He remembered those words in the tenth of St. John's Gospel: "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers."
So he asked the farmer if he might stand behind a great tree where the sheep could not see him, and then he would copy the farmer's familiar call, and he would see if the sheep would come to him.
But when he gave the call, the sheep looked very frightened, and then they all turned tail, and ran away as far as they could go!
Yes—"they knew not the voice of a stranger!" But when the farmer, who was their shepherd too, and their master, gave the call, they turned back, and came up one by one to his side, expecting him to give them the food they longed for, and the love which day by day he lavished upon them.
This is a picture of the Eastern shepherd. He loves his sheep, as I told you; he calls them by name; he leads them out to green pastures.
If enemies come, he is ready to give his life to protect them!
If, in his absence, a hired man has to take care of them, the hireling runs away if he hears the roar of the wild beast, or sees a sudden storm coming up!
But the shepherd thinks first of his sheep. He leads them into a place of safety to escape the storm; he defends them against the wild beast with his own hand, and his own life!
Jesus is the Good Shepherd—all these good things of which I have told you belong to Him in fullness.
He calls His own sheep by name! He says to each one of you, however young you may be, your own, own name!