As we open our Bibles to John 10:22, Jesus is walking in the winter, Hanukkah time, on the great porch of Herod’s Temple. It is incredible to find times in the Gospels that we can relate to.
Jesus was Teaching
John 10 in December
First, it was cold, and because of the weather, Jesus stayed on the eastern side of the Temple (John 10:22-23). This is the same place where the early church continued to meet (Acts 3:11; 5:12).
Second, it was during the month of December. Look at v. 22. This is the Jewish Feast of Dedication, more commonly called Hanukkah. This year, Jews celebrate Hanukkah, or the Feast of Lights, from December 9 to 16, remembering the re-consecration of the Temple after the desecration of the Holy of Holies in 170 BC by the Greek General Antiochus Epiphanes.
Finally, it was here that Jesus used the most enduring and comprehensive name for believers. In John 10, the term “sheep” is used 16 times (out of 40 times in all the New Testament and 21 times in John).
“My Sheep” is Christ’s
Powerful Term for Believers
When you think about it Jesus comes as the Lamb, He calls His Church His flock, He calls Himself the True and Good Shepherd, and He calls those who lead His Church in His stead: shepherds (that is the meaning of the Greek word poimen), and it is usually translated, pastor.
There is only one designation of Christ that fills the New Testament. We are His sons and daughters, and His disciples and servants, but the most integrated term, into the fabric of the early church, as we are sheep, Christ is our Shepherd, and those who guard Christ’s flock are shepherding, pastors.
Jesus calls us as believers more by one term in the Gospels “My Sheep” than any other term among those found outside the Gospels. My sheep is His description of us.
(TRU-26)
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