Your Bible & You - Little Book Open.org

shepherd with his sheep.
YOUR BIBLE AND YOU
E v e r l a s t i n g F r i e n d
“My sheep hear my voice,” He said, “and I know them, and they follow me;
and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall
snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27, 28, RSV).
When a shepherd is with his flock no wild animal or bird of prey can steal a
sheep. In like manner Jesus stands guard over His own. No enemy can harm
the least of His friends while He is around. And He will be around for a long,
long time.
This assurance of everlasting friendship is no less real and precious because
Jesus no longer walks the earth as He did 19 centuries ago. Though He is now
in heaven “on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12), there is nothing He does
not know about you. And because He knows and loves and “continues for
ever,” “he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him,
since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24, 25, RSV).
Here Jesus is pictured as a priest, a “great high priest,” ministering in the
heavenly sanctuary; and the writer of this Epistle says that He “had to be
made like his brethren in every respect, so that he might become a merciful
and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make expiation for the sins
of the people. For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is
able to help those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:17, 18, RSV).
So in going to heaven Jesus did not take Himself clear away from humanity
and all its problems. On the contrary, He is better able to help us than ever.
Because He suffered so much we may be sure He understands when we
suffer. Because He was tempted so sorely we may know that He can help us
whenever we are tempted.
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a
high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning. Let us
then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16, RSV).
So Jesus is both able and eager to be a real friend to His people now. He has
not changed with the changing years. His love is as strong, His understanding
as perfect, His sympathy as deep, as ever it was in the days of old. He is just
as eager to be helpful today as at any time in the past.
In the book of Proverbs we read that “a friend loveth at all times, and a
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