The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father” (John 10:14–15).
In Scripture, “to know” means much more than to be able to identify a person or a thing by name. In Bible language, “to know” involves intimacy, a deep understanding of the person or object involved. It means to be chosen, to be loved. In the original Hebrew text, the word know describes the intimate love between husband and wife. At the time of judgment, Jesus will say to those who masqueraded as believers, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matt. 7:23; see also 25:12).
Eastern shepherds knew the name of each sheep and could call it out of the fold each morning. But the shepherds also knew the nature of each sheep: those that were prone to wander, those that wanted their own way, those that delayed obeying their shepherd’s commands. Because the shepherds possessed this kind of knowledge, they were better able to care for the flock.
But the sheep also knew their shepherd! Just as children come to understand their parents better and pupils their teachers, so sheep learn to “read” their shepherd’s voice and gestures. They know when he is warning them, when he is calling them together, and when he is simply reminding them that he is watching.
For Jesus to compare His relationship with His sheep to His relationship with His Father is quite remarkable. It reminds me of what Jesus said to His Father when He concluded His prayer recorded in John 17: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (v. 26). The Father loves us as much as He loves Jesus! The better we get to know Jesus and the Father, the more we will love God and experience His love in our hearts, and the better we will obey Him. The shepherds had a loving relationship with their sheep, the kind of relationship we should have with our Good Shepherd. As we study the Word, worship, fellowship, and obey the Shepherd, we come to know Him and also ourselves better.
It encourages me to know that my Shepherd knows and understands me thoroughly and still loves me and cares for me. “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways” (Ps. 139:1–3).
Albert Einstein’s wife was asked if she understood Dr. Einstein’s mathematical theories, and she replied, “No, but I understand Dr. Einstein.”
The apostle Paul had been saved for thirty years, had been to heaven and back, and had seen Christ in His glory, and yet he wrote, “I want to know Christ” (Phil. 3:10). He prayed that the Christians in Ephesus might “know him better” (Eph. 1:17), a prayer we should be praying daily.