Tag Archives: thief

WHO IS THE HIRELING OF JOHN 10?

Apologetics, , ,

WHO IS THE HIRELING OF JOHN 10?

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10

Times without number, I have heard preachers, teachers, and every other category of believer in Jesus, refer to the devil as the one who comes to “kill, steal, and destroy”. Never once, in all my Christian experience, have I ever heard or read a query to this interpretation.

Yet, when I read Jesus’ words in John 10, nowhere does He refer to Satan in His teaching about the hireling and the Good Shepherd. His debate was not with the devil whom He could vanquish with the Word, but with the religious leaders who twisted the Word to suit their own purposes.

In His teaching on the Good Shepherd, Jesus contrasted Himself with the “hireling” who had no interest in the sheep but in what he could gain from shepherding them. When danger or difficulty came, the hireling abandoned the sheep to save his own skin. No mention of the devil here!

By contrast, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, not only takes good care of the sheep whom He knows by name, but He also sacrificed His own life for His flock.

Who, then, was the hireling? Surely, Jesus was referring to the religious leaders, with whom He continually contended because they cared more about themselves than about God’s people. He called them “hypocrites”, play-actors who played the role of “shepherd” to impress their audience.

Matthew 23:2-7; 13-36 is a painful exposure of those who masquerade as shepherds but behave as hirelings. On many occasions, Jesus pointed out their dishonest use of the Law.

“For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’  In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.  And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” Mark 7:10-13 NLT

These religious leaders were so dishonest that they refused to weigh all the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. They rejected His claim that His authority came from God. Instead, they crucified Him as a blasphemer because He claimed (and proved by the Word, His works, and the witness of the Father) that He was the Son of God.

Yes, Satan was behind their attitudes and behaviour but, in the end, they made their choices and were the greatest threat to Jesus’ mission. They influenced the people against Jesus despite all the miracles He did for them. Although they made the decision to crucify Jesus, they were ultimately accountable to God, the highest authority, for what they had done.

“Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death.” Matthew 27:20 NLT

‘Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!” And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!” Matthew 27:24-25 NLT

Peter laid the guilt for Jesus’ death squarely at the door of the Jews, including all those, led by the religious leaders, who had clamoured for His death.

“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.” Acts of the Apostles 2:22-23 NLT

Nowhere did Peter on the day of Pentecost, give credit to the devil for having Jesus crucified. It was the human will by human hands that killed Him. What of today?

There are many “hirelings” in places of leadership in churches across the world today, people who are filthy rich at the expense of the  “sheep” who depend on them for care and guidance. These are the ones who kill, steal and destroy since those who follow them are robbed of money, wisdom and life itself.

Unfortunately, these hirelings are often difficult to identify because they masquerade as shepherds or, as Jesus said, they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We can identify them by their fruit.

I am very wary of those who get people to give either by offering them a reward or by making them feel guilty if they don’t give. Many great so-called compassion ministries are built on the money the big names get out of their followers while they gather wealth for themselves. Some even claim that their wealth is their “reward” for their service. Really! Where do they find that in Scripture?

Three things motivate the hireling that contradict what Jesus taught about the way of God’s kingdom; fame, power and money. Look for these “fruits” in the lives of false shepherds and stay away from them and their teachings.

The tragedy is that, though these false shepherds will take the rap for what they have done, the sheep who blindly follow them will also be lost because they have exchanged the truth for lies.

God holds every individual responsible for what he/she believes and how his/her belief system directs their lives. He has given us the New Covenant in His Word to show us how and provide everything we need to live godly lives.

“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 NLT

No one can hide behind ignorance as an excuse. We are told to test everything and hold fast to what is good.

“Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 NLT

Jesus warned us that deception will be the greatest threat to believers as time draws to an end. Fear and deception are the devil’s most effective tools, and hirelings his most efficient allies in his quest to draw people away from simple faith in Jesus.

So, my beloved friends, beware of the hirelings who are everywhere and out to lure you away by their smooth-tongued and convincing words that twist God’s Word, pander to your flesh and set you on the path to destruction.

Remain “in Christ”, abide in Him and in His Word. He is your only place of truth and safety.

 

 

Wax Or Clay?

Bible Study, , ,

WAX OR CLAY?

“But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray Him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’  He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to whatever was put into it.” John 12:4-6 NIV

Who was this Judas Iscariot? What kind of man was he? Why did Jesus choose him to be a disciple?

We have to glean bits and pieces about the character of Judas from the gospel story. We learn most about him from the events leading up to the crucifixion. It seems that there was no love lost between him and John, writer of the most “spiritual” gospel, according to the early church fathers. Even though John was an old man by the time he wrote, he could not resist having a dig at Judas as he remembered and recorded details about his part in the events of that terrible week.

Judas was the “treasurer” of the group. It fell to him to take care of the money bag, to buy the necessary provisions and to pay the taxes required by the Romans, and the temple tax, tithes and offerings as part of their covenant responsibility. Apart from that, John knew that he periodically helped himself from the money bag for his own private use but he did not divulge his source of information. Perhaps it was no more than a suspicion because he knew that Judas liked money.

Did Judas volunteer for the job or did Jesus appoint him to take care of the finances? If so, why? Didn’t Jesus know that he had sticky fingers? One can only see God’s grace offered to this man. Jesus gave him opportunity to change his behaviour by entrusting this responsibility to him. Judas could have risen to the occasion by choosing not to violate that trust instead of seeing it as an opportunity to enrich himself, but he didn’t.

In spite of the years he spent with Jesus, following, listening and even doing the works Jesus did, Judas’ heart was still hardened and unchanged because of his love of money. He remained unmoved by the compassion, kindness and generosity displayed by His Master; he certainly could not understand how He could accept Mary’s lavish adoration on this occasion when she “wasted” her precious dowry on His feet!

On one occasion Jesus had pointed out to His disciples that it was impossible for a man to serve two masters. The God of Israel and Mammon, the god of money were at opposite ends of the pole. God is the epitome of generosity; Mammon represents everything that is selfish and greedy – what the Hebrews called the yetzer harah, the evil eye, the “factory fault” with which every human being is born since Adam. The gap between God and Mammon is so vast that serving one is tantamount to hating the other. Therefore, if Judas served money it was impossible for him to love God.

For Mary to lavish such expensive perfume on Jesus meant that she valued Him far more than she valued her most valuable possession — something that was absolutely foreign to Judas, so foreign in fact that he was willing to sacrifice Jesus for the sake of money. Judas betrayed his greed by his objection, and John read him aright. For Judas it was not about the poor; it was about the money he could have had in the bag — another opportunity to remove his “salary” without authorization!

“Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ’It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.’ John 12:7 NIV.

Was John also hinting at one of the reasons why Judas betrayed Jesus? Once again, in a public assembly, Jesus had exposed the heart of Judas, and Judas must have squirmed at the humiliation! But Jesus never exposed hearts for the sake of revenge. As with the Pharisees, He wanted people to know themselves so that they would turn to Him for mercy. When Peter faced his exposure, he turned, but not Judas. He became harder and even more determined to get even with Jesus.

The same sun that melts wax, hardens clay!

The Shepherd And His Sheep

Bible Study, , ,

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.