The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 73

heo.rt of m11n, the things which God bath prepared for them that love him.n Thry "taste ancl see that God is good" when they enter into the secret of his presenc0 through the open door of Christ's mediatorship, and thus our Lord's great promise i3 fulfilled, "He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shnll never thirst." Sttch a.re Christ's claims, such his offers in the words before us. He does not speak to his disciples of raptures and ecstasies, or promise to tr:msport them to some dreamland whero they shall enjoy a charmed or enchanted life. But he says they shall be s11.ved, and shall go in o.nd out and find pasture. Their earthly lot may not be such as they would choose for themselves. The outward aspect of Providence may sometimes be stern, circumstances trying and hostile; but he who presides over all the events of life, and sees the end from the beginning, has promised to keep them in the hollow of his ho.nd. He is their Shepherd, and they shall not want. Throughout the years of their pilgrimage here he will feed them with the bread of life, and refresh them with the water of life, and with these experiences and with his own promises be will inspire their minds with nothing less than the hope of glory. " Blessed are the people that are in such a case " as this !-G. B. Vers.14, 15,-" The same yesterday,and to-day,andfor ever." "I am the good Shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me, even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father" (Revised Version). Our Lord Jesus Christ, as he has on his head many crowns, so throughout the Scriptures he is invoked and celebrated by many a name. These names unveil his being, they describe his relations to ns, and they serve for his memorials throughout all generations. Indeed, you can scarcely have a right or fitting thought concerning him but you find it already expre~sed by one or another of his Scripture titles. Here he calls himself" the good Shepherd,P using an image which needs no explanation, Every child knows the allegory at the beginning of this chapter, and has learned from hooks of travel how the shepherds in the lands of the Bible know their sheep one by one, and go before them, and run risks for them; and, on the other hand, how the sheep follow their leader, and will not go after a stranger. There in abundant evidence how dear this conception of Christ was to the heart of the early Church. Among the pictures so strangely preserved on the walls of the Homan catacombs, where, as far back as the days of pagan persecution, the Christians wero wont to bury their dead, the good Shepherd is one of the emblems oftenest portrayed. Fit and cheering emblem for the cloudy and dark day 1(Stanley's 'Christ. Inst.,' c. xiii.). Bnt to understand the significance of this image in our Savionr's lips, think of its hallowed associations in the Old Testament, and of its deep prophetic meaning there. From time immemorial Jehovah himself had been loved and trusted as the Shephenl of Israel, and the greatest earthly guides whom he gave to his people were described. as under-shepherds who fulfilled his will. "Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron (Pa. lxvii. 20); "He chose also David his servant," etc. (Pa. lxxviii. 70, 71). But mor.e, when the great days of Jewish prophecy came round, how wondrously was the advent of a Divine Shepherd foretold who should never cease to feed the flock of God I Isaiah cried, " The Lord God . . . shall feed his flock like a shepherd." Ezekiel echoed and prolonged the cry (xxxiv. 12). Thus prophetic visions were realized and prophetic voices were fulfilled when Christ said, "I am," etc. On many grounds Christ could claim this title, but his own words in the text give prominence to a specie.I and mutual tie between the good Shepherd and his flock. "I know my own, and my own know me," etc. I. TIIEBE WORDS WERE FULFILLED IN THE DAYS OF OUR LORD'S FLESH. Even then it was with a sure and Divine intuition that he looked into the hearts of men. '!'his was more than the strange gift of discernment which men of geniWI have some- times shown in choosing followers. "He knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him ; " and, on the other hand, he recognized those whom the Father had given him, and whose souls were prepared or preparing to receive• the good seed of the kingdou1. Do any say, "How was this?" seeing he had emptied himself even of his omniscieJ.ce, and was found in fashion as a man? Enough to reply that the Spirit that was given to him Without measure was "a spirit of wisdom and understanding," so that "he did not judge after the sight of his eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of hie ears." And hence he never w,1s mistaken in his estimate of human  76 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN, [ OH, X, 1--42.