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You have certainly heard a lot of times people referring to Jesus as the Messiah, including the biblical authors. The word Messiah has also been used in other situations and other media, like motion pictures, but people usually don’t know the true meaning of this word.

Messiah is a hebrew word, which is the same as the greek word Christ, and they mean “The Anointed One”. So when people started calling Jesus “the Christ”, it was the same as saying “Jesus the Messiah” and “Jesus the Anointed One”.

According to the Bible, anointing (which means ” pouring or smearing with oil”) is the act of  separating someone or something for a sacred purpose, for God.

But still, why did they call Jesus “the Anointed One”? There were many people in biblical times that were anointed, what was so special about the promised Messiah?

If you ask people about romantic couples from the Bible, they would probably mention David and Bathsheba or Samson and Delilah, mostly because Hollywood have portrayed a version (not necessarily the real one) of their lives in several films.

To be honest, I don’t even consider David and Bathsheba or Samson and Delilah as romantic couples in the classical sense.

Delilah was paid to find the source of  Samson’s great strength, so the Philistines could find a way to defeat him. She did it, and there is no indication that she had any feelings toward him or that she felt sorry for what she did (see Judges 16:4-22).

About David and Bathsheba, they were both married to other people when they got involved. She got pregnant while her husband was away in battle. Ultimately David got her husband killed so he could marry her (2 Samuel 11:14-17). That’s definitely not a good way to start a relationship.

We can see in the Bible how they all faced severe consequences for their choices. Their lives are examples of how things can turn out really bad when we make choices out of impulses and desires instead of following God’s will.

If you ask me, my favorite romance from the Bible is Boaz and Ruth’s. If you are not familiar to their story, you can read it in the book of Ruth. It’s a quick read and it’s worthy it.

Simon Peter (or simply Peter) is one of the most known and beloved apostles of Jesus Christ. His ups and downs showed us a flawed human being, but Jesus still wanted to use Him.

Peter denied Jesus three times the night He was captured, tortured and later crucified. After Jesus was resurrected, He talked to Peter and asked him to feed and take care of His sheep (that’s how He referred to His followers). Jesus Himself said that a good shepherd needs to be willing to give his life for his sheep. Would Peter be bold enough to do it?

Up until now, He had never showed the courage to risk his life. Could Peter change so much that he could be the man that Jesus wanted him to be?

You are probably familiar with the apostle Peter’s story. He was a fisherman until he was called by Jesus to laid down his net and be a fisher of man, a preacher of the Gospel.

Jesus called other fishermen to be His disciples as well, but there is one episode in Peter’s life that shows us more of his nature as a flawed human being like ourselves.

It happened shortly before the crucifixion. Jesus was explaining to the disciples what would happen to Him in a matter of hours. When He said that He was going to be taken away, Peter guaranteed to Jesus that he would stick with Him, he would even lay down his life for Him. Jesus responded saying that in that very night, before the rooster would crow, Peter would deny Him three times (John 13:31-38).

In fact, later that night, before the sunrise, Peter denied to know Jesus three times (John 18:15-27), exactly as Jesus had anticipated.

When that rooster crowed, Peter must have felt awful. He realized that he let Jesus down, and Jesus knew it all along.

Jesus said:

“I am the good shepherd […] 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.” (John 10:14,16)

Jesus presented Himself as the Good Shepherd and his followers were His flock. In the verse mentioned above, He wasn’t only talking about His current followers of that point in time. He was letting them know that many more would add to their number, not only from different locations, different cultures, but also from different times throughout History.

Ever since then, Christianity grew and many people chose to belong to Jesus’s flock. People so diverse, but they all had at least one single characteristic in common, and that’s what allow them all to be part of one single flock: they all follow the same Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

From the first time I saw the book The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, I knew that God had something to tell me in there (I have already mentioned in a previous post how God led me to buy this book). Actually, He had several messages for me there.

This book doesn’t attempt to address the “whole Gospel”. It doesn’t cover the need of salvation, the coming of Jesus and his death, ressurection, etc. But it does cover what it claims to be the “hole” in our Gospel: the general lack of action from the Church towards those in need, specifically those living in extreme poverty.

In the first part of the book Stearns tells us how he became the CEO of World Vision. He was the CEO of a secular company and he had a very comfortable financial situation. Well, maybe more than comfortable. Than he was challenged by God to accept a job that would bring a considerable change in his life. The job of CEO of World Vision represented a decrease in 75% of his salary. Yet, he felt God was calling him to do it.

That was my favorite part. At that time, when I was reading the book, I was praying to God about my own job, and I was almost certain that He wanted me to quit. So reading Stearns’s own account, his doubts and fears, the financial change that accepting the challenge would bring, they all made me identify with his story.

For the last couple of weeks we have been talking about Jesus presenting Himself as the good shepherd and referring to us as His sheep.

In addition to the quotes I’ve mentioned before from John chapter 10, Jesus also used a well-known parable to illustrate His love for each one of His sheep:

Then Jesus told them this parable:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:3-7)

This parable was intended to portray a person who was part of Jesus’ flock but turned away and got lost. They strayed away and lost sight of the shepherd and the flock.

The amazing thing about Jesus’ love is that the parable shows that the Shepherd doesn’t wait for the sheep to realize that it is lost and call for help. He doesn’t sit and wait for it to come back to Him. He pursues the lost sheep! He wants to bring each one back to His flock.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:31-33)

In John chapter 10, Jesus presents Himself as the good shepherd. He tells us of how deeply He loves His followers (up to the point of giving up His life for them) and how He wants a relationship with them.

What about the sheep? How can we relate to that animal that Jesus used in His metaphor?

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.
[…] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:14, 15, 27)

Jesus presented Himself as a good shepherd who was willing to give His life for His sheep. But not only that, He also establishes a relationship with His flock.

In the verses I quoted above, Jesus makes a comparison of the relationship between Him and His Father (they are one) with the relationship between Him and the sheep, that represents His followers.

So He offers a relationship where we can know Him so deeply, so there is no way that we could mistake Him for someone else.

The sheep has a sensible hearing, much better than most animals, so it doesn’t mistake the voice of their shepherd for other person.