Christ applies the metaphor of the sheep and their shepherd to His care and rescue of His people.
The Good Shepherd describes how His sheep hear His voice, and follow Him, but they will not hear the voice of strangers, but will flee from them.
Of course, sheep can hear any person's voice. It's not the simple capacity to hear that is in mind, but rather to understand, recognize, trust in, and obey that voice.
Most do not hear Christ's words because He is a stranger to them. They can hear the noise well enough, but it makes no sense to them, and therefore they are unbelievable and not worthy to be trusted or obeyed.
Jesus explains that most people cannot hear Him because their ears are plugged up. They are not children of God, but rather children of the devil. They do not understand the Savior's speech, because they cannot hear His word.
People don't hear Christ's gospel because they are not of God.
Jesus makes it clear: people cannot hear His voice because they are not His sheep.
Which raises the question: how do believers hear the voice of Jesus? How are we made His sheep?
In this world, the sheep do not recognize the voice of their shepherd until they have become familiar with him, and learned his goodness to them, and been convinced to trust him.
But Scripture tells us that lost men can never hear God's word or decide to trust in Him through their own experience or good judgment.
Instead, we are all dead in our sin, and incapable of hearing or believing the Gospel.
Believers are more foolish than sheep, for we could never learn to hear Christ or trust in Him by any natural means.
The Holy Ghost must open our ears to hear Christ! |
