Today's Readings
(Audio)
“How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
They weren't really open to the possibility that he was the Christ, they just wanted to know who he purported to be. There were of course rumors and speculation that he was the Christ. But if he stated it more blatantly then it would be easier for them to try to attack and discredit him for it.
Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.
Jesus had already said and done more than enough to clearly demonstrate that he was in fact the Christ. But one thing he would not do was force anyone to believe. There were some who heard Jesus speak and saw the miracles he performed and did believe. But there were others who refused. He had done mighty deeds that he could only have done if his Father was with him and approved of him. But in such cases the disbelievers discounted those works as done by demons. He had spoken words such as no one ever spoke, with an authority surpassing that even of a prophet. Some were moved to faith by these words. But some only found in them grounds for specious argument.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.
They didn't want to be sheep and didn't want to have a shepherd care for them. They wanted to remain in stubborn independence, however pathetic the results to which that led. They heard his words, but they did not respond to his voice as sheep would do. He called, but they did not answer. He would have been overjoyed to count them among his sheep, but they were unwilling.
My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
He knew all of those who were not his sheep in one way, since he, as Truth itself, knew all things. But he knew those who were his sheep, those who opened themselves to him, in another. He knew his sheep as those who were in relationship with him, and who desired to grow in union with them. He knew them as the Bridegroom knew his Bride. It was in this sense that Jesus said that some would one day hear the frightening words, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness" (see Matthew 7:23).
This Gospel can also be read differently from our interpretation above, telling that those who opposed Jesus did so because they were predestined to do so. There were those in his flock who were able to hear and follow him because he knew them, in the sense that he had foreknown them from all eternity. This was what was described by Paul in several places, including in his letter to the Ephesians.
he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (see Ephesians 1:4-6).
This too is a valid reading of the text. But it does not contradict what we have already said, since God predestined all of those whom he knew would not reject him. It wasn't arbitrary on his part. He loved even those who would not come to him and be saved. It was arbitrary on the part of those who refused, since they simply preferred not to be saved, by him, or in that way, or at all.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The idea of predestination is usually distasteful to us. It smacks of caprice. But the real take away from the fact that some are predestined is the lengths to which God himself will go to ensure that the elect are saved. Since we know that God desires to save us, if we ourselves desire that salvation even a little, we may understand that there are no lengths to which he will not go (save compulsion) to get us safely home. Nor may we ever write someone off as simply not predestined, because that information is simply not available to us. Even if it were so, it would not be for lack of love on the part of God, and so neither does it excuse such a deficiency on our part.
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