THE GOOD SHEPHERD – PART THREE

I’m concluding the message we started last time: The Good Shepherd in the New Testament.

The Good Shepherd in the New Testament.

We have seen earlier the Good Shepherd in the Old Testament. Last time we came to the New Testament. And there, we read in John 10, a couple of verses.

John 10:11

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Psalm 23:1

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

So we started talking about this Good Shepherd in the New Testament. Last time, we wanted to examine the Identity of the Good Shepherd – who He is. And that was the much we did last time. But we still have the Ability of the Good Shepherd – what He can do, and the Quality of the Good Shepherd – His character.

Those two we will examine today to conclude this discussion.

PRAYER:

We come to You again, Father. And we pray that the Holy Spirit would help us as we search the scriptures, to make the scriptures clearer to us, give us better understanding and impact faith to our hearts to believe Your Word, in Jesus Name. Amen!

In searching or examining the identity of the Good Shepherd, last time:, who He is, we found out that the Good Shepherd has a consistent identity in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. In the Old Testament He is the I AM; and in the New Testament He is also the I AM. And Jesus expressed Himself as the I AM seven times in the Gospel of John, and then in his encounter with the Jews. In John 8, Jesus told them, before Abraham was I AM. And they wanted to stone him to death, because as far as they were concerned He has blasphemed because He identified Himself as the I AM. And as the I AM or as Jehovah He’s the uncreated Creator. As the I AM, He is the One who is all-sufficient, self-sufficient and all-sufficient.

But today, we want to look at the Ability of the Good Shepherd – what He can do.

1. The first on the list in my judgment is His ability to forgive sins. And that is the greatest need we all have. Friend, you do not perhaps know that your greatest need is not food and clothing, shelter; it is not money – your greatest need in life is to be free from sin.

In St. Luke 5:17-260 (We don’t have time to read all that), we have an interesting account of the demonstration of the authority and power of the Good shepherd, in the healing of the man who was paralyzed, in that Luke 5:1 the bible said, that that day the power of God was present to heal. But it was the demonstration of His authority over sin that we see first in that text.

Luke 5:20

²⁰ When He saw their faith [that is, the faith of the friends of the paralyzed man] , He said to him [to the paralyzed man], “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

This man needed physical healing. He’s been paralyzed for many years. And here Jesus says to him, your sins are forgiven you.

²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Well. They were right and they were wrong. He wasn’t speaking blasphemies. They were right when they said it is only God who can forgive sins. And God, in the form of a man is forgiven sins; but they did not know that.

²² But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth [the word translated power is actually authority]to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

The authority to forgive sin. That’s the first thing we will see when we examine the ability of the Good Shepherd in the New Testament. And in this encounter, in this passage, Jesus is trying to tell us that authority precedes power. Authority precedes power otherwise power becomes brute force, and power becomes illegitimate when it is not backed by authority. That is the kind of power that the armed robber has. Know that the Good Shepherd dealt with the paralyzed man’s sin before attending to his physical illness. His physical healing was proof of the authority of the Good Shepherd to forgive sins.

²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.

This double miracle caused the people to give glory to God and to wonder, and they said,

²⁶“We have seen strange things today!”

And in fact the word that is translated strange is the Greek word from where we have the English word, paradox, something that contradicts the norm but yet makes sense. It is not the normal thing that somebody who has been paralyzed for so many years will suddenly, immediately rise up and carry the mat with which he was carried, and walked home. It was paradoxical. And in examination of Mark 4, again a long stretch of scripture, Mark 4:35 – Mark 5:43, we see a stretch of the demonstration of the ability of the Good Shepherd. Those scriptures first show us that He has power over the elements because He calmed the sea and the waves.

1. He has power over demons.

Mark 5:1, a man who was demonized, He said legions of demons were in him. Jesus commanded the demons to leave; and instantly they obeyed and they left the man. Authority! Later on, people said with authority He commands even the unclean spirit and they obey Him. We also see not only His authority or power over the element, not only His power or autonomy over demons; He also has power over sickness and diseases. For the woman who had hemorrhage for twelve years has spent everything she had and got worse; came to Jesus and touched the hem of His garment…because she said to herself several times as she was approaching Jesus , if only I can touch the hem or His garment, I will be made whole. And immediately the flow of blood stopped.

He has power not only over the elements, not only over demons, not only over sickness and diseases, but also over death – because the daughter of Jairus in the same story who was dead, twelve years old girl Jesus came to the house and He said talita kumi which being translated: little girl, I said to you, arise. Immediately the girl arose and walked. That’s the power. That’s the authority of the Good Shepherd: the Quality of the Good Shepherd – His character.

Nothing defines a person’s identity and ability better than the strength of his or her character. You are not blessed if you have a benefactor who has awesome power or ability but has awful character or quality. Power without the restraint of character is dangerous. But power with Godly character is a blessing. And this is what we find in the Good shepherd. In John 10:11, 15, 17 & 18, the Good Shepherd reveals to us His love. He loved so much as to lay down His life for the sheep.

In John 13:1

¹Now before the Feast of the Passover [that was about the time – the weekend when He was sacrificed for our sins], when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Love is the foundation of Godly character. There is a scripture that packs the admirable qualities of the Good shepherd in one verse. And that scripture is Hebrews 7:26

²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens

That is the Good Shepherd in the New Testament: Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Even though He was separate from sinners He was still the friend of sinners.

The Good Shepherd

May I say to you that such a shepherd is fitting for us otherwise none of us would be alive.

The Good Shepherd is Jehovah. None compares to Him in power and in character. He is my Shepherd. Friend, is He your Shepherd? If He is not why don’t you invite Him into your life today? Tell Him dear Lord, I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me. Come into my life and be my Shepherd and my Lord.

PRAYER:

Faithful Father, into Your hands I commit my friends. Those who are inviting the Good Shepherd into their lives now and those who have invited Him in the past all I bring to You. You know each one where each one sits or stands or even lies. Depending on their circumstance, and I say Lord, please, attend to their needs. Relieve them of the burden of sin, the burden of sickness and of disease and of lack – for You are the Good Shepherds, and we shall not lack any good thing, in Jesus Name. Amen!