"I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father."
This is a familiar parable using the similarity of shepherding (which was well known at that time) and Jesus as a Shepherd. (haha, that could be the most obvious sentence I've ever written!) But really, it's a good example for people like me. I could talk about why God is like a shepherd and I could talk about how I'm like a sheep. But really, what I appreciate most about these verses tonight is that they show how Jesus can communicate on our level.
Think about it. Jesus is God. Jesus is more vast than we can comprehend. We don't even know a fraction about God. I could study my whole life and never be satisfied. And this same God, this non-human all-knowing Being, chooses to communicate with us on our level. I'm glad that Jesus doesn't feel insulted when He has to use simple words, or that he doesn't get frustrated when He has to tell us the same thing over and over again. He's awesome and we'll never know just how awesome He is.
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