John 10:11-18
Jesus, the Good Shepherd
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Acts 17:29-31
God Appointed Jesus
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd, and what being the Good Shepherd means...Jesus is the Good Shepherd...The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep...A hired man will run when he sees a wolf coming and will leave the sheep, for they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd...And so the wolf leaps on them and scatters the flock...The hired man runs because he is hired and has no real concern for the sheep...Jesus is the Good Shepherd and knows His sheep, and they know Him, just as His Father knows His Son and He knows the Father...Jesus would soon lay down His life for the sheep...Jesus has other sheep, too, in another fold...Jesus would bring all His sheep to Him, and they will heed His voice; and there will be one flock with one Shepherd...The Father LOVES His because He lays down His life that He may come back again...Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life...No one can kill Him without His consent—so He would lay down His life voluntarily...For He has the right and power to lay His life down when the time was right and the power to take it up again...For His Father has given Him the right of the resurrection...
So as the Good Shepherd teaches us about His LOVE for us, we see also that He controls the fate of His life and His death...No one can take His life from Him...Not even those who would crucify Him, if He were not willing...But He would lay down His life for mankind on His own accord...Jesus did not fear death...He suffered, but He knew that His death was near and explains that He would take up His life again, because this was the will of His Father...Jesus is the Messiah, the Appointed One, the One that Moses and the Prophets wrote about, and God has proven this by raising Him from the dead...