I am the good shepherd

Exeter Temple Corps Message notes
Sunday 18th August 2013

John 10:11-16

Jesus says that he is the good shepherd
2 Greek words for English word good
- agathose 
a moral and efficient quality about a person.
- kalos   
capability with the addition of loveliness, or attractiveness
 Jesus is the model shepherd who brings to the job the strength and courage of an earthly shepherd, but also the qualities of beauty and kindness which helps us to call him friend.
 
1. Jesus:  the Shepherd who saves life v 11
n Israel, 2000 years ago a shepherd faced daily danger from wolves in the hills.
Hired hands tend sheep to earn a living not because they love sheep. No job is worth your life so they run when a wolf threatens.
Jesus is not a hired hand but a good shepherd who owns the sheep and to whom they are precious.  
The hired hand loves his life more than the sheep but Jesus loves his sheep more than his life.
 There are 3 destroying wolves in John’s gospel
a) Sin                         John 1:29                                                                                                        Sin is a wolf that destroys the world and cuts us off from God. And Jesus came into the world to draw the wolf of sin off the world onto himself, and so die in the place of his sheep.
 b) Death                     Romans 6:23                                                                                                   Death is a great destroyer. It attacks and destroys everyone, great and small, rich and poor, men and women, every race, every creed. The purpose of wolves is death – the purpose of the shepherd is life
c) Judgment: Hebrews 9:27                                                                                                           Death does not lead to nothingness. It leads us into the courtroom of God Almighty whose law we have broken and whose glory we have despised. Jesus is not a weak shepherd. When those wolves threaten his sheep he lays down his life to destroy them and to save us from them.   John 5:24,
 
2.Jesus the shepherd who gives new life
Dead wolves and a dead shepherd leave the sheep alone to care for themselves, which they cannot do. Other creatures left alone will fend for themselves but sheep will become the prey of other animals or die in the cold. The death of the shepherd would be in vain were it not for the fact that the good shepherd also has power to overcome death. We need to recognize our need of the living shepherd:

a)    Just as an area where wolves dwell might seem an attractive place for sheep to graze we find sin attractive. Isaiah 53:6   We need to repent of our waywardness and or foolishness

b)  We cannot meet our own needs. Self-help books, DVD’s or 10 Steps to Success Courses don’t lead us home because they are written by other sheep like us, who are just as lost. And some are even wolves in sheep’s clothing’s. We need to accept his help.

3. The Shepherd who extends life to all     v16

Jesus doesn’t stop with just the sheep that are immediately at hand, he says that other sheep must be brought into this fold.

The fold of sheep, the church, is always changing, growing, adding and losing members. It is not a constant place, but a place where things happen, where changes are made, where people grow in faith, where people meet people of faith who help them to understand and receive God’s love.

 

How much does the above describe Exeter Temple Corps? What needs to be celebrated?  What needs to change?

Is there an area in your life that you are not letting God be the “Good Shepherd” for you?

 

God bless

Alan and Carol