As I have been reading John Chapter 10 I confess I mostly
see in the chapter what has been taught to me by mentors and commentaries.
Jesus is the “good” shepherd. This was a culture that had little respect for shepherds,
but Jesus says he is “good” one worthy of our respect. Jesus the gate, meaning he
protects his flock from both the thieves and the strangers by laying before
them. The sheep seem to supernaturally know his voice apart from the voice of
others, often seen by us reformers as Jesus pointing to God’s electing work
among the sheep. All of this I learned from others and am grateful for their wisdom.
But I wanted to see this section with new eyes, and I truly attempted to
wrestle with the text, arcing it and color coding it with crayons borrowed from
the children’s wing.
Jesus is the central figure of this book and this parable,
but I did decide to stop and list what the sheep are doing during all this.
Finally I felt like I had found what the Lord was looking to show me in this
verse. The sheep have a role in all this. They hear Jesus’ voice. They follow
him, they don’t follow strangers. They flee the wolf and scatter. They know the
shepherd. This for me was the application for today from John 10:1-18. Know
Jesus voice. Pray for the Holy Spirit to make his voice distinct so I would
know to ignore the voice of the enemy. The prince of lies is good at his craft.
He knows what my deep fears and inadequacies are. He constantly whispers to
tell me that I am who my past says I am.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life so that we can be new
again. To prove the devil is what the Bible says he is, a liar. Be blessed
today, be new today, but most of all be immune to the voice of the strangers
and the thieves, they have nothing for you but death.
Peace.
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