7 sayings !
There are 7 wonderful sayings of Jesus in John’s Gospel, known as the
I am sayings……..
There are seven of them, the
first is I am the Bread of Life, the last is I am the
true Vine
In each of these sayings Jesus speaks to His hearers using
something very familiar to them……..bread, sheep farming, vine cultivation…..
but then leads us to the very deepest things.
For each of these sayings reveals something to us
of who Jesus is, His relationship to us, our relationship to Him.
The seven sayings unfold within the gospel of John
in gathering, deepening intensity from the first to the last
Today we think on two of them, from John 10:
I am the gate 10.7
&
I am the Good Shepherd 10.11.
Here, Jesus speaks to His hearers by using
something very familiar to them……..
a sheep farm in the hill pastures.
These sheep farms can still be seen in places in the
Here is a description of such a sheep farm situated in the rolling
hills:
There is a
small house, a home for the shepherd and his family,
with a store
house a few yards away.
Between the
house and the store is a courtyard.
A wooden
fence made of sticks tied together
runs round the
courtyard, enclosing the house and store.
In this
wooden fence there is a gate, and towards evening, the shepherd goes out to
call in the sheep from the grazing round about.
Whn he goes
out and calls, the sheep know his voice and will follow him back down to the
farm:
He opens the
gate and the flock goes into the courtyard
the gate is
closed.
The sheep
are now all safely gathered, safely, in the courtyard,
round the
shepherd’s home.
A man,
either very old, or a very young boy from the village, will be there to keep an
eye on the sheep through the night, though it’s not a very highly paid job.
It’s a farm
like this Jesus is describing in John 10.
However,
Jesus then goes on to say:
I am telling you the truth,
I am the gate for the sheep……
What does he mean by this ?
Picture, for a moment, that fence round the little courtyard, it has a gate in it:
here is where the sheep go out in the morning, and come in in the evening:
When the Lord says I am the gate for the sheep,
The meaning is quite clear - Just as the sheep go through the gate into the courtyard, to safety……..
through Jesus Christ, we too go in to something, enter into something.
What ? We enter something – what ?
Through Jesus Christ, we enter into the presence of God………..
Don’t people say – oh there are lots of ways to God ?
There are many different ways……..
Could we not just have entered in ourselves ?
come to God ourselves ?
found a way in, a hole in the fence ?
Jesus says – I tell you the truth, the man who does not
enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a
robber
There is a gate, a proper gate, a proper way in….
through
Jesus Christ, who says I am the gate !
we enter into the presence of God………..
You see, we cannot simply enter into God’s Holy presence, enter into the presence of the Holy God.
We are sinful men and women……….
and our original relationship with God has been broken…..
But - Jesus Christ, is the gate, through whom we come into God’s presence
because He has dealt with our sin…………..
How did He do that ?
He took our old life, our old human nature, our old self, with all its sinfulness to the Cross,
and, in the power of God, He was raised from the dead.
He shares His risen life with us, and as one with Him we
share His death and His life.
As we do so, a dying to our old selves unfolds in us, and a new living to God…..
we step out of the burden of guilt and sin
into life in Christ… a new creation begins in us……..
I am the gate……….Jesus says !
Jesus then says
I am the good Shepherd…………….
Picture that sheep farm once again………..
In the
evening, the shepherd goes out and calls in the sheep from the pastures round about,
before sunset, and they are brought back through the gate into the courtyard
with the fence round it……..
the sheep will
all be gathered then, safely, within the fence round the shepherd’s house.
This is what
Jesus says of Himself………
I am the good Shepherd……………
Now, in the prophecy of Ezekiel, there is a steady, unflinching
condemnation of shepherds who failed, who were not good,
A condemnation of the leaders
of
To the leaders of Israel Ezekiel says:
You take care of yourselves, …. but never tend
the sheep,
you have not taken care of the weak ones, healed those that are sick,
bandaged those that are hurt,
brought back those that wandered……
My sheep wandered over the high hills and mountains.
They were scattered over the face of the earth,
and no one looked for them or tried to find them……….
You take care of yourselves, says Ezekiel…. but never tend the sheep,
But, Ezekiel goes on, here is what the Lord says:
“I myself will
search for my sheep and look after them. I will rescue them from
all the places they were scattered. I will bring them out from the nations,
pasture them on the mountains of Israel, give them good grazing land, feed them
in rich pasture, search for the least and bring back the strays, bind up the
injured, strengthen the weak.”
You see, this is what the shepherd does…..
the Good Shepherd !
He searches for the sheep and looks after them….. rescues
them from all the places they were scattered.
brings them out pastures them on
the mountains gives them good grazing
land, feeds them in rich pasture, searches for the least and brings back the
strays, binds up the injured, strengthens the weak
And Jesus says: I am the Good Shepherd………….
You know, I often think of the difficulties and challenges, and there are many………
in reaching out to the people round us today – the Presbytery has invited us to keep focussed on this………..reaching out to the people round us.
For you know…… the sheep Ezekiel spoke of are still
there……….
the weak ones, those that are sick,
those that are hurt,
those that are wandered……
over the high hills and mountains.
scattered
over the face of the earth.
So, are these not haunting, haunting words of Ezekiel………?
“ no one looked for them or tried to find them……….”
It may very well be that you are one of them………
one of those that Ezekiel spoke of……….
one of the weak ones, those that are sick,
those that are hurt,
one of those that are wandered……
over the high hills and mountains.
scattered
over the face of the earth,
It may very well be that you are one of them………
Well, hear this - Jesus says: I am the Good Shepherd…………..
And as the Good Shepherd, He has come seeking us who are far from the Father’s house, far from His presence - separated by our sinfulness. The God of grace and love, the Father, has come seeking us in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Good Shepherd has taken upon Himself our human frame and our human life.
And as the Good Shepherd He lays down His life for the sheep………
at the Cross, where He gave Himself for us,
taking our death upon Himself, taking our old self to the Cross.
As the Good Shepherd He has taken us out from under the law, guilt and sin and death,
to the green pastures and the living waters of grace and life.
As the Good Shepherd, He has come to those who
were
wandered……
over the high hills and mountains,
scattered
over the face of the earth,
and Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has brought us back to the Father
He has brought us back home !
AMEN.