“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one… I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (Jn. 10:10-11, 27-30, 11:25-26).
The Bible clearly teaches that death is an enemy: “For [Christ] must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25-26). But in the same passage it says that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the power and sting of death have been taken away, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:52-56).
So Scripture teaches that after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven He began to reign and He began putting all of His enemies beneath His feet, like a conquering King. And the last enemy that He will put down is death itself, and that will be put down at the final resurrection when the dead are raised incorruptible, when our corruptible bodies are transformed into immortal bodies, and then will finally be fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet foretold: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces” (Is. 25:8). Paul is also quoting from the prophet Hosea who promised, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hos. 13:14).
So outside of Christ, death is a terrible enemy, and the Bible says that it is the particular weapon of the Devil. This is why Jesus died: “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15). So the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But when Jesus Christ died on the Cross, He suffered the sting of death in our place, and He perfectly fulfilled the law’s demands. In the Cross, justice for our sins was fulfilled. And this is why Jesus said, “It is finished.” Justice was completed. In Romans 6 it says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, the Devil has the power of death only so long as justice demands our death. But when our sins have been paid for, the sting of death is removed.
In Revelation 1, when John met the risen Christ, Jesus said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:17-18). When Jesus died and rose from the dead, He became the Lord of the living and the dead. He conquered sin and death and the Devil, and He took the keys to death away from the Devil. In Ephesians it says that when Jesus ascended He took captivity captive. That included the captivity of death, the bondage of death. Jesus is the destruction of the grave. He tore a hole in Hades and began the great conquest of death for all who believe.
This is how Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life, unending and abundant. And He secured this by giving His life for His sheep. But Jesus adds two additional claims to assure us of our security and comfort in life and in death. He says that God the Father has given all of His sheep to Him, and His Father is greater than all. The thief cannot touch any of the sheep because the Father has given them to Jesus, and the Father is greater than all – greater than death, greater than the devil, greater than any thief. Secondly, Jesus says that no one is able to pluck them out of His hand. He actually says this with regard to the Father’s hand, and then He says it again with regard to His own hand. No one can pluck the sheep from the Father’s hand or from Christ’s hand. And you might naturally wonder, well, which hand is it, whose hand are we in? And Jesus answers that question very clearly: “I and my Father are one.”
If Jesus is merely a great teacher or a good man who became a god or like God, He may be very inspiring, but He cannot guarantee what He promises. He cannot guarantee our safety and security even through death itself. But if Jesus is one with the Father, then He is the Good Shepherd, and we know that we have been made right with the Father. Because they are one, they have one hand, and we are safe in His hand. We know our sins are forgiven. And we know that just as the Father raised Jesus from the dead, so too, He will raise Julie and all those who trust in Christ, and “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.”
Julie was a Christian woman who trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. She was claimed by God before the foundation of the world, and she was purchased by Her Savior at Calvary, in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. She was baptized and professed her faith in the Lord Jesus; she heard His voice. This means that He was her Good Shepherd. He held her firm in His grip all her days, and He brought her home to Himself in His great goodness and love. Death has not won. And death had no sting for her because Christ had paid for all her sins with His precious blood, and by that same blood she has been ushered into the very presence of the Father and she is guaranteed resurrection and eternal life.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Photo by Yoksel 🌿 Zok on Unsplash
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