Daily Butter 10/23: Who I AM

My little addition to Our Daily Bread (10/23/11):

"I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep.”

(John 10:14-15 HCSB)

While I loved the paraphrase of Psalm 23 that David C. McCasland shared in today’s ODB, the word “as” stuck out to me in this verse. While I’m not a scholar of the original Biblical languages, I have yet to find an English translation that does not use the word “as” at/near the beginning of verse 15. Moments later Jesus prompted the religious scholars to grab the stones for the apparent blasphemy when He said that “The Father and I are one” (v30). And while I’m a bit leery of putting this thought out there lest I be risking heresy basing something on one word of an English translation of Christ’s parable, this is a record of my thoughts and not a theological treatise. If I, as one of His sheep, can know Christ just as the Father knows Him and He is one with the Father, I am not just His child here in this place and not just His ambassador here. As part of His body (Romans 12:4-5), I am Christ here.

Trying to really wrap my mind around that thought is as mind-blowing as there being only one Almighty God with three persons or how that infinite God can indwell me, both of which I believe by faith. This new thought for me really highlights the trust God has placed in me to be about His work here where He has positioned me.

But as I get weighed-down by that feeling of responsibility, I remember my professor’s words that the three most important things about Scripture interpretation are context, context and context. This is part of a word picture painted by Christ for those in that time for whom the picture would be much more vivid and readable. The clearest place for me to fit in the parable is one sheep in the care of the Good Shepherd. Before jumping to conclusions about the comparison of that relationship to God the Father’s to God the Son, I’d better stick with understanding what is clear: The Good Shepherd loved me so much He gave His life for me.

For those still reading this, I hope you’ve enjoyed the corkscrew roller-coaster ride that is my “normal” thought process.

- Andy Jentes