I am back to teaching online this week. I really enjoy the interaction with people. And I love seeing the change in people. But most of all I know that the process of reflecting on the gospels has changed me. I teach not from an academic point of view but from my journey with Jesus.

So here is this week’s text:

[Jesus said]
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 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 up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

John 10:11-18

Just one point on the text: the good shepherd’s relationship with his flock is intimate and sacrificial. Jesus reveals His very nature and in the process reveals the very nature of God. I-am’s relationship with me is intimate and sacrificial. Jesus knows me and freely lays down His life for me. And my job is simply to listen – to hear with my heart.

Anyway …