Lent Day 24: The True Shepherd

John 10 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Jesus tells his followers that he can (and will) take care of those who come to God through him.

It's popular to say that there are many roads to the divine. Many ways to be a good person. Many ways to balance your karma. But Jesus refutes that. This is what he tells religious leaders who preach that rule-keeping is the way to please God:

Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 
When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.

> Jesus claims that he is the one and only gateway to God.

> No one who reads Jesus words can doubt what he is saying. He insists that anyone else who wants to be a Messiah - every other gateway to God - is wrong. Every other way to God is false and cannot save the soul, Rather, the deceivers come to steal, kill, and destroy. Wow.
(Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again:)

Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

> If you believe that Jesus was good, you must believe that God has sent him. Otherwise he is delusional and a liar.

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. I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 

> He has been given a hard task by his Heavenly Father. Jesus says he is the beloved of God because he will lay down his life. He will sacrifice himself to fulfill the righteousness of God for us. And that's what he does - he takes authority over his decision to obey his Father's command.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.
> Do you believe what Jesus says about himself and about you? Will you follow? Will you accept the Good Shepherd as your own?

> If you do, you will have to follow where he leads. You will recognize his voice when he speaks and run like crazy from anyone trying to deceive you.

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