He had told them that He had come from the Father; He had testified by acts what His Father was. He had shown them that the Father was working for them on common days and Sabbath-days to bless them. This act had begotten no faith in them; would the words, '_I am the Christ_,' beget faith in them? Neither words nor acts, so long as they were not seeking as sheep for the true Shepherd. He had said to them before, that instead of looking for a shepherd who should point the way to them and the humblest Israelite,--who should fold them together,--they were aspiring to be independent shepherds; they were refusing to enter by the same door as the sheep. Those who were sheep,--those who needed a shepherd,--would own His voice. They did not want Him to tell them that He was the Christ. A sure and divine instinct would tell them, that He who gave up Himself, He who entered into their death, must be the guide they were created to follow,--that there could be no other. And He would justify their confidence. They were longing for life,--for the life of spirits,--for the life of God; nothing less would satisfy them. He would give them that life,--that eternal life of love, in which He had dwelt with the Father. They were surrounded by enemies who were seeking to rob them of life, to draw them into death. He was stronger than these enemies. They should not perish; neither man nor devil should take them out of His hands. The eternal will which He came to fulfil was on their side. _The Father who gave them to Him was greater than all._ Those who were seeking to separate them from their Lord and Shepherd were at war with this Father; for He had owned them, they were His.