Posted on 12/06/2005 9:55:10 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
“What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” Matthew 18:12-14
There are moments that I am amazed
at the strong hands unsought
that lift me up out of the morass
I find myself,
out of the dark crevass
where I am wedged,
lost and confused.
Can I speak
of the gratitude within my heart
for the touch of my shepherd
when the valley seems so dark,
the shadow of death
seems so near,
and dawn seems forever away?
Yours are the waters
that purify me,
that sooth my soul,
Yours is the bread of life,
the green pastures
that restore me,
that transform me,
that shape me
after your will.
Yours is the staff that defends me,
and in your shadow,
under your watchful eye,
I am safe,
even as the enemy would devour me.
Yours the goodness and mercy
that rescues me,
that calls me,
that saves me.
Let me dwell in your house,
walk in your ways,
rest myself safe in your loving arms,
This day, and always.
Amen.
Prayer and Meditation ping!
just beautiful!
Thank you.
Loving Shepherd, kind and true,
Wilt Thou not in pity hear me?
Seek Thy Lamb as shepherds to,
In Thy bosom gently bear me;
Take me hence from earth's annoy
To Thy home of endless joy.
See how in this wilderness
Lost amid its wastes I wander;
Take me hence to dwell in bliss
With the flock who, gather'd yonder,
Now Thy glory, Lord, behold,
Safe within the heavenly fold.
For I fain would gaze on Thee,
With the lambs, to whom 't is given
That they feed from danger free
In the happy field of heaven,
Praising Thee, all terrors o'er,
Never can they leave Thee more.
Here I live in sore distress,
Watching, fearing hour by hour,
For my foes around me press,
And I know their craft and power;
Lord, Thy lamb can never be
Safe one moment but with Thee.
Then, Lord Jesus, let me not
Fall amid the wolves, but bear me,
As the faithful shepherd ought;
Help me, keep me ever near Thee,
Till Thou bear me in Thy breast
Homeward to my endless rest.
Guter Hirte, willst du nicht
Scheffler, 1657
Some days it seems so confusing, Lord,
and I don't know where to turn,
or what to do,
or what to feel.
Those days, it's like I'm stepping out,
blindfolded, on a high wire
over an abbyss.
And yet I know,
it is you who hold my hand
and guide my feet.
Some days, it feels
that life is bitter dust,
drying out my mouth as the desert sun
beats down on my shoulders,
and even your name becomes
hard to pronounce from sunblistered lips,
But even then I know
you are quenching my thirst
with hidden springs
of unseen water.
When I walk through the valley of the shadow,
Lord,
Bring to mind the memory of how you too
suffered and thirsted and felt abandoned,
to remind me that yes, you know what it feels like;
in your suffering, may I always find the balm
that makes my darkness
bearable,
til I cross the desert
and find again the green pastures.
Mein Jesu, wie so gross die Lieb'
Hesenthaler
True Shepherd, who in love most deep
Did watch and suffer for Thy sheep,
And didst appoint Thy saints of old
To Teach and rule and serve Thy fold;
We thank Thee for that gracious care,
And pray that now and everywhere
Thy servants call'd to preach Thy Word
Be faithful shepherds, like their Lord.
Yea, all who own Thee for their Head,
Oh let them in Thy footsteps tread,
Owning and loving more Thy cross
Through persecution, shame, or loss.
No better trophy hath this day
Than hearts new-kindled to obey
The call, for Thee that bids them live,
And gladly yield all earth can give.
Nor for ourselves we pray alone,
In Thee Thy Church is ever one.
Unite us here in faith and love
Until we worship Thee above.
I am the Good Shepherd
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/innerscoop/lectio23.html
Lectio. "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
"I am the good shepherd." (John 10: 1-11)
Meditatio. This chapter is complex. In the first of two allegories, Jesus casts himself as the gate through which the shepherd passes. Because the shepherd passes through the gate, rather than climbing up some other way, the watchman will recognize him. The sheep will recognize him by his voice. We are told that His listeners did not understand the allegory, so He explained it and gave them a second allegory. In the second allegory, He cast himself as the good shepherd. The latter image would have been familiar to His listeners, particularly through Ezekiel 34, in which God declares Israel to be His flock, which He will rescue and heal, then set David over them to be their shepherd.
The introductory words, "I tell you the truth" (or, in the King James version, "Verily, verily", or in the original Greek, "Amen! Amen!") never, according to J. C. Robertson, Canon of Canterbury [1], introduce a new topic. Therefore, he reasons (and in this he is joined by Jamieson [2]), this selection refers back to the previous chapter, in which Jesus healed the man born blind. The allegory is therefore directed against the Pharisees, who are cast as strangers, from whom the sheep run.
The Greek has some interesting subtleties. "Climbs in" (anabaino) is the same word used for Jesus rising up from the water of baptism. "Enter" (eiserchomai) can also mean "to come into being." "Some other way" (allachothen) really means "from some other place." It is only used once in the New Testament, but also appears in the apocrypha. Therefore, the first line could be rendered, "The man who does come into being by passing through the gate, but rises up from some other place is a thief and a robber." The two words for bring out the sheep, exago (translated "leads them out") and ekballo (translated "brought out") have drastically different tones to them, with ekballo having more of a sense of "expulsion" or "casting out." The phrase for going ahead of them, poreuomai emprosthen, carries some sense of "departing from life with greater honor than." In some measure, then, John foreshadows Jesus' death through the phrasing of the allegory. Similarly, the word for "gate," thura, is used in John 20 to refer to the doors of the homes in which the disciples have shut themselves for fear of retribution from the authorities. Therefore, in this passage, Jesus foreshadows what will later happen. He will lead the disciples forth from the fears that pen them in to sacrifice their lives to spreading the gospel.
So, we are left asking why Jesus compared Himself first to a gate, and only later using the far more familiar image of the good shepherd. In this regard, we should remember that Jerusalem had a Sheep Gate. For John, this was where the pool at Bethesda (Place of Mercy) was, the pool at which Jesus healed the paralytic (John 5:2). One commentator remarks [3], "It was called the Sheep Gate because it led out to the sheep markets, where lambs were sold for sacrifice in the Temple (see John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). This gate also led to Golgotha, the path Jesus took to the crucifixion. The Sheep Gate represents the experience of salvation made available by the Cross." Therefore, when Jesus calls Himself the gate, there are overtones of His death and the deaths of His disciples. As the gate, he held them in. And then, the Lord did indeed go ahead of them, through the Sheep Gate and to the cross.
Contemplatio. Adoration. You knew where you were going when you came to Jerusalem, Jesus through the Sheep Gate and to Golgotha and the cross. How brave you were to voluntarily go to that hard death, that death of betrayal and shame. Confession. We shrink from doing things much less difficult than being crucified. Just speaking with kindness to a shabbily-dressed stranger is too hard for many of us. How many of us will face our own deaths with equanimity? Thanksgiving. Thank you for not asking of us what we cannot bear, and for bearing for us what is beyond our strength. Supplication. Help us to see the mission in our lives, Lord. You knew that you went to the cross to save humanity. In our limited vision, we often wonder what it is all for.
Oratio.
Who is the watchman? Who is the gate?
The gate is Love. The watchman Truth.
None come to the Father, except through Love.
Love opens itself, bidden by Truth.
The One who walks through the gate
knows and is known by Truth.
We are the flock. The gate protects us.
It seals out those who would merely steal and destroy.
And when it is time, it opens to God.
He leads us out to reconcile humankind;
If we are strong enough,
to sacrifice ourselves to save many,
following Him.
References
1. Canon J. C. Robertson's Word Studies. Commentary on John
2. Commentary by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
3. Fountaingate Christian Foundation
8s. Canticles i. 7.
1 THOU Shepherd of Israel, and mine,
The joy and desire of my heart,
For closer communion I pine,
I long to reside where thou art:
The pasture I languish to find
There all, who their Shepherd obey.
Are fed, on thy bosom reclined,
And screened from the heat of the day.
2 Ah! show me that happiest place,
The place of thy people's abode,
Where saints in an ecstasy gaze,
And hang on a crucified God;
Thy love for a sinner declare,
Thy passion and death on the tree;
My spirit to Calvary bear,
To suffer and triumph with thee.
3 'Tis there, with the lambs of thy flock,
There only, I covet to rest,
To lie at the foot of the rock,
Or rise to be hid in thy breast;
'Tis there I would always abide,
And never a moment depart,
Concealed in the cleft of thy side,
Eternally held in thy heart.
I grew up singing a version of this arrangement of the 23rd psalm, so it's dear to my heart
C.M.
1 THE Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want,
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; he leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
2 My soul he doth restore again,
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Even for his own name sake.
3 Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
Yet will I fear no ill:
For thou art with me, and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
4 My table thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
5 Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me,
And in God's house for evermore
My dwelling place shall be.
11: "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12: As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Ezekiel 34: 11, 12
Most beautiful, thanks for posting.
Receive our Adoration, Loving Lord, and may Everyone who Comes Here be Blessed! Open our Souls to Your Love and Your Grace, as we Worship You King Jesus, amen.
11: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12: He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13: He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.
14: I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,
15: as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16: And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
17: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father."
John 10: 11-18
Knitting, what a blessing these are to me!
God bless my FRiend Knitting.
Thank you, Jesus, for being the Good Shepherd, who gave Your life for us sheep.
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