Two Healings, Two Responses (5)

 

 

In our previous reflection I asked how Chapter 10 might relate to chapters 9 and 11. Let’s ponder a couple of intersections; perhaps you will see more for there are many facets in this diamond.

 

“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life,  and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:9 – 11).

 

When we read Jesus’ words, are we reminded of Psalm 23? “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures”? Perhaps we also recall Psalm 100, “It is He who made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

 

Then there is, “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20 – 21).

 

To “see” Psalm 23 is to “see” John 10, and to see John 10 is to see Psalm 23. The Shepherd of Psalm 23 loves and cares for His own by laying His life down for them, we may not see this in Psalm 23 until we arrive at John 10, but it is there. The Shepherd of Psalm 23 can prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies because He has conquered death, defeated our enemies, and in Him we have nothing to fear (see Hebrews Chapter 2).

 

One of the points – counterpoints of John’s Gospel is the Good Shepherd caring for His sheep with love and care, drawing them into relationship with Himself; and then the Good Shepherd among wolves, protecting His sheep, eventually being torn and devoured by the wolves for the sake of His sheep. The wolves mock Him, the soldiers take His clothes, His body is entombed – the wolves think they have won. The wolves are fools, the enemy has been broken and doesn’t know it…yet.

 

In other words, Jesus cares for people and is then attacked, He cares for people and is attacked, He cares for more people and is attacked – we see this in all four Gospels. The Good Shepherd fends off wolves throughout the Gospel. The wolves eventually bring Him into their den (John 18:12 – 13), from their den they bring Him to Pilate, and from Pilate He goes to Golgotha.

 

The resurrected Shepherd then leads His flock to victory, as we see in Revelation, by teaching them to also lay down their lives for others, by being…as is the Shepherd…both shepherd and sacrifice. The Good Shepherd teaches His sheep to overcome evil with good, to overcome violence with peace, to love in the face of hate, to embrace poverty so that others may have wealth, to die so that others may live.

 

Can we see that it is the Good Shepherd who anoints the eyes of the blind man in John 9, and who calls Lazarus from the dead in John 11? Jesus calls Lazarus’s name and Lazarus comes forth, for He calls His sheep by name and they know His voice (John 10:3 - 4).

 

Can we see Jesus shepherding Andrew and Peter, and Philip and Nathaniel in John 1? Can we see Him caring for the people at the wedding in Chapter 2? Can we see Him protecting His sheep from money-hungry wolves in the Temple (cp. 2)?

 

Do we see Jesus shepherding Nicodemus along in Chapter 3? The woman in Chapter 4? Do we see Jesus attempting to shepherd the sick man by the pool in Chapter 5? Do we see the kindly Good Shepherd feeding the thousands, and bidding them to partake of Him in 6? Jesus is saying, “I have given you loaves and fishes, but I want to give you Myself. You have eaten perishable food, I bid you to eat the food and drink that will abide in you forever.”

 

But not only does the Good Shepherd walk with the blind man and Lazarus, not only does He care for the sheep of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; but He lives and walks among us! He is ever with us, always guiding us, comforting us, listening to us, watching us; and desiring that we would love Him even as He so deeply loves us.

 

“A am the Good Shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14 – 15).

 

Jesus, the Door, is open; we are to know Him “even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father”! O dear, dear friends, can we not leave behind the elementary things of this pilgrimage and press on to know Jesus intimately, and in knowing Him make Him known to those around us? Why, O why, do we lay foundations again and again, week after week, sermon after sermon, lesson after lesson (Hebrews 5:11 – 6:3).

 

Why do we insist on living in such woeful insecurity, seldom accepting His incredible love and His work of reconciliation and maturity within us? (Hebrews 10:10 – 14).

 

For the Good Shepherd says to us all, “Even as the Father sent me, I also send you” (John 20:21; 17:13 – 19).

 

Well, my friends, as Jesus is the Good Shepherd to the blind man and to Lazarus, He calls us to be good and faithful shepherds to those around us, ever and always living in and out from our Great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Who are we caring for today?

For whom are we laying down our lives?"