The Lord Jesus is “the Good Shepherd.” (Jn 10.11) His sheep “listen to His voice” (Jn 10.16); that is, they hear the call of the Gospel, the message that Jesus “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). His life is not taken from Him, but He lays it down willingly, of His own accord, because He knows and loves the sheep. As the One sent by the Father, He has the “authority to lay it down” and the “authority to take it up again” (John 10:18). So has He done and calls all people into the fold of His Church, so that there may be “one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). He calls those that “walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” (Ps 23.4) those who need their souls “restored” (Ps 23.3). Indeed, His voice comforts our hearts against all condemnation and gives us courage to “love one another” and “to lay down our lives for the brothers,” as He laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16, 23).