27 My[413] sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: [413] verse 4. =25-27. I told you * * * the works * * * bear witness of me.= He had told them (ch. 5:19; 8:36, 56, 58, etc.), not it is true as plainly as he had told the Samaritan woman (ch. 4:26), but more plainly than he had told his own disciples previous to Peter’s confession of faith, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16); and he now answers them as he answered John the Baptist, who, in a very different spirit, preferred the same request for a definite answer to the question, “Art thou He that should come?” (Matt. 11:2-6.) He refers them to his works. The evidence of Christ’s divinity is not in his declaration about himself, nor in the declarations made concerning him by others, but in his life, his character, and the work which he has done and is still doing in the world. Works (ἔργα) includes his miracles but is not equivalent to miracles. See ch. 14:12, note. The reason why he did not answer more directly is well given by Godet: “He could not answer ‘I am,’ for the meaning which they attached to the word Christ had, so to speak, nothing in common with that in which he used it. Still less could he reply, ‘I am not;’ for he was indeed the Christ provided by God, and in that sense he whom they expected.”--=Because ye are not of my sheep, as I said to you.= The reference is either to the implied teaching of the parable of the Good Shepherd, or to some specific statement not reported by the Evangelist. The genuineness of the words _as I said to you_ is doubted by some, but they are regarded as authentic by most critics. What does he mean by _ye are not of my sheep_. If we look back we shall see that the sheep of Christ are those that hear (_i. e._, accept and obey) his voice, and follow him (_i. e._, imitate his life and example). See verses 3, 4, 14, 16, 27. The declaration, then, _Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep_, is that those who do not spiritually recognize the beauty of Christ’s teaching, and do not attempt to follow his incomparable example, are not to be expected to be convinced of his divinity by purely intellectual arguments.--The answer to the skeptic is generally, You cannot believe in Christ as your personal Saviour till you begin to recognize and to follow his teaching and example as a prophet and a man. The declaration is the converse of John 7:17. Comp. 2 Peter 1:5-8, where the possession of the Christian virtues is declared to be the efficient cause of a sound Christian knowledge. The creed does not precede but follows spiritual life. 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they[414] shall never perish, neither shall any _man_ pluck them out of my hand. [414] ch. 17:12; 18:9. 29 My[415] Father, which gave[416] _them_ me, is greater than all; and no _man_ is able to pluck _them_ out of my Father’s hand. [415] ch. 14:28.