Now we come to some of the most
insightful words of the New Testament.
I am the Good Shepherd.
The Scribes and Pharisees were to have
been the shepherds
of Israel, but they didn’t have the right stuff. They were like the hired hand that put in his
8 hours, collected his pay, and drank it all away.
The Pharisees liked their status but
never comprehended service or sacrifice. It
was all about the rules and they had been in charge of the rules for some time. Suffering was not in their repertoire.
In stark contrast to the hypocritical
religious leaders of the day, Jesus went so far as to say:
I lay down my life for my sheep.
No Pharisee or Sadducee or Scribe or
other religious leader had ever said anything like that. They liked to give
orders and throw their penalty flags and have the best seats wherever they went. The Pharisees were the
opposite of what we are
called to be.
There is status and there is
commitment. The Pharisees knew
status. Jesus put forth commitment. Who
commits their life to their calling up to the point of freely giving it? Only
the true shepherd would risk his
life for his flock.
While Jesus gave the Pharisees more
than they could handle; he also gives us preview to the fulfillment
of his mission. There came a time
for him to lay his life down and for him to take it up again. Here’s the short version: Death and
resurrection to follow.
He has come to fulfill
all law and prophecy about himself and then die for
our sins as an unblemished Lamb. But he tells those who hear his voice, those
who have ears to hear, that is not the end of the story. There is more on resurrection
and life in the next
chapter.
Just to give us something to chew on,
Jesus noted that he has sheep not of this flock. We most often think of this being us, those not born by blood as children
of Abraham. Paul would use the term grafted in, we being
the wild branch in this
equation.
Jesus was more
direct than Paul. We know and listen
to his voice. We are one flock. He is our shepherd.
I am the good
shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and
I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Why do we know the voice of Jesus?
He is our
Shepherd. If he is not
Lord, Redeemer, Savior, and Shepherd, then whose
voice are you obeying? If he is not
your shepherd, all
voices sound reasonable and compelling.
Most of the time I don’t like being
compared to a sheep. When the kids sing the
monkeys in the jungle say thank you Lord, I can relate; but who wants to be
compared to a sheep.
The shepherd lays down his life for
his sheep. In that perspective, it’s
good to be a part of the flock. Think to
the man after
God’s own heart and what he
did as a shepherd.
Consider the parable of
the lost sheep. The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1 that
is lost. OK, I could handle being part
of that flock.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want.
He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord for ever.
When the Lord is your shepherd, it’s
good to be a sheep, for he is the Good Shepherd. He lays down his life for his sheep.
When Jesus said, as much as
I have loved you, so you must love one another, remember, that he lay down his life for his
sheep. Hear his voice. Learn from
him.
Obey his
commands.
Know the voice of the Good Shepherd.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment