THINK TOGETHER.
What would make a shepherd good at their job?
READ TOGETHER.
John 10:11;27-31. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.” 31The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
In our scripture today, Jesus calls himself two things. Can you hear what those two things are? They are both good news for us, but they almost got Jesus killed.
The first thing Jesus calls himself is the Good Shepherd. In the Old Testament, God talked about how the Jewish leaders were bad shepherds who only cared about themselves. But Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd who will lay down his life for the sheep. That means that Jesus will love his sheep so much that he would protect them, give them eternal life, and even die for them.
Why did this make the Jewish leaders want to kill, or stone, Jesus? Because in the Old Testament when God called the Jewish leaders bad shepherds he said that he himself would be their Good Shepherd. So when Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd, he is calling himself God.
But just to make sure there is no confusion about what he is trying to say, Jesus comes right out and calls himself equal to the Father – I and the Father are one.
The Jews considered this statement to be blasphemy. Do you know what blasphemy is? Blasphemy is a serious sin. Blasphemy happens when you say something against God. Something that belittles God, or is a lie about him. When Jesus said he was one with God the Father, this was considered to be blasphemy. That’s why they all picked up stones to kill Jesus with. Yikes.
You probably already know that Jesus won’t die by being stoned. How will he die? That’s right, he will die on the cross. Jesus won’t just be killed for blasphemy; he will die because he will lay down his life for us, his sheep. The Jewish leaders won’t take his life from him, he will GIVE his life for us.
That’s what Jesus has done for you; he has given his life as a sacrifice so that you can have eternal life. Life with God forever, and God’s life forever. That’s what you get when you trust in Jesus. You become his precious lamb that he will shepherd forever and ever. You become a lamb that can then shepherd others by loving and caring for them just like Jesus does for you.
Because of Jesus we are God’s sheep that he cares for forever.
With Jesus we can care for others too.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Listen to some “Shepherd” songs together. Lead on Good Shepherd by Patrick Mayberry, Shepherd by CityAlight, Psalm 23 by Phil Wickham, Shepherd by CeCe Winans.
PRAY TOGETHER
Shepherd, lead me today and help me to follow you. Amen.
TLICfamily 