Monthly Archives: August 2021

THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

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THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP

“‘Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them and they follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.’

“Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what He was telling them.” John 10:1-6 NIV.

Jesus was obviously familiar with the ways of the Middle Eastern shepherd and his sheep. Unlike countries where sheep dogs are used to herd sheep or where the shepherd drives his flock instead of leading them, as a young lad, Jesus had probably watched the sheep following the shepherd like pets. They knew his voice among the voices of many shepherds and followed him out of the communal pen in the mornings when he took them to the best pastures and the quiet waters.

We need to read John 10 in context to understand what Jesus was saying. He was in the middle of a serious debate with the Pharisees. They had accused Him of being demon-possessed because He had healed a blind man on the Sabbath and, according to them, desecrated the Sabbath. They claimed to be followers of Moses, although Jesus knew it was a smokescreen for their wickedness.

As spiritual leaders and faithful shepherds of their people it was their duty to care for the “flock” but they were actually false shepherds because they refused to access the sheep pen by the gate. Moreover, they accurately fitted the accusation God had levelled against the shepherds of Israel through the prophet Ezekiel.

“The word of the Lord came to me, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?

“‘You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth and no one searched or looked for them.'” Ezekiel 34:1-6 NIV.

What an indictment against the leaders of God’s people! It was as relevant to the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ day as it was to the leaders in Ezekiel’s time.

“Therefore, Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.'” John 10:7-8 NIV.

Just so that no one would misunderstand Him, Jesus spelled it out clearly. His people were leaderless and scattered. “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 NIV. Their leaders were cruel and heartless taskmasters, not shepherds who cared for the flock. They were hirelings who were only out to plunder the sheep.

Once again, He placed before them the startling truth – ‘I AM’! “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them…I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered…I will shepherd the flock with justice.” Ezekiel 34:11-16 NIV.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

WALK IN THE LIGHT

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WALK IN THE LIGHT

“To this they replied, ‘You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!’ And they threw him out.'” John 9:34 NIV.

Strange isn’t it, to what lengths people will go to prove they are right, only to dig themselves deeper and deeper into their own guilt! No matter what they said or did, it didn’t make the Pharisees right and the healed man wrong! Education, status, position, standing in society or in the church, title or anything does not make lies the truth.

“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out and, when He found him, He said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Who is He, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in Him.’ Jesus said, ‘You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you.’ Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshipped Him.'” John 9:35-38 NIV.

Two perspectives; two conclusions! The Pharisees rejected Jesus as the Son of Man and ended up by evicting the healed man from the synagogue (vs 22) because he acknowledged that Jesus was from God. On the other hand, Jesus found the man and invited him to faith in Him as the Messiah. The man gladly responded, completing the conviction he had that Jesus was from God and entering into the kingdom of God.

In spite of the Pharisees adamant claims, the “in” were “out” and the “out” was “in”!

Not only could he now see but his healing had also given him spiritual “sight” into the unseen realm of faith. The action of the Pharisees only served to intensify their blindness while the healed man had never seen so clearly in his life before.

“Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Some Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” John 9:39-41.

Amazing how those Pharisees got the point! They were sharp enough to realise that Jesus was talking to and about them. They had accurately judged and condemned themselves but still refused to acknowledge that they were guilty.

It is this aspect that Jesus owns, rules and has authority over the world that the unbeliever refuses to accept. To accept the truth that God is the Creator of the universe is to acknowledge His ownership and authority over everything, including human beings who do not want to be ruled.

When Adam disobeyed God’s instruction in the beginning, he declared independence and illegitimately snatched the right to make his own rules. However, his action does not cancel God’s authority — it only compounds man’s guilt.

“But to the wicked person God says, ‘What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you…When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But now I will arraign you and set my accusations before you.'” Psalm 50:17, 17; 21 NIV.

The one difference between God’s way and all the ways of false religions is that God has appointed a Judge who will judge the world in righteousness. “For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31NIV.

The very ones who refused to recognise Him; who maligned Him and those who believed in Him; who falsely arrested, accused and had Him crucified, will face the blazing light of His glory and give an account of their deeds. He will not need to say a word. They will finally “see” in the light of His truth, every lying word they ever spoke or thought and every wicked deed they perpetrated in the name of God.

Jesus invites us to “walk in the light” now so that we will not need to be ashamed at His coming.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

HE HAD THE UPPER HAND

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HE HAD THE UPPER HAND

“He replied, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’ Then they asked him, ‘What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?’ He answered them, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples too?'” John 9:25-27 NIV.

Cheeky! The blind man had become bold.

He must have realised that the Pharisees found themselves in a very embarrassing situation and capitalised on it. That a miracle had happened (and one that would attract attention because the blind man had been a public figure — always begging in the street), was something they could not deny. They had no explanation for what had happened except Jesus…and they certainly did not want to acknowledge Him!

It was just too much for them when the man challenged them. (His words seem to imply that he had already become a follower of Jesus). They turned on him with insults and abuse — the only way they knew how to get out of a tricky situation.

“Then they hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this fellow’s disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where He comes from,'” John 9:28 29 NIV.

It’s a pity they did not take the trouble to find out. They would have been surprised to learn that Jesus perfectly matched the prophetic fingerprint of Messiah written all over the Scriptures they claimed to revere and follow.

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of weighing up the evidence before dismissing Jesus as a fake. If there was ever a sure way to convince people of the truth of God’s Word, it was to write history before it happened so that, when it happened, no one could dispute the truth. And that is exactly what God did!

When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost to explain the unusual events that were happening under the noses of the visitors in Jerusalem, he turned to the one thing no one could deny – prophecy. When the apostles took the gospel to the Jews scattered across the Roman Empire, their weapon of truth was — prophecy. That prophecy could be so accurately fulfilled in Jesus was beyond possibility unless it was of God. 

The Pharisees were outraged that a mere nobody and a beggar at that, could throw out a challenge to them for which they had no answer. Their claim to be followers of Moses was just as hollow as their accusation that Jesus was a “sinner”. Where was the proof? Jesus Himself had exposed their hypocrisy over and over again.

“The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where He comes from, yet He o,pened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will. Nobody had ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.'” John 9:30-33 NIV.

This man had them and they knew it! As unlearned as he was, his logic was more plausible than theirs. For him it was simple. God hears a godly man. He heard Jesus and worked a miracle, therefore Jesus was a godly man. No contest.

Why could the Pharisees not get it? It had nothing to do with their intelligence or ability to reason. It had everything to do with their prejudice and their unwillingness to bow to Jesus as Lord and God. They had chosen to reject Him because it did not suit them to believe in Him. It was up to them to find a logical reason for rejecting Him and that was easier said than done. Their best weapon was abuse which did not solve their problem. It only showed them up for what they were.

Many human beings still follow the way of the Pharisees, It takes honesty and humility to acknowledge that Jesus is right and we are wrong and we need to bow to Him.

Have you done that?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

WE KNOW EVERYTHING!

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WE KNOW EVERYTHING!

“Then they turned again to the blind man, ‘What have you to say about Him? It was your eyes He opened.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’

“They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ‘Is this your son?’ they asked. ‘Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?’

“‘We know he is our son,’ the parents answered, ‘and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age. He will speak for himself.'”

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That is why his parents said, ‘He is of age; ask him.'” John 9:17-23 NIV.

Poor Pharisees! They had hard evidence in front of their eyes but, no matter how hard they tried they could not make the evidence or the witness go away!

First, they questioned the blind man. “Who do you think He is? After all, it was your eyes He opened?” Without hesitation the blind man put Jesus into the category of “prophet” which was unpalatable for the Pharisees because prophets were revered by the Jews even though their ancestors had failed to heed them and even killed them.

Then they called for his parents and questioned them, hoping that by some miracle they would say there had been some mistake and that he was not their son or that they didn’t really know whether he had been born blind or not! That didn’t work for them either. The man’s parents freely acknowledged that he was their son and that he had been born blind. They threw the ball back in their son’s court. ‘He is old enough to speak for himself!’

Now the Pharisees were in a dilemma. All the evidence pointed to the fact that the man had been born blind and now he could see. Somehow Jesus was in the mix and they could not make any of the facts go away. They had already decided to penalise anyone who dared to confess that Jesus was the Messiah.

The man’s parents bowed to that one but the problem was that any explanation other than that Jesus was who He claimed to be would make nonsense of the evidence. They sidestepped the issue by putting the onus back on their son so as not to fall foul of the Pharisees. They also refused to acknowledge that Jesus was more than just a man.

“A second time they summoned the man who had been born blind. ‘Give the glory to God by telling the truth.’ they said. ‘We know this man is a sinner.'” John 9:24 NIV.

How do you make the evidence go away? By assassinating the character of the one who did the miracle! They still had another hurdle to get over but this one they ignored. ‘We know,’ they said, as thought that settled all the arguments. On what ground did they base their knowledge? Had they witnessed Jesus practising sin? Had anyone else witnessed His sinful behaviour?

They had no answer for His challenge, ‘Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?’ and yet they were now declaring, as though they were the final authority that He was a sinner, and on those grounds, they could dismiss the miracle He did as the work of a sinner! How did that work?

There are religious groups today that declare that the Word of God is not true because it has been corrupted. Does that make their claim true, simply because they said it? Try as anyone may, truth is indestructible. Since Jesus declared that the Word of the Lord will never pass away, and since no one has ever proved Him a liar, Jesus and His Word are still reliable and dependable. Hallelujah!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

AND NOW I SEE

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AND NOW I SEE

“How, then, were your eyes opened?’ they asked. He replied, ‘The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.’

“‘Where is the man?’, they asked him. ‘I don’t know,” he said.” John 9:10-12 NIV.

This sounds like a far-fetched story! “A man put mud on my eyes, told me to go and wash it off, and then I could see.” That is not only unbelievable; it’s also un-believable. Whoever heard of that! It could have been a fabricated story except for one thing — the blind man was no longer blind and there was no explanation for the miracle.

The poor guy was in for a grilling and he didn’t even know who the man was who had healed him except that His name was Jesus.

“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.  Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ he replied, ‘and I washed, and now I see.’

“Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.’

But others asked, ‘How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?’ So they were divided.” John 9:13-16 NIV.

At least there were some people who had the good sense to look at the evidence! The Pharisees were at it again — Jesus was an evil-doer because He did not adhere to their Sabbath rules but they missed the spirit of the Sabbath. For them it was about not doing the wrong things. It was not about doing the right things.

This is exactly where Jesus and the religious Jews parted company. They were sticklers for keeping the rules. Jesus focussed on meeting people’s needs. They accused Him of being a rule-breaker because He “worked” on the Sabbath according to their definition of “work”. For Him it was the right thing to do to set a blind man free from his prison on the Sabbath.

How tragic that so much of the church’s understanding of “righteousness” has become like the Pharisees’ rule-keeping ritual! We have our evangelical Ten Commandments or the equivalent. We are righteous as long as we do certain things and avoid doing other things. Unfortunatelym we also tend to judge other believers according to our standards of right and wrong.

Interesting, isn’t it, that Jesus had much more to say to people who failed to meet the needs of others than He did to the “sinners” He hobnobbed with to the disgust of the religious ones.  He had no word of condemnation for the Samaritan woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery. Quite the opposite! He was gentle and merciful towards them, but He had a lot to say to the religious hypocrites who covered up their greedy and wicked hearts with religious performance.

“‘The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have had more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats…

“‘When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if your offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight!  Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.'” Isaiah 1:11; 15-17 NIV.

Perhaps the church would once again make an impact on the world as it did in the first century if it set aside its religious performances and went back to the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation, ‘Remain in me.’ His life, flowing through us, would make a world of difference to those around us instead of judging and condemning.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.