Aaron would have been quite a striking sight as he served
the Lord. He would have definitely stood
out from the people in the brightly colored garb he was wearing. The weight of his office and responsibility
was evident in all these garments. He
bore the responsibility for the judgment on the people and was their
representative before the Lord who will soon describe Himself as merciful,
gracious and forgiving. He may be slow
to anger but He has already said He is a jealous God. Aaron's robe has on the bottom of it
alternating pomegranates and bells and "it shall be on Aaron when he
ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before
the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die." He couldn't move without hearing the bells,
reminding him that what he is doing in this service is dangerous business and
all had to be done according to God's will.
It was the same reminder Moses heard from the bush, you are standing on
Holy ground. What if we all wore bells
that reminded us that we serve a holy God all the time?
Wherever Jesus went, even to this desolate place where the
disciples could rest and reflect on the mission they had just completed, people
followed. He was always serving people
but mostly He was always serving the Father.
This time, people heard where the little group was headed and ran from
all over and got there ahead of them.
There was no desolate place.
Everywhere was a place where people needed Him. He took compassion on them because they were
like sheep without a shepherd. Those who
were intended to shepherd them had failed them and they were desperate for what
He offered in teaching and healing. The
shepherds had forgotten that they served God by serving people, the people
didn't matter. To Jesus, they were the
most important thing and His compassion prompted Him to do for them what He
wouldn't do for Himself in the wilderness when satan tempted Him. The good shepherd, even in a desolate place,
fed the sheep.
John knows that false teachers have come into the church to
lead people away from Jesus. They are
trying to steal the sheep away from the shepherd. John knows too that what must be done is to
call them out, make clear that they are not of God if they deny Jesus is the
Christ. John says that no one has the
Father who has not the Son and the only way to have the Son is to recognize and
affirm His uniqueness, that there is but one way to the Father and that is the
Son, the cross. He speaks of two
categories alone, truth and lies, and no lie is of the truth. Serving as a shepherd, and all of us are
called to shepherd, means always being vigilant in that service, prepared to
drive away thieves and wolves. It is
complete commitment to truth and the truth is a person.
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