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Yeshua the Good Shepherd
(Ps23; Jn10:11-18)

God is good (2Ch7:3).
Through His sacrifice He opens a good way and
For His name’s sake He leads to the path of righteousness (Ps23:3).

Faith is knowing who the Shepherd of my soul is and
The life of this faith is being led and watched over by Him satisfyingly (Ps23) and following His way even if it is difficult.

The sheep and the shepherd are distinct from each other but have an indivisible relationship.
The sheep is a herbivore with an acute sense of hearing so
It only listens to its shepherd and follows him to survive.
Consequently, the fate of a sheep is determined by which shepherd it meets.

All mankind became lost (Ge4:14) since
Their ancestor Adam did not listen to the voice of God but listened to the devil (Ge2:17. 3:4-6).
Abram heard the voice of God and followed,
Leaving everything behind though not knowing where he was going (Ge12:1-4; He11:8) and
His offspring became nomads (Ge47:3).
While tending sheep, Moses heard the voice of God (Ex3:1,4) and
He led the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt.

Called to be a kingdom of priests (Ex19:6) with no inheritance of land (Eze44:28),
The people of Israel were led to the Red Sea and the wilderness (Ex13:18),
By a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire (Ex13:21), and by the ark (Nu10:33).
All those who grumbled against God and Moses (Nu21:5) and
Chose a leader to go back to Egypt (Nu14:4) fell on their faces in the desert and died.

The sanctuary reminded them that
Jehovah (Roi Yahweh) was the Shepherd of Israel (Ps23:1, 80:1) who
1) Led them out of Egypt and made them His people (Dt4:20);
2) Led them through the vast and dreadful wilderness for 40 years (Dt8:15-16, 29:5); and
3) Drove out nations greater and stronger and led them into the Promised Land (Dt4:38).

Yet because they listened to the words of the false prophets (Jer23:1-2)
Their downfall was inevitable and they became lost sheep (Jer50:6).

According to the prophecy, He who will shepherd God’s people came (Mi5:4; Mt2:6), Yeshua,
He said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,” because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body (Jn2:19-22),
He would become the Shepherd who leads not only Israel but all mankind
Not in the name Jehovah but in the Father’s name Yeshua (Jn5:43),
To the eternal path of life (Is49:10; Jn10:9-11).
For that, God became man (Mt20:28; Jn1:1, 14) and
He was passed over to death by the blind guides (Mt23:16-17).

His flesh tore like a veil and He died but He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), declaring that He:
1) Committed His spirit to the Father (Lk23:46) who for His name’s sake led the Son to the path
of death and life, for He is truly the good Shepherd (Ps23:3; Jn10:18);
2) Judged the devil the false guide who stole, destroyed and killed souls (Ge3:4-6; 1Jn3:8); and
3) Tore down the wall of sin and opened the new and living way before all men (He10:19-20), the gate for the sheep (Jn10:7).

God pulled the Chief Shepherd out of death and
Led Him to the heavenly throne, to the river of water of life (He13:20; Rev7:17, 22:1-3).

The Holy Spirit who came in the name Yeshua
Leads the souls born-again in His blood to the path of righteousness and
Brings into the sheep pen, the Church (Jn10:16; 1Pe2:25) where
They are overseen and protected from the savage wolves (Ac20:28-31).

The Christian is he who was
Once lost sheep going astray but now has returned to the Shepherd of his soul (1Pe2:25).
Because he is a sheep he listens to the voice of the overseer of the church (Jn10:14-16).
He goes out to seek souls who are still lost and leads them into the sheep pen (Jn10:16), and
Protects and nurtures the souls entrusted to him (1Pe5:2).
At times on a smooth path, while at other times on a rough road (Ps23:4; Is40:11)
He strives to follow to the end
Passing through the valley of the shadow of death and
Waits for the Chief Shepherd to appear and
Finally be led to the river of the water of life (1Pe5:4; Rev7:17).

O Lord,
For we are foolish we still tend to go our way and get lost…
So even if You have to strike us with Your rod
Lead us and never leave us!
Even if this path is difficult, we will follow You to death.
Let us seek souls with the heart of the good Shepherd! Amen.