Monday, May 21, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
I have a good Shepherd
I've been home for a week now and I'd like to start blogging on a weekly basis, if not more than that. I am going through the book of John in my own quiet time and I am in love with this gospel.
I'd like to write a little bit about what I've been learning most recently. John 10 is now one of my favorite passages. It is so beautiful. In particular, John 10:1-21 is what I have been unpacking and learning more about. I listened to two sermons by John Piper on this passage - one that was on the whole passage (listen here) and another on verses 11-18, focusing on verse 16 (listen here).
I strongly encourage you to read John 10!
One of the things that Piper said was, "It all comes down to blaspheme or worship; you can't sit on the fence." That stuck out to me because I often think I can sit on the fence. I may intellectually understand something and say I believe it, but if I'm not worshiping the Lord for what He has done for me, I'm essentially a blasphemer. Because he deserves nothing less than worship. I need to do more than just follow him; I must worship Him.
The first thing Jesus does is He gives the Pharisees an analogy. Verse 6 calls it a "figure of speech." It's crazy how Jesus uses stories and analogies to make things easier to understand. I think I sometimes elevate myself to a place above the Pharisees, laughing at the fact that they take things literally and continually fail to understand what Jesus is really trying to say. But in reality, before I was a believer I was a Pharisee. My view of Christianity was flawed because it was works based and I saw myself as better than other people. I failed to understand the true gospel, just as they do in this passage. It's super humbling.
Then, Jesus says that He is the door. At first glance that seems a little strange. But He says this because eternal life is found in Him, if you enter by Him alone. And as believers, we receive a guarantee that because we are His sheep, we will be saved. I LOVE that. I sometimes struggle with assurance and wonder how I can know for SURE that I will go to Heaven. But it's right there in Scripture, clear as day! We will not be destroyed because we are saved for abundant life. Man that's so beautiful.
One of my other favorite parts of this passage is verses 14 & 15: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." He is my Shepherd. I don't know why I love that so much, but I think it's the meaning behind what a shepherd is and the role he play in the lives of his sheep. Without a shepherd, sheep have no one to tend for them and no one to protect them. They will die without a shepherd. Even a hired hand (like it says in verse 12) will FLEE if he sees a wolf coming. He does not care for the sheep at all. But a shepherd will do whatever it takes to protect his sheep. Also, when Jesus says, "I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father," he is saying that He is just as bound to His sheep as He is to His Father. That blows my mind. And then, he lays down his life for the sheep. What sacrificial love. Perfect love. It seriously makes me want to cry just thinking about it. I am so thankful for Jesus' death on the cross to save His sheep and give them abundant life.
I'd like to write a little bit about what I've been learning most recently. John 10 is now one of my favorite passages. It is so beautiful. In particular, John 10:1-21 is what I have been unpacking and learning more about. I listened to two sermons by John Piper on this passage - one that was on the whole passage (listen here) and another on verses 11-18, focusing on verse 16 (listen here).
I strongly encourage you to read John 10!
One of the things that Piper said was, "It all comes down to blaspheme or worship; you can't sit on the fence." That stuck out to me because I often think I can sit on the fence. I may intellectually understand something and say I believe it, but if I'm not worshiping the Lord for what He has done for me, I'm essentially a blasphemer. Because he deserves nothing less than worship. I need to do more than just follow him; I must worship Him.
The first thing Jesus does is He gives the Pharisees an analogy. Verse 6 calls it a "figure of speech." It's crazy how Jesus uses stories and analogies to make things easier to understand. I think I sometimes elevate myself to a place above the Pharisees, laughing at the fact that they take things literally and continually fail to understand what Jesus is really trying to say. But in reality, before I was a believer I was a Pharisee. My view of Christianity was flawed because it was works based and I saw myself as better than other people. I failed to understand the true gospel, just as they do in this passage. It's super humbling.
Then, Jesus says that He is the door. At first glance that seems a little strange. But He says this because eternal life is found in Him, if you enter by Him alone. And as believers, we receive a guarantee that because we are His sheep, we will be saved. I LOVE that. I sometimes struggle with assurance and wonder how I can know for SURE that I will go to Heaven. But it's right there in Scripture, clear as day! We will not be destroyed because we are saved for abundant life. Man that's so beautiful.
One of my other favorite parts of this passage is verses 14 & 15: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." He is my Shepherd. I don't know why I love that so much, but I think it's the meaning behind what a shepherd is and the role he play in the lives of his sheep. Without a shepherd, sheep have no one to tend for them and no one to protect them. They will die without a shepherd. Even a hired hand (like it says in verse 12) will FLEE if he sees a wolf coming. He does not care for the sheep at all. But a shepherd will do whatever it takes to protect his sheep. Also, when Jesus says, "I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father," he is saying that He is just as bound to His sheep as He is to His Father. That blows my mind. And then, he lays down his life for the sheep. What sacrificial love. Perfect love. It seriously makes me want to cry just thinking about it. I am so thankful for Jesus' death on the cross to save His sheep and give them abundant life.
"For
this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I
may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of
my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to
take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." Jesus
is either insane or He is God. There is no other explanation for those
verses.
John Piper made me
ask myself "Am I a skeptic or am I desperate for Him?"
I'm desperate for
Him.
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