John 10.11-21
11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
19Again the Jews were divided because of these words.20Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”21Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Thoughts: Here Jesus makes it very clear that no one is taking his life...he is freely giving it for the sake of God's sheep. And not just those sheep that we all know and presume are a part of God's plan...but even these other wandering sheep are the beneficiaries of Christ's unyielding love for humanity. There is also a wonderful promise tucked into verse 16....There will be one flock and one Shepherd. Our unity is already accomplished in Christ. He is our shepherd and we are his people.
Questions: Have you every experienced unity in the Church? Do agreements make unity, or is unity already present in the form of a gift from Christ. That is do we have to find common ground with each other OR is our common ground Jesus Christ.
19Again the Jews were divided because of these words.20Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”21Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Thoughts: Here Jesus makes it very clear that no one is taking his life...he is freely giving it for the sake of God's sheep. And not just those sheep that we all know and presume are a part of God's plan...but even these other wandering sheep are the beneficiaries of Christ's unyielding love for humanity. There is also a wonderful promise tucked into verse 16....There will be one flock and one Shepherd. Our unity is already accomplished in Christ. He is our shepherd and we are his people.
Questions: Have you every experienced unity in the Church? Do agreements make unity, or is unity already present in the form of a gift from Christ. That is do we have to find common ground with each other OR is our common ground Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment