The Seven I AM Statements Series #4: Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd
We will try to examine Jesus' testimony about Himself and why the Jews of that time cannot seem to accept the message that the Savior or the Messiah has truly come into the world to redeem it albeit it was totally different from what the Jews expected their Messiah to be.
Before Jesus lectured about His mission and His character being the Son of God and the commands that have been given to Him by the Father, He healed a man who was born blind.
At this point, when the disciples saw the man, they asked Jesus whether it was the man or his parents who sinned which placed him in the condition that he has lived for many of his years.
Jesus then aptly replied that neither the man nor his parents sinned but his blindness will be used by God to be a testament of the power and the work of God displayed through Jesus.
When Jesus put mud on the man's eyes, He told him to wash in the pool and then, he opened his eyes and he could see.
When the news spread throughout the neighborhood that Jesus had healed this man who was born blind, people started searching for Jesus. The news even reached the Pharisees who decided to take action and brought the man to be questioned.
Despite the testimony of the man who had been healed and by his parents who confirmed that the man was born blind but now could see, the Pharisees still refused to believe what had happened and hurled insults at him.
Until finally, they threw him out since they were not able to purge from the man what they wanted to hear.
Upon hearing that the Pharisees threw the man out, Jesus came to him and revealed Himself to the man and so the man worshiped Him. Then comes Jesus' lecture on who He is for anyone who believes in Him and what He has come into the world to do.
Jesus tells this figure of speech to be able to elucidate what He will be teaching. John 10:1-5 says:
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.
The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
Here Jesus simply establishes the fact that there is only one true shepherd which is He and that His sheep, which symbolizes His followers and those who believe in His Name and entrust their lives to Him, only follow His voice and know His ways.
Jesus describes to us here what our lives in Him should be like. He likens us to sheep and Himself to the shepherd thus for those who are true followers of Jesus, we must walk with Him closely and know Him personally in our lives as He knows us personally because He calls us by name, He said.
So, since Jesus is our shepherd, we have to go where He wants us to go and obey His commands with a willing heart and without any objection because we know Him and we know that He speaks the truth and only wants good for our lives. Now, with this in mind, let us move on to Jesus' next I AM statement.
In John 10:11-13, it is written:
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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."
Jesus gives us exactly the description of what He is prepared and willing to do for all peoples, especially for those who believe in Him and receive Him in their lives.
Remember the previous I AM statement made by Jesus? He said that He is the gate for the sheep. In connection with the metaphor of the wolf and the sheep, Jesus is the gate and the shepherd which means that He is our protector and our leader.
According to the verses, Jesus contrasted the shepherd from the hired hand. The hired hand who does not own the sheep, does not care for the sheep and would abandon them when the wolf comes and attacks the sheep. But Jesus, who is the gate and the shepherd, will not allow this to happen.
He even says that He is prepared to lay His life down for the sheep which is exactly what He did because that was the only way for us to enter into a relationship with the Father in heaven.
Furthermore, Jesus elaborates on who His sheep are in John 10:14-16:
"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."
As previous verses have indicated, Jesus knows His sheep intimately in a personal way and being His followers, we must learn to recognize the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives and what Jesus commands us to do in accordance to the will of the Father in our lives.
Jesus also explained that the salvation and the relationship that He offers to His people are not exclusive to the Jews of that time but He includes everyone else in different eras which continues until today.
Then, He said we will all be under His care and be called His flock. There will be no distinction among peoples since we will be united in Jesus Christ.
In summary, we know that Jesus is the good shepherd because, first of all, He cares for us and wants the best for our lives, and secondly, He leads us to the right paths and ways that the Father has set each one of us to be in and to serve Him for His glory.
The Word tells us that Jesus, being the good shepherd, is willing to lay down His life for us and that no one is taking His life from Him but He does it on His own accord.
So we really know that Jesus selflessly sacrificed Himself for us and being His sheep, we must follow Him as He models the life that we ought to live.
With all these, I am reminded of a certain chapter in the Bible that I would like to share as a concluding statement:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul;
He leads me in 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 You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
Psalm 23
Comments
Post a Comment