Other Sheep: John 10:1-21

Focus Passage: John 10:1-21 (CEV)

    1 Jesus said:

   I tell you for certain that only thieves and robbers climb over the fence instead of going in through the gate to the sheep pen. 2-3 But the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and he goes in through it. The sheep know their shepherd’s voice. He calls each of them by name and leads them out.

    4 When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice. 5 The sheep will not follow strangers. They don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, and they run away.

    6 Jesus told the people this story. But they did not understand what he was talking about.

    7 Jesus said:

   I tell you for certain that I am the gate for the sheep. 8 Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. 9 I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture.

    10 A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. 11 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. 12 Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don’t own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. 13 Hired workers run away because they don’t care about the sheep.

    14 I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 15 Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.

    17 The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.

    19 The people took sides because of what Jesus had told them. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon in him! He is crazy! Why listen to him?”

    21 But others said, “How could anyone with a demon in him say these things? No one like that could give sight to a blind person!”

Read John 10:1-21 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

While Jesus was teaching the crowd with the illustration of the good shepherd, He touches on an idea that has challenged people throughout history. In this illustration, Jesus tells those present that “I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.” (v. 16)

When we look at this verse, we get the picture that Jesus has people who are in God’s family that are not with the group at that point in time. Technically, this includes you and me because we were not alive while Jesus walked the earth, and this literally means that we would have not been a part of God’s family at that point in history.

But since God exists out of time, regardless of when Jesus said these words, I believe God was thinking of everyone who ever lived at any point in the big timeline called history.

A second angle I have heard on this verse is that God has people who are outside of the Christian church that are His. We can see many examples that support Jesus’ words in this verse because anyone living today who has joined a church and accepted Jesus into their hearts supports what Jesus described.

A third angle on this verse focuses on God’s people being united as one group with one Shepherd. This angle says that we must put aside all of our differences and unite as one people. While currently there are more Christian denominations than can be counted well, this third angle suggests we put all the differences aside and simply be one in Christ.

However, part of me wonders if while there is truth to each of these angles, but that Jesus has something else in mind with what He described in this verse. As I read Jesus’ words, the challenge I see for the third angle is that Jesus Himself does the uniting. The only unity that should happen is through hearing Jesus’ voice and coming together. While putting aside our differences and focusing on Jesus are good things to do, our movements must be prompted by Jesus and not by peer or social pressure to conform.

As I read Jesus’ words, I wonder along the lines of the second angle is whether Jesus is describing someone moving between Christian denominations, or if it only means someone placing their trust and belief in Jesus for the first time. Regardless of which way it is, the challenge to this second angle is letting Jesus lead in the person’s life who He is calling. We should not try to rush God. God’s timing and His calling are both much better than we could ever do, and when Jesus has called a person to Him, we should be supportive of this regardless of whether this person comes into 100% of our belief system.

When Jesus says He has sheep in other pastures who He will call together, I believe we should be intentional about being open and willing to accept people who are different, and love them when Jesus brings them our way. While part of love is challenging people regarding sins in their own lives, the much greater part of love includes accepting others without condition and being willing to walk through life together. Jesus left heaven so that He could walk with humanity, and He calls us to walk with those He has called as we prepare for His return.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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Jesus’ Gracious Words: Psalm 45:1-2


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In our last episode, we focused in on a description Jesus pulled from the Old Testament and applied onto His ministry. But we ended up cutting that episode’s New Testament passage short because in the event that we focused in on, Luke used an interesting phrase when describing the initial response those in the Nazareth synagogue had towards Jesus, and that phrase has a connection with a different passage from the Old Testament.

However, before we pick back up with Jesus in the Nazareth synagogue, let’s look at the first two verses in a psalm that get’s connected with Jesus, and one that has descriptive similarities with how Luke described those in the Nazareth synagogue.

This psalm is found in the Old Testament book of Psalms, and it is psalm number 45. Reading from the New American Standard Bible translation, starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes:

My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
You are fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.

While we could read more, let’s stop reading here. On the surface, nothing in these first two verses sounds prophetic. However, when the psalmist is describing the King who he is addressing his verses to, he describes the King as having grace poured upon His lips.

With that framing in mind, let’s read about Jesus’ experience in Nazareth. For those who listened in for our last episode, I’ll repeat the opening of the passage to give context, but then we’ll read a few additional verses to the point where we find this idea present.

Jesus’ visit to Nazareth’s synagogue is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 4 and we will begin reading in verse 14:

14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. 15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This is where we stopped reading in our last episode. However, continuing reading in verse 22:

22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And with this description, we come to the end of anything that could be described as gracious words. After this initial response, Jesus then shifts towards challenging this group of people, and the way Jesus challenges them is received much less graciously.

Continuing reading in verse 23, Luke writes:

23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.

While it is very tempting to focus on the rejection Jesus faced at the end of this passage, while reading this passage in the context of our year of podcasting, focusing on this rejection here would be a mistake. Instead of looking at Jesus facing rejection, which there will be more than enough time to do later in this year as Jesus makes His way to the cross, since our focus for this year of podcasting is looking at connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus, what can we learn from the description Luke gave regarding Jesus’ message? Prior to Jesus challenging this group of synagogue attendees, Luke described the words Jesus spoke as gracious words, and since this description appears connected to an Old Testament description of God the King, is there any way of describing the final message Jesus shared with these Jews within the framework of grace?

In an amazing way, while the direct challenge Jesus shares with those present that a prophet is not accepted in his hometown is easily prophetic, while not being grace-filled, Jesus’ actions themselves draw attention onto the grace present in this challenge. While the prophecy clearly suggests that He would not be accepted, nor would any prophet in any respective hometown, the simple fact that Jesus traveled to His hometown and spoke to those in His local synagogue strongly suggests that even though Jesus knew He would be rejected when sharing God’s message, He still went.

Jesus offered grace to those who were prophesied to reject Him by being willing to go and share God’s message with them anyway. That lesson is powerful in itself, because it tells each of us that God is willing to reach out to us even after we have rejected Him, and even if He knows that we will reject His offer. God reaches out to us, not because of who we are, but because of who He is. That is powerful.

However, moving forward in Jesus’ message to those in the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus shares two events where God led His prophets to help those who were not of Jewish ancestry. In Elijah’s case, God sent him to bless a widow in a foreign land while he was an outcast in Israel. In Elisha’s case, God sent someone from a foreign land to him for help, and Elisha indirectly helps bring about this foreigner’s healing.

In these two events, it is amazingly obvious in my mind that grace is present. In both these historical accounts, God acted gracious towards the foreigners present, and that is because God loves humanity, in stark contrast to the narrow view that God only loves a specific nationality. Jesus opened His ministry in a way that drew attention to His ministry being one that was for all humanity. While Jesus did come to humanity with a certain ancestry, Jesus made it clear as early as He could that His mission was to bring grace to more than just one subset of humanity. The only subset present in Jesus’ ministry was those who were willing to accept and follow Him, verses those who chose not to. With rare exception, the people who did not follow Jesus were those who intentionally decided to not follow Jesus because of something Jesus said, or because of the social pressure from the religious leaders.

As we continue moving forward in our year looking at prophecies and connection points between the Old Testament and Jesus’ ministry, expect to see this theme show up again. Jesus came to give grace to both Jew and gentile, and Jesus is willing to extend the grace he offers to you too. Regardless of your past, your nationality, or your failures, Jesus is more interested in offering you grace that extends into your future, and the future Jesus wants to see you in is the one that extends for eternity!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you in one way or another, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to accept the gift of grace that Jesus offers and choose to live each day being grateful for this gift Jesus made available.

Also, as I always challenge you to do in one way or another, intentionally pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow personally closer to God each and every day. The Bible has been preserved for thousands of years because it is God’s story of redemption, and it is a story we are invited into.

Don’t let anyone trick you into discounting or leaving God’s story, because as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Year of Prophecy – Episode 17: While in the Nazareth synagogue, before Luke describes those present turning on Jesus, the description of Jesus’ message is that He spoke gracious words. Having gracious words was a description of God found within the Old Testament, and discover if Jesus’ challenge to these Jews went too far, or whether Jesus simply decided to share just how grace-filled God really is towards us.

Join the discussion. Share your thoughts on this passage.

Accepting Blindness: John 9:1-41

Focus Passage: John 9:1-41 (NLT)

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”

But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”

10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”

11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”

12 “Where is he now?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

13 Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, 14 because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. 15 The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

17 Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”

The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”

18 The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”

20 His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”

25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

26 “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”

27 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

28 Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”

30 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. 32 Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”

34 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.

35 When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

37 “You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”

38 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

Read John 9:1-41 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Near the end of this passage, Jesus makes a very fascinating statement, and it is one that I wonder some about. Often, while Jesus is teaching and sharing truth, He makes some challenging, profound, or insightful remarks.

However, the statement Jesus shares in this passage is profound on a deeper level than most other statements. In verse 41, Jesus responds to a group of Pharisees who were bystanders in this conversation Jesus was having with the formerly blind man. He tells them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty, but you remain guilty because you claim you can see.”

This phrase stands out in my mind because it gives another category of error that we can fall into: claiming we can see.

Two verses before this, in verse 39, Jesus gives a brief mission statement for why He is doing ministry: “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

On the surface, Jesus shares two categories of people: those who are blind and those who think they can see. While this whole event centers around Jesus healing a blind man, with the way Jesus (and John) conclude this event, it seems it was designed to give Jesus an opening to teach about spiritual blindness. In my mind, this whole truth centers on our attitude.

Jesus didn’t share that there is a category of people who really do see. There doesn’t appear to be a third option. Sure, there are people who have been healed of blindness, and who have been given a glimpse of what God is like, but it is a very fine line in my mind between actually “seeing” and “claiming to see”.

The two options are not blindness and claiming clear sight. It might appear this way on the surface, but if we look a little closer, the categories of people are distinguished by something else. As we look closer, we see both groups are blind – those who “think” they can see must not really be able to, otherwise their sight would have lead them to accepting Jesus. The difference then must be related to how we see ourselves. Do we accept that we are blind, leading us to need Jesus to give us sight, or do we claim we can see, which stops God from moving in our hearts as we think we know it all?

This passage, and the statement Jesus shares, mixed with this question challenges me to never become arrogant about the slivers of truth I have been given. There is always more truth to learn. If we fall into the trap of arrogance, we make ourselves guilty by claiming we can see when we are really blind.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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When Jesus Divides: Luke 12:35-59

Focus Passage: Luke 12:35-59 (NCV)

 35 “Be dressed, ready for service, and have your lamps shining. 36 Be like servants who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding party. When he comes and knocks, the servants immediately open the door for him. 37 They will be blessed when their master comes home, because he sees that they were watching for him. I tell you the truth, the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them. 38 Those servants will be blessed when he comes in and finds them still waiting, even if it is midnight or later.

    39 “Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time a thief was coming, he would not allow the thief to enter his house. 40 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him!”

 41 Peter said, “Lord, did you tell this story to us or to all people?”

 42 The Lord said, “Who is the wise and trusted servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 43 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 45 But suppose the servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ and he begins to beat the other servants, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the others who don’t obey.

    47 “The servant who knows what his master wants but is not ready, or who does not do what the master wants, will be beaten with many blows! 48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants and does things that should be punished will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.

    49 “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. 51 Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. 52 From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

 54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds coming up in the west, you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it happens. 55 When you feel the wind begin to blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to understand the appearance of the earth and sky. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?

    57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 If your enemy is taking you to court, try hard to settle it on the way. If you don’t, your enemy might take you to the judge, and the judge might turn you over to the officer, and the officer might throw you into jail. 59 I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid everything you owe.”

Read Luke 12:35-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Part way through Jesus’ ministry, the gospel of Luke describes Jesus sharing with His disciples one of the reasons He came to the earth. In this description of why He came, I am surprised by Jesus’ words, because in many ways, they seem very “un-Godlike”.

Luke tells us that Jesus said: “I came to set fire to the world, and I wish it were already burning! I have a baptism to suffer through, and I feel very troubled until it is over. Do you think I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I came to divide it. From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. They will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (v. 49-53)

When we think of Jesus, and specifically about the mission He came to this earth to accomplish, more often than not, we think of Jesus being someone who unites people together. There are other passages in the gospels that suggest this, however the big distinction between those passages and this one is that Jesus came to unite “God’s people”, wherever they happen to be, but while Jesus is uniting God’s people, He is separating God’s people from those who are not God’s.

This passage draws our attention to the reality that Jesus Christ is the most divisive, controversial person to have ever set foot on the earth. While He is clearly one of the most famous historical figures, He also inspires the most conflict. There are people living today who believe He was God who became a Man, other people living today who think He was nothing special, and even some who believe that He never existed.

By simply being present on earth and living out God’s mission for His life, Jesus divided those living in that century into people who believed He was sent by God and those who thought He was a raving lunatic sinner who was empowered by Satan.

The dividing nature of Jesus continues today. Jesus doesn’t want to divide God’s people, but He knows that God’s people must ideologically separate themselves from those who are not God’s, and the best place to make this division relates to Jesus Himself – and who we believe Him to be.

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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