25. John 10:1-21 Jesus, the Good Shepherd and the Door

 

SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 10:1-21
SCRIPTURE HIGHLIGHTS:

Vs. 11-16  “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.

 “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.

These words of Jesus were spoken to the Pharisees who mistreated the man Jesus healed of blindness because he wouldn’t agree to their characterization of Jesus as a “sinner”.  This man didn’t believe the words of the Pharisees, but he did believe in Jesus because Jesus healed him. Jesus was a “good shepherd” to the man who was blind from birth. The Pharisees who were supposed to be spiritual leaders (i.e. shepherds) appointed by God to lead and care for the Jewish people acted more like hired hands. They perform their tasks for the praise, power, and prosperity that accompanied their position of spiritual authority.
 
There are two things I notice about the difference between Jesus, the “good shepherd” and the Pharisees, who proved to be pseudo-shepherds (i.e. false shepherds). First, Jesus loves the sheep enough to sacrifice his life for their sake. The pseudo-shepherds sacrifice the sheep for their own sake.  Second, those who were “true sheep” (children of God) listened to Jesus’ voice and followed him. They did not listen to the voice of the pseudo shepherds and did not follow them.
 
Jesus was communicating to the Pharisees that their behavior towards him (i.e. denying he was the Messiah, calling him a sinner, trying to stop others from believing in him) demonstrated that they were not true members of God’s “flock” (i.e. family). At the same time he was communicating to the Pharisees that their cruel treatment of the man who was healed demonstrated that they were pseudo-shepherds, cut from the same cloth as the pseudo-shepherds God rebuked through Ezekiel (See Ezekiel 34).
 

Dear Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice which has enabled me to experience forgiveness and reconciliation with God.  Help me to distinguish between your voice and the other anti-Christ voices all around me.  With the help of the Holy Spirit I commit to giving attention to your voice by studying and meditating on the scriptures and listening to the Spirit’s voice in prayer.
 

 
In Your name, Amen.