Tag Archives: John 10:11

Jesus the Leg-breaker, Part 1

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“Jesus the leg-breaker” is a more persistent tale than I expected.  I decided not to give it short shrift.

I am the beautiful shepherd,[1] Jesus said.  Did He mean to turn my attention to Him or to human shepherds?  Do I know Him through the Bible?  Or should I study shepherd lore and apply it to Him?  In a blog titled “The Good Shepherd Breaks Their Legs,” Pastor Robin Weinstein quoted the following story from another blog:

According to the story, if a lamb has a tendency to wander off, the shepherd will actually break one of its legs. He then tends the broken leg – puts a splint on it and binds it up. Then while the leg is mending, he carries it on his shoulder. According to the anecdote, once the sheep heals, it will follow the shepherd, close at his side, the rest of its life. Never again go astray [because now it knows the voice and guidance of its shepherd].

“But, this story is not in the Bible, you say,” was the apparently grudging admission, followed by a Bible verse “that runs parallel” to the story.

How enviable is the man whom God corrects. Oh, do not despise the chastening of the Lord when you sin. For though he wounds, he binds and heals once again. Job 5:17,18

The reasoning here goes something like this: The word of God is true.  The Bible is the word of God.  Job 5:17 and 18 are in the Bible, so they are true and the word of God.  It is a compelling argument and does seem to correspond to the shepherd story.  But in the book of Job in the Bible these words are not the word of yehôvâh:  “How enviable is the man whom God corrects.  Oh, do not despise the chastening of the Lord when you sin.  For though he wounds, he binds and heals once again,” are the words of Eliphaz the Temanite.  In the book of Job yehôvâh spoke the following to Eliphaz the Temanite about Eliphaz’s words (Job 42:7 NET).

After the Lord (yehôvâh) had spoken (dâbar, דבר; Septuagint: λαλῆσαι) these things to Job, he (yehôvâh [added again for emphasis, I assume]) said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken (dâbar,  דברתם; Septuagint: ἐλαλήσατε) about me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

On my way back from atheism, as I essentially rejected the Gospel thinking of it as a second chance to do righteousness by obeying the Bible as rules, I met a man who wanted to produce the book of Job as a play.  I don’t remember now if he asked me to set it to music or if I had the competing idea to write it as an opera.  As I studied, intending to make the book of Job the libretto for an opera, I was perplexed by what fault God found with the words of Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.

I could see that their empathy for Job might have been off a bit, but their words seemed more or less like the religious teaching I had heard my whole life.  Wishing that yehôvâh had been more specific, I abandoned the project.  Even now, given this lack of specificity, I am not wise enough to quote anything Eliphaz said as proof of anything in the light of yehôvâh’s anger (Job 42:8 NET):

So now take seven bulls and seven rams [yehôvâh, speaking to Eliphaz, continued] and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves.  And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken (dâbar,  דברתם; Septuagint: ἐλαλήσατε) about me what is right, as my servant Job has.

“God will chasten and correct us,” the writer of the original blog continued.  So far, so good: For whom the Lord loves He chastens (παιδεύει, a form of παιδεύω), And scourges (μαστιγοῖ, a form of μαστιγόω) every son whom He receives.[2]  But the writer of the original blog added, “if we stray.”  And that is probably the reason he quoted Eliphaz the Temanite from the book of Job rather than the writer of the book of Hebrews.  The writer of the book of Hebrews wasn’t writing to those who strayed but to those who were tempted to stray because of the opposition or contradiction, the ἀντιλογίαν (a form of ἀντιλογία; literally, “to speak against”) of sinners that they encountered while trusting Christ (Hebrews 12:5-7a NET):

And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?  “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline (παιδείας, a form of παιδεία) or give up when he corrects you.  “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”  Endure your suffering as discipline (παιδείαν, a form of παιδεία) …

The faithful, as opposed to those who stray, are called to endure the ἀντιλογίαν of sinners as God’s παιδείαν (a form of παιδεία).  Currently in the U.S. this ἀντιλογίαν is mostly ridicule and rarely μαστιγόω as was common in the first century (and beyond).  But it is fairly clear that the faithful should perceive and receive the ἀντιλογίαν of sinners in whatever form as παιδείαν from God (Hebrews 12:7b, 8 NET):

God is treating you as sons.  For what son is there that a father does not discipline (παιδεύει, a form of παιδεύω)?  But if you do not experience discipline (παιδείας, another form of παιδεία), something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons.

A comparison and contrast follow between earthly fathers and the Father of spirits which might be confusing if not treated carefully:

Comparison

Contrast
Besides, we have experienced discipline (παιδευτὰς, a form of παιδευτής) from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life?

Hebrews 12:9 (NET)

 For they [earthly fathers] disciplined (ἐπαίδευον, another form of παιδεύω) us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he [the Father of spirits] does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.

Hebrews 12:10 (NET)

If the παιδεία of one’s father consisted mostly of punishment for doing wrong it is easy to mistake punishment for the Father of spirits’ παιδεία.  But the παιδεία of the Father of spirits comes at the mouth (and possibly at the hands) of sinners for doing right rather than wrong.  The writer of the book of Hebrews continued (Hebrews 12:11-13 NET):

Now all discipline (παιδεία) [whether for doing wrong or for doing right] seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it [the παιδεία from the Father of spirits for doing right] produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it.  Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

This is the experience of the faithful, not the unfaithful, and not a word about breaking legs.  But Deacon Del Gibbs, the original blogger, wrote:

God will chasten and correct us if we stray. You say yep, I could write the book? Been there, done that?  But it is for our good. And trust me, the pain is better than the alternative – becoming lamb chops on Satan’s dinner table. 

Is this his personal experience of Jesus?

No.  He never strayed.  “You see,” he wrote, “I had not been saved out of sin but God saved me from going into it.”  In Romans 1 people who did not glorify…God or give him thanks, who exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles, were given over by God in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.[3]  The implication here is that apart from this God would keep them from this sin.

People who exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, were given over by God to dishonorable passions.[4]  Again the implication is that apart from this God would keep them from this sin.  Likewise people who did not see fit to acknowledge God, were given over by God to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.[5]  Once again the implication is that apart from this God would keep them from these sins.  Mr. Gibbs continued:

I can testify of God’s strength that helps me live victoriously.  Of his patience and forgiveness for the times I’m slow to catch on.  And when I stub my toe and fall on my face, I can tell how He reaches out and helps me to my feet once again.

That sounds so much better to me as something to say to one who has strayed than threats about Jesus the leg-breaker.  You see, I have strayed.  You might say I went looking for the smiting, leg-breaking Jesus I was taught about, at least I dared Him to act.  And I became an atheist when He refused to live up to his bad press.

The good thing about becoming an atheist, however, is that I couldn’t blame God for my problems any more.  They were definitely my problems, brought about by the sins that I thought were my freedom, even my right, the very things Paul called the wrath of God…revealed from heaven,[6] the things I couldn’t quit even after I began to want to quit them.

The kicker here is that Mr. Gibbs’ father, raised on a sheep ranch in Montana, couldn’t even confirm the alleged shepherd lore: “My Dad says he didn’t do it,” his blog post began.  “He just got out the 22, and that night they had mutton stew.”  The reasoning here goes something like this: Jesus the leg-breaker would be better than Del’s father the killer and eater.

But that unmasks the whole thing, doesn’t it?  Why does a human shepherd care for the flock at all?  Is it not so the flock is available to be fleeced, milked and eaten?  Is that what Jesus meant when He called Himself the beautiful shepherd?  Is this, too, part of the shepherd lore I should apply to Him?  Jesus said:

Matthew

Luke
What do you think?  If someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray?

Matthew 18:12 (NET)

 So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it?

Luke 15:3, 4 (NET)

Frankly, I think I might write-off the one who strayed rather than risk the others.  But then, I’m not a shepherd.  I don’t really know the value of a sheep.  (And  I’m not omnipresent.)  So I must take Jesus at his word here.

Matthew

Luke
And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

 Matthew 18:13 (NET)

 “Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’

Luke 15:5, 6 (NET)

Again, I have no direct way to corroborate this, but must take Jesus at his word.

Matthew

Luke
In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that one of these little ones be lost.

 Matthew 18:14 (NET)

 “I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.”

Luke 15:7 (NET)

This is clearly beyond my experience.   I haven’t amounted to much, nothing that would cause anyone to say, “Ah, I understand why Jesus went out of his way to save him.”  But He did.  As far as I’m concerned, the only plausible explanation is to take Jesus at his word: your Father in heaven is not willing (θέλημα) that one of these little ones be lost.

[1] John 10:11 (NET)

[2] Hebrews 12:6 (KJV, DNT)

[3] Romans 1:21-24 (NET)

[4] Romans 1:25, 26a (NET)

[5] Romans 1:28 (NET)

[6] Romans 1:18a (NET)

The Soul

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In Romans, Part 31 I related Paul’s statement—if you live according to the flesh, you will die[1]—to Jesus’ saying to his disciples, The one who loves his life [i.e., in this world] destroys [or, loses] it.[2]  The word translated life here is ψυχὴν (a form of ψυχή).[3]  Two verses later Jesus is recorded as saying, Now my soul (ψυχή) is greatly distressed.[4]  This is the life of keeping body and soul together as opposed to the new life of the Spirit.  Though this connection was not as new to me as Jesus’ saying to Martha,[5] it too deserved some further study.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus said.  I know my own and my own know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for the sheep.[6]  This was a fairly clear statement of Jesus’ death on our behalf, for us, in our place.  It becomes even clearer as a reference to an actual loss of soul-life as Jesus continued.  This is why the Father loves me – because I lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή), so that I may take it back again.  No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again.  This commandment I received from my Father.[7]  This is how Peter understood it (John 13:36-38 NET):

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?  I will lay down my life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for you!”  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for me?  I tell you the solemn truth, the rooster will not crow until you have denied (ἀρνήσῃ, a form of ἀρνέομαι)[8] me three times!

Later that same night when Jesus was arrested Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear.[9]  Peter was moments away from making good on his pledge to lay down his life for Jesus, in the terms that he in his soul-life understood at that moment.  But Jesus intervened.  What Peter had missed was the other meaning of being a good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd, Jesus also said.  The good shepherd lays down his life (ψυχήν, a form of ψυχή) for the sheep.[10]  Then Jesus contrasted the laying down of life of the good shepherd to the hired hand.  The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons (ἀφίησιν, a form of ἀφίημι)[11] the sheep and runs away (φεύγει, a form of φεύγω).[12]  Notice that the word translated abandons here is the same word as forgive, in the sense of sending away someone else’s sins.

“Flee for your lives,” the hired hand screams as he runs for his life.  So the wolf attacks (ἁρπάζει, a form of ἁρπάζω)[13] the sheep and scatters (σκορπίζει, a form of σκορπίζω)[14] them.  Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep…[15]  The good shepherd by contrast lays down his life, or puts his life on the line, to defend the sheep, the living as opposed to the dying sacrifice.  After his resurrection Jesus made this point quite poignantly for Peter (John 21:15-17 NET). Table

Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?”  He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.”  Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”  Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.”  Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was distressed that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” and said, “Lord, you know everything.  You know that I love you.”  Jesus replied, “Feed my sheep.

Jesus had a different kind of laying down his life in mind for Peter.  And still He promised him that he would also be crucified.  I tell you the solemn truth, when you were young, you tied your clothes around you and went wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will tie you up and bring you where you do not want to go.  (Now Jesus said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God.)[16]  In my imagination I can see the crucified and risen Lord, standing, looking Peter in the eyes, smiling and nodding as he whispers, Follow me.[17]

I think both understandings need to be grasped as I hear Jesus command:  My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.[18]  And so I think both must be brought to bear when considering, The one who loves his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) destroys (ἀπολλύει, a form of ἀπόλλυμι)[19] it, and the one who hates (μισῶν, a form of μισέω)[20] his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) in this world guards it for eternal life (ζωὴν, a form of ζωή).[21]  The one who loves his life is like one who does not lay down his life, one who does not believe we have been buried with [Christ] through baptism into death (thanatos, θάνατος),[22] or attempts to live as if it were not true.

Perhaps the Spirit will lead one to martyrdom, perhaps not.  After the resurrected Jesus prophesied that he would be crucified in his old age Peter asked about John.  Jesus replied, “If I want him to live until I come back, what concern is that of yours?  You follow me!”[23]  In Revelation John heard a loud voice in heaven speak of the brothers and sisters who overcame (ἐνίκησαν, a form of νικάω) [the one who accuses them day and night before our God][24] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) so much that they were afraid to (ἄχρι)[25] die (θανάτου, another form of θάνατος),[26] whether through martyrdom or feeding and protecting others.

There is more to this soul life (ψυχή) they did not love so much than food as there is more to the body (σῶμα)[27] than clothing.  And so Jesus said, do not worry about your life (ψυχῇ, another form of ψυχή), what you will eat or drink, or about your body (σώματι, a form of σῶμα), what you will wear.[28]  For the unconverted (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος)[29] pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.[30]

If anyone wants to become my follower, Jesus said, he must deny (ἀρνησάσθω, another form of ἀρνέομαι) himself (ἑαυτὸν, a form of ἑαυτοῦ),[31] take up his cross daily, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save (σῶσαι, a form of σώζω)[32] his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) will lose (ἀπολέσει, a form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, but whoever loses (ἀπολέσῃ, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) for my sake will save (σώσει, another form of σώζω) it.  For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but loses (ἀπολέσας, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) or forfeits (ζημιωθείς, a form of ζημιόω)[33] himself (ἑαυτὸν, a form of ἑαυτοῦ)?  For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.[34]

Jesus said, I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone.  But if it dies, it produces much grain (καρπὸν, a form of καρπός; literally fruit).[35]  The one who loves his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) destroys (ἀπολλύει, another form of ἀπόλλυμι) it, and the one who hates (μισῶν, a form of μισέω) his life (ψυχὴν, a form of ψυχή) in this world guards it for eternal life (ζωὴν, a form of ζωή).  If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow me, and where I am, my servant will be too.  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.  Now my soul (ψυχή) is greatly distressed.  And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver (σῶσον, another form of σώζω) me from this hour’?  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour.[36]  And so has each of us who know and love and want to follow Him.

[1] Romans 8:13a (NET)

[2] John 12:25a (NET)

[4] John 12:27 (NET)

[6] John 10:14, 15 (NET)

[7] John 10:17, 18 (NET)

[9] John 18:10 (NET) Table

[10] John 10:11 (NET)

[12] John 10:12a (NET)

[15] John 10:12b-13 (NET)

[16] John 21:18, 19a (NET)

[18] John 15:12-14 (NET)

[21] John 12:25 (NET)

[23] John 21:22 (NET)

[24] Revelation 12:10 (NET)

[26] Revelation 12:11 (NET)

[28] Matthew 6:25 (NET)

[30] Matthew 6:32, 33 (NET)

[34] Luke 9:23-26 (NET)

[36] John 12:24-27 (NET)