My servant David shall be prince over them,
and there shall be one shepherd for them all;
they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.
Jesus is the one Shepherd that unites his flock. We were scattered, separated and without unity. We were alone, isolated, hurting others and being hurt ourselves. There were many shepherds offering to lead us, but they led us selfishly for their own gain. In this condition of feeling abandoned we hear Jesus calling his sheep by name. We discover the one who truly knows us. We flock toward him and find good pastures.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD's blessings:
The grain, the wine, and the oil,
the sheep and the oxen.
We can trust him completely. He is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
But one of them, Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year, said to them,
"You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you
that one man should die instead of the people,
so that the whole nation may not perish."
He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
When we come to Jesus we discover new identities as children of God. Now we are free to truly love others without counting the cost. As Jesus follows the way of the Cross we see the example we should follow. We are free to give all that we are, knowing that God will sustain us, and finally to raise us up.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.
Jesus is the very presence of God among us. He is the temple, which though destroyed, is raised again in three days. He is the place where the nations gather to offer worship in Spirit and in truth to the Father. There are no longer divisions here. No more must there be divisions between one and another. There need no longer be any divisions between God and his people. This is why he is always calling us deeper. We haven't yet scratched the surface.
Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD,
who make Israel holy,
when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment