11 ‘I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
14 ‘I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10
Jesus said twice in John 10, that He was the Good Shepherd and He ‘lays down His life for the sheep’.
The Jerusalem Post, 22 December 2021, published an article by Rosella Tercatin, about treasure salvaged from two ship wrecks in the ancient harbour of Caesarea. The ships were only at a depth of 4m/13feet, quite shallow. Hundreds of silver coins were found on the wrecks but a gold ring with a green gemstone was also found, dating from the third century AD. This ring has been called the ‘Good Shepherd’ ring because the gemstone bears an engraving of a shepherd boy carrying a sheep across his shoulders. Caesarea was near the home of Cornelius, the first non Jew to come to faith in the Lord. (Baptised by Peter, Acts 10) The ring was believed to be a symbol of a very early Christian Community in the area. It’s remarkable that this treasure has been recovered after seventeen centuries, just before the celebration of the Lord’s coming. It seems that the account of the ‘Good Shepherd’ lives on today, just as it did when John’s Gospel was written so long ago.
Happy Christmas to everyone from the ‘Father’s Love’.
God bless and keep you in these days.