Protecting Love

April 30, 2017 Background Scripture: John 10:1 – 15 Lesson Passage: John 10:1 – 15 The lessons this quarter have looked at different aspects of God’s love for mankind. Through the previous lessons, we have seen that the love of God knows no limits. There is no need for a child of God to feel insecure. Insecurity suggests that we don’t really trust God or we don’t know or understand the provisions He makes available for us. Everything God has declared about a relationship with Him supports reassurance. This extends from the moment we accept salvation through Jesus Christ, to the continuous process of delivering us from the power of sin over our lives, and finally into and throughout eternity. This relationship is described in the analogy of the shepherd and the sheep. Today’s lesson returns to the theme of the Lord as our shepherd. As stated in the previous lesson from Psalm 23, we readily identify with the life of David as the biographical background for this metaphor. Perhaps David had a role model he looked to for such an analogy. Jacob had described God as his shepherd almost a thousand years before David was born. As Jacob prepared to bless Joseph’s two sons in Egypt, he told Joseph that God had been his shepherd all of his life up to that day. This is believed to be the first occurrence in scripture of someone referring to the Lord as their shepherd. At the start of the text in our lesson today, Jesus gave his disciples a parable but the writer, John, said they did not understand what it meant. So Jesus explained that the parable spoke of the relationship between him and his followers. The parable talked about the relationship between a shepherd and his flock. The flock is familiar with their shepherd and they follow him as he leads the way. On the other hand, the flock does not know a stranger’s voice and they will not follow a stranger. Jesus proclaimed that he is the only avenue into God’s flock. He contrasted himself with others who had positioned themselves to be leaders over God’s people. Because they did not come through him, he said they came even as a thief would break into someone’s house. He said the devil comes as a thief with an agenda to kill, steal, and destroy. Likewise, Jesus explained that those who want to be leaders of the flock but have no love for the sheep will only do it in times of convenience. They will flee at the sight of danger. Jesus, on the other hand, is the good shepherd and he will not flee from something that comes to harm the flock. The good shepherd would give his life for the security of the flock because he is not a hired servant but the owner of the flock. The good shepherd loves his sheep. He knows each sheep personally and each sheep knows him. Each sheep experiences a personal relationship with the shepherd. They are not just one in the number. Satan and the demonic spirits that follow him seek to prey on the sheep. They try to scatter the flock so they can single out the weakest members as prey. The good shepherd owns the flock and he protects them—even with his life. Robert C. Hudson March 1, 2017