens to the approval of his frat brothers after a long weekend of partying, hoping he fits in.

            A grown adult who cannot get the voice of his father out of his head telling him, “You’ll never amount to anything.”

And sometimes … the voices aren’t just out there, outside of us. There are voices in our heads. The voice of shame. The voice of anxiety. The voice of inadequacy. These voices don’t build us up but rather wear and tear us down. And the danger is … over time … we begin to believe them.

            And in the middle of all this noise, it’s easy to lose track of what is true. But Jesus calls us back. His voice is different. He speaks and His sheep listen to and recognize His voice.

            In 1 John 4 we’re told, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (4:1).

            In the noise of the world, we need discernment, we need to be able to understand. Jesus gives us His Word, His Spirit, and His Church to help us hear rightly.

            And when we listen … what do we hear? Hopefully we hear love. We hear forgiveness. You hear a Shepherd who calls you by name and says that you are His.

            As 1 John 3 declares, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (3:1).

            In our Gospel reading, Jesus goes on, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). It’s a bold promise. One that enrages the religious leaders. They accuse Him of blasphemy. “You, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 20:33).

            But here’s the thing … Jesus isn’t afraid of their anger. Jesus isn’t scared of their rejection … Jesus embraces it. In fact, Jesus is came to bear rejection, even unto death, for the sake of those who reject Him. What Jesus is doing is not blasphemy … it’s mercy. They think that Jesus, being a mere man, has made Himself God. This couldn’t be any farther from the truth. If anything, it’s the exact opposite of what is really happening.

            Paul will say in Philippians 2 that “Jesus, being in very nature God, made himself nothing, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (2:6-8). Jesus, being God, took on human flesh and became man. And not only that, He became human in order that He might suffer and die for the sins of the world. It’s the exact opposite of what the religious leaders think is happening.

            Jesus laid down His life. He took it up again. He did so that He would fulfill what He said, “No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:29). Paul puts it this way in Romans 8: “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:38-39).

            So today … stop and listen. Spend time with God. The world is noisy. But the Shepherd is speaking. He knows you. He speaks to you. He holds you. Listen to His voice, and follow Him. So, when the world gets loud, when the other voices press in … stop … be still … and remember … your Shepherd is still speaking, and He is speaking to you. Amen.

            The peace of God that surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.