Shepherds

 Read Genesis 46

 

When the people came out of bondage in Egypt, they had a variety of skills.  We see these in building the Ark of the Covenant and even in the Tabernacle.  They were skilled at woodworking and there was some metallurgy. Even though the Tabernacle was essentially a tent, there were fine fabrics, wood, and gold included in the design.

When the people went into Egypt, they were shepherds. Yes, shepherds needed some tentmaking and woodworking skills, but their stock and trade was shepherding.

This was the family of Jacob—Israel.  While other skills would be acquired over the next 400 years, these people were shepherds.

That worked to their advantage.  Shepherds were detestable to the Egyptians.  Yes, the Egyptians had flocks, but shepherds were at the very bottom of the social ladder.  The Pharoah was happy to send Israel’s family to Goshen. Out of sight was out of mind.

The Pharoah wanted to keep Joseph happy but he didn’t want shepherds hanging out with the social elite.  Goshen would work just fine.

He added, if you have a really good shepherd among you, put him in charge of my flocks. But it was Goshen where Israel’s family would settle and grow.

Let’s turn the clock ahead.  God’s Chosen People had come out of Egypt.  They had received the Law of Moses.  They had acquired kings for themselves.

The people still described themselves in terms of shepherds and sheep. Consider David’s words.

The Lord is my shepherd.  I shall not want…

How about this one.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

These descendants of Jacob had also acquired a class of religious experts—Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus had come into the world and spoke to the people in metaphors.  The Pharisees didn’t understand the metaphors concerning sheep and shepherds.

We should.  Let’s go to John 10.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.  The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“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. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.  The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus is the way.

Jesus cares for his flock.

Jesus laid down his life for his flock—for us.

Anyone or anything that leads us away from Jesus is a thief—a deceiver.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

How about this one?

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Jesus wasn’t at a shepherd’s convention when he offered this, but the people he addressed certainly knew about shepherds and sheep. It was their history.  It was their culture.

Americans don’t have that culture.  Our livestock business has more business to it than lifestyle.  Yes, farm life can be a tough life.  It can also be a rewarding and  liberating life, but it is not the shepherd’s life.

The modern-day farmer or rancher will not lay down his life for his livestock.  He has a rifle in the truck if the wolf comes. It’s a different deal these days.

But we should seek to understand the life of a shepherd.  So much of the Bible is framed in terms of this vocation.  Of course, it is.  These people in Jacob’s family were shepherds.  Shepherds entered Egypt and for all the skills they acquired in their centuries of bondage, shepherds emerged from Egypt.

Study to understand shepherds. Why?

We must know the Good Shepherd. We must know his voice.  In an age where confusion reigns, we must know the voice of the Good Shepherd so as not to be led astray by so many other voices calling out to us.

Know the Good Shepherd and draw near to him.

Amen.

 

7 I Am Metaphors in John

 

The words I am are powerful words.  They are how God’s people were to know that Moses was sent by God.  The words I am move boats across water or cause armed guards to fall backwards

They are words that use God’s name to precede ours.  Who are you?  I am Tom or I am Jane or I am whatever name your parents gave you.

These are words that identify God and help us to understand our identity and they are more than we can comprehend in a single serving.  Jesus gave us 7 I Am metaphors to help us understand him and his Father in heaven and what it is to have life in him.

Let’s briefly consider each of these I Am statements.

“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35-51)  Jesus used this one several times in a single pericope.  Bread sustains physical life. Christ offers and sustains spiritual life. Think to the fourth chapter of John’s gospel.  Jesus said he had food that his disciples didn’t know about.

His food was to do the will of his Father. His food was to finish the work he was sent to do.  Jesus still ate meals but his real sustenance was in doing his Father’s will.

Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Jesus and his commands to us sustain us.  We are to receive him and his commands with the same enthusiasm we have for the fellowship meal.  Will we be nourished?

 “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) To a world lost in darkness, Christ offers Himself as a guide. John has a recurring theme of light and darkness.  While Jesus was in the world, he was the light of the world.  We as his disciples are charged to be the light of the world.  You can be the salt of the earth while you are at it.

Will we walk in the light?

In chapter 11 of John’s gospel, when the disciples are concerned about going back to Judea and Jerusalem because the Jews there wanted to kill Jesus, he told them that if they walked in daylight they would not stumble.  If they walked in his light, they would be protected.

“I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7-9) Jesus protects His followers as shepherds protect their flocks from predators.  If every sheep and shepherd go through the gate, everyone is protected.  Visualize a small or narrow gate that offers only one way in or out.  Only the thief would climb the fence to steal or kill or destroy.  Jesus is the gate and the gate is the way, which will come up in chapter 14.

Will we by receiving him also receive his protection?

“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11-14) Jesus loves and protects all who belong to him.  Everyone who had been entrusted with the shepherding of Israel before fell short.  Jesus is the model of shepherding.  His sheep know his voice.

Will we know his voice?

As we are talking shepherds, I’m going to make a little rant here.  I see a lot of scripture abused on the internet.  Scripture is twisted or rewritten to fit the desired narrative. That’s the age that we live in.  Sometimes, I am compelled to comment.  Here is one of those cases.  It’s from Luke 15.

Have you seen the one about how Jesus leaves the 99 to find the 1?  Did you have any problems with that?

Jesus tells the parable. He is not in the parable. What difference does it make?

Besides manipulating the scripture to fit the desired narrative of the one who posted it; it ignores the literary tool selected by Jesus. The parable helps us understand the things of God by setting it alongside the things people understood in the world.

The shepherd in the parable is your basic human shepherd. Even he would leave the 99 in the open country to search for the lost sheep. If the human shepherd would do this, how much more will your Heavenly Father search for those who are lost?

How great the celebration in heaven when the lost one is found and home again.

Trust that Jesus knew what he was doing when he told this parable.  He is the Good Shepherd after all.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Martha thought that resurrection was a date on an eternal calendar.  She was probably right, but resurrection was standing in front of her.  Resurrection, life, and life eternal are in Christ. 

These bodies will wear out but we will live.  We will live.

Ask ourselves the same thing that Jesus inquired of Martha.  Do you believe this?

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) The disciples wanted to see the Father.  C’mon, they had followed Jesus for 3 years.  If anyone should be entitled to a glimpse of the Heavenly Father, it was them. 

Jesus explained that if they had seen him, they had seen the Father.  Jesus was in the Father and the Father in him.  You want to know the Father, then know me.  That’s the essence here.

Everything is through Jesus.  Everything that was made was made through him.  Everything that we need comes through him.  Everything that we hope for is in his name.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Will we trust in the Lord with all of our heart?

“I am the true vine.” (John 15:1-5) You know those disconnect notices that we gave out a few years ago and I still use about once a week.  They pose the question to their readers, “Are you connected to the body of Christ?”

Jesus asks us if we remain connected to him.  Are we a teachable spirit?  Have we taken his yoke and do we learn from him?

Do we really want to know the Father?  Then we must be prepared for him to do some pruning.  He will prune away everything that does not produce good fruit.

We have made it through John’s gospel.  If you check out my postings online, you got a high speed flyover of the entire gospel this week.  These 7 I Am metaphors are also a good way to retain much of what you have learned.

I am the bread of life.  Will we be nourished?

I am the light of the world. Will we walk in the light?

I am the door of the sheep. We will receive his protection?

I am the good shepherd.  Will we know his voice?

I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?

I am the way, the truth, and the life.  Will we trust in the Lord with all of our heart?

I am the true vine.  Will we stay connected and do we trust our Father to prune us so that we may produce good fruit?

Those are the 7 I Am metaphors. I find them a fitting way to conclude what has been a 5-month journey.

John told us that his gospel did not contain everything that Jesus did, that it was enough for us to believe and by believing have eternal life in Christ.

So let us believe and have life.

Let us live as his disciples and produce good fruit.

In a world of deception, let us know his voice.

Amen.

John 10 - Part 3

Read John 10

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.

When Jesus is your shepherd.  It’s good to be a sheep.

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.

He calls us to love one another.  Know his voice.

Know the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Amen.