(2) Christ's claim to equality of power and essence, and similarity of gracious operation with the Father.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hand. Commentators have differed as to the arrangement of these two verses—whether the six assertions should be regarded as two triplets, in the first of which the sheep of Christ are made prominent, and in the latter of which the Shepherd; thus—
(l) The sheep—
"My sheep hear my voice" (their receptivity).
"And I know them" (the Lord's response to their faith).
"And they follow me" (their active obedience).
"I give them eternal life" (involving freedom from peril and death).
"They shall not perish foreverse"
"No one (not man or devil, wolf or hireling)
shall pluck them out of my hand."
This is not so satisfactory as the arrangement which puts this weighty saying into three couplets instead of two triplets; in which the sheep are the prominent theme of each proposition. The three couplets display the climacteric character of the wondrous rhythm and interchange of emotion between the Divine Shepherd and the sheep-
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them"= mutual recognition.
"They follow me, and I give them eternal life" = reciprocal activity.
"They shall not perish forever, and no one shall pluck them out of my hand" = an authoritative assurance, and its pledge or justification.
Christ's knowledge of the sheep corresponds with their recognition of his supreme claims; theft active trust is rewarded by his greatest gift; their indefeasible birthright is guaranteed by his limitless authority and power to protect them. It would be gross perversion of the passage to urge this indefeasible birthright on the ground of a few occasional flashes of conscious assurance and without any recognition of all the terms of the relation.