Soul Saver
A persistent theme in John's Gospel is that Jesus is fully committed to saving souls.
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 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. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” - John 10:1-18
Jesus describes himself as a shepherd, one who is willing to lay down his life for his sheep. That is total commitment.
Now Jesus is not asking us to have that much commitment. He says all we need to do is listen to his voice and come. He will protect us from the thief who comes to kill and destroy.
It is easier to be a sheep than a shepherd.
He talks about the hired hands who are not the shepherd. Who are these people? Why do they not have the same commitment?
I think he is attacking the leaders of the faith at the time. They had abandoned those in need, leaving them to be taken advantage of.
The question, then, is how committed are we to our faith? Will we only follow one voice, or allow ourselves to be led astray?
That is the only thing we are asked to do, to be faithful. Compared to putting one's life on the line, that should be easy.
More to come...