The Bible describes Christ in many different ways. Dozens of times in 19 books from Genesis to Revelation God uses imagery related to sheep and shepherding to explain his relationship with his people. We have already seen Jesus as the Chief Shepherd and we will see more of these images later, but in John 10 almost the entire chapter revolves around sheep. 

In John 10 Jesus describes a sheep fold and how it is protected. Of course there is a wall or fence around most of it with only one entrance. At the entrance there is a gate or door that can be opened and closed for the sheep to go in and out. Jesus describes himself as that door or gate. There is also a gatekeeper that seems to simply be mentioned to complete the story. 

Jesus explains that the sheep and shepherd only go in and out at the door and anyone who is trying to get in some other way is a thief. Since Jesus is the door anyone who wants to be one of God’s sheep has to come in through him. In his day there were many who didn’t want to come through him and many false shepherds were trying to steal or destroy God’s sheep. 

We need to remain in the sheepfold where Jesus is our door and he can protect us from those who would do us harm. In verse 9 he says, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Salvation is only available by going through the one door, Jesus Christ. There are many who want to try to be saved in other ways, but Jesus makes it clear that salvation is exclusive to him and none others can offer it. He is not just a door, he is THE door. There is no other.

Have you come to God and been saved by going through Jesus Christ? Are you remaining in God’s fold protected by Jesus, the door?

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There is a story about a boy who saw a man parking his brand new expensive car. The boy asked about it and found out it had been a gift from the man’s brother. The boy said, “I wish...” (You know what came next don’t you? Or do you?) “I wish I could be a brother like that.” Read the rest of the story at http://www.chickensoup.com/book-story/36169/a-brother-like-that. Of course we have a brother like that, Jesus has done far more than give us a car. 

And Jesus left us an example so we could be brothers (and sisters) like that as well. Jesus gave us so much, and all he expects in return is for us to do God’s will. Mark 3:34-35  And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  35  For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Younger children usually either are jealous of an older sibling, or want to be just like them in every way possible. What a great older brother we have in Jesus. The question is which will we do? Are we jealous of him because he is perfect? Do we envy him because he is better known? Do we want to be just like him? I hope that we all want to be like him. He always did what the Father wanted him to do (John 8:29). He gave until there was nothing more he could give us.

We can be siblings like Jesus. We can give ourselves to our brothers and sisters and devote ourselves to doing God’s will. We will not always live up to the standards our big brother did, but we can keep trying. 

Think about the things our brother, Christ, has done for us. How have we responded to him? Won’t you decide today that you want to be a brother like that and make whatever changes you need to make to love Christ and love your brethren like he loves you? 

John 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

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While there are some who are gluten intolerant and can’t eat regular bread, most of us love bread, probably too much. We eat sandwiches, have rolls, biscuits, flat breads, cornbread, etc. Most of us have some kind of bread every day and some have it at every meal, but we could live without it and probably be healthier. In Jesus’ day that was not the case. They didn’t have the same access to fruits and vegetables and meats that we have today. For some in the Bible bread was literally what kept them alive. That’s why Jesus telling Satan that man does not live by bread alone was a significant statement.

In John 6 some amazing things happen and some amazing teaching takes place. Jesus feeds the 5,000 and walks on water. The people try to make him a king and follow him around the Sea of Galilee. So, they have just eaten miraculously produced bread and now he is teaching them about true bread. They talk a little about the manna in the wilderness and then in John 6:35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus says that the manna was only a foreshadow of him and that he is the real bread from Heaven.

People lived on bread and water and not much else sometimes in those days and Jesus wants them to understand that spiritually he will be the thing that sustains them in their hunger and thirst. He wants us to know that as well. Are we coming to Jesus so we will never hunger or are we eating all the spiritual junk food out there in the religious world? Are we believing in him so we will never thirst or are we trying to quench our thirst with other things? The good news is that Jesus is bread that brings and sustains us and that all can partake of. Let’s be sure we never become Jesus intolerant.

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The story is told of two children talking about their mommies and how they became part of their families. The first told about how she grew in a special part of her mommy’s tummy before she was born. The other little girl, who had been adopted, replied that she had not grown in her mommy’s tummy, but had grown in her heart. Of course we want all children to grow in their parents’ hearts, how important for us as Christians that we grew in our Heavenly Father’s heart before we were adopted into His family.

The Bible makes it clear Christ has made it possible for us to be part of the family of God. In other words, He took care of all the things that would have stopped it from happening. In essence, he was the adoption agent who brought us together and cut through all of the red tape so that we could be adopted by our Heavenly Father. John 1:12-13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,  13  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Galatians 4:5-6 shows us that the reason Jesus came as He did born of a woman, born under the law was to redeem us from being under the law so we could be adopted as sons (daughters too, but in the Greek masculine is used of a group containing male and female).

Romans 8:15 explains that we have received the Spirit of Adoption which allows us to call God - Abba, Father. Abba is their equivalent to our da-da it was the first word a child would speak to recognize a father. 

Ephesians 1:5 helps us understand that it was God’s will long ago for us to be adopted through Jesus Christ. His purpose predestinated it. 

​Finally, Romans 8:23 reveals that the ultimate enjoyment of our adoption will come when our hopes are realized and we go home eternally. Are you a child of God? Have you been adopted into His family through Jesus Christ? Are you living in hope of what a heavenly home will be like.

​JP