Grace
To personally relate with those facing poverty, coming alongside and joining them in seeking their long-term well-being.
Devotion 1: I am the Gate
Take some time to centre on Jesus.
Read John 10:1-10 together with Ezekiel 34: 1-10.
What charge does the Lord bring against the false shepherds in Ezekiel? What parallels might there be with certain groups of people in Jesus’ day?
What “false shepherds” might there be in your community who need to be identified and challenged?
What are the characteristics of living “life to the full” (v. 10) and how can we practice this?
Spend time praying for each other and the neighbourhood.
Devotion 2: I am the Good Shepherd
Take some time to centre on Jesus.
Read John 10:10-21 together with Ezekiel 34: 11-17.
What parallels can be drawn between these two passages?
What do these passages say about the nature of God and how He cares for His people?
Spend time praying for each other and the neighbourhood.
Devotion 3: The Father and I are One
Take some time to centre on Jesus.
Read John 10:22-42.
Jean Vanier writes this reflection:1
“Jesus yearns for unity between all people.
He came to break down the barriers that separate people and to bring them together.
This unity has its source in the unity he lives with God, for the Son and the Father are one.
This unity between people will flow from the gift of life, the gift of His life.
Death no longer has the last word.
“As we pray and reflect our way through this gospel,
we now see that the dark clouds are looming.
The religious authorities want to kill Jesus.
We are approaching a terrifying conflict.
Here Jesus is revealing a deeper meaning to death.
He came to give life and to give his life freely,
so that people might live and find freedom.
His death is not the end of life but the culmination of life;
it is the greatest act of love that gives life
and becomes a gateway to a fullness of life.
The sting of death has been conquered.
Are we not all programmed to die?
Is death such a tragedy?”
What various perspectives on death have you encountered in your community? How might Jesus’ words in verse 28 (“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish…”) bring a new perspective in your context on death beyond tragedy?
Spend time praying for each other and the neighbourhood.
1. In Jean Vanier, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John, (John Garrett Publishing: Mulgrave), 2004, p. 192.
Image: The Good Shepherd by Ade Bethune