Tag Archives: sheep

My Sheep Listen To My Voice

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MY SHEEP LISTEN TO MY VOICE 

“Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around Him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.'” John 10:22-26 NIV.

That’s putting it bluntly!

These Jewish leaders were like a pack of wolves circling around their prey, each one coming in for a bite whenever they got a chance. It was the same thing over and over again. They did not want an opportunity to believe in Him. They were looking for His weak spot; looking for a way to catch Him out so that they could arrest Him on some trumped-up charge and get Him out of their hair.

Jesus was too smart for them. He knew what they were up to and He showed them no vulnerable place in His defences. At the same time He was not afraid to tell them the truth because it was the truth that would be their judge in the end. Every time they opened their mouths, they exposed what was in their hearts. He knew that they had no intention of believing in Him. It was clear to Him that they were not interested in knowing God. They were too busy protecting their own interests.

“‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.'” John 10:27-30 NIV.

Once again, in the middle of this ongoing heated debate between Jesus and His enemies, comes this gem of truth to which we cling as a precious promise of God! What Jesus said here draws a line right down the middle of humanity and even down the middle of those who claim to be His disciples.

What distinguishes a true disciple from one who thinks he is but is not of the flock?

There is an intimate and personal interaction between the Shepherd and His sheep. The sheep listen for and respond to the voice of the Shepherd. How do they know His voice? They recognise it from the instructions He gives to them that reflect His disposition — compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness — Exodus 34, 6, 7. They do what He does because it is the way of a disciple.

It is union with Him and a lifestyle that flows from that union that produces real life. A life of selfishness and greed must come to an end because it contradicts everything that God is. The writer to the Hebrews said, “At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” Hebrews 12:26, 27 NIV.

Only that which is joined to God in union and in harmony will remain. “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17 NIV.

By their words and their behaviour, the Jewish leaders who were continually challenging Jesus showed that they were not a part of His flock. Likewise, it is not those who preach most eloquently, or who “serve” the Lord most diligently or carry out their rituals most faithfully, who are of the flock, but those who listen to the voice of the Shepherd and follow Him.

Because they are joined to Jesus in a union of faith and obedience, they are already in His kingdom and experiencing His everlasting life. They are held secure in the Father’s hand and nothing, not even death can separate them from Him.

The key is: Do you hear His voice? Are you following Him?

The Heart Of A True Shepherd

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THE HEART OF A TRUE SHEPHERD 

“‘The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and they know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.'” John 10:12-15 NIV.

Another indictment against the false shepherds of Israel! Once again the difference between the shepherd and the hireling is — money. The hired hand does not stake his life on the safety of the sheep. When danger threatens, he takes off to save his own skin, leaving the sheep to face the predators alone. The shepherd stands between the sheep and those who would devour them and defends them with his life.

Two men stand out in Scripture — apart from Jesus who literally gave His life for His sheep — who refused to abandon their flock but offered themselves in place of their people when unbelief and disobedience brought the judgment of God down on them.

Moses stood between the Israelites and God in the desert, pleading with God to remove his name from the book of life rather than destroy his people who had sinned grievously by worshipping a golden calf while he was up the mountain with God..

“So Moses went back to the Lord and said, ‘Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.’ But now, please forgive their sin — but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.'” Exodus 32:31, 32 NIV.

God would not accept his sacrifice but He heard Moses’ plea for mercy and did not carry out His intention to wipe Israel out and start again with Moses. (Exodus 32:10, 14).

The other man who would willingly have given himself for his people was the Apostle Paul. “I speak the truth in Christ — I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit — I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself was cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, these of my own race, the people of Israel.” Romans 9:1-4a NIV.

How different from the Pharisee, Saul, who willingly arrested the same people and had them tried and put to death for believing in Jesus, now putting his life on the line for the same people he once tried to destroy! What changed his heart? It was the resurrected Jesus who appeared to him and captivated his heart, turning him into a passionate shepherd of his people.

After Peter’s denial of his Master, Jesus gave him the opportunity to be restored to his former commitment and loyalty to Him on the shore of Lake Galilee. He received a commission that carried him through his life to its end on a Roman cross. “Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep.” He caught the vision that never left him and that he passed on to those who came after him.

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed. Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” 1 Peter 5:1-3 NIV.

Peter had witnessed the fulfilment of Jesus’ words — “The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” He had been commissioned to wear his Rabbi’s yoke. It was therefore his responsibility to follow Him in everything He modelled as a faithful disciple and shepherd of His flock.

It saddens me that God’s shepherds are so quick to flee the flock and find another one elsewhere when the going gets tough. Instead of staying with the people through thick and thin and seeing them through difficult times, many pastors and ministers easily accept a “call” elsewhere, either because they are offered a better to deal or because they want to escape from difficult people.

I salute the ones who stay with the flock and are willing to lay down their lives for the sheep. They have the heart of a true shepherd.

The Good Shepherd

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THE GOOD SHEPHERD 

“‘I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.'” John 10:9-11 NIV.

Such familiar words and yet how they are misunderstood! Once again it is important to read them in context.

The Jewish religious leaders had persistently rejected Jesus and refused to recognize that He was indeed their Messiah. No amount of evidence and no amount of persuasion would convince them that He was the fulfilment of Old Testament messianic prophecy. They claimed to be the true leaders of Israel and yet they placed heavy burdens of unnecessary rules on the people that they were not able to bear.

Jesus insisted that those who refused to come to the Father through Him were thieves and robbers. They did not care for the sheep; they exploited them for their own benefit. They fitted the description of the false shepherds of Ezekiel 34. They tried to gain access to God through their own “righteousness”; by obeying the many petty rules their rabbis had made up around the Law of God.

Jesus said that all those who had come before Him, who masqueraded as true shepherds, were thieves and robbers. They, and not Satan, as this passage is so commonly interpreted, are the ones who kill, steal and destroy. He was aiming His arrows at the scribes and Pharisees who persistently attacked and tried to discredit Him.

These men prided themselves on being the shepherds of Israel while, in actual fact, they were the hireling shepherds who had no love for the sheep. Instead of caring for the sheep, feeding them, lifting their burdens and seeking the lost, they lorded it over them and made life intolerably difficult their rules and requirements.

Jesus’ conflict with the merchants and money changers in the temple is a case in point. These unscrupulous men were extorting money from the worshippers by confiscating “defective” sacrificial lambs, forcing them to buy another, and selling the faulty ones to the next worshippers. They were probably there by permission of the priests who no doubt got their cut of the profits.

Unlike the leaders, Jesus had shown His people that He was their true shepherd. “I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” Ezekiel 34:15-16 NIV.

David, the shepherd-king, had known the Shepherd of Israel. In his many years as a fugitive from Saul, he had lived under the care and protection of his Shepherd. Out of years of experience he wrote the 23rd Psalm. The same Shepherd who had accompanied him through years of suffering, had now come in person to show His people who the true Shepherd was.

Jesus meant His disclosure to be an indictment of those who fail to fulfil their shepherding responsibility towards His people, not to give us someone conveniently to blame for the bad things that happen in our lives. Jesus spoke strongly to those to whom He has entrusted the care of His sheep, especially in view of His anticipated return. There will be swift retribution for the ones who forget their responsibility waste their time and their Master’s resources on living for their own pleasure.

Peter got the message. “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who will also share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” 1 Peter 5:1-3 NIV.

Jesus had entrusted His sheep to Peter and his fellow disciples. Now Peter passed on the baton to others. Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” Jesus, the Good Shepherd, showed us the way.