He compares them to a "hireling" or "hired hand" who doesn't really care about the sheep. As shepherd of the sheep, He is the one who protects, guides, and nurtures His flock.Īs He did in declaring that He is "the door of the sheep" in John 10:7, Jesus is making a contrast between Himself and the religious leaders, the Pharisees. Therefore, in using the phrase "the good shepherd," Jesus is referencing His inherent goodness, His righteousness, and His beauty. It signifies not only that which is good inwardly-character-but also that which is attractive outwardly. The Greek word kalos translated "good" describes that which is noble, wholesome, good, and beautiful, in contrast with that which is wicked, mean, foul and unlovely. It should be understood that Jesus is "the" good shepherd, not simply "a" good shepherd, as others may be, but He is unique in character. Immediately after declaring that He is "the door" in John 10:7, here Jesus declares "I am the good shepherd." He describes Himself as not only "the shepherd," but the "good shepherd." What does this mean? These "I am" proclamations point to His unique divine identity and purpose. "I am the good Shepherd" is the fourth of seven "I am" declarations of Jesus recorded only in John's gospel. I am the good shepherd I know my sheep and my sheep know me-just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep.- Jesus, John 10:14-15 And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.- Revelation 7:17 He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart he gently leads those that have young.- Isaiah 40:11įor the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.- Jesus, John 10:11 Nothing will injure you.” Why won’t we hasten to God’s throne? Why won’t we hasten to petition God for what we need when He has it all? Where is our faith? It’s time we changed the lyrics to our song to this …“I love the Lord, He heard my cry and pitied every groan, long as I live and troubles rise, I’ll hasten to His throne!” We might not get another chance.I am the good shepherd. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” We say we believe, we say we have faith but then we get scared to step when we see the enemy looming when the bible says in Luke 10:19, “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Why won’t we hasten? We say we need rest but Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” We say God isn’t answering but have you asked lately when the bible says in Luke 11:9, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. The favor of God can sometimes take away the labor all together and yet we won’t even hasten to His throne to get it. The favor of God can promote me when man says I should be demoted. The favor of God can place my name in the mouths of folk I don’t even know knew me. The favor of God can take my feet to places I didn’t even think I belonged. Yea! See, the favor of God can open doors I didn’t even know existed. Why don’t we hasten more to God’s throne? We find it so easy to grumble but we won’t get up, we play the pity part but won’t pray, we say we are hurt yet we won’t hasten to the throne of grace and mercy where our help lies! What is going on? Ephesians 3:12 says, “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence,” yet we wait, why? I don’t know about you but I need the favor of God to rest upon me because I’ve found that God’s favor helps with the labor I have to sometime endure. Why don’t we petition His throne more or why don’t we hasten to ask of Him things when the bible says in Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” I mean, hasten is defined as to do something in a hurry or to make something happen quickly and as I was sitting here pondering on something to write about, this thought just happened to drop into my spirit. I wonder why we, as children of God, don’t hasten to our Father’s throne.
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