Do Sheep Hear Their Shepherd's Voice?

The only thing we would have at our disposal to recognize the Lord is to recognize his Word in what he would be saying to us. To put the matter in the bluntest, most concrete terms possible, we would have to recognize him by finding his words to us to be those we have come to know in the Bible.

I got an interesting and very helpful insight into the Bible one time from my brother-in-law, Barbara’s brother Jan, who was a Colonel in the United States Army when he retired. He explained at our supper table one evening why it was that orders in the Army are written out. I’m not talking about a casual order an office might give to a soldier – to go next door and to bring him a file. No, the orders that are important are written down. Col. Beer pointed out that the reason for this is very simple – with an order written down, there is no question later on about what was said. The act of writing preserves the order through time. And, that is exactly what God has been doing since Mount Sinai – directing his prophets and later the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ to write down the things that are important for later disciples of the Lord to know.

What was Jesus’ commission to the Apostles? “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. teaching them observe all things that I have commanded you …” And, that is exactly what the Apostles did. And by way of preserving the teaching which Jesus was talking about, they committed it to writing – not every word of it, of course, as John himself acknowledges at the end of his gospel. But, what they did write down was, as the Apostle Paul later said to his disciple Timothy, “All scripture is breathed out from God, and it is profitable, for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in all righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

From today’s gospel lesson, we could also add to that this idea – so that by the Scriptures we should have knowledge of Jesus Christ, and fellowship with him. Indeed that is precisely what John later wrote to his own disciples in 1 John 1:1-4 --

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things we write to you that your[a] joy may be full.

So, here we are at the beginning of the 21st Century. And, all around us – in great abundance, in scores of different English translations – we have the Holy Scriptures, the things which John was talking about, things which the Apostles wrote down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the prophets of the Old Testament before them. These things are everywhere in the Scriptures referred to as the Word of God, the Word of Christ, the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Do we hear them? Or are we like those silly people greeting President Roosevelt with gushy words because they haven’t listened to a syllable of what he has said to them?