Saturday 6th July
Read John 10:14-18
“‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.’” (NIVUK)
One of the more theologically rich observations Jesus made is found here and many days could be spent unlocking their depths. We will confine ourselves to just two observations though. The first is the significance of what seems like an interruption to the flow of Jesus’ argument where He speaks of ‘other sheep’. Placed as it is between extended discussion around Jesus’ self-sacrifice and death (on the cross) it widens the impact of His death to the whole world, Gentile and Jew alike. Jesus does not talk about added sheep, as if they are an appendage to the Israelite flock, but to other sheep – equal in importance to Jesus. They will be united as one flock under one shepherd. Profound and rich indeed.
The second observation is that this is one of the few places where the knowledge of Jesus of the Father and vice versa, is likened to the knowledge of Jesus with His flock. In the same way that Jesus and the Father are related, Jesus and His people are related. This is profound indeed. Paul understood this well. He rightly grasped that Jesus is the central figure in history, effecting divine and human reconciliation perfectly. We are loved and saved ‘in Him’. This is the very heart of the Christian’s relationship with the divine – through Jesus. And the seeds of that theology are sown here.
Spend time today pondering the rich significance of the blessed inheritance Jesus describes here.
