The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Remember our last story? About the blind man Jesus cured? The Lord continued His comment to the Pharisees, by saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a sheepfold (a place where sheep are gathered together at night). He that does not go through the door into the sheepfold, but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. He that goes in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. I am the door. If any man goes into the sheepfold through me he is safe in the fold.”
The Pharisees did not seem to understand what Jesus meant, and so the Lord explained it to them. Heaven is the sheepfold; the people are the sheep. The Christ is the door. All who want to go to heaven must go through the door. This they can do by believing the Christ and obeying Him.
Those who teach any other way of going to heaven are thieves and robbers, because they are taking from the people the best things of life.
Jesus told them another parable to show them that His greatest wish was to do them good. In this parable He called Himself the shepherd of the sheep, and other teachers hired men, who do not care for the sheep because they do not own them.
Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd, and the good shepherd is willing to give his life for the sheep. But the one who is hired to take care of the sheep, who does not own them, cares nothing for them. If he sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs to look out for himself. Then the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. I am the Good Shepherd, and will give my life for the sheep.”
How sweet and loving the voice of Jesus must have been. Many of the people believed that Jesus was telling the truth. Many thought that they would like to belong to this Good Shepherd, and go to heaven through this door. But some said, “He is insane; why do you listen to him?”
Those who were ready to believe Jesus said, “But what he says does not sound like the talk of an insane man. Can one who is insane give sight to a man that has always been blind?”
And they almost began to quarrel among themselves.
Very soon after Jesus had spoken these words, it was time for another of the feasts of the Children of Israel. This was the Feast of the Dedication. Like the other special feasts we have read about, this one lasted one week. This feast was held in the winter time. As Jesus walked into the temple one day, some of the Children of Israel came around Him and asked, “How long shall we have to wait without knowing whether you are the Christ or not? If you are the Christ, tell us so plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I have told you so many times, but you would not believe me. The miracles that I do ought to answer your questions, but you will not believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me, and I give them the life that will last forever. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all else, and no one shall be able to take them away from my Father or me, for I and my Father are one.”
Then those Children of Israel took up stones to throw at Jesus. What did the Savior do? Did He speak to them in anger? No, He gently said, “Many good deeds have I done for you, through my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?”
You would think these words of Jesus would have made them want to drop their stones in shame, asking the Lord to forgive them. Is that what happened? No. They replied to Jesus, “It is not for good works that we stone you, but because you, a man, call yourself God.”
Jesus said, “If I do not do the works of God, then do not believe me. But if I do, then believe the works that you see, even if you cannot believe me. Then you will know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him.”
Again the Sanhedrin tried to arrest the man who called Himself the Son of God, but they could not do it. Jesus left the temple and crossed the Jordan into the country where John the Baptist used to preach. Many of the people followed Jesus, saying, “He is greater than John, for John did no miracle. Everything that John said about this man is true.”
And many believed Jesus.
These new friends asked Jesus to teach them a prayer, as John had taught his disciples. Jesus then taught them the same prayer that He had taught the disciples in Galilee, the Lord’s Prayer. He told them not to give up praying because God did not seem to answer them at once. Jesus told them that the Father loved to have them keep asking, and would give them what was best for them, just as they were willing to give good things to their children.
The people of this part of the country crowded around Jesus just as the people of Galilee had the year before. Think about how you might feel, if you had been there with the crowd, listening to Jesus talk? So many people could not hear Jesus speak just once. After hearing the Savior, many wanted to hear Him again and again. Some probably believed that Jesus was the Son of God, but no doubt others heard Him talk, and then forgot Him.
As Jesus was teaching the people one day, a Pharisee asked Him to dinner. Why he invited Jesus we do not know. Perhaps he liked to hear the Lord, and wanted to know Him better. But probably he wanted to draw Jesus away from the people in the hope of getting the Lord to say something that could be taken to the rulers and complained about.
Whatever his reason, Jesus went with him. The Lord sat down at the table, and began to eat. You remember the custom the Pharisees had of washing their hands before they ate, and why they did it? Jesus did not wash His hands as He sat down to this dinner, and the Pharisee found fault with the Lord. But Jesus wanted to teach the people that these customs were not of much importance. Jesus wanted them to learn to obey the real commands of God. It was much more necessary to be honest and kind and loving, than to wash one’s hands just because it was a custom.
So when the Pharisee found fault with Him, Jesus told the Pharisee and the others who were with him at the table what He thought about these things. They did not like what Jesus said, and tried to say things that would make Jesus angry, hoping that Jesus might say more than He meant to say. But the Pharisee and the others did not succeed. Jesus went away from them and told His friends not to trust the Pharisees, for they were hypocrites. Hypocrites are those who say one thing when they mean something else.
But Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of them, even if they arrest you and try to kill you. God, who takes care of even the sparrows which are worth so little will surely take care of you. Yet even though they should kill you, it is only your body that they hurt, for they cannot touch your soul, that part of you which is to live forever.”
Two brothers who lived in that part of the country had quarreled about some money that had been left to them. One of the brothers took more than the other thought was right. One day, while Jesus was talking to a very large crowd of people, the brother who did not think he had his share of the money said to Jesus, “Master, speak to my brother, and tell him to divide the money with me.”
Jesus answered him, “Who made me your judge, or gave me the right to divide your property for you?”
That was not what Jesus had come to earth to do. Jesus had come to earth to teach. The people had heard what was said to Jesus about property. So, while the people were thinking about property, Jesus taught them a lesson. He said, “Do not long to own what you see other people have, for a man’s happiness does not depend upon the number of things he owns.”
Jesus then told this story: “There was once a rich man who owned a great piece of land, and he planted the land. Everything grew well for a year, and at harvest time there was so much to gather that the man did not have room enough to store it all. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? My barns are too small. Where shall I put all that has grown this year?’
“He could have given some away, don’t you think? But he did not want to do that. He wanted to keep it all himself. So, he said, ‘I will pull down my barns and build others which will be large enough to hold all that I have gathered. Then I will say to my soul, Soul, you have enough for many years; take your comfort now; eat, drink, and be merry.’"
“But God said to him, ‘You foolish man, you will die this very night; then who will have those things that you have stored away?’"
Jesus then said, “So is everyone who is rich in money and other treasures, but is not rich in God’s love.”
After finishing this story Jesus taught His disciples many things that He had taught the people of Galilee in the Sermon On The Mount. He told them not to be too anxious about their food and clothing, for God, who cared for such tiny things as birds and flowers, would surely care for them. Jesus said, “Let your greatest wish be to live as one of God’s children ought, and all these things will be given to you. Do your best every day, and then, whenever God calls you to live with him, you will be ready to go.”
Jesus was teaching in the synagogue one Sabbath day. Among the worshippers was a woman who was very much deformed. For eighteen years her back had been bent over like a bow. Nothing on earth could make her back straight. The loving heart of Jesus felt pity for the poor woman. He called her to Him. Laying His hands on her, Jesus said, “You are free from this trouble.”
No sooner had Jesus said this than the woman felt a difference in her back and found that she could stand straight again. She was no longer deformed. It made her very happy, and she thanked God for what had been done.
But the ruler of the synagogue was very angry that this had been done on the Sabbath. So he said to the people, “There are six days in the week in which men ought to work. Come on one of those if you wish to be cured!”
Jesus turned to this man and said, “You hypocrite, does not each one on the Sabbath untie his ox and lead him away to water? If there is such need of doing this that it is not wrong to do it on the Sabbath, should not this woman be freed from the trouble she has borne eighteen years, even on the Sabbath day?”
These words made the Pharisees ashamed of themselves, and the people shouted for joy because of the glorious things that were being done.
