David Leventhal

I’ve been working my way through the Gospel of John. This morning I spent some time in the first part of John 10. I was stopped by a passage I’ve read many times. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (v. 14-15).

Did you catch that phrase stuck right in the middle? Jesus knows his own sheep in the same way the Father knows him. We are known by Jesus in the same way Jesus is known by the Father. The Father and the Son have been together from eternity past…in perfect community & holiness. What is there about the other that they don’t already know & love? Is there some quality that remains hidden from the other? Is there something about the other yet to be discovered?

And this is how John 10 says that Jesus knows us. Have you ever thought about the implications of that? What is one of our greatest fears in life? It’s to be known for who we really are – not in our best moments, which are often few & far between. But to be known for who we are in the day in and day out struggle of life…the jealousy, anger, lust, pride & the pre-occupation with things that, in the end, don’t really matter. To be known for who we really are is a scary, scary thing. Think about it – what is one of the major reasons we are terrified of fully disclosing our hearts, our fears & our shortcomings to others? Is it not the fear that when who we really are is discovered we will be rejected? And because we’ve yet to truly experience pure unconditional love from another person when we read that Jesus knows us inside and out it might be tempting to shrink back from that. And yet that’s the glory of the last part of this verse – “and I lay down my life for the sheep.” We are known fully and yet we are loved fully. We are loved so much that the Good Shepherd volunteers to lay down his life for us so that we might be saved from the wolf. We fear being fully known and yet we are already fully known…and loved. This is unbelievable, incomprehensible, and offensive and yet it is true.