{"id":10244,"date":"2024-05-03T09:23:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T13:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=10244"},"modified":"2024-05-03T09:23:16","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T13:23:16","slug":"evangelical-leader-says-jesus-is-the-good-shepherd-that-humanity-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/05\/evangelical-leader-says-jesus-is-the-good-shepherd-that-humanity-needs.html","title":{"rendered":"Evangelical Leader Says Jesus is the ‘Good Shepherd’ That Humanity Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"shepherd\"
Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John 10:11 reads, \u201cJesus said, \u2018I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.\u2019\u201d This verse comes from the Gospel of John, one of the four gospel narratives in the New Testament. The exact authorship of this gospel is unknown, but it\u2019s most commonly attributed to the Apostle John, according to the website Catholic Answers. In some Christian denominations, the fourth Sunday of Easter is called \u201cGood Shepherd Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement that Jesus is the \u201cgood shepherd\u201d is less relevant now than it would be at the time it was spoken, evangelical leader Rev. Johnnie Moore of Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital \u2014 but it is still a powerful analogy.\u00a0\u201cBack then, sheep and shepherds were everywhere,\u201d he said.\u00a0Moore is president of the Congress of Christian Leaders. Twice appointed to the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, he is also the author of\u00a0\u201cThe Next Jihad\u201d and \u201cThe New Book of Christian Martyrs.\u201d\u00a0In biblical times, as well as today, \u201cCalling someone a sheep wasn\u2019t exactly a compliment,\u201d said Moore.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cSheep are impulsive. They\u2019re not that smart. They\u2019re rebellious often, and when they\u2019re not being rebellious, they\u2019re just following the crowd.\u00a0Without a shepherd, they\u2019re hopeless.\u201d\u00a0On Good Shepherd Sunday, \u201cwe remember that however modern, affluent, powerful or secure we may become, we still need God,\u201d he said. In God, \u201cwe find a shepherd who will care for us as we journey through life\u2019s ups and downs.\u201d\u00a0In biblical times, a person would occasionally see a sheep \u201cslung around the neck of the shepherd\u201d out in the field, said Moore.\u00a0This meant either the sheep had been accidentally injured or that the shepherd himself had broken the leg of a rebellious sheep to prevent it from running away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it was life\u2019s misfortune or the sheep\u2019s mistake, the shepherd kept the sheep close until it healed entirely,\u201d he said. After the sheep were healed, they \u201cstuck closest to the shepherd even when they could run again.\u201d\u00a0During life, “there are often more bad days than good days,” said Moore.\u00a0And while skeptics might take the presence of bad days to try to\u00a0test the faith of Christians, this is the wrong approach. “Those who\u2019ve gone through life\u2019s ringer understand that the most important question to ask during life\u2019s challenging days isn\u2019t, \u2018Why?\u2019 but \u2018Who?\u2019”\u00a0said Moore.<\/p>\n

He continued, “‘Who’ is this God whom billions of people over hundreds of centuries have put their hope in?”\u00a0He said, “See, if God was trustworthy then, God is trustworthy now.\u201d God, said Moore, “is never closer to you than when skeptics think He’s furthest away.”\u00a0He added, “God doesn\u2019t promise us life will be easy, but He does promise us he\u2019ll never leave us,” he said \u2014 just as the shepherd does not leave his flock.\u00a0“We can\u2019t always understand God (if we could, he would not be God) \u2014 but He understands us,” said Moore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 10:11 reads, \u201cJesus said, \u2018I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.\u2019\u201d This verse comes from the Gospel of John, one of the four gospel narratives in the New Testament. The exact authorship of this gospel is unknown, but it\u2019s most commonly attributed to the Apostle John,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":657,"featured_media":10253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,140],"tags":[1937],"class_list":["post-10244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible","category-church","tag-good-shepherd-sunday"],"yoast_head":"\nEvangelical Leader Says Jesus is the 'Good Shepherd' That Humanity Needs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The idea that Jesus is the \u201cgood shepherd\u201d is less relevant now than it would be at the time it was spoken, says evangelical leader Rev. 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