<p>10:15 <i>Even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep</i>- His mutual relationship with the Father, the Hebrew sense of both sides 'knowing' each other, was to be reflected in His knowing His sheep and them knowing Him (:14- a theme developed at length in chapter 17).</p><p>There is and will be something dynamic in our relationship with the Father and Son. The Lord Jesus spoke of how He &lsquo;knows&rsquo; the Father and &lsquo;knows&rsquo; us His sheep in the continuous tense (:14,15)- He was &lsquo;getting to know&rsquo; the Father, and He &lsquo;gets to know&rsquo; us. And this is life eternal, both now and then, that we might <i>get to know</i> the one true God and His Son (Jn. 17:3). The knowing of God and His Son is not something merely academic, consisting only of facts. It is above all an experience, a thrilling and dynamic one. I am the good shepherd, and know (Gk. 'am getting to know', continuous tense) my sheep, and am known (<i>being known</i>) of mine. As the Father <i>knoweth</i> (is knowing) me, even so know I (I am getting to know) the Father&quot;. The relationship between us and our Lord will therefore be one of progressive upward knowledge, as He has with God. Thus a state of ultimate knowledge of God will not be flashed into us at the moment of acceptance at the judgment. For this very reason, the Kingdom cannot be an inactive state. God is dynamic. For us to grow in His knowledge will be a continuously dynamic process. It is pointed out in John's Gospel that those who will truly know God will not fully know Him now, in this life. Thus the blind man in 9:12 said that he did not know where Jesus was; Thomas likewise said that the disciples did not know where Jesus was going 14:5,7); in 4:32 the Lord Jesus said that He had meat which we do not know of. Those who said (in John's&nbsp;Gospel) that they <i>did</i> know Jesus, often found that they did not. Thus the Lord said that the Samaritans worshipped what they did not know (4:22), although they were convinced that they did. Nicodemus thought that he knew Jesus, when he did not (3:2); the Jews thought that they knew whence Jesus was (7:26);&nbsp;&quot;now we know that you have a demon&quot;, they boasted (8:52); &quot;we know that this man is a sinner&quot; (9:34)- and how wrong they were. Those who accepted they did not fully know the Lord Jesus will spend eternity coming to know Him (17:3).</p><p>It was due to His <i>knowing</i> that the Lord gave His life. Knowledge, in its active and true sense of relationship, does have a vital part to play. Otherwise spirituality becomes pure emotion alone. To &quot;follow after righteousness&quot; is paralleled with &quot;to know righteousness&quot; (Is. 51:1,7). To know it properly is to follow after it.</p>