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SCRIPTURE READINGS

ACTS 9:36-43
REVELATION 7:9-17
JOHN 10:22-30

“Sheep and Shepherd” is the theme for our reflection. A shepherd is a person who herds, tends, and guards the sheep. A shepherd also refers to a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people. In all situations, the shepherd is primarily a leader and a caregiver. Our relationship with Jesus is likened to a Shepherd and His Sheep. Jesus is our shepherd and we are His sheep. Jesus Christ, our shepherd cares for His sheep in the following ways:

1. He has a personal relationship with His sheep.
2. He delivers His sheep from the power of sickness and death.
3. He guarantees eternal life, peace, joy and safety of His sheep.

Firstly, beloved in the Lord, a shepherd demonstrates His love for His sheep by having a personal relationship with them. We are able to call Jesus Christ, our Shepherd because we have a personal relationship with Him as our Lord, sustainer and caregiver. To prove that Jesus Christ, our Shepherd has a personal relationship with us, He said in John 10:27 that “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Dear friend, the only way Jesus can be your shepherd is when you have developed a personal relationship with Him through the hearing of His voice. His voice comes to us through the Gospel. Our obedience of His voice will mean that we are truly following Jesus Christ as our shepherd. Beloved in the Lord, is the Gospel, which is the voice of Christ Jesus central to you faith? Do you follow Jesus by obeying His Word? You cannot have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus our shepherd if your heart is hardened with sin and disobedience to God’s will. It is important to note that a sheep which does not hear the voice of the shepherd and follow His direction will get lost in the wilderness and become vulnerable to predators. The choice is yours today to develop a personal relationship with Jesus by hearing His voice and following Him through the obedience of His Word.

Secondly, It is always the shepherd’s mission to keep the sheep safe, in our case, Christ Jesus has given us victory over sickness and death as our shepherd. We are told in Act 9:36-43 that a committed and benevolent believer known as Dorcas or Tabitha fell sick and died. Indeed her death was a great loss since some widows were beneficiaries of her ministry. To prove that Jesus is truly our shepherd He enabeled Peter through the power of the Holy spirit to resurrect her. All Peter had to do through faith is to say “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord (Acts 9:40-42) When you have faith in Christ Jesus, our Shepherd, He will resurrect your dead situation and revive anything which is at the verge of dying in your life. David’s testimony gives us a great encouragement when he wrote that “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalms 23:4-6). If it is not yet your time to die, Christ Jesus, our shephered will protect and sustain our lives to fulfill our calling to the end. We must not be like the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 who departed from the father’s presence and was met with hardship. Let us continue to be under the guidance and care of Christ Jesus, our Shepherd so that we shall continue to have dominion over sickness and death through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, Christ Jesus, our Shepherd does not only intend to protect us on this earth from sickness and death but He has a salvation plan of guaranteeing His sheep’s eternal life, peace, joy and safety. This fact is made unequivocally clear when Jesus said that “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30). We are again assured through John’s revelation that after the great tribulation of God’s people or the sheep, Christ Jesus, our Shepherd will save them, “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:15-17) Human benefactors can only give us that which is ephemeral but Christ Jesus, our Shepherd gives us that which is both ephemeral and eternal. We are invited to accept the gift of salvation which is eternal and can only be found in Christ Jesus, our salvation by those who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)

In summary Jesus Christ remains our shepherd because He has a personal relationship with us, He delivers us from sickness and death and above all guarantees us eternal life of peace, joy and safety. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to remain faithful to Christ Jesus, our Shepherd even as we await His final appearing where He shall gather His sheep into the everlasting sheepfold.