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The Good Shepherd
“Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father” (John 10:17-18).
In dying, the Good Shepherd secured the blessing of the sheep and carried out the Father’s will. The giving of His life was His own voluntary act of devotedness. Here at last was One who had come into the sphere of death with power to lay down His life and power to take it again. No one else ever could nor ever will be able to give up their life in the same way. It was a divine act!
In devotedness to His Father He exercised this power in His service for God and man. He laid down His life in order to take it again. This was so He could not only save His sheep but provide for and serve them forever. Another has said, “His death is neither the exhaustion or extent of His love nor the limit of His work for us. He has served in the lowest depth of suffering on earth; Now He serves on the throne of glory.”
What a glorious Shepherd He is!
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