Sheep and shepherds were a big part of ancient Israel, the nation of whom God had said was “the flock of My pasture” Ezekiel 34:31, and His commitment to them through the prophet Isaiah was that He would “feed His flock like a shepherd” 40:11. Then in Psalm 100:3 they acknowledge that “we are His […]
Jesus Himself speaking in John 10:1, using a metaphor from the agriculture of His day, said, “Most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold (the kingdom of God) by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” A sheepfold was an enclosure […]
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…” Isaiah 9:6. To both the nation of Israel through whom the side of his natural linage came, and also to the Gentiles, thus to the entire human race, as the Scripture says in Luke 2:32 “A light to bring revelation to the […]
In response to a question regarding religious observances in Matthew 9:16-17 Jesus speaks two parallel parables portraying the old covenant with the new, the old life with the new. The old forms of religion, which in this case was ritual fasting suggesting to us somberness and mourning over the brokenness caused by sin, but now […]
Jesus often used parables emphasizing the same truth but from a different viewpoint; perhaps this way more people would understand these truths, then too, repetition of a thing emphasizes its importance. Today we are returning to Matthew 13:44-46 where in our previous meditation we noted two parables pertaining to the value of the kingdom of […]
