Jesus- My Good Shepherd

Jesus the Good Shepherd

Today we have heard about how the Thornleigh youth pictures Jesus.

Church we have heard that Jesus is our friend and our guide, our comfort in time of need and our shepherd. Today I am going to look at how Jesus is our shepherd and what that image actually means.

John 10:1-13

Shepherds in Ancient Palestine vs. Jesus

Shepherds were despised in Ancient Palestine- why would Jesus choose to represent himself as a shepherd? He came for those who are looked down on by society- he loves them especially

What do we learn about Jesus here?

He knows his sheep by name

He goes before his sheep

Jesus also says that I am the gate- whoever comes through me will be saved. In ancient Palestine, shepherds literally were the gates! This means that Jesus will protect us and give us a life in abundance.

All of Jesus’ roles fit with that of an ancient Palestinian shepherd- what then makes him different?

Jesus is more than just the door to safety, he is the door to salvation.

The Good Shepherd

In v. 11 καλος means good but it goes beyond that to noble or honourable. How did you get honour in this society? One way was through sacrificing himself.

Laying down ones life was not an expectation of the shepherd.

Isaiah 53:3–6 NRSV

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

You are Worth So Much to Jesus

You are worth so much to your friends and to your family and to your Thornleigh community. Above all though, you mean so much to Jesus, the man of sorrows who died so that you might have an abundant and eternal life. When I think of him hanging on the cross, I don’t know about you but I get overwhelmed with knowing that Jesus God’s own Son died for me. I am so aware that I don’t deserve it and maybe you feel like you don’t either. Maybe you’re worried that Jesus won’t want you but the fact is that God loves us more than we can even hope to understand. In Romans 5 it talks about this. Turn there with me and we will read verses 1-8.

What Shepherd are you Following?

Whether we know it or not, we are following something throughout our everyday life and that something becomes our shepherd. Jesus is the good shepherd but there are so many things of this world that aren’t. What are some things we can follow other than Jesus- money, tv, our study, ourselves. Are you getting carried away by the thieves and the robbers and the wolves? Jesus is the only good shepherd who is willing to lay down his life for you, while something may make has happy for an instant now, nothing can fulfill us like Jesus does when we accept him.

Get to know Jesus- He’s Waiting for You

A few weeks ago I was up in Kingscliff and I heard about a man called David North- some of you may know him and may have heard that he passed away a few years ago. He has an amazing testimony about the way that God worked in his life and in it he challenges people to spend 1 hr with Jesus everyday and then invites them to wait to see how it transforms their lives. I heard that when a few of their youth did it a few years ago that it completely changed them. When I came back down I couldn’t get it off of my mind and so I watched his testimony and felt in my heart like this is something I needed to do and so for the past two weeks I’ve been reading through Luke. Will you join me in spending time in God’s word with the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us? When we know our master, we do not stray away from him v. 5. It doesn’t have to be an hour, it Will you accept Jesus as your good shepherd and get to know him better today?