Sunday 26 April 2026

Psalm 23

Background
I have a very poor sense of direction and can’t read maps, so I tend to rely on the sat nav when I'm driving anywhere.

Sat navs appeal to my love of rules and regularity. An authoritative voice gives me directions and I obediently obey. It works well until I encounter a diversion or incident on the road. Sometimes neither I nor the sat nav can think of an alternative route and I usually end up back where I started.

Blindly following the rules sometimes means you miss out on your ultimate destination, which Jesus tells us is fullness of life. The Pharisees were well qualified to teach people how to live because they were the custodians of the law but, for them, living meant following the rules.

It’s significant that this teaching follows the healing of the blind man where the Pharisees demonstrate very clearly their own spiritual blindness. Their dogged adherence to the letter of the law prevents them from recognising who Jesus really is.

In contrast to these false shepherds, Jesus teaches that having fullness of life means following a master and having a living relationship with him, who is their living Lord.

He is both the shepherd and the gate, appointed by God the Father to lead, guide, protect and nurture the sheep (the people).

The sheep recognise and listen to the shepherd's voice and he calls them by name in very personal terms. Some commentators have noted that some Eastern shepherds still give nicknames to their sheep such as ‘long ears’ or ‘white nose' etc, so we can speculate about what our own nicknames might be!

Of course, rules are still very important – where would a game of football be without them? And when the roads are all clear, the instructions my sat nav gives me work perfectly. But we do not follow Jesus blindly. We follow because we recognise his voice, we know he loves us and wants the best for us. We know we are safe and secure in his love and nurtured daily by his Holy Spirit so we gladly allow him to rule over our lives.

To Ponder:

• Sheep have an unfortunate reputation of being thought to be less intelligent than other creatures, so how easy do you find it to identify as one before God?
• Which areas of your life do you think you are withholding from Jesus’ rule?
• If you were a sheep, what would your nickname be?

Bible notes author: Sue Moore
Sue Moore is a visiting Anglican preacher on the Methodist circuit in West Norfolk. She is candidating for the role of Distinctive Deacon and together with her husband runs a bereavement support group. They have two greyhounds who keep them fit with plenty of walking.