The Good Shepherd

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One of Christ's personal characteristics, in which I have complete confidence, is that he is conscientious about making his Father happy; thus he stated:

● John 8:29 . .The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to Him.

Were Christ to fail in any way, any way at all, pleasing the one who sent him. then it would be dishonest of Christ to claim to "always" please Him. Christ might be able to claim pleasing the one who sent him a high percentage of the time, but certainly not always.

Here is the will of the one who sent him.

● John 6:39 . .This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of what He gave me

The one who sent Christ has given him sheep (John 10:27-30). Were Jesus to lose one single head of those sheep-- even just one --he would fail to always please the one who sent him .

Regarding those sheep, Jesus stated:

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can 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."

It has actually been posited that the sheep are an exception. In other words; it's been posited that the sheep of their own free will can take themselves out of Jesus' hand. But of course they can't because God's free will trumps the sheep's free will.

● John 6:39 . .This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of what He gave me

The posit is a vote of no-confidence in the good shepherd's determination to succeed at pleasing the one who sent him; and reveals a belief that the sheep have enough strength and cunning to overpower their shepherd and run off.

Were the good shepherd only human, then I would be inclined to agree with the posit that his sheep might get past him and run off. But the Bible teaches that Christ is not only human, but also the divine architect of the entire cosmos with all of its forms of life, matter, and energy. So then, the good shepherd has at his disposal all the powers and abilities of the supreme being to utilize in keeping the sheep right where he wants them to be.

Surely no one in a right mind would dare to suggest that sheep have sufficient powers and abilities of their own at their disposal to overcome Christ. Were that the case, the sheep would have no need of his services; the sheep could shepherd themselves.

But even were the sheep to somehow manage to escape Christ's hand, they would still have his Father's hand to contend with; and good luck getting away from Almighty God!

Now, seeing as how the good shepherd has all the powers of the supreme being at his disposal to keep the sheep, then it shouldn't take too much more to persuade the sheep that it's okay to fully trust in this next statement of his.

● John 10:9 . . I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

Were Christ a so-so shepherd; then he wouldn't dare say "will be" saved; no, he'd have to tone it down a bit and say "can be" saved. That would leave him some room for error. But when Christ says "will be" he's claiming a 0.0% failure rate. That's how confident Christ is that he will lose nothing of what his Father has given him.

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[brinny]

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One of Christ's personal characteristics, in which I have complete confidence, is that he is conscientious about making his Father happy; thus he stated:

● John 8:29 . .The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to Him.

Were Christ to fail in any way, any way at all, pleasing the one who sent him. then it would be dishonest of Christ to claim to "always" please Him. Christ might be able to claim pleasing the one who sent him a high percentage of the time, but certainly not always.

Here is the will of the one who sent him.

● John 6:39 . .This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of what He gave me

The one who sent Christ has given him sheep (John 10:27-30). Were Jesus to lose one single head of those sheep-- even just one --he would fail to always please the one who sent him .

Regarding those sheep, Jesus stated:

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can 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."

It has actually been posited that the sheep are an exception. In other words; it's been posited that the sheep of their own free will can take themselves out of Jesus' hand. But of course they can't because God's free will trumps the sheep's free will.

● John 6:39 . .This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of what He gave me

The posit is a vote of no-confidence in the good shepherd's determination to succeed at pleasing the one who sent him; and reveals a belief that the sheep have enough strength and cunning to overpower their shepherd and run off.

Were the good shepherd only human, then I would be inclined to agree with the posit that his sheep might get past him and run off. But the Bible teaches that Christ is not only human, but also the divine architect of the entire cosmos with all of its forms of life, matter, and energy. So then, the good shepherd has at his disposal all the powers and abilities of the supreme being to utilize in keeping the sheep right where he wants them to be.

Surely no one in a right mind would dare to suggest that sheep have sufficient powers and abilities of their own at their disposal to overcome Christ. Were that the case, the sheep would have no need of his services; the sheep could shepherd themselves.

But even were the sheep to somehow manage to escape Christ's hand, they would still have his Father's hand to contend with; and good luck getting away from Almighty God!

Now, seeing as how the good shepherd has all the powers of the supreme being at his disposal to keep the sheep, then it shouldn't take too much more to persuade the sheep that it's okay to fully trust in this next statement of his.

● John 10:9 . . I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

Were Christ a so-so shepherd; then he wouldn't dare say "will be" saved; no, he'd have to tone it down a bit and say "can be" saved. That would leave him some room for error. But when Christ says "will be" he's claiming a 0.0% failure rate. That's how confident Christ is that he will lose nothing of what his Father has given him.

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Precious.

Amen.

Thank you brother.

 

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● John 15:1-7 . . I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

. . .You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

. . . I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

That passage makes a lot of people nervous; but it shouldn't make the good shepherd's sheep nervous because none of them will be either taken away or thrown into the fire.

● John 10:9 . . I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

● John 6:39 . .This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of what He gave me

Were the Father to cull Jesus' sheep, then the Father would be thwarting His own will; and would have to admit incompetence in His selection of sheep that He delivers to His son for shepherding.

● John 6:44a . . No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,

Sheep delivered to the good shepherd not only have the guarantee of John 10:9, but also this one:

● John 6:44b . . and I will raise him on the last day.

That would be an hollow promise were the Father to cull the sheep-- any of the sheep; even one.

As of 2016 there were approximately 2.4 billion Christians throughout the world. Every one of them, regardless of religious denomination, were vine branches, but not all were the good shepherd's sheep.

The reason I say that is because according to John 6:39 and John 10:9, none of the good shepherd's sheep will be lost; while according to Matt 7:21-23 and John 15:1-7, a number of the vine's branches will be lost.

The assumption that the vine and his branches = the good shepherd and his sheep, is a very common error.

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