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Jesus Is the Good Shepherd
7Jesus said:
I tell you for certain that I am the gate for the sheep. 8Everyone who came before me was a thief or a robber, and the sheep did not listen to any of them. 9I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture.
10A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so everyone would have life, and have it fully. 11 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep. 12Hired workers are not like the shepherd. They don't own the sheep, and when they see a wolf coming, they run off and leave the sheep. Then the wolf attacks and scatters the flock. 13Hired workers run away because they don't care about the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. 15 Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must also bring them together, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.
17The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so I may receive it back again. 18No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.
Reflect
Time and time again throughout Jesus’ teachings, he chooses to speak a bit cryptically—he even tells his disciples as much in Matthew 13 – but here, he states his mission plain and clear:
“I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” (v. 10b)
It would be ironic if it weren’t so logical: in order to give us life, he had to give up his own. I mean, the old saying, ‘a life for a life’ has been around forever for a reason. And yet, he didn’t just give up his life because he had to. No, he specifically takes the time to set the record straight in verse 18:
“No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly!”
And this, in the light of Good Friday, is where I completely fall apart. Only 9 chapters later, we read:
“Pilate gave orders for Jesus to be beaten with a whip. The soldiers made a crown out of thorn branches and put it on Jesus… They also hit him with their fists” (John 19:1-3).
He continued to experience so much torment and torture that he needed someone else to carry his cross, as he’d become too weak. And then, of course, came the worst part of all: an excruciating death on a cross. The word ‘excruciating’ itself originates from the word crucifixion, as it made its victims suffer a most agonizing death.
Why did Jesus do this – and willingly, too? Well, as he states in John 15:13, “The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them.”
He did it because he loves you. He did it because he wants you to have life, and have it in its fullest. On this Good Friday, find comfort in this truth: you are loved.
Respond
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming willingly in order to give us life. Thank you for your immeasurable love for us. May your love overflow into our lives, especially reaching those who don’t know you yet, so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. Amen.
Larissa Benfey
Larissa is a Toronto based actor and writer who has dabbled in everything from scripts to short stories, and is now setting her sights on novels. Having studied English and history at Tyndale University and Seminary, she loves a good story, but her favorite stories always have happy endings - which is part of why she loves the true story of the Gospel so much.