Gospel Gleanings

We have been studying the parables of Jesus in Wednesday night Bible study.  It is interesting that many of the same parables are contained in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the synoptic gospels, but John does not repeat them. However, he gives one that is not in the other books, the story of the True Shepherd.

Our pastor remarked that perhaps the reason the other parables were not included in John was that the illustrations explaining the kingdom of God had already been given three times. John's gospel was given much later, the first having been Mark, followed by Matthew and then Luke.

In this parable of the Good Shepherd, Jesus stresses that he is the door of the sheep (John 10:7). Verse 1 says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber."

I have read that in ancient Israel, makeshift corrals were often constructed in the fields of branches or brambles, or perhaps the sheep were herded into a cave for protection. There was no gate, but the shepherd himself would lie across the opening at night to guard his flock.  He became their door.

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."  I heard a story once about some explorers on an expedition through the jungle being led by a guide. At one point, the dense undergrowth obscured the path so badly they could no longer tell where they were going.  "How will we get out of here?" they cried, "We can't see the path!" The guide turned to them and said boldly, "I am the path!"

Up to this point, Jesus had concentrated his mission on "the lost sheep of Israel."  But in John 10:16, He brings a new element into His teachings when he said, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." He was thinking of us!  Just as the sheep knew the shepherd's voice, and he called each one by name, across the centuries He is calling our name, and we can know His voice!