Showing posts with label shepherd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shepherd. Show all posts

23/12/2020

#Merry #Christmas to you all!

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a #virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was #Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the #Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father #David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the #Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 2 
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.


8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 🎵🎹🎺🎻
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

13/11/2020

Jesus says: I am the Gate & the Good Shepherd


John 10:1-21 - I am the Gate & the Good Shepherd Part 1


  


After the technical glitch, here is part 2!

03/05/2020

Jesus-Christ, our shepherd!



1. The Shepherd and the Sheep



With the Good Shepherd passage ringing in our ears we may also be scratching our heads thinking 'that's a bit fishy, or rather woolly, as it doesn't sound quite right with our usual understanding of sheep. A shepherd may think something else but often we consider sheep to be rather silly creatures and that doesn't quite match the picture in John 10.

Remember - the sheep in the passage are middle eastern and somewhat different to those we are more familiar with and I speak as a Brit!

Back then - no enclosed fields, completely different breeds and unlike ours they are not driven but led and will wander along behind the shepherd and only now and again, wander off! I remember being on a beach in N Africa and a shepherd with his flock all happily wandering along.

Sheep were often named and at night they might well be in a small enclosure and again, sometimes, the shepherd would sleep across the entrance so he was effectively the gate as well as the shepherd!

2. The Shepherd and the Leaders

There are 62 references to shepherd and 60 to shepherds in the Bible and the majority of them are to do with the Lord or the leaders of the people!

Leaders in terms of: the king and his associates from Saul onwards, and also, the Priests in the Old Testament and, them and the Pharisees and other religious leaders in New Testament times.

The very first reference to shepherd is in relation to God in Genesis 48.

Biblically Shepherd is a huge and significant picture and this morning we have read two important OT passages on this theme:

Psalm 23 - The Lord's my shepherd
Ezekiel 34 where God castigates the leaders for gross dereliction of duty and care for the people & there is a parallel passages in Jeremiah

But in Ezekiel 34 we hear that The Lord will, once again, one day, take the role of the shepherd of His people.

3. The Shepherd and Jesus

When Jesus stands there with the Pharisees listening along with the rest of the crowd, and declares in John 10:11 that he is The Good Shepherd, he isn't picking up a quaint and familiar notion about shepherds and sheep, although he is doing that, he is drawing on a then 2000 year old theme involving God and his people.
He is declaring that this is who he is, the Good Shepherd, the rightful leader of the people of God and, the Lord himself.
Every time he says 'I am' it is emphatic: I, I am . . .

Let's consider briefly the following ideas from the passage in John 10:

- I am the gate - the only way into the fold and as such am also guardian of my flock
- The rest are false and charlatans, thieves and robbers - they are up to no good
- I know my sheep, they know me, I know there names, they hear me and follow my voice - it is a relationship
- They will not follow a stranger but run away - to be in Christ and be indwelt by the Holy Spirit is the best place to be - flee anything else
- I have come so you can have life to the full, actually, overflowing - this is what the shepherd and guardian of our lives wants for us, life that overflows with good things.
- Jesus, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep and it becomes more powerful a few verses later on in John 10:18 where he says of his life:

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up againHis death is sacrificed for us and taken up, again, for us!

4. The Shepherd and us 

Before the final and direct considerations I want to raise a link to something key in scripture, and not least the teaching of Jesus' which we have been considering, the Kingdom of God and the Kingship of Jesus. It lies under and alongside much we have thought about his morning and has bubbled up. Reflect on the lines of: the Shepherd King and the sheep that form the flock and the Kingdom.

Going more directly to this morning's theme, consider:

- How we, you and I relate to the Shepherd? Do we drop our levels of independence to depend more on him?
- How He provides for our every need - this governs our view and outlook on life and our lives
- How we stay true to him in all we are and do
- Staying away from that which damages our relationship with him and cause us to stray
- How we share in the role of shepherding and growing the flock: care / invitation / encouragement

Dear friends, have a blessed Sunday xxx




Jesus-Christ, our Good Shepherd!

10/01/2015

Do you know who is Jesus?



Who do you think Jesus is?

Jesus is redeemer, saviour, best friend, true love, 
He is faithful, perfect, alive, calling, undeniable, soon coming, amazing, beautiful, merciful, holding my hand, everything, glorious, holy, deliverer, the word, Lord, peace, forgiveness, miraculous, with me, healer, a strong tower, forever steadfast, the Blessing , real , the reason, the promise fulfilled, salvation , shepherd, risen, 
He is God.
Amen!

Read more, click here!
http://www.knowing-jesus.com

22/12/2010

Nativity paintings...do you have a favourite?

This painting, the only surviving work signed by Botticelli appears to be complex. I have read that it does not simply represent the traditional events of the birth of Jesus and the adoration of the shepherds and the Magi. Rather it is a vision of these events inspired by the prophecies in Revelation. 
This painting was done by Correggio between 1528 and 1530.  I like the way Mary holds her son Jesus affectionately. However I am not sure why Joseph is so far away from her.





Nativity painted by FRANCESCO DI GIORGIO MARTINI in 1475 on wood. It can be seen at the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena (Italy)The Nativity with two angels, Sts Bernard and Thomas of Aquino is the only signed work of the Sienese master. 


I think that this painting by Philippe de Champaigne is my favourite as it shows Mary and Joseph's love and adoration towards Jesus. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:11-12
I also recommend a very interesting website called the Web Gallery of Art 
So do you have a special Nativity painting? Let us know.
Blessings. N