Know This! - John 17:1-11 - Seventh Week after Easter

 

John 17:1-11 NIV

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. ⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

⁶ “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Know This!

Gather to pray together. Disciples have a calling and a mission to carry out as we are anointed by God to proclaim the Gospel of God’s salvation to all the world. So, as we are called, we gather, and we appoint one another to fulfill God’s will until He comes again in glory at that final resurrection. Come, Lord Jesus, come…

God rises up and brings salvation to all the hopeless, the poor, the needy, and the people of this world lost in sin. God rises up from this earth and reigns in His Kingdom, now and forever.

Jesus, doesn’t sugar coat what it is like to be His disciple. There is no promise of ease. There is no promise of comfort. In fact, He is open and honest about how the world will treat His disciples. After all, look how the world treated Him. Yet we can still have comfort when we cast all of our anxieties upon God. God will comfort those who are faithful to His will and His way.

Prayer is a big deal. I love how Jesus, on this night, before His crucifixion, prays so intimately. He demonstrates how prayer is a primary connection to His Father. Like a family member, and He draws all of His disciples right into this close conversation and prayer, with pleas of thanksgiving, and obedience to following God’s will in the Father’s own way, even down to this meaning of this “hour” as Jesus puts it. When it’s time it’s time.

And then to proclaim loud and clear that Jesus is God and the Father is God and authority to grant eternal-life exists in God for all the world. How could you not believe, while hearing or even as we do now, reading, these very words of God in Jesus?

All of these statements of giving. We are given to Jesus, Jesus is given to us, authority is given to Jesus to GIVE eternal life. How humbling to witness these words of Jesus.

James 4:10 NIV

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

That’s chilling stuff there, that warms a disciple’s heart to the core! Thanks be to God!

When we think of eternal life, many of us think of something in the future. But here, Jesus points out that eternal life is here and now. How’s that? In the knowing of God, we experience eternal life. To know God in this sense is a deep relationship with God. Jesus comes to us and becomes One with us, in flesh and blood. That is God’s deep knowing of what He has created in mankind. That is God knowing the created by becoming One in us and with us. So, when we “know” God, we have eternal life.

In Jesus’ carrying out the Father’s mission to redeem His created; Jesus showed obedience in always “Pointing to the Father.” Likewise in our lives as disciples, we “Point to Jesus.” It’s through this priority of God the Creator and God the Redeemer, that we become One with God. We should never fail to recognize that we ARE NOT God. We are the created people of God throughout time to “Point to Jesus.” Show and speak to the world, and all those God places into our lives, what God has done.

Just as Jesus fulfilled the will of the Father, we are called to obedience in fulfilling the will of Jesus, with the gifts from the Spirit. That’s our work in this world. To love, serve and obey God.

Then Jesus takes us right back out of time, in glorifying God the Father through His obedience, He goes back from now to before the Creation to be One with the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus moves in and out and all-around time. It’s God’s eternal presence that He calls us and gifts to us through what God does. We can’t do that on our own, that’s all a gift of God, out of His love for His creation.

As we have gone all this year, hearing Jesus’ ministry and teaching, over and over again, Jesus has made it known that the Father sent Him into this world, AND that Jesus IS the Messiah, Jesus IS God as well. It’s comforting to hear that the Father gave us Jesus to forgive and love us back to life in God.

So, daily recall your baptism knowing full well that you ARE a Child of God. And yes, now we know that everything that Jesus granted to us comes from the Father. What a gift!

As a gift from God through Jesus, we receive. Wow! God gives life to us, even though we deserve the death that Jesus is about to suffer for us. And we can believe. So, not only is faith a gift from God, but the ability to believe comes from God as well. What a gift!

Jesus goes to the Father FOR us! How great is that? As Jesus prays, He prays for us and NOT for this world. This world will pass, but our relationship with God will not pass away. Eternal life is ALL wrapped up in US with God. And to think that God initiated that, through the giving of Himself in Jesus, who came to us. That’s all hard to fathom, but true, in these words from Jesus. So, believe it! God gives you the faith to believe, so, believe Him at what He says.

In the believing of what God does, we give ALL honor and glory and thanks, right now and right into eternity, forever and ever!

And with this Jesus leaves our presence, sort of. With this unity with God the Father, and this unity with God the Son, and this unity with God the Spirit; we can continue on. Continue on loving all of those God gives to us each and every day… Even in the midst of persecution, doubt of our testimony, denial of God, and any torture we may incur because we believe what God has done to be true.

So, there you have it. Jesus words at the Last Supper, just ahead of his suffering, death and resurrection. Yes, in the face of it all, Jesus gives us a hope of eternity, with God, to truly KNOW God as He has sent His Son to forgive us, to die for us, to defeat the power of sin, and to raise to new life, as He draws us into Him.

Yes, Jesus! You are proof of the love of God… today… tomorrow… and forever.

Thanks, glory, honor and all praise be to God… Forever and ever!

Enjoy this YouTube Music that speaks to the Knowing…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j25JqWgjDF4&list=RDj25JqWgjDF4&start_radio=1

 

The Table - John 14:15-21 - Sixth Week after Easter

 

John 14:15-21 NIV

 

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 

The Table

 

So, there we were; all gathered together for some kind of special occasion, that I really didn’t understand. The conversation passing back and forth over and around me was deep. I mean really deep. I couldn’t figure out much of it, but it came from all directions.

 

First off let me introduce myself. I was created by God and used in so many ways. I would bring to life the fruit of the world. I would also bring to life the fruit that would be a great downfall for mankind. And yet my very being would bring about so much pain and suffering, along with a vehicle to salvation for all of mankind.

 

One main purpose I have come to understand is the God has created me, AND God has created all that exists. It’s important to know this, because, in the past, some people have used me to attempt to create God. Well that just won’t work. I can’t create God from myself and others can’t create God from me. That just won’t work.

 

So, the question becomes as to why God created me in the first place. I’ve come to understand that God has created me and all that exists, SO THAT, creation may come to love, serve, adore, praise and honor God. So, yea, that’s why I’m here in this place. And that applies to all of these folks gathered around me in this place and time. For now, that’s enough about me.

 

Let me tell you what I witnessed this moment in time in an Upper Room where Jesus gathered together with twelve of His closest friends. This stuff you can’t make up, so listen closely and observe all of Jesus’ words spoken.

 

The best that I could gather was Jesus speaking and showing how He is One. One with God the Father, One with God the Spirit, and One with all of those who believe in what He is about to do. It’s really a mystery listening in on all of this.

 

Jesus is all about love. So much about love that He cares for all of those God gives to Him, in a deep deep way. Speaking of love, Jesus knows that there are powers in this world that run wild with the need to lie about everything. Powers that want death to be the ruler of this world. Powers that want sin to flourish and overtake everything that there is or will be. And yet these powers won’t be able to see or accept what Jesus is on the verge of doing.

 

And Jesus knows that what He has been called to carry out will set in motion a separation, followed by a reunion, followed by a sending to these believers gathered this evening around me.

 

Oh, how it pains me to realize how I have been used throughout time and space. And then again, realize what God has made of me, even though I have brought so much pain into this world by being, well, just being me. And then again, somehow, this Jesus, this Father, this Spirit, created in me a wonderful and glorious way to love, honor, praise and adore God.

 

Doesn’t make much sense, does it? But I’m not that totally different from any of these disciples gathered all around me, for a supper of bread and wine. A supper of food that Jesus claims to be His own flesh and blood. A supper consumed so that even in the bread and the wine, Jesus could, and would, be ONE with all those who take Him in and believe what He has to say.

 

Well now that I have run all around the bush with this stuff, bear with me a while longer. A long time ago, God gave mankind a command and a restriction. I’m talking about some of my very own fruit here. God didn’t want man to eat of a certain fruit of mine. Yet, being tempted by an evil idea, mankind wanted to be like God and know all that God knows. Kind of like making a god of themselves. So, obedience to God flew out the window that day and into the gut of mankind.

 

So, that’s how this whole sinful world came under the rule of sin and death. That old foe thought he had this creation of God in his own hands now. Well, he still does a bit, but first his power is going to be defeated and then he will be eliminated. Why?

 

Because God loves His creation and will save His creation in the end. There is a connection to the Law of God and the Love of God that lasts.

 

So, all along, God has created a way out. All along God has in place a Savior, for mankind. All along God the Father planned to send God the Son into this world to defeat this power over sin and death, that the Evil One so greatly prized and cherished over all of mankind.

 

And this is where, after Jesus, ministry, teaching and all of the healings that He had been bringing forth into this world was about to unfold. The love of God in Christ Jesus was here and now, on display this evening, right above and all around me.

 

And on me, this Jesus would suffer and die. Why? Because He would become the sacrifice that would free all creation and those who believe in Him from sin and death. How? Because Jesus is One with the Father and One with the Spirit; it’s in His power to do just that.

 

Then after Jesus death on the cross, after He forgives the sin of those hateful people, those fearful people, those killers, He will be placed in a tomb. So, upon the wood of that cross, Jesus would forgive mankind of sin and die. Later to be placed in a sealed tomb.

 

And guess what? Jesus rose again. Bunches of people saw it and understood what had taken place. So many that no court in the land would be able to deny what God had done. Jesus wandered around for a while and went back to be with God the Father. Yea, He ascended into heaven.

 

And here is where this speech that Jesus gave on that night in the Upper Room, before His death comes in. Jesus promises to all those disciples that He will send God the Spirit to be with them after He leaves. So, those disciples of Jesus will not see, yet still will see Jesus, in the Spirit of God and in His presence with them and in them. Kind of like that bread and that wine, that body and that blood.

 

But this world’s powers and this world’s unbelievers won’t see this Spirt of God. They will deny this whole thing. They will deny salvation through God’s love for His creation.

 

But to all who believe; Jesus will be constantly present through the Spirit, leaving none of us alone. Even when my eyes can’t see Jesus, bet you didn’t know I had eyes, creation can see Jesus’ presence all of the time in the Spirit.

 

So, Jesus tells us of a day, coming soon. The Day of Pentecost, when we see how Jesus the Father and the Spirit all wrapped into One are One IN us.

 

And you know what? If God created me, and turned me into something that brought sin into this world to something that would bring honor and glory because of what He did upon me… He can do the same and more upon you.

 

So, what to make of this story? Is this just a crazy tale from a silly Old Man? Maybe.

 

But one thing is true from my perspective.

 

As God used the tree that produced the fruit that Satan used to tempt mankind into selfish sinfulness; did the wood of that tree know what was taking place?

 

Did the wood of the table at the Last Supper know that it would hold the life-giving bread and wine of Jesus?

 

Was the wood of the cross aware that it was supporting the Savior of the World that came to earth as God, to forgive mankind of sin, to die and defeat the power of sin?

 

I don’t know… But I do believe that God uses me, you, and sinful mankind to lead us from sin to eternal life IN Him, to be ONE with Him, THROUGH, what God has done.

 

And I do believe that God, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, has called us out from ourselves, to proclaim to all the world what He has done to bring us to Him and into His Kingdom.

 

An Old Man with a vision of a tree in the Garden, to the wood of the tree at the Lord’s Table during Communion, to the Wood that made up that cross of Salvation, to the Tree of Life that stands forever in eternity.

 

All to make us ONE, with Him, and through Him.

 

So now, all is revealed in and through the Love of God in Christ Jesus, and the Love of God in the Spirit, that flows out to all the world through believers.

 

Love, Forgiveness, Everlasting life in communion with God.

 

Like Jesus said that night above me and all around me…

 

“The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 

And yes… I love you, Father, Son and Spirit… Don’t you too?

 

I leave you with this YouTube Music Video that inspired me this past week in the writing of this Reflection… enjoy…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHAu3fLF7NI&list=RDWHAu3fLF7NI&start_radio=1

 

Let's Level Up - Listen To Me --- John 14:1-14 --- Fifth Week after Easter

 

John 14:1-14 NIV

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

 

Let’s Level Up – Listen To Me

When we hear Jesus speak, listen. When we listen to His words, He helps us to see that He IS God. When we know Him as God we trust in Him. When we trust in Him, we witness how He is in God, AND, in us, SO THAT, we can trust those who believe in His forgiveness and salvation.

Huh? This permits us to turn some things over to fellow believers to handle IN the name of God, THROUGH, the Holy Spirit’s power to lead and guide us along this way in life. For it’s not about our actions that makes a person righteous. NO, it’s about Jesus action that has made us righteous. So, don’t get a big head!

I put all of my trust in You, Jesus. All of it. I can do no other. In this world, as You walk with me, and teach me, and forgive me, and save me, and lead me to eternal life in Your Kingdom, I put all of my trust in You alone.

Jesus, even as you were rejected by me, yes by humans; you were accepted by God. Draw me into yourself, that you may be in me and I in You. May ALL people come to believe in what you have done, to forgive, save, and make us One with You into eternity.

This passage of Scripture is in the Upper Room during the Last Supper. A time just before Jesus Passion. It’s a point in time, that directs the disciples, and us as well, to deal with Jesus’ reality, as One with the Father and the Spirit. It’s a point in time that deals with the urgency that we believe what Jesus has been teaching and telling us all along, throughout His ministry, of that day, and this day as well. It’s a time that goes directly to the question of our heart, our very center of being, our bowels, so to speak. Do you, or I or anyone else, believe that Jesus IS God?

So just where is this “House” Jesus speaks of? Well, that’s heaven. Jesus is going to pave the way for us sheep, AS, the Sacrificial Lamb, or Sheep Himself, as well, to lead us through the Valley of the Shadow of death to this “House,” this heaven. Remember last week? It’s only through Jesus, the gate, that we can go to this “House.” What a Savior!

This “House” is the reality of life. This place in which we live today, is only a temporary walk, as Jesus leads us to the “REAL” life that God has prepared for each of us, you place trust and hope in Him alone. We can’t trust in this world, or the rulers of this world, or the riches and powers of this world. That stuff won’t grant NEW and REAL life. Only the pathway that Jesus leads us on, will take us to NEW and REAL life.

Don’t forget, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, in this passage, in the Upper Room, at His Last Supper with them. And He is clearly telling them that He will clear the path to eternal life with Him, God, forever. But that path will NOT be easy!

Jesus’ WILL come again. Look at the words He speaks. Listen to His message. Jesus will suffer and die, rise again, and ascend into heaven. AND… He WILL come again. Jesus paves the way for us. This isn’t something we can do. We depend on Jesus!

I love Thomas. He speaks honestly, like some of us would. Thinking within the earthly realm in which he was most familiar with, Thomas wants to know, how this walk occurs. What’s the direction? Where are You going, Jesus? How do I get there? You say I know, but I’m confused.  I thank Thomas for raising such questions, in me. Why? Because Jesus answers those questions. And in Jesus answer, sometimes it takes me a life-time to figure out what He tells me. But guess what? I’m okay with that.

And Jesus comes back in reply with that whole “Gate, Sheep, Shepherd” idea. It’s through Him and Him alone, that we follow, that leads us behind Him and through Him to this “House,” this “Home,” this heaven.

We can’t get to the Father in Heaven on our own. Only through that Gate, this Jesus.

And guess what? All along, as Jesus lives with us, teaches us; He has been revealing to us, that He and the Father are One. This is Trinity stuff here! Right before the eyes and ears of the disciples, and through this passage of Scripture, to us this very day, Jesus plainly reveals that He IS the Messiah, He IS God, He is One with the Father and the Spirit, now and forever. Hard stuff to grasp. But give up on yourself, and believe what Jesus says! If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father, you have seen the Holy Spirit.

And next Philip enters into the conversation with Jesus. Don’t be so high and mighty, that you fail to relate to Philip. He wants a little proof. He seeks to see the Father, and verification to what Jesus is saying. At least that’s what seems to me to be what’s going on. And, I can relate. Well not only me but others in history. Look at what Moses wanted in years past…

Exodus 33:18-23 NIV

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

It’s one thing to want proof, as is common for myself. But I’m humbled when I stand in the presence of God and seek proof. Who do I think I am? Forgive me, Lord!

But, all the same, Jesus answers Philip and me too, as I read this passage. It’s like, “Come on, Billy!” I’ve been here all along. Open your eyes. Think a little. If I tell you, I and the Father are One, why do you doubt? See how Jesus has taught, led, protected, and gone ahead all life long? Believe!

Jesus comes to us from heaven. Jesus comes to us through the power of the Father and the Holy Spirit. It’s all laid out for you to see, for you to witness, and most importantly, for you to receive the faith, freely given, to believe in God.

And if you struggle in believing Jesus’ words, then look to His actions in this world, AND believe it!

And here comes Jesus back with this “truly, truly…” It’s like amen, amen! Not like the phony Facebook “amen,” but the emphatic and honestly truthful “amen” from Jesus Himself… Yes! It shall be so!

Jesus works become our works, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, when we receive God’s gift of faith and believe that Jesus IS God. Even as Jesus is preparing to die, rise and ascend into heaven; through a disciple’s belief in what God has done, so too, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s work will continue to be done. God’s work of spreading His Gospel of love, forgiveness, and salvation to all the world, and to all those God gives to us each and every day.

As Jesus tells us here, as believers, we will do God’s works. We won’t do our own works, rather, we will do the works of God. And in these works, all glory and honor go to God. Glory and honor are not something we can attain by the works we do. Glory and honor go to God and God alone. So, if you think that by doing something or another, elevates your own status with God, you are sadly mistaken. It’s not about your works, it’s all about God working in you. As we have seen Jesus, along with the disciples, it becomes obvious that we are seeing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

So, get over yourself and get busy, as a believer, God will give you fruit to bear. Bear it abundantly to the honor and glory of the God who made you, and showed Himself to you, that you may be with Him, forever into eternity.

What do I make of all this? First, I love how Jesus relates and teaches me. I love how He asks questions that make me think. Questions that lead me away from myself, from what I do, from what I say, to believe that He truly IS God.

God took all the work out of my hands and placed it all in His hands. As God came into this world in the flesh and blood of Jesus; God took it upon Himself, to fulfill all the Law for me. So, what is left to do?

Well, that part God took care of as well. Believe! Bear the fruit which God gives you to bear. I don’t think that you get to pick and choose the fruits of the Spirit that you think you would like. It’s not like that. You will bear the fruit that God has chosen for you to bear. So, go with the flow. Give all the thanks and glory to God for anything you happen to do that displays the goodness, the richness, and the delight, of the love of God and neighbor in this world in which you live. Your fruit IS God’s fruit, not something you conjure up on your own. Your fruit of the Spirit… is like it says… fruit of the Spirit, assigned to you for you to give up. Don’t let that fruit drop to the ground and die. Let the fruit die to yourself and live.

So how? As we go through life, like Jesus, come to all those God gives to you day after day, for you to freely give yourself in the love of God in Christ Jesus. Wow! That sounds so “churchy,” so self-righteous. But, it’s not. Salvation is the work of God, not your work. God works in and through you to do His Will in His Way. You aren’t the Savior, so give that up and live in the joy, that you are chosen by God, to live with Him forever, doing what He calls you to do… Love your God with all your heart, mind and spirit… And love your neighbor, not only in word, but in action as well… today… tomorrow… and forever. Thanks be to God!

I leave you with this YouTube Music Video that I used this past week to listen to for this reflection… Enjoy…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODaeS38QLps&list=RDODaeS38QLps&start_radio=1

The Sheep of The Manger - John 10:1-10 - Fourth Week of Easter (Good Shepherd)

 

John 10:1-10 NIV

10 “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.

The Sheep of The Manger

Lord, you have tended us and cared for us. May we always continue to come together to feed off of You and to hear Your Voice spoken in Word and Sacrament.

When you lead me outside, into the dangers of this world, you have a way of calling. You have a way of making Your voice known and obvious. When I listen to You; You provide safety. But it’s when I begin to listen to my own voice, or the voices of this world that I get lost. Call me back to hear Your voice. In that, is safety and comfort and joy, even in the dangers of this world.

Remember this? “Return to the Lord your God, for He is patient and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” I remember singing this in church. Well, it comes from Joel 2:13

Rend your heart
    and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
    and he relents from sending calamity.

When I’m lost in this world, to the evil it holds, or lost in myself; may I hear the voice of Jesus calling, knowing that He loves me enough to carry me through any and all of my sin, back into His arms, and into His care. That phrase “Rend your heart,” reminds me of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Sometimes I feel my heart torn wide open in the presence of Jesus, as He faithfully pours His Word and Grace and Salvation right into the center, or the bowels of my very being. So, yea, sure, my heart burns within me as Jesus opens His Word to me, day after day after day.

Jesus starts out this passage with Truth. In this case it is repeated twice, giving a surety to what He says is truthful. Some may think of this saying as Amen… Amen… In this it also brings a declaration of “Yes! It shall be so!”

So, what’s a sheepfold. In the day and time of Jesus a sheepfold would possibly be like a stone wall which encloses a pasture or area that the sheep would be gathered together. To get into this sheepfold, you would enter by the gate. Anyone who would climb the wall or sneak in another way, would most probably be up to something nefarious.

The person entering by the gate would most likely be the shepherd of the sheep. This would be the caretaker. It all seems so obvious, on the surface of it all, but beneath the obvious, Jesus is bringing us a deep truth.

When God the Father sent Jesus into this world in our flesh, He opened the gate for all human-kind to be brought into union with His Son. How great is that? And as we walk forth, even now, in this wicked world, we can listen to the voice of Jesus. Jesus knows us and calls us by name to be with Him. May we all hear His voice, and follow in His way, to do His will, as we love God and all those God gives to us as we follow Jesus.

What’s so nice about following Jesus, is that He knows us and calls us and leads us and guides us through the dangers of life. Yes, Jesus goes before us and takes care of us, especially when we are outside of the sheepfold and in danger of the evils of this world.

Can you recognize the voice of Jesus? Or how about, recognize the voice of an imposter? Sometimes, if I hear someone declaring that they are the voice of God, or that they know way too much about God, or Jesus, or whatever… I get suspicious. It’s like, that didn’t sound honest, or truthful, or maybe even legitimate. There’s something to listening to another person like this that seems to get in the way a bit. And, yea, I get suspicious.

But, when I hear the Word or the Voice of Jesus, it’s easy to hear, it’s easy to take in. I may not understand what I’m hearing, but it rings in Truth and Honesty. The Word of Jesus doesn’t seem to be a manipulation of some emotion, or way of thinking that is attempting to persuade me into a concept of untruth. When I hear the Voice of Jesus, compared to some cry of evil, it’s easy to pick out. I think, maybe, that’s what Jesus is telling us, sheep, in this passage. When we hear His voice, compared to the voice of a thief attempting to draw us away from God; we are led to follow the voice and call of Jesus.

So, how do you figure this out if you still question the truth of it all? That’s where God has left to us Scripture, one another, and prayer to turn to. Seek it out and most of the time, I’ve found out that what I was seeking, was always there with me in Jesus, or the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

And like the Pharisees in this passage, if I still don’t get it, if I still can’t hear God’s voice; I’m probably the one that is in the way of hearing. I need to pause and open my heart, yea, rend my heart wide open, SO THAT, God can pour into the center of my being, His Voice and His Word. Not that I will get it all, I know I won’t, but that I will hear and follow His call and walk beside and behind Him in my daily living.

So, now Jesus attempts to make His point in another fashion, declaring He is the gate. Jesus is the gate that opens us to safety in spirit. He opens the gate and we enter into His salvation. Only Jesus can open this gate. And how?

It’s through what Jesus did for us. He came in flesh and blood to be like us, to know what it is to be human, and He gave His life to save us from our own humanity of sin. Yea, He became sin for us, He opened the gate for us, SO THAT, we may live with God in His Kingdom.

As Paul so eloquently states…

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

²¹ God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus is the gate. Opening us up, through what He did, to become righteous with God.

So, listen to the voice of Jesus. He is the Gate. Others will come and go and claim to be the Savior… well… plain and simple… they are NOT! Hear the voice of Jesus and Jesus alone, don’t listen to the imposters who claim to be saviors.

And ANYONE who enters through the Gate, that is Jesus, will be saved. See that? Anyone!

It’s Jesus that protects us, feeds us, leads us and guides us in life. And this is life to the full.

So, what do we make of all this talk of sheep, gates, sheepfolds and stuff? I can’t help but to think of how often these visions of sheep unfold in Scripture. But here is one that pops out, at least in my mind.

When Jesus came into this world in flesh and blood, as a baby, remember the shepherds? Well, these guys were in an area around Bethlehem, where it would not be so uncommon for the sheep to be raised to become sacrificial lambs for the temple of that day. These guys would be caretakers of sacrifices in a way.

And remember how they were called away to go to Bethlehem to see Jesus?

As they witnessed Jesus, were they perhaps witnessing God’s Sacrificial Lamb? Was the small opening into the manger in which Jesus was born that morning, perhaps a NEW kind of sheepgate? Perhaps these guys were looking into the eternity of that Gate that would soon become the way of Salvation for all mankind.

And yet still, in this mode of thinking, perhaps they were also seeing not only the Sheep, but the Shepherd and the Gate, all in one place, at one point in this time in eternity.

I know this is a stretch of the imagination, but let your mind wander a bit with me. I think these shepherd guys have a much deeper story for us to witness, than just a few guys who heard angels singing and announcing the birth of God in flesh. Not that that alone is way beyond all we could ever imagine happening to any one of us.

And as these shepherds peek in on Jesus, the Messiah, possibly they also witness a future Shepherd that will lead another flock of sheep believers towards a different kind of death. Not only would this baby boy Messiah be the Sacrificial Sheep, the Gate and the Messiah, but He would also be the One to care for and tend to the sheep of all believers in what God has done.

For we follow a Sheep and a Shepherd, through a Gate that in Him and in us, leads to death. Death to sin that overcomes the eternal death of this world, and leading His flock to the eternal life with Him in His Kingdom in eternity.

Down that dangerous road, outside of the sheepfold, will be the Valley of Death. But on the other side of that Valley of Death, our baby Sheep, our Gate, our Shepherd, will lead ALL believers to a safe place, a safe pasture, a heaven of rest and life in a perfect place.

Yet, the journey will not be easy. Just look at the journey that this baby Boy, this Sheep, this Shepherd, this Gate to eternal life, had to walk, FOR, you and me.

Having thought about all of this, how could I NOT help but to fall down on my knees, as those shepherds that heard the angels sing, did all those years ago and give unending thanks and praise to MY, YOUR, OUR, Sheep, Shepherd, and Gate to heaven… today… tomorrow… and forever. Thanks be to God, Sheep, Shepherd and Gate to eternity!

So, listen, hear His voice. Point to Jesus. Trust His will and His way in your life, as He leads, forgives, saves and offers His all to this world, and His sheep. You are His. And that’s a bunch of joy for sure. Joy to the World… the Lord has come!

I can’t help myself but to leave you with this YouTube Music Video…

“Joy to the World”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQl-KzTtIZ0&list=RDvQl-KzTtIZ0&start_radio=1