The Good Shepherd

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The inquiry below comes along every now and then.

FAQ: At Matt 16:18, Jesus said: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." What is the meaning of that verse?

A: Basically it's saying that should one of Christ's believing followers slip through a crack and end up in the wrong place, they will be able to stroll right on out of there like a tourist in Paris; possibly guided on their journey by a celestial being, maybe similar to Peter's experience when he escaped jail in Acts 12:3-11.

We should emphasize that if any one of the common Christian denominations were the "my church" that Christ spoke of in Matt 16:18, then not one of its members would end up stuck behind the gates of the netherworld; but I'm pretty sure that all the common denominations expect to lose a number of their followers; which reminds me of a line from the movie AVATAR spoken by Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, that goes like this:

"It is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed . . not with all of you."

But Jesus will succeed because his standing with God depends upon it.

● John 10:27-29 . . My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. My Father gave them to me

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

● John 4:34 . . My food is to do the will of the One who sent me.

● John 8:29 . . I always do what is pleasing to Him.

Were Jesus to lose even one head of the sheep that his Father gave him, just one, then it would be wrong of Jesus to say he "always" pleases his Father. He'd have to tone it down and say "almost always" viz: most of the time, but not all the time.

When people say that it's possible for Jesus to lose some of the sheep that his Father gave him; they are actually casting a vote of no-confidence in the reliability of his faithfulness to God's will.
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Regarding the sheep that his Father gave him, 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." (John 10:28-29)

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.

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

The posit 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; and by him it keeps on ticking (Col 1:16-17). 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 their shepherd'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.

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

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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