SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2016 9:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus: 2nd Intro to John 10:1-10
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 10:1-10
Message of the verses: “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other
way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd
of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead
of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 “A stranger
they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know
the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but
they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to
them. 7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the
door of the sheep. 8 “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. 9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will
be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 “The thief comes only to
steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.”
We want to
talk about Christ in the NT also being called a Shepherd. First we will actually look at an OT prophecy
that is quoted in the NT that pertains to the birth of Jesus Christ. “"‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will
come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel’ (Matthew 2:6 NIV).” Another from Matthew 26:31 “Then Jesus said
to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is
written, ’I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE
SCATTERED.’” 1 Peter 2:25 “For you were continually straying like sheep, but
now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” 1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Hebrews 13:20-21 “20 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, 21 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.” One more from Revelation 7:17 “for the Lamb
in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to
springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.’”
Of course
the passage that we are looking at from the 10th chapter of John
clearly portrays Jesus Christ as the Shepherd of His people, as we will see
that He presents Himself as the Good Shepherd.
We have mentioned that this passage flows directly from the events of
chapter nine as seen in verse 21 “Others were saying, "These are not the
sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can
he?’”
John
MacArthur tells us how we will be breaking down this section: “This opening section of chapter 10 presents
four distinctive of the Good Shepherd’s pastoral work. It is a shepherding ministry marked by contrast
to false shepherds, by concern for the flock, by compliance to the Father, and
by controversy in a fallen world.”
Dr. Warren
Wiersbe begins his tenth chapter of his commentary on the gospel of John, which
is entitled “The Good Shepherd and His Sheep,” with a humorous story: “Perhaps you remember the ‘Candid Camera’ TV
program that took place at an exclusive prep school where all the students were
well above average. The ‘Candid Camera’
people posed as career consultants who were going to advise these brilliant
young men concerning the careers that would be best suited to them, on the
basis of ‘tests’ and ‘interviews’ that seemed (to the students) quite
authentic.
“On young
man eagerly awaited the ‘counselor’s’ verdict.
Surely the adviser would tell the boy to be a college president or a
band president, or perhaps a research scientist. But, no, the ‘counselor’ had other
ideas. You should have seen the look on
the boy’s face when the ‘counselor’ said:
‘Son, after evaluating your tests and interview, I’ve decided that the
best job for you is—a shepherd.’
The student
did not know whether to laugh or cry.
After all, who in his right mind would want to be a shepherd? Why devote your life to ‘stupid sheep’ who do
not seem to have sense enough to find their way home?”
Well we
mentioned in an earlier SD that people are like sheep for Isaiah wrote All of
us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the
LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” Think about that statement from Isaiah 53:6
as it says that mankind is like sheep, dumb stupid sheep, and yet this verse
tells us that there is coming a Man (Shepherd) into the world who will lay down
His life for those sheep that have gone astray.
Yes we are like sheep for sheep without the proper leading will get into
trouble in a moment without the leading of our Great Shepherd, and that is why
He leads us and does not drive us like we are cattle, He leads us beside still
waters so we won’t be afraid to get a drink, He leads us into green pastures
which to me is the Word of God so that we can understand what He is teaching
us. Yes John 10 is a chapter about
sheep, but most of all about the Good Shepherd and we will continue to study it
in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is hard at times to think that I act like
a sheep, but the more that I have learned about sheep, the more I know that
from the beginning I have gone astray and it is wonderful to realize that my
Shepherd took my place on the cross for me, as He the Passover Lamb died for
me.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: I desire to follow the
leading of my Shepherd.
Memory verses for the week:
(Romans 6:4-5) “4. Therefore we
have been baptized with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in
newness of life. 5. For if we have
become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be
in the likeness of His resurrection,”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Jesus” (Luke 4:8). (KJV)
Today’s Bible question:
“Where were Paul and Barnabas called Mercury and Jupiter?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/27/2016 10:19 AM
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