He Knows Your Name | Apostolic Wisdom Daily Manna

"The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." (John 10:3, BSB) "I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me." (John 10:14, BSB)

Picture a crowded railway platform at 6 p.m. Thousands of voices. Announcements. Hawkers. Then, over all of it, one voice says your name. You turn at once. That's Jesus' picture. "He calls his own sheep by name." Not "Hey, you." Your name. And "the sheep listen for his voice." Look at the setting. Jesus is speaking to people who knew the shepherds of Israel. Many of those leaders had failed the flock. God had said so through Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34). The sheep were scattered and hungry. Jesus steps in and says, "I am the good shepherd." The old sheepfold was the Law, a protected courtyard under the old order. It kept the flock, but it couldn't feed them. Jesus "leads them out." He doesn't keep them in a pen. He leads them into pasture and life. Notice the order in verse 14.