Given To Jesus

“Jesus answered them, ’I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one’” (John 10:25-30, ESV).

Have you heard about the Filipino who became a very successful businessman in Norway, who was looking for and found his biological mother here in Legazpi?

His Norwegian name is Espen, while his Filipino name is Jerad. He was adopted when he was only one year old.

According to him, the Norwegian couple was super happy to have him in Norway. His father is in the oil industry and his mother is in the government. And he grew up to become CEO of his own company.

But despite his success and in living in a loving family, he felt the longing for his biological mother. They finally met last January.

According to his mother, “It was very difficult decision to give your child away.”

In many verses in the Gospel, especially in John 17, we read that God the Father has given a people to His Son. In our text today, we also find the same truth.

But, what would happen, if God the Father would give you to Jesus Christ?

So, this time, we will have our topic, GIVEN TO JESUS while we study some verses in our text (John 10:25-30).

What would happen or, specifically, what would a person do, when he is given by God the Father to Jesus?

Again, be reminded that the Gospel of John was written by the one who addressed himself as, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” No other than the Apostle John. And he wrote it about 90 AD.

The book is different from the other Gospels, called Synoptic Gospels -- Matthew, Mark and Luke. They focused on the narrative of the life of Jesus. However, the Book of John related more on the works and words of Jesus while in the last part of His life on earth.

In the early verses of John 10, John related that Jesus told the Jews that He was the good Shepherd. And He laid down His life for special group of people -- the sheep.

Then, when Jesus was in Jerusalem, the Jews again gathered around Him. They said to Him, “…If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

And in our text, Jesus related His expectation of their unbelief. And we could also learn, what the sheep or those people given by the Father would do. And if we are among them, what do you think we would also do?

– PERSEVERE TO FOLLOW JESUS (verse 27).

We read verses 27, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Let’s focus on the last three words, “… they follow me.”

Of course, we understand that the word, “they” refers to the “sheep.” And the sheep is a metaphorical identification of those persons given to Jesus by the Father. As we read in verse 29, ”My Father, who has given them to me…”

And they -- the sheep -- or the persons given by the Father follow. They follow Jesus. They follow Him, not their hearts, not their feelings, not their dreams, not anyone or anything or any practice in the world.

What do you really mean “follow”? If we take other verses in the Bible, we could understand “follow” in many ways. The most common is to obey. To make Jesus the Boss. That means to make Him Lord of our lives.

We may see it also as a “call to self-abasement and self-sacrifice.”

In another passage, it could mean that to “follow Christ means He has become everything to us.”

It could also mean “we apply the truths we learn from His Word and live as if Jesus walked besides us in person.” Or, as in verse 4, we could infer that we follow Him wherever He leads or tells us to go.

However, if we consider the word “follow” within our text, we can draw another or broader meaning. Notice verse 26, “…but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.” Jesus told the Jews that they do not believe because they are not among His sheep. But while they do not believe, Jesus said in the next verse (v. 27), “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” -- or, as if Jesus was saying, “My sheep, not only hear My Voice audibly and understand it… also, they follow me or believe me.” And in the following verse (28A), Jesus said in the first part, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish…”