Earlier still the world was horrified as Rev. Jimmy Jones led nearly a thousand of his followers to suicide in Guyana. I have seen footage from the early days of his Temple Church in Chicago. In its earliest stages it seemed almost indistinguishable from a typical Pentecostal church of the era. But then, little by little, things began to change. He would always preach with dark glasses on. Approving stories began to appear about strict discipline and "punishments." It was only after the mass suicide that some who had either left the church or not gone to Jonestown began to speak up and tell of sexual favours demanded and of the ritual drinking of "what might be poison" to show their total allegiance to Jones.
Then, in 1993, we were shown the graphic pictures of David Koresh - acclaimed by his followers as the Son of God - leading them to a fiery end in Waco, Texas.
We do well to listen to the warning of Jesus in Mt. 24.23-25 - "At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time."
The more we heard of Koresh - with his sixteen wives and his stock of weapons - the less convincing he looked. But his followers became committed to him before his true character became evident. Be careful of any human leaders who seek your total allegiance! Be aware, as we seek to be a church empowered for mission, that Jesus himself has warned us that "signs and wonders" are not a guarantee of genuineness!
It is by grace that we are saved. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all have those areas in our lives where we seek, not only God's forgiveness, but the help of his Spirit to overcome particular sins. But it is a great shock when someone in a trusted position is shown to be totally and centrally evil. The counterfeit notes are a serious crime, but there is probably nothing quite so repulsive as a counterfeit personality.
And that was the background of our Bible reading today. In the previous chapter, we read of Jesus healing the man born blind. The Pharisees had thrown out of the Temple the man who dared to affirm that Jesus must have come from God. Right at the end of the chapter we hear Jesus saying, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." The Pharisees have an inkling he is getting at them and ask, "What? Are we blind too?" to which Jesus replies, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains" (vv.39-41).
The Pharisees were, in fact, counterfeit religious leaders. In their rejection of Jesus they were "blind leaders of the blind", and their refusal to acknowledge their blindness made them incapable of receiving the enlightenment that Jesus brings.
Worse still, they were not only ignorant of the truth, but actively evil. We hear Jesus describing them as thieves and robbers, and hirelings. They saw their own spiritual reputation threatened by the presence and ministry of Jesus. Concerned only about themselves, they had no real care for the people. Instead of recognising Jesus as the true way to the knowledge of God, they became intensely jealous and tried to win back to their own way those who, like the man born blind, had begun to believe in Jesus.
On another occasion, Jesus said of the Scribes and Pharisees, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are" (Mt. 23.13,15).
In contrast, Jesus is the true Door, the Good Shepherd. Not only is he the correct Teacher who clearly and truly points the way - he is the way to God. He is the Door through whom true security and nourishment are possible, through whom the richest possibilities of life can be realised. And faith in Jesus himself - not just the acceptance of his teaching or healing power - faith in Jesus himself - which the Pharisees were trying to stop in the man who had been healed - this faith is the only means to true wholeness and life for the blind man, the Pharisees and all of us.
Jesus is totally genuine and we have a responsibility to make him known.
Jesus could say, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep" (vv.11-15).
Here we see the depth of the caring love of the Good Shepherd in his willing acceptance (note v.18) of death for the sake of his sheep. In first-century Palestine the death of the shepherd would mean disaster for the flock. Yet Jesus speaks of his death as the very means by which he brings life to his sheep.
But the Good Shepherd has now "taken up his life again"! The caring love he expressed in his death he continues to express in his life. That's one of the reasons he goes on to say, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd" (v.16).
The immediate reference here was to the evangelisation of the Gentile world. Whereas Abraham had been blessed by God in order that a blessing would extend to all the peoples of the world, the Jewish people seemed to see the blessing as exclusively theirs. They hated the Gentiles and avoided contact with them.
In contrast we see Jesus, the Good Shepherd, reaching out, reaching out, reaching out - in love.
So what is Jesus calling on us to be and to do? To relax and enjoy his shepherding? Let's never forget our need for faith in Jesus, for saving faith. Saving faith is the only human basis for being part of the flock in the first place. Let's spend time in prayer and in reading the Word to cultivate our relationship with the Lord. Let's take time to know and appreciate the others who share with us as part of the flock.
But - relax and enjoy? Is that it? No! there's more to it than that! All of us who know and live within the Shepherd's care have a responsibility to share the good news. We have no monopoly on the Shepherd's love.
The Good Shepherd said, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also…" He was certainly speaking against the exclusive Jewish outlook. Although his own work and ministry had been mainly within the Jewish community, his saving purpose and love were reaching out to the Gentile world - to us!
Like the Jews, we can find it cosy and comfortable in the flock as it is. And that is why we want to make the life of the flock the way that suits us best. We may have differences of opinion among ourselves about whether we prefer choruses or hymns, and about which way we should do things. Sadly, our preferences, whatever they are, miss the point! For in the middle of it all we have too little heart for those who are not yet part of the flock!
It was Jesus, the Good Shepherd, whose final instructions to us were, "Go into all the world and make disciples…" His heart is still reaching out to the lost - calling them, seeking to bring them in. All us who have heard his voice and become part of his flock have, by his Spirit, received his heart for others. (If we haven't, there's something wrong!) By our prayers and life-style, our attitudes and actions, our words and our witness, we are to commend our Saviour to others, seeking to bring them in to know our Lord's salvation and love.
Each of us, then, needs to grow in our experience of the Shepherd's love and care for us and to grow in our heart for others who are not yet part of the fold.
God grant us so to grow!
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