(Audio)
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
Jesus is the shepherd who leads us. When we follow him we aren't at risk of being stolen or destroyed by thieves.
I am the gate for the sheep.
Jesus is not only the truth spoken to us but he himself is also the way. In him we live and move and have our being (see Acts 17:28).
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left (see Isaiah 30:21).
Jesus makes this possible by his incarnation, by joining himself to humanity, and, while remaining a shepherd, becoming himself one of the sheep. The gate is precisely as wide as his own life. Remaining in him we come in and go out and find pasture.
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
Why did Jesus come? He came to seek and to save the lost. He came the we might have life. He wants to give us this abundant life not only in eternity but also here and now.
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
'John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
The Holy Spirit is the form this abundant life is meant to take. He is the evidence of life-giving repentance. He is the fulfillment of God's promise to baptize us with fire. It is not wrong to desire more of the Holy Spirit. The more we receive, in fact, the more we will desire. But since it is a desire that God delights to fulfill we need never go thirsty.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
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