![]() When I first retired from Parish ministry in 2014, my wife, Jenny, and I went to live in the village of Coniston in the Lake District. He also reminds his followers that sheep are helpless without a shepherd. He described himself as both the gate of the sheepfold and the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and after his death and resurrection he commissions Peter to feed his sheep in his place. ![]() There were shepherds around at his birth. Jesus talked a lot about sheep and shepherds, and he sees his followers as sheep whom he knows, loves and serves. And the image of sheep and shepherds would have been instantly recognisable in Jesus’ day just as they are to us today. The theme of sheep and shepherds threads its way through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus said, (in John 10) “My sheep listen to my voice. One of the images Jesus used of himself in John’s Gospel was that of the “Good Shepherd”, knowing that sheep know the shepherd’s voice. His family, friends, disciples and many others would have known his voice. One of the great joys for the disciples of Jesus would have been to hear him speak, to become familiar with his voice, his intonation, his use of language to know what he sounded like and, no doubt, to be captivated by the authority with which he spoke. In this week’s inspiring Blog, Canon Michael Adams helps us to reflect on Jesus the Good Shepherd who speaks to his sheep, and asks whether we are listening. We cannot know his human voice today, but we can know his speaking to us by his Holy Spirit day by day. In Jesus’ day his family, friends and disciples and many others would have known the comforting sounds of the voice of the Son of God. John 10:4 “When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.Listening to the Shepherd’s Voice 2 years ago I pray each one of us will listen with our hearts and minds, while discerning to determine if it is Jesus speaking. His voice is available for us to hear, if we will listen for it. His wisdom, instruction, and guidance are there for us to read and to hear. We can also hear Jesus speak as we read the Bible. ![]() The audible sound we hear will not be Jesus’ voice, but the words spoken may be His. Hearing Jesus requires us to be connected to the Holy Spirit and to use discernment. He may speak a word of wisdom through one person and a word of warning through another. Jesus may speak through any number of people. No, hearing Jesus does not often require us to hear with our ears but with our heart. Some of us may have heard the Holy Spirit speak to us within our own heads, but it is not the same as hearing a voice with our ears. Knowing Jesus’ voice can be a little more challenging for us. Our brains also associate a variety of other data with a voice, such as authority, friendship, trusting, distrusting, anxiety, obedience, disobedience, etc. They catalog them and associate different feelings about them. They are used to record the voices we hear. Our brains are amazing organs within our bodies. Some of them we trust while others we do not. We may hear them from another room, but we know who is speaking. How many voices do you know by hearing them? Do you know the voice of your parents? Do you know the voice of your spouse? Do you know the voices of your siblings? Do you know the voice of your close friends? Do you know the voice of Jesus?
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