“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
 

John 10:27-30

Here, it is almost as though Jesus is saying to the Pharisees he addresses, “Well, if you don’t believe in me or trust me, then believe and trust in the Father—the God you serve—to display this kind of power.”

Jesus is God. Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. They just don’t want to believe it.

The Father, who sent the Good Shepherd to call his creation back to him, who has placed all of us in the Saviour’s capable hands, has the power to protect and care for those who have returned to him.

Jesus’ remarkable promise to us of his protection is guaranteed by his unbreakable bond of love and union with the Father, and the fact that the "sheep" he owns are the ones the Father has given him.

"Christian confidence about the future beyond death, ...is not a matter of wishful thinking, a vague general hope, or a temperamental inclination to assume things will turn out all right. It is built firmly on nothing less than the union of Jesus with the father …It is interesting to observe that where, in Christian thinking, people have become unclear on Jesus’ close relation to the father, they have often become unclear also on the certainty of Christian hope, and vice versa." (Wright, T. (2004). John for Everyone, Part 1. Chapters 1-10 (pp. 155-157))

Here, in the middle of Eastertide, we are encouraged to confirm our belief and trust in God the Father, who made the world, Jesus, his Son, who redeemed humankind and the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent to give us true life.

Will you today, together with me, confess once again your firm belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit?

Let us move forward into this Eastertide with great joy in this faith.
 

Reflections by Reggie Venter

Good Shepherd,
Joy of all Christian people:
Rekindle in us 
the delight of your resurrection
and the assurance of being your child, 
and held lovingly and firmly 
in your hands.
Amen.

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