Jesus Preached to Share Divine Life with Human beings: The whole point of the preaching of Jesus was to prepare the people for receiving divine life in themselves. It is not something for which we depend on someone else, but it is the result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. Jesus was not satisfied with giving life in half measures, i. e., neither merely physical nor purely spiritual life. He wanted everyone to have complete life in all its dimensions. "The thief comes only to steal, to kill, to destroy. I have come that men may have life , and may have it in all its fullness" (John, 10: 10). The distinguishing characteristic of the Good Shepherd is that he is willing to lay down his life for his sheep. He is not afraid of the wolf and will squarely face him to fight him off. We cannot expect the hireling to do this, who is concerned more about his own life than that of the sheep as they do not belong to him. Since he is not the true shepherd, the hireling does not care for the sheep and takes to flight at the very first signs of the wolf's arrival. For the shepherd the life of the sheep is dearer than his own, which he is willing to lay down for saving his sheep from the wolf. The Good Shepherd: The distinguishing characteristic of a thief or robber is that he does not enter by the door, but climbs into the sheepfold some other way. Since the sheep know the voice of the shepherd, it is enough for him to walk ahead and the sheep follow him as they know his voice. Since they do not recognize the voice of a stranger, the sheep will not follow him and will run away from him. "This was a parable that Jesus told them but they did not understand what he meant by it" (John, 10: 6).Therefore Jesus spoke plainly clarifying that he himself was the door and the Good Shepherd. Anyone who enters into eternal life should enter through him in as far as Jesus is objectively constituted the Savior of the world by God Himself. Subjectively, for each one to attain salvation, God has provided many avenues from the beginning of the world [For more on this, see our next Section on 'The Theology of Gospel Proclamation]. Hence the need of Gospel Proclamation as intended by Jesus becomes all the more relevant.
Source of Life: As soon as we hear about the fullness of life , our tendency is to think of our physical life surrounded by the material comforts of this world. This is a temptation by Satan himself who invited Jesus to turn stones into bread in order to satisfy a legitimate human need especially after a long fast. Jesus resisted the temptation of Satan by quoting the word of God "Jesus answered, 'Scripture says, "Man cannot live on bread alone; he lives on every word that God utters" ' " (Matthew, 4: 4). This was a quotation from the Book of Deuteronomy where we read: "He humbled you and made you hungry; then he fed you on manna which neither you nor your fathers had known before, to teach you that man cannot live by bread alone but lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy, 8: 3). Thus the source of true life and its fullness can come only from God that would make our own lives divine. Out of compassion for the masses Jesus multiplied the loaves and satisfied their hunger on account of which they were again looking for him. Jesus had to advise them not to work for the perishable food, but for the food that lasts, i. e., the food of eternal life. This food only the Son of Man was able to give on whom God the Father has set His seal of authority. The work that we are to do in order to obtain this food is to believe in the one God has sent (See John, 6: 28-29) [More in the next Section on 'The Theology of Gospel Proclamation'].(To be Contd).
Source of Life: As soon as we hear about the fullness of life , our tendency is to think of our physical life surrounded by the material comforts of this world. This is a temptation by Satan himself who invited Jesus to turn stones into bread in order to satisfy a legitimate human need especially after a long fast. Jesus resisted the temptation of Satan by quoting the word of God "Jesus answered, 'Scripture says, "Man cannot live on bread alone; he lives on every word that God utters" ' " (Matthew, 4: 4). This was a quotation from the Book of Deuteronomy where we read: "He humbled you and made you hungry; then he fed you on manna which neither you nor your fathers had known before, to teach you that man cannot live by bread alone but lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy, 8: 3). Thus the source of true life and its fullness can come only from God that would make our own lives divine. Out of compassion for the masses Jesus multiplied the loaves and satisfied their hunger on account of which they were again looking for him. Jesus had to advise them not to work for the perishable food, but for the food that lasts, i. e., the food of eternal life. This food only the Son of Man was able to give on whom God the Father has set His seal of authority. The work that we are to do in order to obtain this food is to believe in the one God has sent (See John, 6: 28-29) [More in the next Section on 'The Theology of Gospel Proclamation'].(To be Contd).
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