Week beginning 2nd January

 

Song: Lead us heavenly Father lead us,

Lead us heavenly Father (hymn with lyrics) - YouTube

Reading: Book of Ezekiel, chapter 34, verses 1 to 6, and 15 to 20.

Song: The king of love my shepherd is,

♫ Hymn | The King of love my Shepherd is | with LYRICS - YouTube

Reading: John’s gospel, chapter 10, verses 11 to 16.

Song: Thou didst leave Thy throne,

Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne - Christmas Hymn by Gethsemane Church Choir - YouTube

Jesus makes the point that there are good and bad shepherds. Those who look after the flock because the sheep are theirs and those who are only in it for the money. The old testament is full of references to shepherds,; in fact it is the commonest occupation referred to; notably, David, Moses, Isaac and Abel were shepherds. In a society such as that of Israel, shepherds were a necessity, supplying sheep and their products for food and religious purposes.

The prophetic use of the image of shepherds would have been well known to the people, and the image of God taking over from the leaders as their shepherd was used in Ezekiel.

When Jesus said “I am the good shepherd” he was being inflammatory, as he was claiming to be God. Jesus would have known the references from Ezekiel.

John includes this reference to good and bad shepherd to ensure that the readers know whop Jesus is. He is at great pains to point out that Jesus is “The word made flesh”.

In Ezekiel, there is the reference to “You have not”, when addressing those who claimed to be the shepherds of Israel. Ezekiel foretells that God will replace the hirelings with the Good Shepherd. In verse 17, there is a reference which is taken up later by Matthew, that of the sheep and the goats. Jesus is given the power to judge the leaders, who have fallen down in their duty.

In the modern world, we are the priestly link. The link between the sacred and the secular. We have a responsibility to be the link for both those whom we know, and those whom we do not know.

For those whom we do not know, our responsibility is to portray the approachability and the character of the church and not put obstacles in peoples’ way. For those whom we do know, we are to offer the salvation offered by Christ.

We are all called on to be active in this. It is the deepest non-physical love that we can show to someone, to lead them to better pasture.

This spirit was revealed to the shepherds in the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s gospel. They were the first missionaries, as they went and told others what had happened. We have no record of what happened subsequently.

Once Christmas is over, are our opportunities over?

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.

Howard Thurman

Song: Stand up! Stand up for Jesus

Stand up, Stand up for Jesus - YouTube