“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:27, ESV
This is Jesus speaking to a crowd of Jewish leaders, leaders in the Temple and Synagogues. Just before these words, he tells them that they are not among His sheep, telling these religiously faithful people who were born into the clans that God had claimed as His Chosen People that they were not part of God’s chosen any longer. Why? Because they did not know the voice of the Father or His Son. He was calling them out for their hypocrisy. Outwardly, these were well-respected and good people. They were teachers, scribes, and supporters of the Temple and the Synagogues. Jesus, however, was revealing their hearts, and it was piercing because, in the depths of who they were, they knew it to be true, but instead of repenting, they desired to stone Jesus. They wanted to silence Him. Is this not still true today? The hottest-selling books and the Christian music that is being popularized do not often speak to this sin-sick reality that we all find ourselves in, and that Jesus calls us out of. It wasn’t that Jesus wanted them to be angry, but He wanted their hearts to turn to Him and listen to the salvation promise that was being offered. This is the message that He still gives today as He calls us away from voices that lead to death to THE VOICE that calls us to life.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.