The Pharisees corner Jesus on His thoughts about their spiritual condition. “Do you think we’re blind?” Jesus turns the table on them in His response. “No you are not blind. You hang onto your sight.” (John 9:40-41) It was their pride and the self-righteousness that kept them from seeing Jesus as the Messiah. In sin, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened (Genesis 3:7) and innocence was lost. The Pharisees were in the same state. It was all about what they themselves brought to the table. I heard a great quote last night from Adrian Rogers, “Holiness is not the way to Christ, but Christ is the way to holiness.” Thus Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who are spiritually bankrupt, for the kingdom of heaven is in their reach.” (Matthew 5:3). It’s when we realize that we are spiritually blind and bring nothing to the table that we can accept God’s gracious gift and find true life in Christ.
Jesus continues the discourse by presenting the Pharisees as bad shepherds of God’s people. He begins “Truly, truly.” (John 10:1) In the Greek, the word is “amen”. He begins, “Amen, amen.” We usually end our prayers with this word, not begin our sermons with it. When we say “Amen” we acknowledge our agreement, “That’s right, that’s truth.” Jesus alone uses this word to begin a sentence in the New Testament. I like the rendition, “I Who am Truth, tell you this truth . . .”
As He frequently does, Jesus uses an object lesson to illustrate truth. The object this time is a sheepfold. Perhaps there was one within viewing distance, but all would be familiar with a sheepfold in that culture and day. We are not so accustomed. The object one might use here in Arizona is a corral. Sheepfolds were enclosures where the sheep would spend the night in relative safety. Here’s some images . . . continue reading…
