Lenten Devotional - Day 21
Daily Devotional
John 10:11-21, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep.
"am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold.
I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
Pastor Vicki Harrison
Reflection: What image comes to mind when you think of a sheep? Maybe you imagine a cute, cuddly, fluffy animal roaming around eating green grass. Maybe you think about nursery rhymes, like Mary Had a Little Lamb, which makes sheep sound more like dogs, kind of like fluffy Golden Retrievers.
But real-life sheep aren't as cute. In reality, we are very disconnected from sheep and shepherding living in Brandon, Florida, in 2023. Sheep are dirty animals. I remember the last time we went to Colonial Williamsburg and the ladies there said their least favorite job was shearing the sheep because they are so filthy. Sheep tend to also be unintelligent animals and won't survive if they don't have someone to guide them, to protect them, to make sure they don't walk off a cliff or away from the group. In fact, a sheep who wanders away from the group will starve to death because it will not go where the food is. It can hurt itself by rubbing itself to death on a tree or falling down and breaking a leg. Sheep need constant care and attention; a sheep that skips out on this kind of care will in fact die.
Hence, the need for a shepherd. Keep in mind, the people that Jesus is speaking to would have understood this. Sheep were plentiful in Palestine in the first century. The people would have known about shepherds.
They would have known that shepherding was dangerous, tedious, and hard work. There was nothing cute and cuddly about the sheep the shepherds took care of and really, there was nothing cute and cuddly about the shepherds either. These would have been the kind of guys that were considered a little rough around the edges. They were low, low, low on the totem pole - a necessary job but certainly not one held in high esteem.
But what does Jesus say? He says, "I AM the Good Shepherd." This is one of those statements I love because it is another time that Jesus is turning convention on its head. The religious elite would never have compared themselves to a lowly shepherd. But Jesus is saying, "I AM the Good Shepherd." Just like the story of the Good Samaritan when Jesus makes the hated Samaritan the hero of the story, here Jesus is bringing attention to a shepherd of all people. In fact, he says, "I AM the Good Shepherd." I love this because it shows that God's Kingdom comes in surprising ways through surprising people and tends to turn our prejudices upside down.
But Jesus is saying not only am I a shepherd, but I am a good shepherd. I am good at what I do. I'm not like the hired hands, the ones who are only watching the sheep because they couldn't get a job doing anything else. You see, the hired hand is not going to risk his life to care for his sheep. He knows it's dangerous work and he knows the sheep are stupid and sometimes he is going to have to get into messy and difficult situations to save them, but in no way is he going to risk his own life to save the sheep.
But Jesus, you see Jesus is different. He is willing to give up his own life for the sheep. He is the good and perfect shepherd. He loves his sheep. He is the one who cares for them, feeds them, protects them, promises to never leave them, and who will go to any length to save them. Jesus is our good shepherd. The truth is that we are very similar to sheep - we wander, we make bad choices, we need care, and we don't even realize it! But Jesus loves us anyway. Jesus loves YOU and he gave his life up for you. No matter what you've done, no matter how far you have wandered, the good shepherd is willing to search you out, to find you, clean you up, and tell you how much you are loved!
Luke 15:3-7, Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.