Angels and Shepherds

December 20, 2012

For some reason, the 10th chapter of John keeps sending me back to the birth of Jesus. I've been chewing on it for some time now. I guess because it is Christmas time and the chapter says a lot about sheep and shepherds and sheep have traditionally been an icon of Christmas. Also, Chapter 10 occurred at this precise time of year. So I’ve been looking for the tie-in between the discussion of Jesus birth, and the discussion of the shepherd and his authority over the sheep, the sheep’s allegiance to him, and his right to come and go, earned through his great love.
God’s sovereignty is the main connection I see. 

From Matthew 1-
Now the birth of Jesus went like this:

When His mother Mary had been promised in marriage to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. And her promised husband Joseph, being a just and upright man not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to divorce her quietly and secretly.   But as he was thinking this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior, for He will save His people from their sins.  22 All this took place that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet, Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel—which, when translated, means, God with us.
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him: he took her to his side as his wife. But he had no union with her as her husband until she had borne her firstborn Son; and he called His name Jesus. (Amplified Bible)

From Luke 2-
And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn. And in that vicinity there were shepherds living out under the open sky in the field, watching in shifts over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ, the Messiah, the LORD! And this will be a sign by which you will recognize Him: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

13 Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven- a heavenly knighthood, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased.
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went with haste and, searching, found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known what had been told them concerning this Child. And all who heard it were astounded and marveled at what the shepherds told them.

I used to tell my girls that God had a perfect mate for them if they would trust him and seek his way. What gave me the authority to say that? I am convinced it was authority produced by my love and prayers for my daughters. But I am understanding that God has much more than a life mate for those who trust him. He also has a life call and a destination based on his love and knowledge of us. God has a perfect December 20th waiting for me today. I have a choice to walk there. He will have a perfect December 25th for me and I will have a choice to follow or create my own way. It’s not like I have to invent his way, I must only listen and yield when I hear. Yet, to choose anyway but His, makes me a thief.

John 10: the man 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 man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. . . . 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.” They did not understand what he was telling them.
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. NIV  Now the hireling flees because he merely serves for wages and is not himself concerned about the sheep. AMP  I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.
Jesus himself becomes my gate. The Holy spirit of God is the watchman, I think. There is a wall to protect and provide. What is inside belongs to the ‘good shepherd.’

Mary, Joseph, even Herod. They all played a part in bringing the world a shepherd that would give his life for his sheep. Mary was given a task no woman had ever been given. Had she taken it into her hands to complete, she would have failed. Joseph was given a task. He wanted to fail, but God sent an angel to change his mind, because He knew Joseph would follow. He was God’s sheep. Herod was given a task by default. His evil heart also performed the task he was designed for. He killed the baby boys in Bethlehem and sent the Son of the Highest into exile. Yet it did not change the plan God had. It became a lesson, a symbol, a fulfilling of the word. Perhaps the reason the angels were sent to shepherds was because they were the ones who could understand this authority born of sacrifice.

Tell us plainly

December 14, 2012

John 10:24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah tell us plainly.”

When I read this, it always makes me crazy.  Water to wine was not enough for them to know.  Healing the blind, the lame, the chronically sick was not enough.  Raising a dead child and healing his friend’s mother-in-law was not enough.  So  “Tell us plainly.”

Verse 25:  Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me. . .”

26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

They demanded “Tell us plainly.”  So he put it about as plain as he could.

31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him.

Chapter 10 begins with Jesus saying “I tell you the truth, . . .”  It ends with ^‘ and many people came to him.  And in that place many believed in Jesus.’

So many times I have ask God to speak plainly.  I know his mind and ways are so above my own.  I have a dog.  He didn’t understand one word when I brought him here, but he learned to understand kindness and consistency.  And eventually I learned to reduce my communications to ‘word’ commands and requests.  He learned.  He has a good ‘hearing’ vocabulary now.  His vocal communication is coming along, but lacks much.

 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days.  Here he stayed. 

Sometimes a change of scenery is important for understanding to incubate.  Jesus was in Jerusalem for Hanukkah when they asked him to tell them plainly if he was the Messiah.   It was this time of year –a time when they celebrated a miraculous act of salvation and restoration.  He was hanging out in the temple area –a homeless man with a band of followers who did the unexplainable.  It seemed unlikely that this could be the ‘one.’  Yet nobody else had ever done the things he did, so they asked.  Many of them wanted to believe, but the pressure of their leaders and the authority they had always known joined with their human skepticism and pride and caused them to question, take offense and abandon their fledgling belief.

So Jesus changed to a locale where faith was common.  They came to him in a place where John had pointed him out as the prophesied messiah.  There they watched and listened and ‘in that place, many believed in Jesus.’  Locale has a lot to do with how well we listen and see.  I don’t understand that totally, but I know it’s true.  When I get bogged down with life, it’s hard to change gears without changing my surrounding.

It is amazing how well He understands and the great lengths he will traverse to touch our hearts.  “We find him when we seek him still.” 

Honor and Love

I had to force myself away from being argumentative with my mother yesterday during devotions.  She began again with the negative attacks of my dad, accused me of being in denial about his condition for several years before his death.  It's almost like she has forgotten that I lived around them.  I talked to my dad on a regular basis during those years in question.  I know he was my dad.  I know we were close.  But I'm not stupid, just because he was my father.  I'm not in denial or anything like that. 

I know she had a hard time and not all of it was of her own making.  But I get so tired of being told how awful he was.  And I get tired of her constant attacks of his 'Jewish' character.  The things she attributes to his Jewish heritage are general human character traits, but if she didn't like it, it was because he was Jewish.  The things she always resented about my grandmother –his mom- are suddenly the result of her Jewish heritage. To her credit, she did say that I didn't have any trouble understanding the love and goodness of God because, unlike herself, I had a father who loved me and was good to me.  I have to remind myself that she is 95 and has made a habit of demeaning the men in her life.  I also loved my grandfather.  But then that's my struggle. 

The Bible says "Honor your father and mother."  Sometimes I want to ask "Which one?"  It would seem that to honor my mother, I would need to disregard and disrespect my father.  But to honor my father, contests, almost daily, the word and attitude of my mother.  I hope I can avoid doing that to others as I age.  I hope I have.

Maybe it is naïve, but I would rather remember my mother as a generous person who planned and hosted great family events of joy and music.  Though she lacked taste in the inner courts, she was the most amazing gardener.  I want to retain my memory of my father as a benevolent and kind man full of songs, stories and laughter.  He was a hard working man whose word what his bond.  

I recall that my grandfather could be a stern man, but he was a man of integrity and ingenuity.  He believed in hard work, thrift and manners, yet he loved as fiercely as he lived.  I am saddened that my mother only saw the fierceness and never the love.

There are things in life that we cannot avoid nor can we fix them.  That also saddens me, but it teaches me as well.  I hope I’m not too old or too stubborn to learn.

About Believing

John 6: 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

I found myself captured by the test.  How do we respond to tests.  In the next two chapters, there is much about testing  What was it that Jesus was testing?  I have decided that the greater part of the test concerned belief.  What did they believe about Jesus?  What did they believe about supply?  What did they believe about God?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for.  Faith is the evidence of things unseen.  What makes us capable of believing?  The book of Romans tells us that faith does not come from ourselves but is a gift from God.  The people ate the bread and they believed but only for the physical.  Jesus reprimanded them.  It was a test.  They failed.

So they asked, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

The miracle of the fish, the miracle of the wine, the miracle of healing a 38 year invalid should have caused them to look beyond the physical.  But they were not ready to do that.

37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

This should have ignited their hearts, but they were stuck on the bread.  Jesus told them that he was the bread and wine they needed.  He said they would have to eat and drink him.  They weren't into symbolism.

Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.
He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Jesus asked the 12 if they were going to go away also.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

So I have these questions before me.  What if God keeps trying to change the subject?  What if I don't like what I hear?  What if he speaks in storms and difficulty and joy and quiet and it doesn't sound like what I expect from God?  What if it doesn’t make me feel good and affirmed as a person?  Will I choose to trust?  Will I accept faith as a gift and choose to believe?  Will I give up my opinion to own Christ?

I believe that initial salvation is accomplished through faith by simply believing the simple offering of God in Christ.  But I also believe that day to day redemption of my life and mind is accomplished by faith but with much more struggle and complexity.  He has some hard things to say sometimes.  Do I set my jaw, remember my earthly heritage and turn my steps away?

But where can I go?  He has the words of life and I have come to believe, yes even to know that he is the Holy One of God.