Reflection:  To know and be known     

How well does the Father know the Son? The answer? Completely. Intimately. In Luke 10:22, Jesus says: “…No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

And Jesus knows his sheep with the same quality and depth of knowledge.

How well does the Son know the Father? The answer? Completely. Intimately. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you…” (John 17:25).

John 1:18 declares: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.”

And we have been called into a relationship with Jesus in which we know him just as he knows his Father. Completely and intimately.

Jesus describes his relationship with his Father in the most intimate of terms. He states that his purpose in performing miracles was so that “you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father” (John 10:38a, NIV). In John 15:4, Jesus extends the same intimate relationship that he enjoys with his Father to you! As the King James Version phrases it: “Abide in me, and I in you.”

That word ‘abide’ describes an organic unity with Christ – you are inseparable from him and he is inseparable from you. And when Jesus calls for you to ‘abide’ in him, he is not asking you to attain this union. He is telling you to remain in this union. This also describes the relationship between the sheep and its shepherd. The sheep can do nothing to attain a relationship with the shepherd. They are simply to remain in that relationship.

Prayer:  Dear Father, I pray that I may fully grasp the concept of abiding in you, understanding that it signifies an unbreakable unity. Help me to remain steadfast in this relationship, knowing that it is not something I can achieve on my own, but a gift of grace from you.