I Am the Good Shepherd
Tim Melton
John 10:1-9
Have you ever wondered why Jesus describes His followers as sheep? Why didn´t he choose something more dignified, like eagles, lions, beautiful peacocks or even dolphins? While to some this may seem like a pointless question, if we take the time to understand sheep it becomes very clear why He chose to describe us as sheep and Himself as the Good Shepherd.
The people of Jesus' day would have been very familiar with the life of sheep and shepherds.
The main part of Judea was a plateau, stretching for about 56 kilometers and averaging about 24 kilometers wide. The ground of this plateau was mainly rocky and not good for farming. It was much better suited for flocks of sheep. Because of this the shepherd would have been a very common figure in every community.
One reason that Jesus chose to talk of sheep was because the people were very familiar with them, but there are other reasons as well.
Did you know that sheep are not that smart and they are prone to wander into danger?
Several years ago, in eastern Turkey in the Van province near Iran, there were shepherds who were caring for a flock of 1,500 sheep. They took a break and neglected the sheep while eating breakfast. During those few minutes the sheep wandered away towards a cliff that dropped off into a ravine 15 meters below. The first sheep fell to his death. The next 399 also followed and fell to their deaths. The remaining 1,100 sheep also followed and fell, but because the ravine was already littered with sheep their fall was cushioned and they survived.
We see in this story sheep who are distracted, who wander away from the shepherd, who follow the crowd blindly and are likely to bring harm to themselves. It sounds a lot like us. Even when the shepherd guides the sheep to a place where they have all the green pastures and still waters that they need they still, given enough time, will wonder away, following their own path.
Sheep c ...
Tim Melton
John 10:1-9
Have you ever wondered why Jesus describes His followers as sheep? Why didn´t he choose something more dignified, like eagles, lions, beautiful peacocks or even dolphins? While to some this may seem like a pointless question, if we take the time to understand sheep it becomes very clear why He chose to describe us as sheep and Himself as the Good Shepherd.
The people of Jesus' day would have been very familiar with the life of sheep and shepherds.
The main part of Judea was a plateau, stretching for about 56 kilometers and averaging about 24 kilometers wide. The ground of this plateau was mainly rocky and not good for farming. It was much better suited for flocks of sheep. Because of this the shepherd would have been a very common figure in every community.
One reason that Jesus chose to talk of sheep was because the people were very familiar with them, but there are other reasons as well.
Did you know that sheep are not that smart and they are prone to wander into danger?
Several years ago, in eastern Turkey in the Van province near Iran, there were shepherds who were caring for a flock of 1,500 sheep. They took a break and neglected the sheep while eating breakfast. During those few minutes the sheep wandered away towards a cliff that dropped off into a ravine 15 meters below. The first sheep fell to his death. The next 399 also followed and fell to their deaths. The remaining 1,100 sheep also followed and fell, but because the ravine was already littered with sheep their fall was cushioned and they survived.
We see in this story sheep who are distracted, who wander away from the shepherd, who follow the crowd blindly and are likely to bring harm to themselves. It sounds a lot like us. Even when the shepherd guides the sheep to a place where they have all the green pastures and still waters that they need they still, given enough time, will wonder away, following their own path.
Sheep c ...
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