The only way for salvation is through Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who calls His sheep by name “and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” Jesus says He is the door to life. “If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for His sheep…Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again.” Jesus is going to willingly be crucified for us so that we may have eternal life.
When, at the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, the Jews question Jesus about whether or not He is the Christ, Jesus says, “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.”
Jesus goes on to say, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able… you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from…Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.”
Jesus grieves over the people in Jerusalem who are rejecting Him and ultimately rejecting the Kingdom of God. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” Jesus desires for all to repent and turn to Him for salvation before it is too late, before His return. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Tomorrow Jesus explains what it will cost to be His disciple. Keep reading.
(John 10:1-42, Luke 13:22-14:24)
#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching
Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 