JESUS OUR SHEPHERD

 

John’s record stresses that the key to following Jesus to the cross is to hear

his word, which beckons us onwards (John 10:4, 27). All our Bible study

must lead us onwards in a life of self-sacrifice. The lord Jesus “puts forth

his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they

know his voice. (John 10:4); the same word is used by him in Luke 10:2,

concerning how he sends forth workers to reap converts in preaching.

Each of those he calls has a unique opportunity to gather others to him.

The idea of ‘following’ Jesus is invariably associated with the carrying of the

cross. Why do this? Because of the voice/word of Jesus, of who he is, of

his Spirit. This must be the ultimate end of our Bible study; a picking up of

the cross. For there we see God’s words made flesh.

On one level, we are the sheep, and He is the shepherd. On another, He is

the gatekeeper and we are the shepherds. This is because we are called to

do his work, to be him to this world; for we are "in the Messiah" and all true

of him becomes true of us. The spirit - disposition of the lord as our shepherd has an inevitable,

transforming influence upon those of us who believe in him; the super -

abounding grace and generosity of spirit that was in him on the stake, which

was epitomized in the hours of public, naked exhibition... can’t fail to move

our spirits to be likewise. Paul speaks of this when He says that God does

for us exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, by the spirit - power -

disposition that works in is (Ephesians 3:20) The love of the Messiah for us on the cross, the intensity and passion of it,

is quite outside any human experience. Hence the command to copy His

love is a new commandment. There is and will be something dynamic in our relationship with the Father

and Son. The lord Jesus spoke of how He ‘knows’ the Father and ‘knows’

us His sheep in the continuous tense (John:14,15); He was ‘getting to know’

the Father, and He ‘gets to know’ us. And this is life eternal, that we might

get to know the one true God and His Son (John 17:3). The knowing of God

and His Son is not merely academic, consisting only of facts. It is above all

an experience, a thrilling and dynamic experience. I am the good shepherd,

and know (Gk. 'am getting to know', continuous tense) my sheep, and am

known (being known) of mine. As the Father knows (is knowing) me, even

so know I (I am getting to know) the Father". The relationship between us

and our lord will therefore be one of progressive upward knowledge, as he

has with God.

Yehovah Elohim - God is dynamic. For us to grow in His knowledge

will be a continuously dynamic process.

It is pointed out in John's Gospel that those who will truly know God will not

fully know Him now, in this life, but will come to know Him fully after they are

resurrected..

The way in which we are seen by God is as if we are already saved -

delivered on account of our being in the Messiah is understood by

appreciating His timelessness and foreknowledge. Romans 8:29 says

that the whole process of our calling, justification and glorification all

occurred at the foundation of the world.

In God's eyes, those of us in the Messiah are already saved and glorified.

Notice that in God's eyes there was only one resurrection, that of the lord

Jesus. The resurrected Lord is compared to the sheaf of first fruits

(1 Corinthians 15:20), as if those in him rose with him and were glorified

together, in God's eyes. Perhaps the Lord Jesus had this in mind when he

said: "I am the resurrection" To close: My sheep hear - obey my voice, and I know them and they follow

me. The lord took the initiative in speaking his word to men, but they must

respond and obey his testimony; and this is how he 'knows' them, in the

Hebraic sense of having a relationship. The "voice" they hear is his words,

the essence of him; as he says, "My words". The lord's references to "My

words" in John must be understood as a reference to him, the news about

him, his Spirit, the essence of him as a person, who acts as an agent of

Yehovah as His son.

Note: The Jewish Law of Agency deals with the status of a person (known

as the agent) acting by direction of another (the principal), and thereby

legally binding the principal in his connection with anyone to whom he has

sent. The person who is sent by a principal in this manner is his agent,

known in Jewish law as sheluaḥ or sheliaḥ (one that is sent): the relation of

the former to the latter is known as agency (sheliḥut).

The general principle is enunciated thus: A man's agent is like himself!

Jesus was the sheluah or sheliah (one that was sent) by Yehovah. The

words he spoke and the actions his did were all done as if they were done by

Yehovah God.