The Good Shepherd

We hope you all had a good week. Last week we soft-launched a new series called: I AM: Who Jesus is and what He came to do. There are several of these cryptic “I am” statements scattered all through the gospel of John. Jesus used these metaphor filled statements to describe Himself, His relationship with God, and the nature of His relationship with the world.

Now, the significance of His declarations reaches all the way back to Exodus 3 in the Old Testament. Here we find the story of God appearing to Moses and choosing him to be the one who leads the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. When Moses asks God who shall he say is sending him, the Lord replies with, “I AM WHO I AM… I AM has sent me to you.”

So when Jesus makes these statements, “I am the light of the world, I am the true vine, I am the bread of life, etc”, He is equating Himself with God, saying that He and the Father are One. And because the Israelites would have been very familiar with the story of Moses, these statements would have had a dramatic impact on them. For some, it would be revelatory, for others it would have been blasphemous.

We, as a church and a community, are still very much struggling with the passing of our dear Pastor and friend, Jeff Fuson. And so we felt that perhaps the best and most helpful thing for us as we grieve and strive to move forward is to stick close to the gospels and the words of Jesus. Today we are going to look at two of Jesus’s “I AM” statements: I am the Door of the sheep and I am the Good Shepherd. We hope that it is helpful and hopeful for you!