The voice of the Good Shepherd

Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 7: 1-2; 10; 25-30)

Jesus gathers the flock which recognizes his voice as that of the Good Shepherd and someone who is willing sacrifice his own life for them. The sheep feel that the Father has sent His Son for this reason and that they must do nothing else other than follow Him. On the other hand, those who have decidedly rejected His teachings and Majesty confuse his human origins with the mission given to Him by the Father as an excuse not to follow him. Every day we must confirm that we are among those who hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd.