The Mending Ministry of John, Message 3

My Great Delight in God's Word

The Mending Ministry of John, Message 3

The Shepherding of Christ for the Church as the One Flock and the Father's House

The LORD is our Shepherd.

"¹ The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters." (Psalm 23:1-2 NKJV)

Psalm 23 is probably one of the best-known psalms. It has encouraged millions of believers and helped them through their difficult times. Inspired by this psalm, so many hymns have been written. I think numerous believers can even recite the whole chapter. I know one dear sister who could perfectly recite this psalm in 3 different languages. That is so impressive, is it not?
In this psalm, the picture of God as the Shepherd is clearly portrayed. He leads His people, His sheep, to the green pastures and the still waters in order to feed them with Himself as both the pastures and the waters. What a wonderful imagery that we are His sheep and shepherded by Yahweh the great Shepherd.
However, there are also 2 other analogies of God in these 2 verses. These 2 items are not referred to quite often, but by no means less important. God is not only our great Shepherd; He is also our Pasture and our Water. He is our true food and true drink, of which we eat and drink, and from which we receive abundant life supply.

Jesus is our Shepherd.

⁷ Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
⁸ All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:7-11 NKJV)

In John 10, the apostle John recorded the teaching of Christ explaining that He is actually the great Shepherd and the nourishing Pasture portrayed in Psalm 23. Christ is Yahweh (the LORD), who claims Himself as the Shepherd who takes care of us, and the Pasture from whom we receive the life supply. This great Shepherd loves His sheep so much that He gave up His soul-life (from Greek word psuche) on the cross (v. 11), so that He might become the spiritual life (from Greek word zoe) for His beloved sheep (v. 10). This zoe life has been given to us freely and abundantly. Furthermore, the Shepherd also leads us to Himself as the Pasture, so that we may enjoy Him, the only source of true joy, all the time.
Another metaphor that Jesus claimed Himself to be is the Door.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1 NKJV)

Jesus says that He is the Door through which God's people in the Old Testament came to His sheepfold, signifying Judaism as religion and law, which was the only way available to man before Christ to have fellowship with Him. That was God's grace. He opened a way for the sinful man to have an access to the holy God and enjoy the fellowship with Him.
However, I don't think being in a fold would be terribly comfortable. It brought much limitation to man, and that was not the ultimate plan of God for restoration of the relationship between God and man. Through the redemptive and life-giving works of Jesus Christ in His incarnation, human living, crucifixion and resurrection, this Door not only allows His people to come into the fold, but also let them get out from the fold and freely enjoy Him as the Pasture. Hallelujah for the Door that give us freedom to fully enjoy Him as the Pasture. We don't have to be in the fold any more. Even though God's law is perfect and we are to obey it, it is not the ultimate means whereby we can have fellowship with God. Praise the Lord that we have Christ as the Shepherd lead us through Himself as the Door so that we can enjoy being fed by Him with Himself as the Pasture. What a wonderful all-inclusive Christ we have!

We are called to shepherd others.

Christ not only claimed to be a good Shepherd, but also demonstrated Himself as the good Shepherd. And in John 21, He commissioned His sheep to be a good shepherd to other sheep too.

"He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonah,do you love Me?'
He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.'
He said to him, 'Tend My sheep.' " (John 21:16 NKJV)

Do you love Jesus? Then do what He asks you to do: to shepherd His sheep!
Shepherding is one of the biggest tasks for a local church to do. It is perhaps the most important thing we need to do in order to build up the Church, which is Christ's body and the house of God that will consummate at the New Jerusalem. Therefore the apostle John summed up the book of John as a P.S. in chapter 21 that we are to shepherd His sheep.
How can we do this? Everyone who has had a first-hand experience with Christ can do it. Brother Witness Lee gives us an instruction that before we can shepherd anyone, it is necessary that we first "seek Christ, experience Christ, gain Christ, enjoy Christ and participate in Christ." Only when we have the experience of being shepherded by Christ as our good Shepherd and fed by Him as the Pasture are we able to be a faithful and influential witness for Him. Then all we need to do are tell the people how wonderful Christ is in your life and invite them to come to Him. And whenever they taste Christ, they will see how good He is, put their trust on Him, and enjoy living a new life that they receive from Him. Would you like to express your love for Him by shepherding His beloved sheep today?

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: The Mending Ministry of John, week 3.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)