I want to tackle a concept that Paul challenges us to measure, i.e. the love of Christ. How high, long, broad and deep is it? Who can measure it? Paul's point is that we will never wrap our arms around the love of Christ. In the story of the shepherd and the sheep in John 10 Jesus as shepherd is contrasted with the hireling. Zebedee was left in the boat with the hirelings when James and John left to follow Jesus. There is a big difference between the business owner and employees. The employees can put in their 40 hours a week and go home. The business owner never fully "goes home." He is always responsible for the business and has to see that it is maintained or no one has an income. This is a poor illustration of the difference between this shepherd and the hirelings. Jesus never "called it a day." Jesus defines the hireling as not being concerned for the sheep. Did he mean they don't care on some level? Of course, they must care to some degree or they wouldn't have a job for long. But, their interest is not a personal one. Of course, there are exceptions to this. There are employees whose loyalty to the employer and the job is so profound that you might not be able to tell the difference between one and the other. But this is rare. Who cares more about the children? The parents or the babysitters?
So what is the point? We must come to understand that no one has ever or will ever care for us like Jesus does. Just as a typical parent cares much more for their children than a babysitter does, so Jesus cares infinitely more for your children than you do. This is hard for us to admit. As parents I want to believe that no one could possibly love my kids more than I do. But, the love Jesus has for my children is so far more than anything I could even imagine. Let that sink in. No one, no one, no one will ever care about me as much as Jesus, the good shepherd does. His love is the purest and richest of any love we have ever known. We as humans simply do not have the capacity to love as He loves. In child welfare there is a phrase that is used called "parental capacity." It is a measurement of sorts to determine a parents ability to care for their own children. Some capacities are measured by the circumstances of life and others by factors like health and income. But, in every case no parent has absolute capacity to love their children. We cannot protect them from everything. We get tired. We get emotionally overloaded. We do not have all the resources we think we need to give our children all we think they need.
The test of capacity used in the text is that Jesus has the authority to lay down His life for the sheep. Can't a parent die for their children? Yes, and some have literally died. The difference between a parent who gives his life to save the life of his child is merely trading one quality of life for another. It is a fair swap. But, Jesus lays down His life not merely to save the life (physical and temporal) of the child but to save the eternal life of the child or the sheep. This is something no parent can do. The purity of sacrifice and motive that Jesus has can never be matched by any human being no matter how much they love another. We praise our troops and first responders for offering and giving their lives for others, but even that sacrifice is a weak illustration of the sacrifice of Jesus the good shepherd for His sheep. As I was journaling these thoughts I saw that day the very end of the movie Independence Day and the bravery of those who risked their lives to save the world. The ultimate hero of the story was the drunk played by Randy Quaid who had one missile left that wouldn't fire, knowing the only way to defeat the enemy from outer space was to fly his jet right into the entrance of the ship. He took one last glance at a picture of his family and with a grin on his face dealt the fatal blow. You can't watch scenes like that and not cheer. Now multiply that by at least 1000 and see Jesus on the cross for his sheep, for you.
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