The Love Principle - Study 30: Love as Sacrifice
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John 10:10 NIV
[10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.10.NIV)
I’ve come across thieves on multiple occasions. I disturbed an attempted burglary. An acquaintance once got high as a kite on various illegal substances and tried to steal a bus (needless to say he was caught pretty easily). We lived in a neighbourhood where people lived on state benefits and obtained an extra income by stealing and fencing stolen goods. We even had the entire engine block and all four wheels stolen from our family car.
Let me tell you something that you learn very quickly: honour among thieves is a myth. They are some of the most disreputable, dishonest people you will ever meet. If they steal from someone else to get by, sooner or later they will steal from you.
Simply put, a thief cannot be trusted.
These verses – indeed, the entire section down to verse 21 – are among the most famous verses of the Bible.
But have you ever thought about what they really mean?
What you have here, in effect, is the contrast between two polar opposite lifestyles. There is no sliding scale. There is no spectrum. These lifestyles and mentalities are binary opposites.
On one side, you have people who are utterly selfish, caring only about their own wants and needs and stepping on whoever it takes to get what they want.
This is the way of hatred.
On the other side, you have Someone who gave it all – everything He had – to save others.
This is the way of love.
Between it, you have the hapless and the hopeless, not quite knowing who to trust or where to go, needing to decide how to live their lives.
These verses are beautiful. No doubt at all about that. But they are also a serious challenge. They make us realise how we are living now and how we ought to live if we truly want to be Christians.
Don’t expect to emerge from this study without an examination of who you are and how you think.
I know I don’t.
To properly understand Jesus’ teaching, we must examine the main players. We must get to know the main characters and symbols to make the whole thing come together. So let’s start, then, by examining The Loved.
The Loved
John 10:3-5, 15-16 NIV
[3] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. [5] But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
[15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.3-16.NIV)
The UK has a long history of making TV shows that are imported across the globe. One perhaps unexpected import is a clay-mation sheep called Shawn who doesn’t speak a word, but whose world-weary scheming against his farmer and sheepdog, with his feckless flock in tow, has become a massive hit.
In reality, though, sheep aren’t that clever.
Apart from their herd mentality, they are just not streetwise. More often than not, they get themselves into scrapes from which they are unable to get out. They stumble into danger without realising it. They are hopelessly naive. They need constant care and attention. Even if they fall on their backs, they are completely unable to right themselves. In fact, this situation is dangerous, since they are ruminants who consume vegetation that produces gas while being digested. If they are not upright, their stomachs produce a gas that becomes trapped and can cause their stomachs to rupture.
That would be a pretty nasty way to go.
So they aren’t clever, are hopelessly naive, constantly in trouble and very vulnerable.
Now read John 10:1-21 again.
Do you realise who Jesus is comparing to a sheep?
His followers.
Us.
Now, I have been compared to an animal before. As a hairy Scotsman (who is now lacking hair where it ought to be), one of my Filipino nieces once dubbed me ‘Uncle Monkey’. Comparing people to animals in some cultures is often an insult, and, in English anyway, possibly misogynistic.
But here is Jesus, comparing us to sheep.
That doesn’t sound very loving.
Or is it?
The first recorded use of this idea comes in the beautiful, and long revered, Psalm 23:
Psalms 23:1 NIV
[1] The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.23.1.NIV)
David, who himself had been a shepherd since he was a young boy, used this image to compare God’s care for him to the care he had for his sheep. In the process, he was admitting that, compared to Almighty God, he was naive and apt to get into trouble and vulnerable and not all that clever.
I don’t think there are many who would disagree.
And to be absolutely straight with you, if we examine how people follow leaders without question, whether they are political, religious or business leaders, even just influencers, the picture is very clear.
But this naivety and vulnerability leaves us open to exploitation, as the astonishingly accurate Ezekiel 34 points out.
That chapter comprises of a series of serious accusations against the leaders of Israel, and against those who were strong. It’s essential reading if you are to properly understand what Jesus is doing in John 10.
But before we move on, we must first comprehend that Jesus likened us to sheep and He was absolutely not wrong. Not one bit.
But, as Psalm 23 illustrates so well, God loves His flock:
Psalms 95:6-7 NIV
[6] Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; [7] for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.95.6-7.NIV)
Psalms 100:3 NIV
[3] Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.100.3.NIV)
So yes, this is a picture that rubs right against our ego. But maybe our ego needs to be irritated. Because actually, it’s also a picture of God’s individual, attentive, loving care for us all. As Psalm 23 confirms:
Psalms 23:2-5 NIV
[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, [3] he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. [4] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.23.2-5.NIV)
And Jesus echoes:
John 10:3-4 NIV
[3] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.3-4.NIV)
It is a beautiful, restful, mindful picture, and one that we readily accept, once we have also accepted the reality that we are His sheep.
That moves us on to the next main characters in this wonderful narrative. After the Loved, we also see The Un-Loving.
The Un-Loving
John 10:1, 7-10, 12-13 NIV
[1] “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
[7] Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. [8] All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. [9] I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
[12] The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. [13] The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.1-13.NIV)
During the Covid pandemic, when everyone was stressed about the impact it would have on their jobs and their livelihood, one ‘Christian’ leader astounded me with his audaciousness. He appeared on TV and made an appeal for his followers to donate money so he could purchase his own private plane.
The reason?
He felt it was ‘no longer safe’ for him to fly commercial jets.
I was stunned. Thankfully so were many others. He was verbally torn apart in secular media for it, and, for once, I agreed with them.
We are used to rapacious selfishness in business and politics.
That doesn’t make it right. Of course not. It’s always wrong – particularly when it’s with tax-payers’ hard-earned money. Corruption is always inacceptable, but in the public sphere it’s completely unacceptable.
When any religion at all, and especially Christianity, is used as a thin veneer to conceal or justify acts of rapacious selfishness and corruption, then it’s completely beyond the pale.
To understand these verses properly, we must fully understand their context.
In John 9, Jesus healed a blind man (John 9:1-12). The Pharisees investigated it, with the expressed intention of debunking it and destroying Jesus’ reputation, because He had done something they could not, which results in the blind man being thrown out of the Sanhedrin because he firmly disagreed with them (John 9:13-31). Jesus then has a dialogue with the Pharisees where they realise He is accusing them of bring spiritually blind (John 9:32-41).
So although it does not confirm it in the original Greek, this passage is actually part of Jesus’ dialogue with the Pharisees.
In this teaching, Jesus used four specific images.
He used the image of a shepherd. The shepherd owns the sheep. They are his. He takes good care of them because they are his assets, his livelihood, almost his pets. He takes care of them and, in a way, they take care of him.
He also used the image of a gate. Just to confuse matters, Jesus may not have been talking about a literal physical gate. Shepherds often took their sheep high into the mountains to graze. In remote areas, they built stone sheep pens where sheep could remain for the night. They had no gates. The shepherd would lie down in the entry way to prevent his sheep from getting out, and predators or thieves from getting in.
It was, of course, a risky place to be. Yet the shepherds routinely did it, laying down their lives for the sheep.
He talked about thieves or robbers. The modern term we would use for these people is sheep-rustlers or bandits. The very same word is used to describe the robbers who robbed the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30) and the two men who were crucified either side of Jesus (Matthew 27:38 and 44; Mark 15:27).
These would be utterly immoral men, devoid of any scruples, who would take advantage of the loneliness, isolation and vulnerability of a mountain shepherd and steal from his flock for their own gain.
Jesus also talked about hired hands. Villagers who only had a few sheep and were either not expert shepherds or needed to earn a living another way would hire someone to take care of all their sheep together in one flock. While this approach would help them to earn a livelihood, there was an inherent risk. The hired hand did not own the sheep. He was a salary man, working for his pay. Shepherding was a risky job. Both wild animals and robbers could attack the flock. Not to mention the suffocating heat of the desert day and the chill of the desert night. These men were early businessmen. It was always about risk and reward. There was no emotion involved. If the risk was not worth the reward, they were gone. The flock was simply not their priority.
Four pictures: two positive, two negative.
Look at them closer. The first two – the shepherd and the gate – imply a risk that is assumed because it is worth it. These are pictures of people who love their flock and are willing to sacrifice themselves for it.
Now look at the latter two: the thieves and the hired hand. The flock is not their priority. They care little about what happens to it. Their purpose is reward. And immediate at that. They are not driven by care for the flock. They are exploiters. The flock is an asset they want to exploit for money.
They have no love for the flock. Their love is what they will gain from the flock.
Do you see the fundamental difference?
On one side, we see love and care; on the other side, hatred and contempt.
Now compare this to what Jesus said in John 10:10:
John 10:10 NIV
[10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.10.NIV)
Jesus in essence was accusing those in a position of leadership of exploiting the people for personal gain. This is something Ezekiel did too:
Ezekiel 34:1-3 NIV
[1] The word of the Lord came to me: [2] “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? [3] You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/ezk.34.1-3.NIV)
And also Zechariah:
Zechariah 11:15-17 NIV
[15] Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. [16] For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves. [17] “Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/zec.11.15-17.NIV)
So Jesus was talking here not about the devil, but about leaders who lead to line their own pockets and feather their own nest: who lead not because they care about their followers, but because they care only about themselves.
The world is full of people like that.
And so, sometimes, is the church.
Think about it.
When we lay plans to set up some ministry or event, do we not hear things like ‘Get this person, because they’re good at...’ or ‘Get that person, because they have a...’
How many of these people to we genuinely care about? How many of these people are we in contact with at all outside of our little pet project?
Relationships like that are transactional. They are exploitative. We want these people when we need them to help us; when we don’t, we kick them to the kerb.
That is not love. It is the opposite of love.
It is contempt.
It has no place in the church.
There is very little difference at all in attitude between someone who does this and a thief, a robber or a hired hand. They are simply out to help themselves. When we think like that, so are we.
Suddenly these verses take on an entirely different completion and challenge every relationship we have with everyone else. We cannot be a thief. We cannot be a robber. We cannot be a hired hand.
We must love. Otherwise, we cannot dare call ourselves a Christian.
So we have seen, then, that the people who are lived by God are simple, gentle and perhaps sometimes a little naive. In this passage Jesus is condemning those who do not love and seek to use others for their own ends.
We now move on to see how Jesus represents Himself in this passage: not just as a door or a shepherd, but as someone who loves: A Lover.
A Lover
John 10:1-18 NIV
[1] “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. [2] The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. [5] But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” [6] Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. [7] Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. [8] All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. [9] I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. [11] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. [13] The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. [14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. [17] The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.1-18.NIV)
Our news headlines are filled with people who do things for themselves and care little, if at all, about the consequences their actions have for other people. From littering to graffiti to waging war, we see all around us the utter folly of a self-centred life full of hatred and contempt for others.
But I wonder: have we ever thought about how we live?
The point of this passage is not to spin a nice tale for us to tell our children. These illustrations were designed to show the sharp and unmistakable contrast between Jesus and the rapacious religious leaders of His day, and sometimes, if we are to be brutally honest, of our day too.
We have seen in detail the pictures He used to describe them. It was far from pretty.
Now we'll look at the pictures He used to describe Himself.
The first of these is, of course, the gate. Not a literal gate, but a shepherd who lay down in the opening of the pen to prevent the sheep getting out and predators getting in.
Look again at that picture. A robber would go into the pen and take a sheep out. He would care not one jot for the sheep. His only interest would be in what he would gain from that sheep.
But the shepherd in the opening was completely different. He cared for the sheep and so would put himself in harm’s way to save them. He would stand between the threat and the threatened.
Now look at the second picture: that of the shepherd.
This was a very profound picture.
The shepherd here leads His flock out of the pen to good pasture and brings then back again – an echo of Psalm 23. And it’s beautiful.
But there’s more to it than that. Look at this prophecy:
Ezekiel 34:7-16 NIV
[7] “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: [8] As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, [9] therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: [10] This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. [11] “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. [12] As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. [13] I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. [14] I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. [15] I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. [16] I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/ezk.34.7-16.NIV)
Jesus said these words:
John 10:8 NIV
[8] All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.8.NIV)
Jesus was equating the leaders who had misled the people of Israel before Him to the bad shepherds in Ezekiel 34. He was also saying that He would be the Good Shepherd talked about in Ezekiel 34. He was using a Scripture code to refer to Himself as the fulfilment of this prophecy, and therefore God.
These verses speak profoundly to all of us who are sick to the back teeth of all these noisy, threatening, self-centred leaders who are so very clearly in it for only themselves and no-one else. The answer to these foolish men is not the criminal justice system or the constitution or the law or democracy. We ought to know by now that getting rid of poor leaders is like playing ‘Whack-A-Mole’: you clobber one on the head; another pops right up.
No. The solution is Jesus. Jesus and only Jesus.
The solution is to not let this ‘parcel o’ rogues’, to quote the Scottish poet Rabbie Burns, to rule your heart and steal your soul and dominate your every waking thought. Don’t let these scoundrels take any more from you than they already have.
Instead, follow Jesus. Trust in Him. Pray. Live a life of love. Trust all your burdens to Him. Obtain His peace. Then vote with your heart and your mind and your soul.
But there’s still more:
John 10:11, 14-15, 17-18 NIV
[11] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
[17] The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.11-18.NIV)
This Good Shepherd wasn’t just willing to give His life for His flock, He actually did it. He sacrificed His life so that His flock could live their life to the full.
And then He rose from the dead.
That is the contrast Jesus was making here. The bad shepherds, the thieves, robbers, bandits, hired hands – call them what you will – they exposed a sheep to danger and would be willing for it to lose its life so that they would profit.
But Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gave His life so that His sheep would profit.
Be honest: who would you rather follow?
We have seen the loved, love-less and lover. We have seen the sharp contrast of what this really means. Now let’s look at The Reaction to it.
The Reaction
John 10:19-21 NIV
[19] The Jews who heard these words were again divided. [20] Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” [21] But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.19-21.NIV)
These days we live in a polarised society, driven by meme culture and social media, where nuance and subtlety have left the group chat and yelling cheap slogans is the norm. Our culture is not dominated by reason, it is dominated by noise and bombast.
And then we moan about the people we have in charge.
Well, our cultures created them and we voted for them.
Votes nowadays are not normally won by those who unite, but those who divide.
Here’s something striking: Jesus unites, but He also divides:
Matthew 10:34 NIV
[34] “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.10.34.NIV)
He had just carried out an incredible miracle, healing the eyes of a man who had never seen. This ought to have been a cause for great joy. And for many it was.
But for the Pharisees, Sadducees and the teachers of the law in the Sanhedrin, it wasn’t. It had to be cynically investigated to the nth degree to try and find some way to prove that it was somehow not genuine. And when the key eyewitness – the man who had been blind – questioned their approach (and it was questionable), they threw him out, as if his blindness was his own fault.
So you had a supercharged atmosphere where the Jewish leaders were trying their very best to destroy Jesus.
And then He let loose with this beautiful coded message that accused them of being thieves, robbers and hired hands, not seeking the good of the flock under their care and only in it for themselves.
You can already see why this was a polarising message.
Worse, Jesus told them He would lay down His life and then pick it right up again.
Even His disciples would have been mystified by this.
Here was Jesus, who had healed a man and was so obviously a force for good, yet He was criticising the religious and national leaders of His day, taking up a Messianic role by claiming to be the Good Shepherd sent from God to lead His people, yet at the sane talking about dying...?
That was all very confusing.
And then hinting about rising from the dead, which was something that the religious establishment was divided about and the ruling Sadducees did not believe in.
Jesus’ teaching here confounded all of their expectations.
Yet at the very heart of it was Someone who loved, who cared, who healed.
That was something in which they could believe.
Our society is deeply polarised too. Often the divisions are meaningless and pointless: like two drunks arguing over an extinguished cigarette. Those are the kind of debates in which we Christians should never get involved.
It’s therefore confounding when we see that Jesus’ teaching favours neither side. Jesus does not exist to bolster or support our opinions or to serve our purposes.
Jesus is love. That is why He exists.
If that was why existed too, maybe our life would make a lot more sense.
Conclusion
John 10:10 NIV
[10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.10.10.NIV)
One of the most heinous crimes anyone can commit nowadays is identity theft, where a criminal pretends to be someone else and uses this fraud to steal money or to commit crime. There are fewer things that feel more violating than for someone to steal the very essence of who we are and use it to do things we would never do, and worse if there crimes are committed against us.
All of us want our governments to be, as one British government promised, ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’. Although, that slogan was hard to fit on a baseball cap...
But what if we are the criminals?
In this passage, Jesus was highlighting the rapacious self-interest of the religious leaders of His day. This famous verse, contrary to what I believed for decades, is not about the devil. Instead, it is a contrast between those who do not love and those who do love.
Those who do not love are thieves who steal, kill and destroy. That should come as no surprise to us. Look what Jesus said about the Pharisees:
John 8:44 NIV
[44] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.8.44.NIV)
They were happy to kill Jesus because it suited their purposes (John 11:49-53).
And that precisely is the point. They viewed Jesus not only as not the Messiah, but barely even human: an expendable means to an end whose life they could take without any qualm.
He, for them, was disposable.
But Jesus did not view them, or His followers, like that.
He views His followers, whom He loves, as being like sheep – an analogy which, we have to admit, is all too accurate.
Isaiah 53:6 NIV
[6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.53.6.NIV)
Jesus also talked about the loveless and ruthless way in which people like the religious leaders of His day seek to exploit others. Within His teaching was a massive rebuke for those who seek to avail themselves of other people’s talent and time and resources, but do not love them enough to care about them.
We saw how much Jesus loves us, that He was prepared to put Himself directly in harm’s way for us and sacrifice Himself for us.
And we saw the confused and bemused reaction to His teaching.
If you are heart sick of the exploiters and the abusers, of those who take decisions without a thought of what it means for other people, of those who happily march on towards power and wealth and leave a wreckage in their wake, then I am one hundred percent with you.
The untold damage they have caused is all too real.
These verses present Jesus as being fundamentally different to this – more fundamentally different than any other human on the planet, because He sacrificed Himself to save you.
If you are done with being a meaningless pawn in someone else’s game, then flip the board and come to Jesus. Only with Him will you discover what real love is all about.
But if you call yourself a Christian, pay special attention: you should seek to be like Christ.
Which means that you must live like Him and love like Him.
No matter the cost.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I am both sick of being manipulated and exploited, and also sick of being the manipulator and exploiter. I am done with living a life devoid of love. From now on, I will follow You. Show me how. Amen.
Questions for Contemplation
What was Jesus doing in these verses and how did He do it? Why is that relevant nowadays?
How is the shepherd different from the thief and the hired hand? What is Jesus saying through this?
What will you change to live your life more like the Good Shepherd?
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