Having sheep in the time Jesus was in Israel, was very different to being a sheep farmer now.
In this story Jesus sends disciples out to the lost sheep (people) of the house of Israel.
They were to go and do what He did – face all the challenges and spread the gospel to all the nations.
They were to belong to and continue, the movement Jesus began.
Hosea in the 8th Century lived in a divided Kingdom and he spoke to the people about their separation from the God that still loved them.
By returning back to God’s ways they knew God would heal them, bind up their wounds and restore them.
It seems this message of ‘turning back to God’ is as relevant today in this Century, God wants more than words but our actions.
God does not give up on His people.
How can the Holy Trinity be explained? Maybe it is better to regard any understanding of God that we may have a concession or gracious gift from God – not a totalised revelation of God’s essential nature. The fullness of the trinitarian teaching is surely to affirm, above all, the oneness of God.
“Devout Jews from every nation under heaven” gathered in Jerusalem and witnessed an electrifying, mind blowing event as the Spirit of God breaks in to declare a new reality.
Pentecost is a movement of renewal and transformation for no-one is excluded and where every race, culture and nation, has a calling and a place’.
In the Old Testament, enemies are seen as enemies of God and to be destroyed.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches that we must love our enemies.
They are to be offered forgiveness, power is not displayed through destruction, but through self-giving love.
The tension between justice and mercy and our calling to love, is the challenge for the Christian Faith.
Paul finds himself in Athens at an altar built “To an unknown God” – this is his opportunity to talk about Jesus.
A ‘Risen Christ’ not an ‘Unknown God’ is available. Paul shares his faith and many respond.
With the knowledge that God walks with us, may we not miss opportunities to share the Gospel.
Here we learn that Jesus is the way to the Father.
If we are going somewhere, we need an address and directions to travel -we use our Sat-Nav or Google.
However the disciples had to see that the God they had a vision of was very different, to the Jesus they knew.
But Jesus was their Sat-Nav and the person to lead them in God’s ways.
This parable is a well known story of the Good Shepherd who was prepared to lay down his life for his sheep to keep them safe.
The sheep knew the voice of their shepherd – as sheep do we know and hear the voice of Jesus and God?
This story is talking about a reckless love for his sheep – a matter of life and death. We need to listen.
The disciples walked the road to Emmaus and were lost and confused by what had happened.
Jesus joined them but they did not recognize Him. He opened the scripture, restored their hope and re-framed their understanding.
Many of us still walk through the seasons of confusion and disappointment and do also not recognise Jesus.
We need to expect Jesus to meet us along the way, in the course of everyday.
In our very troubled world how do we navigate a sense of peace?
Many are locked away in fear but Jesus tells us 3 times “Peace be with you”. Take Notice!
Jesus has a solution for doubters – not only Thomas but for all of us.
This is so all may have life and a life that takes away our fears.
