Last
week, we saw that Jesus is the Shepherd and the Gate of the sheep. He knows His
sheep in a deep and intimate way. Jesus wants His flock to have freedom and the
fullness of life that we can only get from Him. Jesus when He walked the earth
was “fully Man,” because He was sinless. Jesus wants to keep bringing us to
that fullness. Only in Jesus’ care and within the boundary of His Word can we
be safe and flourish. Humans hear many voices. This is why it is important to
know the Word of God so we follow only Jesus’ Word. The Word and the leading of
the Spirit will guide us, lead us, gather us, teach us and direct us. It will
also protect us when we remain within the Word’s boundaries.
Jesus Lays Down His
Life
Jesus
has spoken of His abundant life. Now He speaks of willingly sacrificing His own
life, so we can have His abundant life.
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11 Why does the Good Shepherd lay down
His life? – “for the sheep.” Jesus
later said in John 15:13, “Greater love
has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friend. You are My
friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for
a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all things that I heard from My Father, I have made known to you.
John 15:13-15 Jesus was talking with
the 12 Apostles. These 12 had a closer and more intimate relationship with
Jesus because they had been following and walking with Jesus for 3 ½ years.
They had learned from Him during this time and obeyed Him. The distinguishing
mark of Christ is He willingly out of love for His Father and for His sheep
died on the cross to save us and lead us in a caring, loving and watchful way. We
are the sheep of His pasture – the Anointed Word of God.
The Good Shepherd vs
the Hired Hand
“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.” John 10:12-13 The Good Shepherd died for the sheep,
but the hired hand works for pay. He cares nothing about the sheep. There is no
close relationship because he doesn’t have the Shepherd’s heart for his sheep.
The sheep are not the hired hand’s own. The hired hand flees when the wolf
comes instead of protecting the sheep, so the wolf catches and scatters the
sheep. Jesus will lay down His life for His sheep on the cross to defeat the
devil (wolf) – the enemy of all. Instead of Jesus’ followers fleeing, James in James 4:7 says, “resist the devil, and he will flee.” If we hold fast to Jesus and
His Word, the devil will flee because he sees that he cannot influence us to do
his dirty works. David illustrated that he was a good shepherd of his father’s
flock. He didn’t run when the lions and the bears attacked and stole his
father’s sheep. David said, “When a lion
or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck
it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by
its hair, struck it and killed it.” 1 Samuel 17:34-35 Nor did David run
when the giant Goliath was threatening God’s people. David knew that the Lord
who delivered him from the “paw of the
lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
V37
As I have taught many times, David is a type and shadow
of Christ. He was a shepherd in his father’s field who became a conquering king
with a kingdom. David had a close and intimate relationship with the Lord. He
had a deep and abiding faith in God. God had tried and tested David many times
to strengthen him for God’s call on David’s life. He was to be God’s ruler over
His people. David knew that Goliath was not just defying the armies of Israel,
but also the Lord God Almighty. God would give David the victory. Jesus also
gave us the victory over God’s enemy and ours – Satan – on the cross of
Calvary. As David didn’t trust just in himself to bring the victory, followers
of Christ must trust in Him and His power and might to give us the victory over
the devil. Jesus is the Shepherd of all shepherds!
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