Monday, November 28, 2022
- Reflection by Winston Persaud
Yes, Lord, We Long For Your Coming!
John 10:11-18
Once again, we enter the season of Advent—a time of waiting—in a world permeated with sin, violence, brokenness, uncertainty, loneliness, rejection, failure, despair….In this diverse expression of the human condition, so many are exploited and exploitable. Under the guise of care for the needy, marginalised, and broken, many come along offering promises of hope and freedom—counterfeits to the good news of Jesus Christ.
Truly, the good news of Jesus’ coming into this very world needs to be announced again and again. Everyone needs to hear that our experience is not the last word about our future. As part of the body of Christ, each disciple of Jesus is called to hear the good news that Jesus has come and is coming again. God has not given up on the world!
The experience of being faceless even in the presence of people who come in the Name of Jesus and announce their welcome to the marginalised, the sinned against, and sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and acceptance is not uncommon. Wittingly and unwittingly, imitation of ways of being and acting which mirror such behaviours is present among the body of Christ. We confess that we are like the hired hand who runs away, because it is not in our interest to remain in solidarity with the suffering.
Jesus, the good shepherd, declares that he will give his life for the sheep. In our longing for and anticipation of the coming of Jesus, we are reminded that Jesus will not abandon us, and we will not be impersonal and faceless. Then, through the centuries, and now, Jesus tells us and the whole world, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep” (vv. 14-15).
Further, Jesus makes the surprising announcement that we are not the only ones who belong to the sheepfold. “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (v. 16). Jesus reminds the community which knows him and believes in him that his love is wider and more inclusive than we are pressed to think. Jesus emphasises the unity in the face of diversity the believers in him will share. This is both a promise and a calling to the whole community of believers in Jesus Christ.
We long for Jesus’ coming, for he will not turn away from us in the face of danger and threat to his life. “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father” (vv. 17-18). In the face of the ultimate cost—his very life—in his coming for us all, Jesus declares his willingness to go all the way, even the way of the cross!
Prayer: O God, we give you thanks that Jesus, your Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit, willingly came into the world of sin and brokenness, of violence and death, that all may have life in him. In our remembering Jesus’ coming, we yearn for his coming again. In the Name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.