“There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” Verses 19-21.
Those who foolishly believe that if ‘you stick to the simple gospel message’ you will please the people around, are very much mistaken.
If Christ upset and divided people when He out of true heart and in love preached and divided people, how much more so it will be with us given all our faults?
Let us get to the heart of the parable.
The sheepfold is a picture of the Church of God.
It was a separated place for the sheep to be taken in the hours of darkness. All round us today is darkness. 1 Peter 2:9. 1 Tim 3:15.
It was a place of protection from danger. Out of the darkness comes danger. Col 1:13. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”
C. I am sure that there were lights in the sheepfold. Shepherds would need light to watch out for predators and also the welfare of the sheep. John 12:46. Psalm 89:15 – called into the light by the ‘joyful sound’ of the gospel!
This parable is extended because of the failure of His hearers to understand Him. “This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them,” verse 6.
The ‘you’ spoken of here are the Pharisees to whom He was speaking at the end of chapter 9. We are not surprised therefore when they did not understand Him! See verses 4, 26.
He begins with, “Verily, verily” or of a truth! He is adding emphasis to the importance of His words.
In this parable the Saviour is showing the character of true shepherds and how the Pharisees do not have such a character while He does! Naturally, this does not please them, verse 19.
But it is also to be noticed that the word of Christ creates a division, 19-21. That has ever been the case!
The answer to God’s question to the Rich Fool is: ‘NOT MINE, I HAVE NOTHING FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!’
Boys and girls, I will repeat something I said in a previous Assembly: ‘We cannot take into the world that is to come any riches we may have accumulated here!’
1. No matter what we gain in this world it is no preparation for the world to come. We can easily forget the ‘world to come’ as we concentrate upon the affairs of the ‘world that now is!’ That is forbidden to the one who hopes to gain heaven.
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier,” 2 Timothy 2:4.
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (riches),” Matthew 6:24.
Soldiers are forbidden by law to have anything to do with active politics while they are engaged in army duties.
2. We cannot live for this world AND also for the Kingdom of God. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” Matthew 6:33.
“But this I say, brethren, the time is short . . .”1 Cor 7:29. Then please note the verses which follow up to verse 33.
Nothing is more important to our own wellbeing than serving God.
“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on,” Matt 6:25. “
“And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” Mark 10:29-30.
‘Leaving all’ to follow the Lord Jesus is the price some have had to pay. But the Lord compensates many times over!
3. So then, the one that puts God and His Kingdom before his own affairs will profit themselves greatly by doing so! “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” Matthew 6:33.
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine,” Proverbs 3:9-10.
