“Oves meæ vocem meam audiunt, et ego cognosco eas, et sequuntur me :”
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.”
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
Christ here says that his sheep hear his voice, and follow him: but let us ask ourselves, Do we cling close to this heavenly shepherd? Do we follow him, both by our faith and by our lives? Do we know him, and hear his voice? Do we fly from strangers, the world, the flesh, and the devil? If so, we are his sheep indeed; and if we persevere, he will bring us, in spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil, to the pastures of eternal life. But if we run away from our shepherd, to follow these strangers, we must expect to fall a prey to wolves. (Med. vol. ii. p. 417)
[1.] To convince them that they were not his sheep, he tells them what were the characters of his sheep. First, They hear his voice (v. 27), for they know it to be his (v. 4), and he has undertaken that they shall hear it, v. 16. They discern it, It is the voice of my beloved, Cant 2 8. They delight in it, are in their element when they are sitting at his feet to hear his word. They do according to it, and make his word their rule. Christ will not account those his sheep that are deaf to his calls, deaf to his charms, Ps 58 5. Secondly, They follow him; they submit to his guidance by a willing obedience to all his commands, and a cheerful conformity to his spirit and pattern. The word of command has always been, Follow me. We must eye him as our leader and captain, and tread in his steps, and walk as he walked—follow the prescriptions of his word, the intimations of his providence, and the directions of his Spirit—follow the Lamb (the dux gregis—the leader of the flock) whithersoever he goes. In vain do we hear his voice if we do not follow him.
Verses 22-30 All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father were one. Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies, which proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally with the Father.