Day 35 - John 10-11

What a wonderful Shepherd we have! Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He calls His sheep by name and leads them (10:3). He knows His sheep (10:14). But most importantly He lays down His life for the sheep (10:11,15,17,18). It was this laying down of His life that secured the abundant life that He gives to His sheep (10:10). In the midst of all this there is another favorite verse of mine - vs16. The "other" sheep that Jesus has that are not of this fold are the Gentiles - that's me! I love how He says, "I must bring them also."

The words of Jesus in 10:27-30 have been the ground of assurance for many. It is clear that once you become a sheep, you remain a sheep. No one can remove you from this safe haven in the hands of Christ and the Father. While these words are comforting, they have also proved to be quite controversial, both in Jesus' day and until the present day. For in these verses, Jesus claims to be "one" with the Father. As much as some would like for us to think that this "oneness" was merely a oneness in purpose and not a oneness in nature, the people who actually heard Jesus' words were not confused about what Jesus was claiming. They picked up stones to stone Him because He had claimed to be God (10:33)! The fact of the matter is that Jesus didn't just claim to be God, He was God, or rather, He IS God! While some would charge me with denying monotheism (the belief that there is only one God), I do believe that there is only one God. I just believe that this one God exists in three persons--Father, Son and Spirit. Whether or not that makes sense, it is clearly what the Bible teaches, and therefore, I will believe it even though it may go beyond the finite limits of human reason!

In the next chapter, we see the divine power of Jesus demonstrated in raising Lazarus from the dead. Just like the last "sign" in chapter 9, Jesus allowed Lazarus to die so that the glory of God could be seen in his subsequent resurrection (vs4). In the midst of being "confronted" by Martha, Jesus gives one of His great "I am" statements. Here He says, "I am the resurrection and the life" (11:25). He has the power of resurrection because He has life within Himself (cf. 5:26). And once again, we see the importance of believing in Him. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to be able to die, and yet still live (11:26).