The Good Shepherd

John 10:3-5, 11-15, 27-28, 31

³The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers…¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away —and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep…²⁷ My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand… ³¹ The Jews took up stones again to stone him.

Monday, March 1– Before reading, recall that when the gospel was written by John the disciple, there appears to have been some persons who claimed that John the Baptist was Jesus’ equal, and that neither were the Messiah (some may have actually believed John the Baptist was the messiah, though most seemed to view him as a prophet). John is careful to demonstrate, throughout the gospel, that John the Baptist came to point the way to Jesus, and that he himself was clear that Jesus was the Messiah. Interestingly, many believe the unnamed disciple in 1:35-41 was John the author of the gospel – which meant that John the gospel writer/disciple of Jesus was first a follower of John the Baptist before beginning to follow Jesus, and hence his special interest in John the Baptist in this gospel, which is not seen in the other gospels. Read John 3:22-36 and 4:1-3. What does it teach you about John the Baptist? What does John say about Jesus? In John’s gospel “eternal life” is not simply a heavenly state. Your eternal life begins on earth, as you are “born anew” – you live here on earth, and yet you live as a child of God – with the hope, blessings and confidence that comes from being his – hence you experience a foretaste of heaven as his follower. What must John’s heart have been like to say what he does in v. 29 and especially v. 30 in the face of the growing number of followers Jesus was attracting? How might this relate to you?

Tuesday, March 2 – Remember that in Jesus’ day, Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews – their theology was less than perfect, they refused to see Jerusalem as the center of worship, and they were considered “half-breeds” by Jews (as the Samaritans were Jews and Israelites who had intermarried with non-Israelites). Hence, Jews considered them unclean. In the sociological pecking order of Jesus’ day, women were viewed as of less importance than men. In the story you are about to read, this woman would have been, by virtue of her past, at the lowest rung of her sociological and religious community. This meeting we are about to read of was no accident. Enjoy studying the detail of this picture John paints with words of Jesus and the effect he can have on those who believe. Read John 4:1-42. What do you learn about Jesus in this story? How do you think most rabbis would have looked upon this woman? How does Jesus look upon her? What kind of worship does God seek? What does this mean? Notice this woman becomes a powerful witness for Christ. How are you inviting others to “come and see” Jesus?

Wednesday, March 3 – Read John 4:43-54. Look on a Bible map to see where Jesus began this journey in Jerusalem in chapter 2, then traveled to the Jordan where his disciples baptized those who repented of sin, and then to Sychar in the region of Samaria where he spoke with the Samaritan woman, and now to the region of Galilee. In yesterday’s reading Jesus ministered to a woman at the bottom of the societal ladder – notice in this passage he ministers to a royal official – what does this tell us about Jesus? John calls this healing a miraculous “sign” – what is this miracle a sign of? What does it say about Jesus? About God?

Thursday, March 4 – While most of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) takes place in Galilee, notice that John only recorded a brief incident in Galilee and now, in today’s passage, Jesus is back in Jerusalem. Read John 5:1-15. Notice that Jesus intentionally went to where the disabled were, and he sees and then heals this man who was disabled for 38 years. What does this teach us about Jesus? Notice the name of this pool is “Bethesda” – after which the military hospital in Maryland is named. Jesus’ question, “do you want to get well?” is interesting – are there times people are ill, emotionally or physically, and subconsciously they may not want to get well? How did this man fail to appropriately respond to Jesus healing? Have you ever taken for granted what the Lord has done for you, and failed to offer thanks or honor him?

Friday, March 5 – Yesterday’s scripture story recorded the healing of a man on the Sabbath – according to Jewish tradition one could not heal on the day of rest. All of the gospels record this as a sticking point between Jesus and the religious leaders. Read John 5:16-47. What does this passage teach us about Jesus? About the impact belief in him can have on our lives? John records Jesus’ words in part because they are a direct statement to the Jewish leaders of his own day, and words of assurance to Jewish believers in Jesus.

What do they mean for you?