First Responders
The belief that Jesus is the Lord of all comes from John's Gospel.
So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own 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 do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. - John 10:7-17
There is a lot going on in this passage.
Jesus says that there are hired hands who may seen to be responsible for the sheep, but they do nothing to protect them from evil and death. Who are these hired hands?
We know Jesus wasn't exactly enamored by the leaders and teachers of his time, but what about our time? Are we who are charged with watching over the flock acting as shepherds or hired hands?
Who are the people who would lay down their lives for others they don't know? The people in law enforcement, the military, first responders?
Maybe Jesus is trying to tell us that we in ministry need to be first responders to the lost and searching. Maybe we should see ourselves as all in, committed to being like Jesus, willing to do everything for the flock.
The day will come when we all have to answer to Him for how we spent our lives. How will He see us, compared to how we see ourselves?
I have no doubt that those who gave their lives for others will enter the gates of Heaven first. Then the rest of us will look back at our lives and see all the opportunities we had to go out of our way but didn't.
More to come...