#15. April 13, 2015
2015 Devotional. Our goal for these weekly devotionals is to grow in humility and to grow spiritually by memorizing selected passages, putting them into context, and by applying them to our daily living. These passages are taken from: “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” by Freeman-Smith. All passages are from the NIV.
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.
In the March 23, 2015 devotional, “I am” Jesus says, we referenced the seven “I am” statements in the Gospel of John. Jn.10 contains the third statement: “I am the gate”. Jesus is the “gate” the ”way” to the Kingdom of God, the way to salvation in Jesus’ own words, Jn.10: 9. This discussion begins in verse 1 of chapter 10 and is directed to the Pharisees. The Pharisees however did not understand, or do not want to understand. Jesus uses the metaphor of sheep and the sheep pen, only the shepherd is allowed into the sheep pen because the gatekeeper knows the shepherd and the sheep know the shepherd. The Pharisees are the gatekeepers but in this case they do not know the shepherd. Everyone else is a thief; Jesus is referring to the legalistic self-righteous theology of the Pharisees influenced by the thief, Satan. They heard but were blinded by their self-righteousness and did not see. Jesus repeats the concept in a way they were able to understand in v .7-10.
Who are the gatekeepers today? They are the pastors, the elders and other church leaders. Like the Pharisees many are blinded by our culture, by what is acceptable to most people, by what is popular today. You know the issues of today. Where is the church today? Who are the gatekeepers inviting into the sheep pen? Do we confront those issues with condemnation or with love and understanding but not condoning the sin? The true sheep will listen only to Jesus.
In verse 10 we cannot get away from the contrast that Jesus gives us. The thief is Satan who sneaks in under cover, in sheep’s clothing, pretending to be Jesus, but if we really know Jesus it soon becomes obvious that the thief, he/she, is here to “kill and destroy”. Sadly many gatekeepers claim that the thief is the Jesus of Scripture, citing love, tolerance, harmony, and dialogue. The life we have in Jesus can’t be duplicated! Only Jesus Christ forgives, accepts, saves, and moves us to a full life of joy, happiness, and peace. That life to the full comes by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and by His words to us everyday: I do not condemn you! Go and sin no more! (Jn. 8: 10-11) We only need to follow and listen to the one and only Shepherd!
Heavenhigh 