Had fun and told kids about Jesus at Club Tournesol on Sunday. Tuesday played piano for the funeral of a faithful member of our church, though it wasn't too sad since she was a Christian who left behind a heritage of faith and she had been ready to go home for a while. Also, the baby has been very active and feeling particulary heavy, which I think is normal for 29 weeks.
Week's Reflections:
This week my reflections are on the illustration of the Good Shepherd in John 10. Hundreds of years before Jesus walked the Earth as God incarnate, His human ancestor David, who had started out a shepherd, wrote about how God is a shepherd for his people in Psalm 23. Jesus takes this illustration again and relates it to Himself, showing once again that He is not only the predicted Messiah but that He is in fact God, and also the only way to God ("I am the gate." John 10:9)
Although the message I am preparing for the Youth Club will focus on John 11, I can't help keeping in the back of my mind Psalm 23 (In fact, I keep wanting to sing it, in french! "Le Seigneur est mon berger, rejouis-toi mon ame!") The King David, in his life and actions, was a "type" of messiah, an imperfect, human preview if you will, of what was to come. David was a shepherd, which prepared him to be a warrior, which prepared him to be King. He had nothing in particular to recommend him as King, he wasn't the firstborn or the strongest or the greatest. In fact, he had the heart of a musician and poet, and yet because of his faith he knocked down a giant and became a victorious leader in the army of Israel. It was God's good pleasure to go against human logic, to remove His Spirit from the rebellious King Saul, and place His anointing on this boy-shepherd.
Jesus came as a shepherd, perhaps not professionally speaking, but according to His calling and actions. Remember what He says to Peter at the end of the gospel of John: "Feed my sheep." (John 21:17) Like King David, He came first humbly and without glory or anything to recommend Him. He came to lead His flock, and then to die for them, so that they might "Have life and have it to the full." Many of the Jews did not accept Him because they were expecting a warrior, and He was a warrior, but not in human terms. He fought and vanquished the powers of sin and death. Now He is prepared, when the time is right and this period of grace has ended, to return as reigning King.
He is a Shepherd - a Warrior - a King.
