One of the most profound lines from the song ‘How deep the father’s love’ is “why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer but this I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom”. I find it to be profound because indeed we cannot fully grasp the reason behind the mercy of God and His love towards sinners like us. What’s more, Jesus’ death on the cross gives us more than we can think or imagine. In addition to all the spiritual blessings that are now ours as stipulated in Ephesians 1, another benefit we get is the relationship with the Father that is restored and that we get to enjoy through the relationship with the Son in the Holy Spirit. As I was reading the book of John, I could not help but see the depth of the relationship between the Father and the Son. How they operate and how intimate they are with each other. This same relationship is what Jesus offers his sheep as the good shepherd. What Jesus enjoys from his relationship with His Father, he replicates in his relationship with us, his sheep. In today’s post, I want us to look at two characteristics that we see in the relationship between the Son and the Father that we also see in the relationship between the good shepherd and his sheep. They are strong intimacy and trust.
The first characteristic that we see in the relationship between the Father and the Son that is also present in the relationship between Jesus and his sheep is strong intimacy. In John 10, Jesus says “I know my sheep and my sheep know me (John 10:11)”. He continues with saying that his sheep do not follow any other voice but his. The same idea is found in the relationship with the Father where we see that Jesus declares to be from the Father and knowing the Father. He tells the Pharisees repeatedly that he is from above: “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me” (John 7:28-29). Moreover, part of this knowledge of the Father includes knowing the Father’s plans and will. Jesus said in other chapters of John that the Father told him of his plans, that way he the Son is always in the know. There is nothing that the Son does without the approval of the Father or without His consent. Whatever the Father plans to do He tells the Son as well. The Father and the Son work very well together. This is similar to what we see in the intimacy Jesus, the good shepherd has with the sheep. They know him and he knows them. They know him so well that they can tell when there is a stranger around. What’s striking is that the sheep will not go with a stranger, they will only go with Jesus. The deep intimacy that the sheep has with the good shepherd protects the sheep from wandering and going after thieves and robbers – those who do not enter through the gates, those who are hired hands and care nothing for the wellbeing of the sheep (see John 10). How does the sheep build this strong intimacy with the good shepherd? I believe it is by being in the presence of the good shepherd all the time and by following his ways. The more the sheep stays with the good shepherd, the more they get acquainted with his ways of shepherding, his ways of caring for them and eventually they get him fully. I love how the good shepherd is also vulnerable to the sheep, letting the sheep know him plainly, he is not trying to be something he is not, no, the good shepherd is true to his words and true to himself. Again, the same attitude is found in the relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father does not hide his face from the Son. The Son, being close to the Father is able to know what the Father likes and dislikes because the Son is constantly trying to please the Father and we know he pleases the Father perfectly as the Father Himself had declared it in Matthew 17:5 which reads “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”. God in His goodness, wanted us to have a taste of the relationship He had with His Son and so He gave us Jesus with whom we can experience that.
The second characteristic we see in the relationship between the Father and the Son that is also displayed in the relationship between the good shepherd and the sheep is the trust between each party. Trust is a key component of any relation so it is not surprising that we find this characteristics in the relationship between the Father and the Son. There is not one demand of the Father that is not met by the Son, the Son has full confidence in his Father and he trusts Him completely. Therefore, we see the Son always obeying the Father’s instructions. Moreover, even when the Son does not know what will come next, he simply trusts the Father with the best of outcome (Mark 10:40). The same is found in the relationship between the good shepherd and his sheep. The sheep trust the good shepherd completely. The sheep do not care where the shepherd takes them. They just know they will lack no good thing in the presence of the good shepherd (Psalm 34:10). Moreover, because of their trust in Jesus the good shepherd, the sheep gets to enjoy life and that abundantly. This is one benefit of having Jesus as a shepherd, he gives life abundantly (John 10:10). Furthermore, the trust that exists between the sheep and the good shepherd is also evident in the fact that the good shepherd promised to not lose any one the Father gives him which means, when Jesus is your shepherd, you can be assured of your salvation and your status with God (John 10:28). Eternal life is the portion of all those who trust in Jesus as the good shepherd. Like the Scriptures say, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive you any unrighteousness you have committed when you confess your sins (1 John 1:9). But to be able to confess your sins, you need to believe that Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. You need to trust that Jesus has the authority like he said to lay down his life and to take it up again (John 10:18), you need to believe that he is able to do all that he said he would do. Jesus wants us to have full confidence in him, just as he has full confidence in the Father.
The love of God, as the hymns reminds us is rich and pure, measureless and strong, it shall forever more endure. It is this love that made it possible for sinners like us to receive eternal life in Christ Jesus. We were dead in our sins as Paul reminds us in the book of Ephesians but God made us alive in Christ through his sacrifice on the cross when he took away the punishment we deserved and gave us his righteousness. Now we can enjoy the presence of God, which we could not do in the past. Now we can say no to unrighteousness, we can say no to sin and the desires of the flesh, now we have a choice! We were once slaves to sin but now we are free to live righteousness! It is quite amazing to think that before Christ came into our lives, those of us who have believed on him were slaves to sin. We did not even know we were slaves since we were dead. But God in His love and mercy came to rescue us and to mend what was broken in our relationship. I pray to never get used to the wonder of this great God I serve. I pray you too never get used to this gospel and I pray we get a newer and deeper understanding of this good news every time we read it or hear it. Amen.
A Word Aptly Spoken 