Saturday, March 14, 2026 

Opening Scripture

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20

Opening Prayer

Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, our Lord, to live and die on our behalf. Thank you for the gift of salvation and the forgiveness of sin through faith in His sacrifice. Help me to live fully this day in the security of knowing that Jesus is my Good Shepherd. In His name I pray. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

John 10:1-42

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Reflection  

In today’s passage, Jesus picks right up where He left off at the end of Chapter 9, rebuking the religious leaders for their spiritual blindness and pathetic shepherding of God’s people.

Time has passed, and the Jews are now preparing for the Feast of Dedication, aka: the Festival of Lights – Hanukkah. It’s a winter holiday celebrating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC, after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It remembers the miracle of one day’s oil lasting eight days and the victory of light over darkness.

The shepherding profession was well-known throughout the Middle East. Many heroes of the Old Testament were shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. Everyone understood how that industry worked, so Jesus’ illustration was clear to them. But the Pharisees failed to make the personal application or the connection between what Jesus was saying and their own failure as shepherds.

So, Jesus offers the third “I AM” saying: “I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters through me will be saved.” This imagery is echoed later when Jesus declares, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Then Jesus offers His fourth “I AM” saying: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus explains that, as the Good Shepherd, He has an intimate relationship with His sheep. They know His voice and they come to Him. He protects them from harm and ultimately lays down His life for them. “They follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”  What a powerful promise!

Jesus makes another statement that the religious leaders clearly did not pick up on. He explained that the reason they didn’t understand Him is because they aren’t His sheep. However, He has other sheep (non-Jews) who will listen to His voice. They will be brought into the pen, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd.

Finally, for good measure, Jesus emphatically states: “I and the Father are one.” The Pharisees were confused about most of what Jesus said, but they understood His claim to be God and were predictably outraged. Again, they tried to subdue Him, but it still wasn’t time.

Flourishing Habit

Close Social Relationships

Just like first-century Israel, people today are confused about who Jesus is. Many imagine Him to have been a popular religious leader, a spiritual teacher, a prophet, or at least a good man. He may or may not have done the miracles attributed to Him, but He certainly convinced a lot of people to follow Him.

Jesus rejects all of that! In today’s passage, He once again makes a clear claim to divinity: “I and the Father are one.” Jesus insistently left no room for confusion about His identity or His mission.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The truth that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world is meant to be embraced in the depth of our being and shared in the breadth of our relationships.

How is that reality changing your life? Who are you telling?

Remember: Nothing changes until something changes!