Who He Is!
As we’ve been opening up the gospel of John at Cross Community Church, we took some time to drink in our Lord’s words in Chapter 10: “I am the good shepherd.” This week I’d like to take a closer look at three aspects of this most wonderful and comforting passage of Scripture.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
(John 10:11-15)
When you think of shepherds in the Bible, who comes to mind? Many of us would immediately think of David, the youngest son of Jesse, the shepherd boy whom God called to be king. Surely we would recall Moses tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all were shepherds. But who would you say is the greatest shepherd in all of the Old Testament?
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
(Psalm 23)
The Lord God Omnipotent is the greatest Shepherd in all the Old Testament! He is also the greatest Shepherd in the New Testament, just as Micah prophesized.
You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”…He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
(Micah 5:2, 4)
The same Lord God Omnipotent who shepherds His people in the Old Testament is revealed to us again as the greatest Shepherd in the New Testament; we see Him in the second person of the Trinity: Jesus Christ. Jesus is described in Hebrews 13:20 as “that great Shepherd of the sheep . . . brought back from the dead.”
God is the one and only good shepherd who knows His sheep . . . and they know Him!
So here is the question to consider today: how well do you know Jesus? How much time do you spend getting to know who He really is?
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 