April 19, 2018
“Good Shepherd”
In John 10:11, Jesus declared that he is the “Good Shepherd”. How would you know a good shepherd if you saw one? Jesus seems to be comparing himself with the religious leaders of his day. Remember that God used the shepherd image in the Old Testament to declare that he would shepherd his people because their leaders were bad shepherds who fleeced the sheep (Ezekiel 34). Jesus continues using that metaphor in John 10 which immediately follows his miracle of giving sight to a blind man. The comparison is obvious: Jesus is good, religious leaders of his day are bad.
That use of dichotomy would fit well into our time. Are you pro-life or pro-choice, republican or democrat, supporter of GBLTQ or not, pro-Trump or ???? We like to categorize people so we know who our friends are and also so we can blame that other group for all the world’s problems. Someone once said that there are two types of people in the world: those who separate people into groups…and those who don’t! Is that really Jesus’ way? I think the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees (for example) is that they thought that they were above other people, that they were better and more holy than other people. They were the ones that separated themselves from other people. And when they did that…they separated themselves from God/salvation/Jesus.
It is true…whenever we draw a line in the sand…we draw ourselves out. So…who will you welcome today: Will they be good or bad? And what does that say about you?
God’s richest blessings!
Pastor Mike
“Good Shepherd”
In John 10:11, Jesus declared that he is the “Good Shepherd”. How would you know a good shepherd if you saw one? Jesus seems to be comparing himself with the religious leaders of his day. Remember that God used the shepherd image in the Old Testament to declare that he would shepherd his people because their leaders were bad shepherds who fleeced the sheep (Ezekiel 34). Jesus continues using that metaphor in John 10 which immediately follows his miracle of giving sight to a blind man. The comparison is obvious: Jesus is good, religious leaders of his day are bad.
That use of dichotomy would fit well into our time. Are you pro-life or pro-choice, republican or democrat, supporter of GBLTQ or not, pro-Trump or ???? We like to categorize people so we know who our friends are and also so we can blame that other group for all the world’s problems. Someone once said that there are two types of people in the world: those who separate people into groups…and those who don’t! Is that really Jesus’ way? I think the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees (for example) is that they thought that they were above other people, that they were better and more holy than other people. They were the ones that separated themselves from other people. And when they did that…they separated themselves from God/salvation/Jesus.
It is true…whenever we draw a line in the sand…we draw ourselves out. So…who will you welcome today: Will they be good or bad? And what does that say about you?
God’s richest blessings!
Pastor Mike