Jesus Our Shepherd
John 10:7-16
Psalm 23 is a familiar Scripture, even among the non-religious. To many, the opening phrase, “the Lord is my Shepherd,” provides great comfort and even rest.
After the rush of the holiday season, we may need to find rest! We may also need to find fulfillment. For those who forget the meaning of the Christmas season, who seek fulfillment in gifts, parties and other experiences, the end of the season brings emptiness. They need to understand that the greatest gift – Jesus – is the only gift that truly satisfies.
In John 10, we see a fuller picture of Jesus as our Shepherd. Each night, the shepherd stood at the gate as the sheep returned to the fold. He tended to any needs that the sheep had. After all the sheep returned, he lay in the entrance to the pen, the gate, acting as a protector of the sheep.
Jesus, as our Shepherd, is our Protector, and the fulfillment of any needs we might have. Material things, even relationships, can never give us the eternal satisfaction that a relationship with Jesus can give us. He came as our Savior, but also to give us life in the present that is abundant and full.
Just as there was one gate into the sheepfold, there is only one way to eternal life, and it is through Jesus our Shepherd. As the Shepherd, Jesus cares for us, His sheep, because we are His. Because we are His, He will never abandon us, or leave us at the mercy of those who would seek to harm us.
Just as it was critical to the health and well-being of the sheep to know and recognize the voice of the shepherd, it is vital that followers of Christ know him, so that they are not led astray by those who would seek to do them harm, or open to attack by “wolves.”
Our Shepherd knows us and loves us. What a comfort that is! We don’t have to try and be something we aren’t. He knows us and loves us just as we are.
Jesus tell us in John 10 that there were “other sheep” in the fold – that is, Jesus came for everyone, not just those of one nation. We need to remember that, and welcome people into our congregations who may be from a different ethnic background, different socioeconomic status, and so on. Jesus came for everyone.
We also need to actively reach out to anyone in our community, our state, and around the world who does not know Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He came for them, too, and they need to know.
Register– Lessons in the BSL series for the winter quarter are being written by Laurie Register, executive director-treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union, SCBC.