This is God’s commandment, we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. 1 John 3:23-24
Reading. Acts 4:5-12 Luke writes the book of Acts to tell his contemporary world about Christianity and the action of the church. From this story we see that almost immediately those who preached and taught would often find themselves in trouble with the authorities. It is not so much the secular authorities who are first objecting but the religious leaders and the person charged with keeping order in the temple. It is religious leaders who find Peter and John worthy of being arrested. One of the reasons for the arrest would have been the fear that too loud and excited a crowd within the Temple precinct could have resulted in the temple guard being called. If the crowd became too unruly Roman soldiers might have entered to temple to attend to the crowd but their presence would have created a greater possibility of a full scale riot. Therefore the excited crowd gathering around Peter and John would have been a great source of anxiety for the temple authorities. Equally the crowd who gathered around the Apostles would have threatened the power and authority of the religious leaders. The High Priest and his cohort were the ones who had the religious training to teach and so when two untrained nobodies had the temerity to presume to teach this would have caused great annoyance. Furthermore it seems that these “nobodies” had drawn a larger crowd than did the teaching of the authorised Leaders. Luke’s story emphasises that it is power that is at the forefront of their objections for the officials ask, “By what power or name”, do you present this teaching. The response of Peter would have been hard for the religious leaders to hear. It brought a stern response. Jesus had warned his disciples that they would experience strong opposition when they continued the ministry he had begun. The arrest gave Peter and John the opportunity to witness to the key leaders about the ongoing power of Jesus. Luke is reminding everyone, from highest to lowest that the work of Jesus is still ongoing in the world. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”Acts 4:12 NRSV
Prayer. Gracious God. We thank you for the power of your word to touch hearts and change lives. We thank you for the presence of your Spirit giving to your people the confidence to speak out in your name; and we thank you for the many ambassadors who have risked all in order to lift high the Name of Jesus. As we think of our reading today, we pray for those many people who even today are abused and imprisoned because of their faith in you. We pray for those who across our world are persecuted for belonging to Jesus Christ. Still we praise you that despite the persecution your word and your work goes on in the world and we look forward to that day, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. In our own situations may we be bold enough to live and speak in honour of you, who lives and reigns ever one God, now and forever. Amen
Reading. John 10:11-18 Some time ago an article written about Jesus the Good Shepherd said something like: “If we want to grasp the meaning of Jesus as the shepherd we must get rid of the idea that to be following Jesus the shepherd allows us to bleat like a gentle lambkin. They are strong words and yet it is important to see that the title of “Good Shepherd” is not simply a romantic notion.
The title of Shepherd reaches back into Israel’s history when they were nomadic tribes. In that situation the shepherd’s task of keeping the flocks together was both important and difficult. It was shepherding skills that gave the young soon to be king David, the ability to kill Goliath. The shepherd kept the flock together and also kept it from harm. As such Jesus has come to gather God’s flock and then lead and defend the flock. The Good Shepherd leads the flock to the pastures of salvation there they have the opportunity to feed and be rested, healed and grow. To have Jesus as shepherd is to have peace, and life! All of that rests on the headship of the Shepherd. To be under the headship of the shepherd is to find our proper place in life, and gain a true understanding of who and whose we are.
That is all well understood but within that we need to also understand that a biblical/eastern image of a shepherd is quite different from our understanding. Here we drive our sheep, herding them together with dogs or utes. That is not the picture in the minds of either the psalmists or the New Testament writers. The shepherd walked ahead calling to the sheep of his flock. The sheep followed. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:4
Calling them by name is not a romantic understanding it is a matter of obedience. So the flip side of having Jesus as shepherd is the response of obedience. Only then do we know our rightful place in life.
Prayer. Lord, you are the Great Shepherd of the sheep. We thank you for your faithfulness to all generations. Your love and care is beyond our expectation. In all the situations of life you are there to help and guide. By your grace, keep us ever faithful to you: always following in your ways and obedient to your guidance. By your Spirit renew in us a strong desire to maintain that unity which is your plan and purpose for all of your family. May we be faithful and always play our part, looking always to Jesus our Saviour and Lord. This we ask in his most precious name. Amen
Collect. O God, Creator and Father, you show the risen Lord resplendent in glory whenever healing is bestowed in his name upon the infirmity of our human condition. Gather your scattered children into the unity of one family, so that, following closely after Christ our good shepherd, we may taste the joy of being your children. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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