Musings – January 30, 25
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By Braxton King
In John Chapter Ten, Jesus declares himself to be the Good Shepherd. He does this in a way to contrast between Himself and the religious leaders of His day. The context of this teaching is the story of the blind man who was healed and eventually excommunicated by the religious leaders for his belief in Jesus. The religious leaders were blind, yet they thought they could see; whereas, this man was blind and made to see by Jesus. Jesus uses the analogy of a sheepfold for his teaching. A sheepfold is an area that is enclosed by stones with briars on the top of the wall. At the opening, the shepherd slept and stayed to protect the sheep. Jesus was letting us know that these religious leaders were like individuals trying to climb over the wall instead of coming through the door. Anyone who is trying to sneak through the window of your house is up to no good and is not a friend.
The contrast is becoming very clear between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day. These individuals had rejected the door; therefore, the only way they could try to get into the sheep was over the wall. With the blind man who was healed, they did not care about the fact that he was able to see. In the same way, the man who was carrying his mat on the Sabbath day, they didn’t care that he could walk and was healed. It was the same with the man with the withered hand who was healed in front of them, they didn’t care that now he could use his hand to help him in his life.
The contrast between those who only wanted to fleece the sheep and the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for the sheep could not be clearer. Jesus said that He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him and His voice.
The Holy Spirit is the gatekeeper that brings us to the door of Jesus, and when we receive Jesus, we are no longer blind, but we see. Our ears of discernment are opened up to hear His voice and to follow Him and no other.
We are brought to the one who has come to give His life that we might be saved. He did not come to take from us but to give to us. The religious thieves have come to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus Christ has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
In this abundant life, we shall be saved, we shall go in, we shall go out, and we shall find pasture in Him. Thank God, we,as believers, have been set free from the thief and have been delivered by the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for us and protects us daily.
Reprinted courtesy of McCreary Journal.