Three
chapters get to be so packed with good stuff, it’s so hard to choose what I
want to mediate on!! I’ll just share a
few things that stuck with me.
The Good Shepherd
Maybe it’s just the farm girl in
me, but I have always loved the Good Shepherd as a metaphor for God.
Jesus
says that the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and will follow Him. He
repeatedly talks about the good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep. In
v. 14-16, I think it is so sweet to see that Jesus talks about there being one
flock, one shepherd. God wants us all to be united in Him! And my pride doesn’t
like being called a sheep because they are pretty dumb…but I know it is true
(especially when we see how many times the disciples and bystanders just don’t
get it! Not that I would have gotten Jesus’ metaphors, but now that I know the
whole story, it’s like COME ON PEOPLE! How many ways does he have to say it??). He says we will know His voice and follow
it! So beautiful. I also just wanted to share these few verses—they
give me so much comfort. Especially in light of what we talked about last week.
I am so easily a doubting Thomas, but no matter what, no one can snatch me from
the Father!!
“I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the
Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (10:28-30)
Jesus Raises Lazarus from the dead
Okay this is just the coolest miracle.
My footnotes share that this miracle reveals that Jesus is the resurrection and
the life. I think this story is so raw and real. Even after hearing that Lazarus
is ill, Jesus decides to stay away for two more days! The commentary in my
Bible says that Jesus “allowed his friends to go through the sorrow and
hardship of the death and mourning of Lazarus because he loved them and wanted
them to witness and amazing demonstration of Jesus’ power over death…the Lord
does not always answer prayers as expected.” It’s clear here that Jesus knew
exactly what he was doing and knew exactly what was going to take place. So, Shannon
pointed this out to me and to our group I think just a little while ago: even
though it’s clear as day that Jesus knows Lazarus is going to be alive again, he
weeps with Mary and Martha. He is
with them in their pain—I had never read this story that way before, and I
think it is SO incredibly awesome. In two different places in this story, John
mentions how Jesus was “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” and in
11:38 “deeply moved again.” It gives me so much comfort to know that the Lord
is feeling my pain with me, even though He knows how sweet and good life is going to be in the end.
Mary Anointing Jesus
I love this. It gives me a picture
of how we are to approach Jesus. With humility and incredible devotion. I know that almost all of the time, this is
NOT how I choose to approach Him. More often than not I view Jesus as the one
who should serve me. The beauty is that I don’t deserve that (none of us do)
yet He serves all of us extraordinarily in His actions on the cross.
Final thoughts
In reading about how quickly these
crowds change their tune about Jesus, I can’t help but think that I am exactly like
that! Gosh, one minute I am praising God
for an “A” on a test, and the next I am shouting at Him for not getting into
the school I wanted to go to. I can turn on God so quickly. It’s difficult for
me to consistently view our Father as the Good shepherd, the light, the
resurrection. But it’s so sweet to realize that nothing can snatch me from Him.
The Good Shepherd chose us.
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