𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣

• How dependent are you on online maps for direction? Briefly explain.

• Where do you go to recharge whenever you feel tired or need to clear your thoughts? How did you discover this place?

• Recall a time when someone made a bold prediction and then saw it come to pass. How did you feel?

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯, ‘𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.’ 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘦.” 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝟭𝟰:𝟮𝟳-𝟮𝟴

Jesus entered our world set apart with a clear mission—to redeem us from sin by giving His life. Before He fulfilled this, Jesus prepared His disciples for the things that were about to happen. He told them that 𝘢𝘭𝘭 of them would 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. But with this news came the assurance that He would go ahead of them and meet with them after He was 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱. Despite their best intentions, Jesus’ disciples failed Him. Like His disciples, we too can fail Jesus. And just as Jesus extended grace and forgiveness to them despite their failures, He offers the same to us. Today, we will look at how Jesus was set apart so that we may be reconciled with God, enabling us to live for Him from a place of grace—the finished work on the cross.

𝟭. 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯, ‘𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.’ . . .” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘈𝘣𝘣𝘢, 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭.”𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝟭𝟰:𝟮𝟳,𝟯𝟲

Jesus prophesied the scattering of His disciples, quoting Zechariah 13:7 to highlight His fulfillment as the promised Shepherd. This declaration emphasized Jesus' role in God's plan, foreshadowing His sacrifice. When Jesus prayed before His capture, He addressed God intimately as Abba, Father, expressing His submission to the Father’s will despite His human apprehension. By surrendering to God’s plan and accepting the cup of suffering, Jesus demonstrated His obedience by sacrificing His life for us. Amidst challenges and hardship, we can rest assured that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, went to the greatest lengths, including sacrificing His own life, for our good. How has this truth helped you persevere in faith during a critical season in your life?

𝟮. 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝘀, 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝘀.

“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘦.” . . . “𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬.” 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝟭𝟰:𝟮𝟴,𝟯𝟴

(Read also 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝟭𝟲:𝟲-𝟳.)

Even though He knew that His disciples would fail Him, Jesus showed His concern for their spiritual well-being. He informed Peter of his three denials and yet prayed that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:31–34). When Jesus went up to Gethsemane and instructed His disciples to 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺, He caught them sleeping. In the same way, Jesus knows how we could fail Him. And just like how He restored Peter and the rest of the disciples through the women who saw the empty tomb (Mark 16:6–7), Jesus will remain steadfast in His commitment to be our loving Shepherd. Despite our shortcomings, He will lovingly guide and restore His flock. His unfailing love and grace remain constant, and He is calling us to heed His guidance, remain watchful, and rely on prayer to navigate life’s challenges. What does 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 say about the grace of God?

Despite facing suffering, Jesus did not retaliate but instead entrusted Himself to God. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, He bore our sins, offering redemption and healing for our souls (1 Peter 2:22–25). As we follow Jesus, we are enabled, by His grace, to live set apart for Him, imitating His humility and willingness to endure suffering to fulfill His purpose. Jesus guides, protects, and cares for us as our Shepherd and overseer, leading us toward salvation and eternal life.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• In what area of your life is there chaos and uncertainty? How would you apply what you learned today in this situation?

• Is there an area of failure in the past that still haunts you today? Talk to someone you trust about this. Allow Jesus to bring healing and restoration upon you, and enable you to live the victorious life you have in Him.

• How can you encourage someone to allow Jesus to guide them this week?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• Thank God for sending Jesus to be our loving Shepherd. Ask God for the grace to enable you to follow Jesus’ example and walk in obedience.

• Ask that you would know Jesus more as the loving Shepherd. Pray for the grace to overcome any trial or temptation through His strength.

• Pray for people in your circle of friends and family who need God’s guidance in specific areas in their lives. Ask God to open doors for you to minister to them this week.