Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
We can learn a lot from shepherds. Stick around and I’ll tell you about the one I met in Germany.
Scripture
John 10:1-5
Jesus: I tell you the truth: the man who crawls through the fence of the sheep pen, rather than walking through the gate, is a thief or a vandal. The shepherd walks openly through the entrance. The guard who is posted to protect the sheep opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When all the sheep have been gathered, he walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice. The sheep would not be willing to follow a stranger; they run because they do not know the voice of a stranger.
Devotional
While living in Germany, we lived above some vineyards but also had some pretty good pasture land in the back of the house above those vineyards even though we lived in the suburbs of Wurzburg. A few times during our stay there, we had a shepherd visit those fields.
Weather beaten and aged
Two dogs to help care for the sheep
Carried everything he needed on his back and herded the sheep to open fields around the countryside ‘
Build makeshift pens at night with poles and rope
Laid his lean to across the entrance
Dogs were an important tool for the shepherd
Protected the sheep
Kept enemy away
Kept sheep herded into a common area
Listened to every command
Obeyed immediately
Sheep recognized the shepherd’s voice, too
Called and they would gather around him
Knew it was time to move on
Time to bed down
Time of safety or time of danger
Animals seem to learn so much faster than people sometimes
Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd
After watching that shepherd in Germany a few times I learned a lot about how shepherds interact with their sheep
Not always gentle, but always loving and with their best interests in mind
Not always the easiest path, but the path that will get them to the best pastures in the end
Not always the way that seems best to the sheep and He has to push and pull them sometimes with those dogs nipping at their heels until they sometimes bleed, but always taking the best care of them
They hear his voice and follow wherever he leads them
We could learn a lot from those sheep and the good shepherd
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I know you sometimes think I don’t understand what you’re going through because I’m God, way up in the heavens, maybe disconnected from your world. You sometimes think I can’t possibly understand the stress and strain of life where you live today. The crime, the economy, the poverty, the social pressure, all the things that make living for me so difficult.
That’s what the people around me said when I walked the dirt roads with them, too. My spirit reminded Luke of the story of My temptation to help you know I understand where you are in your life. Paul told you, too, that no temptation has or will come to you that I have not faced also. But I have a way to help you out of every temptation…before you fall. That’s what My Father did for Me while I walked the earth with you.
I felt the physical temptations you feel. Luke reminds you in the story of My temptation. Forty days is a long time without food. Satan knew when to tempt Me with food. He knew I could create bread from the stones. Later I would feed 5,000 men plus women and children with a few herring and rolls. Making bread of the stones to satisfy My hunger would not have been hard, but it would have given Satan authority over mankind’s physical discipline. I could not allow that and went hungry.
I felt the human temptations of power as I saw the kingdoms of the world stretched out before Me. I could have done as Satan asked and held the political scepter of the world, but this world is temporary and much more is at stake than a little power. After all, My Father allowed those leaders to take their positions in the first place. One day they will all bow their knee to Me.
I have felt your emotions. I have felt your pain. I have felt your desires. I know what you face every day. I came from Nazareth. The poorest of the poor. Remember Nathaniel’s comment? Nothing good came from Nazareth…well, almost nothing. My earthly father, Joseph, died when I was a teenager and I assumed the role of supporting Mary and My brothers and sisters in the home. I knew poverty. I knew the ridicule of being an “illegitimate” son. I heard all the jokes, the whispers in the background, the smirks and stories.
When you pray to Me, I listen. I understand. I know your needs. I’ve been there. Let Me help you. Just listen to what I tell you and follow Me.
Ready – Luke 4:1-30 Set – Genesis 9; Luke 4 Go! – Genesis 9-11; Luke 4
Luke 4:1-30
When Jesus returned from the Jordan River, He was full of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit led Him away from the cities and towns and out into the desert.
2 For 40 days, the Spirit led Him from place to place in the desert, and while there, the devil tempted Jesus. Jesus was fasting, eating nothing during this time, and at the end, He was terribly hungry. 3 At that point, the devil came to Him.
Devil: Since You’re the Son of God, You don’t need to be hungry. Just tell this stone to transform itself into bread.
Jesus: 4 It is written in the Hebrew Scriptures, “People need more than bread to live.”
5 Then the devil gave Jesus a vision. It was as if He traveled around the world in an instant and saw all the kingdoms of the world at once.
Devil: 6 All these kingdoms, all their glory, I’ll give to You. They’re mine to give because this whole world has been handed over to me. 7 If You just worship me, then everything You see will all be Yours. All Yours!
Jesus: 8 [Get out of My face, Satan!] The Hebrew Scriptures say, “Worship and serve the Eternal One your God—only Him—and nobody else.”
9 Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem, and he transported Jesus to stand upon the pinnacle of the temple.
Devil: Since You’re the Son of God, just jump. Just throw Yourself into the air. 10 You keep quoting the Hebrew Scriptures. They themselves say,
He will put His heavenly messengers in charge of You,
to keep You safe in every way.
11 And,
They will hold You up in their hands
so that You do not smash Your foot against a stone. Jesus: 12 Yes, but the Hebrew Scriptures also say, “You will not presume on God; you will not test the Lord, the one True God.”
13 The devil had no more temptations to offer that day, so he left Jesus, preparing to return at some other opportune time.
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit, and soon people across the region had heard news of Him. 15 He would regularly go into their synagogues and teach. His teaching earned Him the respect and admiration of everyone who heard Him.
16 He eventually came to His hometown, Nazareth, and did there what He had done elsewhere in Galilee—entered the synagogue and stood up to read from the Hebrew Scriptures.
17 The synagogue attendant gave Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and Jesus unrolled it to the place where Isaiah had written these words:
18 The Spirit of the Lord the Eternal One is on Me.
Why? Because the Eternal designated Me
to be His representative to the poor, to preach good news to them.
He sent Me to tell those who are held captive that they can now be set free,
and to tell the blind that they can now see.
He sent Me to liberate those held down by oppression.
19 In short, the Spirit is upon Me to proclaim that now is the time;
this is the jubilee season of the Eternal One’s grace.
20 Jesus rolled up the scroll and returned it to the synagogue attendant. Then He sat down, as a teacher would do, and all in the synagogue focused their attention on Jesus, waiting for Him to speak. 21 He told them that these words from the Hebrew Scriptures were being fulfilled then and there, in their hearing.
22 At first everyone was deeply impressed with the gracious words that poured from Jesus’ lips. Everyone spoke well of Him and was amazed that He could say these things.
Everyone: Wait. This is only the son of Joseph, right?
Jesus: 23 You’re about to quote the old proverb to Me, “Doctor, heal yourself!” Then you’re going to ask Me to prove Myself to you by doing the same miracles I did in Capernaum. 24 But face the truth: hometowns always reject their homegrown prophets.
25 Think back to the prophet Elijah. There were many needy Jewish widows in his homeland, Israel, when a terrible famine persisted there for three and a half years. 26 Yet the only widow God sent Elijah to help was an outsider from Zarephath in Sidon.
27 It was the same with the prophet Elisha. There were many Jewish lepers in his homeland, but the only one he healed—Naaman—was an outsider from Syria.
28 The people in the synagogue became furious when He said these things. 29 They seized Jesus, took Him to the edge of town, and pushed Him right to the edge of the cliff on which the city was built. They would have pushed Him off and killed Him, 30 but He passed through the crowd and went on His way.
