“His Flock”

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 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 will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Again, his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” John 10:22-33

Have you ever noticed that some people just don’t like Jesus? Some don’t like His teachings, such as: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Others don’t think He is God in the flesh. Many don’t think He is the Messiah that God promised to send.

There is a reason why we can believe what Jesus said and what He has done. It is because we are His sheep, and He is our Shepherd. We recognize His voice, and we follow Him. God the Father has given us to Jesus, and no one will ever be able to snatch us out of the hand of God.

The Good News is that there is always room for more sheep in the Lord’s flock. We are living proof of this miracle. We were added to the Lord’s flock at one time.

When I encounter someone who doesn’t like Jesus, I think to myself, “This person is not one of His sheep. Yet.” It’s important to include the “yet”, because the Lord is always adding new sheep to His flock. There is always hope for those who do not yet know the Shepherd.

In the Book of Acts, we find out what happened to those who wanted to stone Jesus. Many of them ended up becoming His sheep. Acts chapter 2 tells that three thousand of these people were added to the Lord’s flock in just one day.

We can’t give up hope on those who don’t like Jesus. God hasn’t given up on them. Otherwise, we never would have become one of the Lord’s sheep.

In Christ,

Pastor David