Jesus continues stake his claim that he is the only source of salvation.
click here for an online Bible John 10:7-21
Jesus is the true shepherd. Satan is the thief who seeks the destruction of the sheep. Jesus also cares deeply for the sheep. It is not a job, it is a relationship. He cares enough to die for his sheep. He looks ahead to his own death and tells the people that his death is not something out of his own control. Nobody will take his life, he lays down his life. But since he has authority over life and death, he will rise from the dead.
There was a division in the religious leaders. Some rejected his message and said he was crazy and demon-possessed. Others heard his message in light of the miraculous healing.
There are some elements of Jesus’ teachings that are difficult to understand, but the main message is pretty simple. He is the only source of life. He is the only path to God. We are separated from God because of sin and the only way to be reconciled to God is the forgiveness of Jesus.
Verse 16 gets some people wound up. Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience. There were Jewish religious leaders there. It was unthinkable to them that Gentiles could have a relationship with God. In light of the rest of the New Testament, it appears that the other sheep Jesus was talking about are the Gentiles.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
John 10:18 just reminds me again how much Jesus loves me and why I love Him so. He chose to lay down His life for me. He wasn't forced to go to the cross - He did it willingly and with love.
I appreciate the parallel between people and sheep. Just as sheep are destined for death without a good shepherd so we are destined for death without Christ. Even though our shepherd (Christ) goes out to claim more sheep, he never forgets about the ones he already has.
I've heard this several times, yet today it seems to have profound impact. We have to have Christ to survive, not to help me out sometimes, not to make sure I get all the stuff I want, not to make me comfortable, but to survive.
These passages are strong exhortations provoking the believer to be alert and watchful. We all have the opportunity to hear from God directly and we need to be exercising our spiritual ears. The first call is not the last call. We are baptized as a proclamation to those witnessing that we have accepted Christ and we accept our misdeeds as sins toward God and that we want to walk in newness of life according to His rule. I live this life in preparation for the next. I answer to Him daily and devout and devoted. This blog has been rewarding for me to express my view and opinions about the scripture safely. I try to live my life today as I believe will be necessary to survive the coming wrath of God... I would like for us all to be praying for the spiritually sick... our world and nation is growing darker: gay marriage, abortion, prayer in schools, our so called freedom is killing us. Our laws ... Jesus must of seen this generation when He spoke ill of lawyers, politicians, the Pharises and Saducees. The Laws in Moses day were meant to protect the people... it showed how much God cared for His people... every migraine detail was ironed out to show care for His chosen people, but when people use the law to further their own agenda devoid of God... we get laws that allow for an unjust world to prosper and evil people to thumb their nose at God -- its not that the people are evil, but that the devil really wants to make us feel shame and forget about the work of Christ's death and Resurrection. We need to renew our faith to God and intercede as Christ on behalf of those who are lost. We need to be casting out demons when confronted with the displayed rages of lost souls who are really deep down still empty and uncertain. We need to build new support groups for those that are about to enter a dark path and extend the arm of God to help those lost. They do not need another church to only fail them they need Christ. I do not have all the answers, but I do have a lot of pain and share in their suffering. I urge you to open up your hearts and share your grievings about society or the community and think of ways to help. I think this would be good for the soul -- this is not a call to action, but a desperate search for the real ailments within the Body of Christ. I think it begins with the voice, if we can put words to whats bothering us and then pray and pray collectively, we will eventually move towards action. Lets try to express our hearts in the coming chapters.
Love,
EJ
On a third read through, all the "THE's" stood out to me.
Jesus is THE door, not A door. The one and only way in, the only entrance.
Jesus is THE good shepherd, not A good shepherd. I like the capital letters here that the MKJV uses. He is the only one that truly cares and will lay down His life.
Also interesting of THE hired man. Again, not plural but singular. This is varied through the various translations so may be a point of discussion but makes for an interesting comparison.
Post a Comment