The Good Shepherd

We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; Isaiah 53:6.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads us to Life. 

Question: Who do you think Jesus is? Was he a real person? Was he a good teacher? Or was he more than that? 

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11.

“Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.” John 10:1

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10

What the Good Shepherd does.

He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Psalm 23:3.

The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:3–4. 

The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. Psalm 23:1–2

 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.,  Psalm 23:5–6.

Question: What does God’s protection look like to you?

Do you think God keeps us safe from everything? Or is there something more important when it comes to being “protected?”  

How to Respond

I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10

An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. They will not harm or destroy each other on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water. Isaiah 11:8–9.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads us to Life. 

Reflection