GOOD SHEPHERD PARABLE

PARABLE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD
My Dear Precious Child,
   John, the disciple who claimed that Jesus loved Him the most, wrote in His gospel that Jesus Christ gave to His disciples a parable about the good shepherd.  Jesus said again that He was speaking solemnly that anyone who does not enter into the sheepfold through the gate but gets in some other way is a thief and a highway robber.  He said that the One who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock because the gatekeeper lets Him in and the sheep hear His voice, that one by one He calls His own sheep and leads them out of an earthly evil kingdom into My kingdom of heaven, which John called eternal life, referring to a new powerful spiritual life which comes only from Me.  When He brings out his flock from the evil kingdom, He goes ahead of them and My sheep follow Him because they know His voice.  Jesus said that His sheep never follow a stranger but instead they run from him  because they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:1-5)
    Jesus Christ was talking about the two kingdoms in the earth, My kingdom of heaven and the devil's kingdom from hell.  Jesus had come into the earth the spiritually legal way, being born of a woman although I am His biological Father.  He had to come into the world the same way as the people whom He saved, so that when He went to hell He could pay the price for all of their sins because He was Son of Man and Son of God. 
    The devil came into the earth illegally, by deceiving Adam and Eve who listened to the devil in the Garden of Eden and made him their lord, allowing the devil to enter into the world to curse it with his demons.  That is what Jesus Christ meant when He said that the devil is a thief and a highway robber, because he came into the earth by deceit instead of being born of an earthly woman.
    In the explanation of Jesus Christ to the crowd, Jesus said that He is gate of the sheepfold and all others are thieves and highway robbers but the sheep took no notice of them, meaning that My created children did not know or recognize the demons as the instigator of problems in their lives.  Jesus said that anyone who enters through Himself will be safe, will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture, referring to the psalm that proclaims the Lord is My Shepherd who leads His sheep to green pastures of rest. (John 10:7-9; Psalm 23)
    In this parable Jesus Christ identifies the devil and his demons as thieves who come only to rob, steal, kill and destroy.   Jesus contrasts His own ministry in the world to the deceit of the devil by saying that He had come so that My children would have My life and have it to the highest and fullest.  He describes Himself also as the shepherd who will lay His life down for His sheep.  (John 10:10-11)
    Jesus went further in His explanation of the two kingdoms at work in the world by calling the devil as the hired man since he is not the shepherd.  He said that the sheep don't belong to him, and he abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees the wolf coming and then the sheep scatter because the devil is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep.  Jesus was referring to the Mosaic Law as being the one who brought sin into the earth because before the Law came there was no perception of sin.(John 10:12-13; Romans 3:20; Romans 5:13)
    Again in the parable Jesus proclaims that He is the good shepherd and that He knows His own and they know Him just as I know Him and He knows Me.  Jesus proclaimed again that He lays His life down for His sheep, prophesying His crucifixion.  He also prophesied the mystery that was hidden from the foundation of the world when He said that He had sheep that were not of the Jewish fold, speaking of the Gentiles, and Jesus said that He would lead them as well, that they would listen to His voice and that there would be only one flock and one shepherd.  (John 10:14-16)
    Jesus Christ said that I love Him because He lays down His life in order to take it up again, prophesying His resurrection.  He said that nobody would take it from Him because He was going to willingly lay His life down of His own free will and that as it is in His power to lay it down, it was also in His power to take it up again because it the command that He had been given by Me, His Father. (John 10:17-18)
   As was their practice, the Jews said that Jesus Christ was demon possessed, raving mad, so why should they listen to him anymore.  Other people said that His words were not the words of a man possessed by a devil because a devil could not open the eyes of the blind. (John 10:19-21)
   Jesus Christ was more clear in this parable in His identification of the devil as being the originator of evil in the world against My children.  My words through Jesus were filled with absolute truth instead of being hidden by a veil from the unbelievers.  Yet, the Jews did not believe and called Him possessed by a devil.
    This parable has never lost its power.  It has been quoted for generations in order to reveal the good news by Jesus Christ of His identifying Himself as the good shepherd.  In this parable He also identifies the devil as being the robber and the thief.  John had wonderful spiritual insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ. My children for years and years have benefited from the clarity of His insight.
    Pay attention to His warnings to you in the parables of My kingdom of heaven coming into the earth to live in you.  His parables are My cautions and warnings to My children on how to continually exist in My kingdom of heaven while you live in the earth.  Heeding His warnings will keep you from being like Adam and allowing the devil to curse your life by your following his temptations.
    Your Father of Revealed Truth that Sets You Free