One flock and one Shepherd

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep 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 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." (John 10:9-16)

REFLECTION
Jesus uses different metaphors to describe himself as the Lord who watches over his own. The first figure of speech he uses is the one of the shepherd and the thief. The shepherd uses the official gate to bring his flock into safety. Thieves and robbers are making illegal openings in the walls of the sheepfold so that they can steal some sheep. They would not use the gate of the sheepfold, because during the night a guard was watching there to protect the sheep from different flocks. At the beginning of the new day, the shepherd would come to the sheepfold, knock on the door and the guard, recognizing the shepherd, would open the gate. Then the shepherd would call his sheep by name, and in response to their own shepherd’s voice, they would come out one by one, leaving the sheep from other flocks behind. In times of danger, a hired man would abandon his sheep in the open field to save his own life, but the good shepherd would lay down his own life in order to save the lives of the ones that rightfully belong to him.

PRAYER
Jesus, I recognize your voice and I know that you are not a thief or a hireling, but the rightful owner of your sheep. You are also the one and only official entrance to safety! Now we know that you cared so much about us that you literally laid down your life and took it up again victoriously. In doing so, you've rescued us forever! Yes, you are the Good Shepherd from Psalm 23 and you are the fulfillment of God’s promise in Ezekiel 34, “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.” You came to rescue your own and you also came to bring the sheep of another sheep pen into safety. I am looking forward to the day that we will truly be one flock with one Shepherd. In the meantime, dear Lord, please use me to gather some lost sheep for you, so that I can bring them into the safety of your loving care. Amen

He calls me by my name

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." John 10:1-5

REFLECTION
You can follow a stranger for a while without noticing that he is leading you astray. Listen to his voice. Do you hear words of truth, mercy, wisdom and forgiveness? No? You are not following the Good Shepherd. Do you see a shepherd who is going ahead of his flock, who is leading by example, who is protecting and guiding, who is making sure that his sheep are safe and sound? No? You are not following the Good Shepherd.
Just be quiet now. You must know that there are many misleading voices in this world. Recognize that one voice that sounds convincing, honest, firm and kind, strong and merciful. That’s my Shepherd. Don’t follow fakes.

PRAYER
Jesus, I can hear your voice in a stadium full of screaming people. Shepherd, I can feel your strong hands, your mighty arms carrying me through lonely moments when darkness is all around. Lord and Saviour, with you I have nothing to fear.
I recognize your voice, because this is not my first day in your herd. Your voice sounds familiar to me, your presence makes me feel secure. And it is not difficult to hear your voice, because you call me by my name and my heart surrenders to you and to you alone.
Please forgive me, Lord Jesus. I can be such a stupid sheep. I’ve been walking away from you, even when I heard your voice calling out my name. I am so thankful that you brought me back so that I can stay with you. Yes, you truly are my Good Shepherd and I love you deeply!

One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!

A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said. "We know this man is a sinner." He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?" John 9:24-27

REFLECTION
The man who had been blind from birth was brought to the Pharisees. Picture this: these strict religious leaders are looking straight into the eyes of a man who is finally able to see. This man must have been overjoyed and completely blown-away by all the bright colours, beautiful faces, blue skies, clouds, flowers, trees and animals that he can now see for the first time in his life with his very own eyes!
And now the Pharisees want to know who on earth put these little sparkling stars in his eyes and who is responsible for painting that annoying smile on his face without asking for their permission first.
The Pharisees want to make sure that nobody is fooling around with them and they even interrogate the blind man's parents to make sure that this man is really telling them the truth. And the truth is: this man is miraculously cured by Jesus!
The Pharisees' instruction to "Give glory to God" sounds great, but actually these words mean that the religious leaders still didn't accept the man's testimony. They asked for an answer that they wanted to hear, rather than accepting the truth about Jesus that they needed to hear.
I just love the man's reply, "Do you want to become his disciples, too?" Now the man is really pushing his luck! But he just doesn't care. Nobody is going to steal his joy - not even the Pharisees!

PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, you exposed the true characters of these religious leaders by curing this blind man on a Sabbath. I think the man didn't mind at all that you performed this great miracle on a day of rest. I believe his gratefulness and joy are hard to describe!
When I think about all the people that you rescued from darkness, loneliness and despair, I want to sing your praises every day of the week! I just can't understand how spiritually blind some people are. Don't they see the happiness, the freedom and the peace of mind that you have given so abundantly to your children? Don't they want to experience the same joy too? Don't they long to be pulled out of the darkness into your glorious light? Whatever some ignorant people say or think about you - I know you better. If they don't want to find out for themselves, if they prefer to stay blind, well - that's really sad and that's their loss. But even so, nobody is going to steal my joy!

Believing without seeing

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:1-7

REFLECTION
For the orthodox believers there were only two possible explanations for physical blindness: either the blind person or his/her parents had sinned. Jesus, the One who had just proclaimed I am the light of the world, passes by. Jesus came from the temple where he had left the Pharisees behind – the spiritual leaders who were too blind to see where Jesus was coming from.
Jesus has another explanation for the blindness of the man - an explanation that is not to be found in the past, but in the present. “This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
Jesus talks about day and night, says that he is the light of the world and does a miraculous healing with a strange mixture of saliva and earth from the ground. The man was not able to see what the Master was doing, but I wonder how many of us would accept such a treatment and how many of us would obey Jesus’ command to walk to the Pool of Siloam, take a bath and… find out that Jesus really is the light of the world!

PRAYER
Dear Jesus, I can’t help myself – I just have to say that you are a strange doctor! Spitting on the ground and putting mud in a blind man’s eyes doesn’t sound like professional medical treatment to me! But this man couldn’t be helped by a normal doctor – he needed a supernatural healing.
Lord, why didn’t you heal this man on the spot? Why did you tell him to walk to Siloam and wash himself? I believe this part of the story is not about the physical treatment, but about spiritual obedience. Just like Naaman the Syrian*, this man has to actively participate in his own healing. Naaman protested at first and relented later, but this man just did what you told him to do. What a bright shining example this man is for us, your disciples living in today’s dark world!
Lord, if we are suffering like this blind man, let it be for the glory of God. If no human doctor is able to cure our disease, we trust that you will heal us one day – even if we can’t see you right now. But more important than our physical condition, is our spiritual state. This wonderful man actively participated in his own healing by doing the strange things you told him to do. He didn’t ask how or why, but just took your word for it. I believe that the greatest miracle took place in his heart and mind that day! And you really showed that you were the one sent by God to heal us from blindness and deliver us from spiritual darkness. Thank you, Messiah Jesus!

* 2 Kings 5