Godly Claims

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Father and I are one.” Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?” They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.””
John 10:30-33 NLT

Jesus made the claim “the Father and I are one”. We believers know of course the truth in that, and the impact that this statement has on our faith. We know all about the Trinitarian God we worship, or we think we do. We struggle at times to describe how our God can exist in three persons, three very distinct but totally unified individuals with very different functions and personalities. But why are we surprised about our struggles? God is a Being infinitely more intelligent and far-reaching than we are. He is an infinite God that we, with finite minds, can never fully describe or appreciate. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—but there is only one God. That is the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. It doesn’t help in our understanding that the word “Trinity” cannot be found in the Bible. But each member of the Trinity has different functions, and each can be defined, at least to a certain extent, by a detailed Bible study. In the end, though, we have to accept that we worship the only true God and leave things there.

Jesus made the truthful statement of His unity with Father God. The Jews listening to Him were incensed by what they perceived as blasphemy, which was punishable by death from stoning in those days. Their sensitivity was perhaps increased by tales of rulers in other lands making such a claim about being a god. And they knew about the pariahs who demanded that people bowed down to them, or to an effigy made to look like them. They could read about such a situation in the days of Daniel – “King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. … When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue” (Daniel 3:1, 5). There was a later story about Herod that Luke wrote about in Acts 12. “The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!” Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died” (Acts 12:22-23). People making godly claims generally come to a sticky end. And for those who claim that this was just a historical situation existing in an ancient society, look at the situation with the leaders in North Korea today. 

In 21st century Western cultures, if we asked the average man in the street about Jesus and His relationship to His Father, we would be fortunate to find anyone who knew anything about what we were asking. Most people would probably, if they were honest, admit to a belief in a “higher power”, something that is not unsurprising because God created everyone – Psalm 139:13, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb”. Within our “DNA” is something of God’s handiwork. But a knowledge of God and His Son Jesus would not be considered all that relevant today. But we pilgrims know better, and when Jesus said he was One with His Father, we feel the warmth emanating from that relationship. Rather than pick up stones to kill Him, we instead fall on our knees to worship Him. Our knowledge of Jesus and all that He did for us can never be replaced by a religion based wholly on the Law of Moses.

Dear God. Thank You for Your love and compassion. Amen.

No Perishing

Posted on by korgrocker

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
John 10:27-30 NLT

In our journey through the Gospel of John, the picture is emerging of a caring Jesus, compassionate and loving, looking out for His followers, who are those who believe in Him. He feeds them spiritual water (John 7:37-38, “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’”). He feeds them spiritual food (John 6:35, “Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”). He protects them (John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep”). He brings light and life (John 8:12, “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life””). In fact His followers will enjoy abundant life (John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life”). What is there not to like about Jesus, because all that he promised His followers two thousand years ago is still available to His 21st Century believers? 

But perhaps the most notable promise that Jesus made was His gift of eternal life. Jesus loves His followers so much that He wants to spend eternity with them. “They will never perish” He said. And this offer was not just restricted to His people, the Jews. He also included all the non-Jews, the Gentiles, in His offer of protection and eternal life (John 10:16, “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd). 

But what is this eternal life with its promise that we will never perish? The Bible tells us that when we die, our physical bodies will be of no further use and can be discarded. But our spirits live on in a place variously called Sheol, or Hades, or Heaven. There seems to be some compartmentalisation in place, because, as Jesus promised the dying thief next to Him, there is a place called Paradise. So it is not unreasonable to assume that Jesus’ followers, those that believe in Him, will join Him there. Perhaps that is Heaven. We should note that Hell doesn’t exist at the moment, only coming into effect when its first inhabitants, the Beast and False Prophet, are thrown there (Revelation 19:20, “And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur”). But there is no confusion or alternative, the spirits of all who have ever lived either end up in Heaven or Hades. There is of course then the Great White Throne judgement in Revelation 20, followed by the population of Hell. Hades ends up in hell as well (Revelation 20:14, “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death”). 

Thankfully, we pilgrims, believers in Jesus, will not have to face the terror of the Great White Throne because our names will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We will never perish and end up in the company of totally evil beings.

Jesus brought a message of hope to a world floundering and dying in its sin. Evil still prevails, but Jesus promised us that we will “never perish”. As we persevere through this life, illuminating our passage with our testimonies of God’s saving grace, we will one day achieve our goal of eternal life through Jesus. What a Saviour!

Dear Father God. What a Saviour indeed. We praise and worship You today and every day. Amen.

True Sheep

Posted on by korgrocker

“The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:24-27 NLT

Jesus seemed to be surrounded by an increasingly antagonistic crowd of people, who were unsure about His claim that He was the Messiah and in any case unable to accept His teaching that anyone who believes in Him will inherit eternal life. As has been said before, the people before Him, probably heavily influenced by the Pharisees and their followers, were looking for a Messiah who would bring about a radical reform of the political situation and bring about the re-establishment of Israeli as its own nation once again. But for some reason they were unable to relate the prophecies about the Messiah to the Man, Jesus, who was standing before them, because they favoured one and ignored the other. On the one hand there was the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53, and on the other the King and Ruler in Micah 5 and Zechariah 9. It was the latter portrayal of the Messiah that the people in the crowd in front of Jesus were expecting. But with the benefit of hindsight we have been able to separate the two prophetic groups into the First and Second comings of Jesus, something that eluded the Jews of His day.

Jesus said to the crowd in response to their question about who He was, by saying effectively that He had already told them and the miraculous works that He had done had proved it. And He went on to say that, as the Good Shepherd, He was going to look after those who were His followers. As for the crowd before Him, they were not his “sheep” because they didn’t believe in Him. We pilgrims are hopefully the true sheep who know Jesus, who know His voice, and who follow Him. And in return he knows us. What a wonderful place we are in! But there are other “sheep”, people who claim to follow Jesus, but in reality don’t. They may be religious people, who faithfully say and apparently do all the right things, but who don’t really know His voice, and He doesn’t know them either. Jesus told us about such people in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’” Hard words indeed!  But who are these people? They claim to be Christians, and many labour away doing wonderful things in Jesus’ name. I know such a person who calls themselves a Christian but who has replaced faith with things they do instead. A nicer and friendlier person is hard to find, and they never refuse a request for help. But they are convinced that their good works are sufficient for their salvation, and refuse to accept that salvation comes by faith in Jesus alone.

The go-to verse for me about an assurance of salvation is Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved“. And we remember what Paul wrote in Romans 3:22-24, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” But in the end, the assurance of our salvation, and acceptance by God of being “true sheep”, boils down to faith. Romans 3:30, “There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.”

If we are unsure of our status as sheep, we pray and if necessary have a discussion with our pastors or a trusted Christian friend who will soon put our minds at rest.

Dear God. It is only through believing in Jesus Your Son that we will become Your children. We are thankful for Your grace and mercy. Amen.

Plain Talking

Posted on by korgrocker

“The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:24-27 NLT

Jesus interacted with the crowds around Him in those days in Jerusalem and He made a significant claim about Himself, that he was the promised Messiah. But is spite of all he had said, the people were unconvinced. They had heard Him say, “ … If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me” (John 8:42). And then there was the time when He said, “ … I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!” (John 8:58). On His journey to Jerusalem from Galilee, Jesus spoke with a woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria, and Jesus’ statement about Himself couldn’t have been clearer. We read in John 4:25-26, “The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”” Jesus never wavered in telling people about His Person, His pedigree and His message. The problem for the people of His day was not that He wasn’t speaking plainly, it was because their expectations of who the Messiah would be didn’t fit in with His narrative. Also, most of the Jews of Jesus’ time were looking for a political and cultural saviour, not a Saviour from sin. They wanted Jesus to throw off the yoke of Rome and establish Zion as the capital of the world. They could not see how the meek and lowly Jesus could possibly do that. Even after His resurrection, the disciples were still expecting Jesus to bring about a political solution to Israel’s occupation and free it from a foreign power – Acts 1:6, “So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”” Jesus’ reply was recorded by Luke just before he was taken up into the clouds, never again to walk this planet until he returned as the conquering King. Acts 1:7-8, “He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” 

Jesus could never be accused of not speaking plainly about Himself. The problem was that the people weren’t listening. At the present time the UK’s political leaders and prospective election candidates are saying much about themselves and their policies. The speaking appears to be plain but in reality much will never be repeated or will be shrugged off as election rhetoric. Very few people actually believe that what is said will actually happen. Empty promises would sum up most of the election talk. Jesus was never like that. His manifesto was clear – believe in Me and You will inherit eternal life. John 3:16 again, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”. We pilgrims also have a plain message. To those around us we repeat what Jesus said about Himself and in everything we say we point to Him as our Saviour, the One who took on the punishment we deserved for our sins so that we could inherit eternal life. Who is there in our circle of friends and family who we know needs to hear some plain talking about Jesus? They may protest about the message, but we see beyond the immediate claims that we don’t know what we are talking about, to the time when they too accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Jesus persevered with His claims about Himself and about His message to His needy people, and even in His last day he still maintained that he was the Messiah, the Jewish King long awaited. In Mark 15:2 we read, “Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it””. Pilate believed Him and added a name plate to the cross of Jesus’ crucifixion “And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”” (John 19:19). Right to the end, Jesus was the Messiah. And the people of His day missed the coming of their Messiah and instead crucified Him. A tragedy for them, but an event that brought salvation for mankind, past, present and future. Jesus said, “ … I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”” We have the light, folks; let’s turn up the wick and brighten our world.

Dear Lord Jesus. We echo the words of the Bethel song, Gratitude – “All my words fall short, I got nothing new, How could I express, All my gratitude?” But at Your feet we can worship the King of all kings. Amen.

Hanukkah

Posted on by korgrocker

“It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.“”
John 10:22-24 NLT

Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication or Feast of Lights, was the time when the Jews held an 8-day festival celebrating a historic Maccabean victory over the Syrian army, and a miraculous event that accompanied the cleansing of the Temple. There is much more about this period in Jewish history that has been recorded and documented, but we’ll look at the events surrounding Jesus as He walked through a part of the Temple “known as Solomon’s Colonnade”. This was a covered area in the Temple complex, and was much favoured later as a meeting point for the early Christians. Jesus being there at that time was perhaps a prophetic indication of His offer of salvation to all who believe in Him, compared with the events that had taken place some years before when the Maccabees had saved the Jews from a foreign and tyrannical power. The people were in the Temple celebrating the previous victory and turned to Jesus wondering if He was the Messiah who would bring another victory against another foreign and tyrannical power – the Romans.

The problem that the people failed to grasp was that Jesus was indeed the Messiah who had come to save His people, but not in the way they thought or hoped. Jesus had come to save them from the consequences of their sins. Luke recorded what Jesus said about His mission in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost”. The people wanted a physical salvation, Jesus came to offer a spiritual salvation. The people had been lulled into a sense of false spiritual security by believing that they could be saved just by doing their best to implement the demands of the Law. So it wasn’t salvation for their souls that they wanted from their Messiah. 

In some parts of the world Hanukkah has become a secular holiday because it takes place quite near Christmas in November or December, depending on how the date on the Jewish calendar falls. But there is a spiritual significance in this festival, the Feast of Lights. The miracle that took place when the Maccabees cleansed the temple concerned a supply of a special oil needed for the Menorah, a multi-branded lamp stand. It miraculously lasted for 8 days while the victory celebrations continued and until another supply of oil could be found. The light within the Temple was happening again right in front of the people but they failed to make the connection. Jesus said in John 8:12, “ … I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” The light that Jesus brought into the world was far more important and significant than the light supplied by a Menorah, no matter how miraculous the supply of oil was. The Menorah lit up a small dark area within the Temple, but Jesus’ light illuminates the lives of men and women throughout the globe, not just when the sun goes down, but all the time.

We pilgrims have been tasked with the responsibility of bringing the light of Jesus to a sad and dark world, riven and blackened by sin and evil. We ourselves have seen the Light, and have allowed it to infuse every facet of our beings as we go about our business as children of God, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your Heavenly Father”. With that Light, and in obedience to Jesus, we illuminate every dark corner in our communities and families. Our “Hanukkah” takes place every day, as we celebrate the victory Jesus brought over sin and death.

Dear Lord Jesus. You are the Light of the World and always will be. Thank You. Amen.

Opinions

Posted on by korgrocker

“When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?””
John 10:19-21 NLT

One thing we human beings are good at is forming an opinion of someone. It could be about a famous person, or a neighbour or friend. Even about a relative. Opinions are derived from our observations or interactions with the other person, and it is remarkable that different people will have different opinions of the same person, which is just as well, really, because otherwise there would be a bland sameness about our society. Jesus burst into the religious scene in Israel performing amazing miracles and making statements about God and Himself that was counter-cultural, to say the least. The people who heard what He had to say were, we are told, “divided in their opinions about Him”, and they concluded that He was either mad or deluded, or even possessed by a demon, a phenomenon that was perhaps used as a catch-all for anyone who behaved in an odd way, or said things that were outrageous.

Jesus said things like, “ … Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’” (John 7:37-38). He also said, “ … I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12). He made the claims that He was the door that leads to salvation (John 10:7) or the Good Shepherd who cares for people and who is prepared to lay down His life to save them (John 10:11). With the benefit of hindsight we pilgrims understand what Jesus was getting at and we have formed an opinion of Jesus that is difficult to describe with words other than loving, gracious, awesome, amazing, caring and …. There are many many more descriptions and opinions of Jesus that would form an enormous list. In the end, the only response to Jesus, is worship, prostrate before Him.

To someone who is not a believer, what is their opinion of Him? The people of His day, with the benefit of a personal contact, couldn’t make a collective opinion of Him. Instead they were divided. Why? After all, He had performed some miraculous healings, including that of a man born blind receiving his sight. Surely that by itself would have had people running to Him with the assurance of knowing that only God Himself could do such things. But, sadly, some thought that this was the work of a demon. 

Today, research has shown that there is little doubt amongst people generally in the West, that Jesus was a real person. Older people will mostly agree that He was divine, younger people just that He was a great religious leader. But digging deeper, a world of confusion exists about Jesus and He is just as divisive today as He was two thousand years ago when He walked this planet. But what matters is what we pilgrims think. What are our opinions? We have the benefit of the Canon of Scripture and the expositions of faithful and Godly men and women to help us. But as believers in, and followers of, Jesus, we have the privilege of attaining the status of being children of God. We are assured of Heavenly eternal life with Him one day, after we have departed this life. And while alive in our societies, we have the opportunities to introduce others to Him, and help them form an opinion of Jesus that will lead to their salvation and the same relationship with God that we enjoy. 

So we pray for clarity over who Jesus was, both in our own minds, and those of our friends and families. In our daily work-a-day lives we view our surroundings through the lens of a favoured child of God, seeing what God sees and hearing what God hears, knowing that having God’s perspective, and speaking it out, will fulfill Jesus’ command to be salt and light in our communities. Jesus is no longer here in person but through His Spirit working in us and fuelling our divine opinions, we propagate the same issues that the people of Jerusalem faced when they heard Jesus speak out in His teachings and parables. We may end up with the same labels that Jesus had but that’s ok. We instead have the prospect before us of hearing our Master and Saviour say, “Well done”. There will be no better place to be.

Dear Lord Jesus, You elicited opinions from the people of Your day that didn’t give You justice. But You continued resolute to the Cross, to fulfil Your mission. We are so grateful that You did. Amen.

The Father’s Love

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
John 10:17-18 NLT

Jesus said that His father in Heaven loves Jesus, His Son, especially because He was willing to sacrifice His life. Jesus’ obedience in fulfilling His mission of saving the world was one that we see develop through the pages of the Gospels, starting from an animal’s feeding trough and ending on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary. Jesus never wavered from completing His mission. He remained steadfast right through to the end. Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy the following, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all” (1 Timothy 1:15). Isaiah, the prophet, looked down through the tunnel of time and could see the Messiah coming. About Jesus’ mission he wrote, “For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set My face like a flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed” (Isaiah 50:7). Jesus’ primary role was “ … to seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10), and His Father loved Him for His obedience for being willing to sacrifice His life to make it happen. 

It is interesting that Jesus also said that the sacrifice of His life was followed by His being able to “take it back again”. It was difficult enough for the people listening to Him to absorb and accept what Jesus was saying about laying down His life, but then to say that He would “take it back again” was beyond their understanding. But Jesus made the point that His death was His to control. Only He had the authority to lay down His life. No-one else could make that decision. The act of crucifixion normally left the poor unfortunate victim no choice in the way it was carried out and the consequence of a slow lingering and extremely painful death. But it was different with Jesus, because he had the power to avoid the cross altogether. He could even have removed Himself from the cross at any time. But He fulfilled His mission right to the end, even providing reassuring words to the adjacent criminal who, in His dying breaths, reached out to Jesus for forgiveness. Jesus was in total control of His life right to the end.

So to is no wonder that Father God loved His Son, because He did what He had been commanded to do. We will never fully understand that relationship between Jesus and his Father, but we see its consequence in our faith-filled, everyday lives. The same love that Father had for Jesus is also poured out on us, His children. 1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know him“. Ephesians 1:4-5, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure“. So we see God’s love and try and emulate it, in a humanly limited way, in our Christian lives. And in the process, perhaps those around us get a glimpse of the Father’s love.

Father God. We sing about Your amazing love, but it goes beyond a song. It started at Calvary and has poured out on all mankind ever since. We are so grateful. Amen.

Other Sheep

Posted on by korgrocker

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.”
John 10:14-16 NLT

The shepherd in those days was well acquainted with his sheep. He knew their names and little foibles. Their features, shapes of their ears and so on. And those sheep recognised his voice so that when he called them by name they came running. Jesus used what was common knowledge in those days to make the point that He was the Good Shepherd. Not only was He a good shepherd but He was the best. In fact Jesus was a Shepherd who went far beyond what even a good earthly shepherd could accomplish. He promised all those that believed in Him, who followed Him, that they would receive eternal life, as we will find out one day. We know as well that Jesus did sacrifice His life at Calvary. Although He could have called on the Heavenly army to protect Him, He chose not to, being willing to die so that He would take on the punishment for our sins, giving us life, just as the Palestinian shepherds sometimes did, to protect their sheep. His was a sacrifice that only the Good Shepherd could make. 

Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, probably in Jerusalem, a place that He likened to the sheepfold in His parable. Jesus was quite clear about who He had come to save and minister to. Matthew 15:24, “Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”” Jesus never wavered from His mission, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies about the Jewish Messiah. But it was also clear that He expected His people, the Jews, to continue His mission to the Gentiles. He said to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews” (John 4:22). But back in His Good Shepherd parable, Jesus said a strange thing that puzzled those listening – “I have other sheep too”. Who were they? Who else could they have been other than the Gentiles, those who were not Jews. And aren’t we non-Jewish believers glad about that! If Jesus had only come for the Jews, and only the Jews, we would still have been on the outside, excluded from the blessings of God’s grace. From what Jesus said, it was clear that He expected His mission to continue, reaching the whole earth through his Jewish disciples – Matthew 28:18-20, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age””. The Great Commission indeed!

Jesus’ mission continues with His 21st century “sheep”, we pilgrims. We reach out to the “other sheep” around us with the Good News of a worthwhile future. I met someone the other day who was quite depressed because they confessed to having no hope. A fertile ground for sharing about Jesus and the hope that only he can supply. And as we share the amazing Jesus we know with others, the “sheepfold” fills up with people around us who are longing for the love and security that only God can provide.

Dear Heavenly Father. As Your children we pray for all those around us, that Your message of Good News will be planted deep within them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Hirelings

Posted on by korgrocker

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.”
John 10:11-13 NLT

The hired hands, or hirelings, were shepherds employed for their services as shepherds. They weren’t really interested in the wellbeing and protection of the sheep, rather being focused on the money they were earning. And in the event that a wolf appeared with desires of a lamb chop meal, the hirelings would head for a place of their own safety. As Jesus graphically portrayed, without a shepherd, the flock of sheep would be attacked and scattered or even killed. Jesus said about the hireling, “He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd”. 

Who was Jesus referring to when He spoke about hirelings? It seems rather obvious that He had the Pharisees in mind. They were notorious in their reputation for looking after their own interests and, as far as Jesus was concerned, that was why they wanted to close Him down and eliminate Him from their otherwise cosy world of being religious leaders. But as they proved repeatedly, the Pharisees weren’t interested in the wellbeing of the people. Jesus had harsh words to say about them, as we read in Matthew 23:3-4, “So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” As we read on in Matthew 23, we see many more things Jesus said about the “hirelings”, the Pharisees, and none of them good.

Today, we too have good shepherds or hirelings. The good ones are men and women who are sincerely devoted to the spiritual care of the people God has given to them. But we also have hirelings who are just in the ministry for any financial or other benefits they can find. A good shepherd today is a Bible believing man or woman who genuinely cares for their congregation. Peter wrote about them in 1 Peter 5:2-4, “Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t Lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honour”. The role of a good shepherd, an elder or pastor for “the flock that God has entrusted to [him]” could not be more clearly put.

We pilgrims are most likely parts of a local congregation, but we have a shepherd leading us, pastoring us through life’s journeys, and who is keeping us safe through sound teaching. God has delegated our care to such a person, and the good shepherds take their responsibilities very seriously. But we also have the responsibility to care for ourselves, by following the Good Shepherd Himself, by reading God’s Word and through our prayers. Jesus didn’t come to ordain ministers. He came as the Good Shepherd to lead His followers in the ways of truth. We pilgrims know that we have a relationship directly with God Himself. He is our loving Heavenly Father and we are His children.

Dear Father God. We worship You today, our Creator God, our loving and gracious Heavenly Father. We thank You for Your promise of eternal life, a promise that will never be broken. Amen.

The Good Shepherd

Posted on by korgrocker

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.”
John 10:11-13 NLT

Just a few verses ago in John 10, Jesus declared “I am the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7b), and now He said “I am the good shepherd”. It is noteworthy that Jesus said the rather than a good shepherd. There was only One who was worthy enough to claim that unique position. But the picture is emerging of Jesus being the protector of His flock, first by protecting them in the sheepfold by preventing wolves, thieves and robbers from stealing them, and then by looking after them as they followed Him towards good pastures. Sheep are incredibly helpless animals and need a lot of looking after, but all they had to do, to ensure their health and safety, was to trust and follow the shepherd.

This parable however was mainly devoted to building a picture of human needs and God’s provision. Faced with the human equivalent of wolves, thieves and robbers, a person is relatively helpless, and this is even more true in the spiritual realm. Without God in their lives, a person’s spirit will wander aimlessly through a life that leads to a nasty end, but beforehand will experience attacks from all and any evil sources. But those who enter through the Gate, that is Jesus, will find a place of safety and comfort. God’s spiritual sheepfold is a place unreachable by the devil’s wolves, thieves and robbers. 

But we should also note that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, was prepared to sacrifice His life in the protection of His sheep. The death of a shepherd protecting his flock was not an unusual event in the days of sheep herding in Palestine two thousand years ago. But as we know, Jesus was prepared to give His life for the sake of His sheep., and he did so at Calvary just a year or two after He told this parable to the people round Him. Jesus could have run away from the sheep, as a hired hand would most likely have done when the flock was faced with a wolfish attack or some other danger. But instead, as the Good Shepherd promised, He sacrificed His life so that His flock at that time and down through the following generations, would be protected. The power of the enemy was defeated at Calvary and through Jesus we sheep have eternal protection for our souls.

Dear Father God. We praise and worship our Good Shepherd today and every day, with grateful hearts. Amen.