I Am the Good Shepherd

(…continues from part 2…)

3)            Have you ever wondered how Jesus could affirm the statement of John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep”? Calling Himself the Good Shepherd is an affirmation of His Deity. Israel has not more than one Shepherd. Jewish psalmody has His exhibition in Psalm 80:1 “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.” Who led Joseph safely to Egypt to ensure that Israel would be taken care of and multiply? It was Jehovah God. Who led Israel victoriously out of Egypt in an ireful Pharaoh chase? Jehovah did. Davidic acknowledgement is found in the most famous Psalm 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The Hebrew word for ‘LORD’ is yehôvâh (yeh-ho-vaw’): ‘Jehovah “the existing One”; the proper name of the one true God.’ Let us take a closer look at the John 10:11 words of Jesus. “I am the good shepherd:” begins with: ‘I am’: egō (eg-o’) eimi (i-mee’): ‘I exist’ which is the same as I AM THAT I AM, God’s name which He gave to Moses. I hear many people say, “Jesus never called Himself God.” The revelatory, dramatic scene of John 10:11 saw Jesus pointing at Himself saying, “This is the Self-existing good Shepherd.” Jehovah (I Am) has the definition of ‘One Who exists, by His own power,’ therefore, Jesus Christ did call Himself, “God.” Selah!

“Where is he that is born King of the Jews? We are come to worship him.”

                Matthew 2:2 “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Why worship a new born babe if the revelatory signs do not unveil the Deity from the third heaven; which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty? God revealed to the magicians the Incarnation of the Saviour of the world. They understood that this new born babe is the Messiah, the LORD God of the Bible. They understood that to the Incarnate Christ belonged the latria: to the Holy Babe they bowed in worship.

                John 3:13 “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” Nicodemus got further flabbergasted when Jesus intimated him with the words of the above verse. Quite abstruse this revelation of Him is. How could He, seated very close to Nicodemus, yet is seated in the throne room of heaven: quite abstruse. How else would one prove the facticity of the Divine ubiquity of Jesus? None can be present in more than one place. Omnipresence is the sole preserve of the LORD God, the Creator.

                John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” I need to explain this verse via the Greek understanding of the words ‘are’ and ‘one’. I have found out that Christians just read the Bible without proper studies of Scripture. Let me start with the conjunction ‘and’ which is kai (kahee): ‘also, even, indeed, but. Origin: apparently, a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force.’ The reason why I have to include the definition of ‘and’ is simply to teach the gross error of some teachers of the Bible who insist on Sabellian theological defect which insists that there is only one Person in the Godhead. Kai is an inference to distinction between the Father and the Son in the Godhead. The word ‘are’ is semen (es-men’): ‘First person plural indicative of eime (we are). Eime, when it is used for the Divinity speaks ofan existence outside of creationism. If Jesus used eime it means there are more than one Person in the Godhead. The next word, ‘one’ is an interesting heis (hice): ‘it is neuter: one, a, any, certain, essence.’ What Jesus intimated with them goes beyond the fact of having the same thoughts and intent as the Father; in paraphrasing, this is what He said, “I and the Father are of the same essence.” This is ponderous. The Christ is exactly as Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent as the Father in essence.

John 14:6

                John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Having been with His disciples for over two years, yet Thomas, speaking the mind of them,“saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way” (John 14:5)? Thomas asked for ‘way’ hodos (hod-os’): ‘a travelled way, road; a progress (the route, act or distance); (figuratively) a mode or means.’ The Lord said He is ‘the way’. By extension hodos is more than ‘a path of tread’, it also means, ‘lifestyle’. Hodos also means, ‘the lifestyle that, indeed, takes one to God.’ Without the involvement of Jesus, the bliss of heaven is absolutely impossible. The same Jesus is the ‘Truth’, alētheia (al-ay’-thi-a): ‘what is true in things appertaining to God; reality’. Jesus, undoubtedly, is the reality of the invisible God. Zoē is ‘the unending life of the LORD God.’ Jesus is all of the above, perfectly.

                Get born again by saying this simple prayer; believing it with all your heart:

 “Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”

(…to be continued…)

Read part two here

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