Friends Church Sermons

The Kingdom conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees over the healing of a blind man continues in chapter 10. Jesus says of the Pharisees that though they are sighted they are spiritually blind. Once again into the breach Jesus seeks to proclaim life to those who are hard of hearing. Jesus turns to a metaphor that pervades the chapters of the Old Testament and new, the picture of the shepherd. Psalm 23 comes to mind “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul…” The picture of God as shepherd is played against the common application of all leaders as shepherds of Israel. The Pharisees saw themselves as the shepherds of Israel’s faith. They saw themselves as shepherds of God’s truth and justice. Into this picture Jesus now shines the light of the world. Jesus draws the picture of a common scene in Israel. That of the sheep pen. Shepherds would commonly bring their sheep back from the pastures at night and into a sheep