St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“ ‘And you, My sheep, are the flock of My human pasture, and I am your God – declares the Lord Yaweh’.” (Ezekiel 34 v 31 TNJB)

Blessed be our life in Christ Jesus,

For the purpose of bringing glory.

Let glory ever be the aim of God’s family.

Rejoice in faith to call on the Spirit.

That very Spirit who filled the Lord Jesus,

Is the same Holy Spirit who comes to us.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit of glory;

Ever transforming the face of the earth,

As true love is given birth by the Spirit.

In Him we inherit a real understanding

Of God’s commanding to love as given us

By word and example through the perfect life of Jesus,

He who uniquely is both Man and of divinity.

Jesus, made human by His mother Mary,

That is not the full story, for although a Brother,

Jesus as our Saviour is God, like our Father.

He knew the weakness of the human nature

Living amongst us sharing our commonplace joy and sorrow

Jesus lived an everyday life in Galilee,

Accused as a criminal, He hung on the †

Which should have been punishment meted out on us.

But as His character was divine, fine was God’s plan

To rescue man from sinfulness by forgiveness.

“For the Lord Yaweh says this: Look, I Myself shall take care of My flock and look after it. As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep so shall I look after My sheep’.” (Ezekiel 34 v 11, 12 TNJB)

This Man who had walked on water,

Who had governed the fierceness of a storm at sea.

He knew the norm of human life,

He suffered sinfulness at the hand of others.

But in His holiness Jesus merited forgiveness for us.

As a human He endured death, death on a †.

But His loss could not, would not be sustained,

For Jesus ever remained as the Son of God.

Dying He destroyed our death originally caused by sin.

In rising He did begin a new order of mercy,

Calling us to be believers in His character,

Then gifting us a share in holiness to make us righteous.

Thus sin is vanquished and eternal life is promised.

The King of love our Shepherd is, His glory unfading.

His glory is remarkable, the finest narrative ever told.

As the details unfold we learn who this Man is.

He is the Christ, the foretold, predicted Messiah.

Jesus comes to us as Saviour, living normally in His humanity,

But dying to reclaim His role as King of Glory over us.

This is our faith’s astounding, amazing story,

One of the Lord God’s loving mercy

And the Holy Spirit’s all encompassing power over us.

Offer all thanks for Jesus, the † and rejoice!

“Nothing is better than fearing the Lord, and nothing sweeter than adherence to the Lord’s commandments.” (Sirach 23 v 27 TNJB)

“Wisdom resides in an understanding heart; ...uprightness makes a nation great, by sin the whole races are disfigured.” (Proverbs 14 v 33, 34 TNJB)

We need to learn from the Lord Jesus, Saviour and Teacher as the Holy Spirit reveals to us all the holy wisdom and truth which the Lord Jesus exhibits for our benefit.

As Man, Jesus teaches us. As God, the Lord Jesus preaches to us. “ ‘Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases Me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners’.” (Matthew 9 v 13 TNJB) 

Let us pray therefore, for “If we live in the light, as He is in the light, we have a share in another’s life, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1 v 7 TNJB) Amen.

CATEGORY: ( BELIEF, Jesus)