The Good Shepherd

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The inquiry below comes along every now and then.

FAQ: At Matt 16:18, Jesus said: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against
it." What is the meaning of that verse?

A: Basically it's saying that should one of Christ's believing followers slip
through a crack and end up in the wrong place, they will be able to stroll
right on out of there like a tourist in Paris; possibly guided on their journey
by a celestial being, maybe similar to Peter's experience when he escaped
jail in Acts 12:3-11.

We should emphasize that if any one of the common Christian
denominations were the "my church" that Christ spoke of in Matt 16:18,
then not one of its members would end up stuck behind the gates of the
netherworld; but I'm pretty sure that all the common denominations expect
to lose a number of their followers; which reminds me of a line from the
movie AVATAR spoken by Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang,
that goes like this:

"It is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed . . not with all of you."

But Jesus will succeed because his standing with God depends upon it.

● John 10:27-29 . . My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow
me. My Father gave them to me

● John 6:39 . .This is the will of the One who sent me, that I should not lose
anything of what He gave me.

● John 4:34 . . My food is to do the will of the One who sent me.

● John 8:29 . . I always do what is pleasing to Him.

Were Jesus to lose even one head of the sheep that his Father gave him,
just one, then it would be wrong of Jesus to say he "always" pleases his
Father. He'd have to tone it down and say "almost always" viz: most of the
time, but not all the time.

When people say that it's possible for Jesus to lose some of the sheep that
his Father gave him; they are actually casting a vote of no-confidence in the
reliability of his faithfulness to God's will.
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Regarding the sheep that his Father gave him, Jesus stated:

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch
them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:28-29)

It has actually been posited that the sheep are an exception. In other words;
it's been posited that the sheep of their own free will can take themselves
out of Jesus' hand. But of course they can't because God's free will trumps
the sheep's free will.

"This is the will of the one who sent me; that I should not lose anything of
what He gave me." (John 6:39)

The posit reveals a belief that the sheep have enough strength and cunning
to overpower their shepherd and run off.

Were the good shepherd only human, then I would be inclined to agree with
the posit that his sheep might get past him and run off. But the Bible
teaches that Christ is not only human, but also the divine architect of the
entire cosmos with all of its forms of life, matter, and energy; and by him it
keeps on ticking (Col 1:16-17). So then, the good shepherd has at his
disposal all the powers and abilities of the supreme being to utilize in
keeping the sheep right where he wants them to be.

Surely no one in a right mind would dare to suggest that sheep have
sufficient powers and abilities of their own at their disposal to overcome
Christ. Were that the case, the sheep would have no need of his services;
the sheep could shepherd themselves.

But even were the sheep to somehow manage to escape their shepherd's
hand, they would still have his Father's hand to contend with; and good luck
getting away from Almighty God!

Now, seeing as how the good shepherd has all the powers of the supreme
being at his disposal to keep the sheep, then it shouldn't take too much
more to persuade the sheep that it's okay to fully trust in this next
statement of his.

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved." (John 10:9)

Were Christ a so-so shepherd; then he wouldn't dare say "will be" saved;
no, he'd have to tone it down a bit and say "can be" saved. That would leave
him some room for error. But when Christ says "will be" he's claiming a
0.0% failure rate. That's how confident Christ is that he will lose nothing of
what his Father has given him.
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