=13-15. The hireling * * * careth not for the sheep * * *=--=I know my sheep.= Christ reiterates the contrast between the hireling and the good shepherd; and indicates anew points of distinction between the two. The hireling careth not for the sheep; he cares only for his wages; the good shepherd knows his sheep and is known by them. In a limited way this is true of the good pastor or shepherd; he knows his flock personally and sympathizingly; he is not merely a preacher to them; he is their best friend and adviser (ver. 3, note). But this knowledge is never perfect, and never can be, in the under shepherd. His insight is imperfect; his sympathy is partial. It is only Christ who can say I _know_ my sheep. “If you would think rightly of the Son of Man, think of the Person who knows thoroughly everything that each one of you is feeling, and cannot utter to others or to himself--every temptation from riches, from poverty, from solicitude, from society, from gifts of intellect, from the want of them, from the gladness of the spirit, from the barrenness and dreariness of it, from the warmth of affection and from the drying up of affection, from the anguish of doubt and the dulness of indifference, from the whirlwind of passion and the calm which succeeds it, from the vile thoughts which spring out of fleshly appetites and indulgences, from the darker, more terrible suggestions which are presented to the inner will. Believe that he knows all these, that he knows _you_. And then believe this also, that all he knows is through intense, inmost sympathy, not with the evil that is assaulting you, but with you who are assaulted by it. Believe that knowledge, in this the Scriptural sense of it--the human as well as the divine sense of it--is absolutely inseparable from sympathy.”--(_Maurice._)--=And am known of mine.= Christ’s knowledge of the Christian is the basis of the Christian’s knowledge of Christ. Both are sympathetic and personal, the knowledge of love. It is because the Good Shepherd knows his sheep that he is known of them. It is because by his knowledge he is able to enter into our innermost experience, and to give us comfort and strength when all human helpers fail, that we come to know him as our Helper and our Strength. We know him as the Good Shepherd only as we follow his guidance, accept the food and water he gives us, are restored by him when wandering, and delivered by him from danger and death.--=As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.= The connection is not very clear between this sentence and the preceding one, or between the different clauses of this sentence. It seems to me, however, that Christ refers to this knowledge between himself and the Father, not merely to illustrate the knowledge between himself and his disciples, but to turn their thoughts from himself to the Father. Christ has been accused of blasphemy by the Jews; that is, of