John 10:1-21: I Am the Good Shepherd

Well, we're continuing our series.

Pastor Mike started off last week.

The I am statements, the identity of Jesus, who Jesus reveals himself to be to us.

And so we're going to continue with that by looking at Jesus' words that he is the good shepherd.

From John chapter 10, verses 1 through 21.

John 10:1–21

Here now the reading of God's holy word.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

But he who enters by the door is the sheep, shepherd of the sheep.

To him the gatekeeper opens.

The sheep the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he is brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus said again to them, Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.

And the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, 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 for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock, one shepherd.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I might take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

This charge I have received from my Father.

There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

Many of them said, He has a demon and is insane.

Why listen to him?

Others said, These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon.

Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

Let us pray.

Oh gracious Father, we thank you once again for uh revealing yourself to us through your Son by your word.

And Lord, we ask and we pray now that your spirit would take these truths, would take this word, and that you would apply it, Lord, to us deep within.

Lord, may we know something more this day of your goodness as the Good Shepherd.

So Lord, we ask and we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, I wonder if you have ever wondered about how Jesus uh shepherds you.

I think we uh we often have a general sense that Jesus cares for us.

Uh oftentimes, though, we're not so clear on how he goes about that specifically and personally.

And so what we see in the Gospels is that Jesus is one who has compassion on the crowds when he looks out and he sees the crowds helpless, uh harassed.

It has and draws his compassion upon them.

He sees them as sheep without a shepherd.

And so his compassion is evoked, and we we continue to see Jesus shepherding heart all throughout the Gospels, and it continues in the passage that we've just read where he explicitly identifies himself as the good shepherd.

However, uh, in order to understand chapter 10 and what Jesus teaches here that we've just read, it is helpful to understand the con that this is uh in the context of chapter 9.

The situation was that Jesus and his disciples are walking and they see a man who was born blind.

And the disciples have a question for Jesus.

They say, Jesus, Rabbi, did this man sin or was it his parents who sinned?

Which one?

Which one made him uh cause him to be blind from birth?

And Jesus replies to the effect, actually, neither are the reasons why this man was born blind.

The reason is so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Now that's a cue that Jesus was going to do something big in their midst.

He was at work.

And so he proceeds to heal the blind man.

He gives uh he gives some instructions, and the blind man goes and he does that, and then he finds himself miraculously healed.

But that's not uh the end of the situation.

That's not enough because a careful observer will notice that Jesus said that this man was born blind, so that the works of God might be displayed not toward him, which he did do, but in him.

And so there's more to the situation.

What we're led to see is that the good shepherd was in the motion of calling out another one of his sheep.

And so, in the midst of the interrogation of the Pharisees, and and and and later what escalates into him being thrown out of the synagogue, he is led to hear and respond to the voice of the one whose call is most necessary and blessed in all of life.

A work of God is done within the man, and another sheep is added to the fold.

And so it's in that context that we have these amazing words that follow, where Jesus declares himself to be and reveals himself to be the good shepherd.

He is saying, There is no one else who I will share this with.

There's no one else like me.

I and I alone am the one whom the prophets prophesied about.

And so, just as we read earlier in Ezekiel, we read, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all of the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

And so Jesus came as a fulfillment to the prophets who spoke in that way.

And so, in light of that, there are three things in particular that I believe that Jesus would have us to know by revealing himself as a good shepherd.

Three things that he is pleased to shepherd, to know of you as a shepherd.

The first is he wants you to know his call.

He wants you to know his call.

We read that in verses two and three.

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

To him the gatekeeper opens.

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

And so what Jesus is saying here is that I am the one who enters by the door.

I am the one to whom the gatekeeper opens, and I've come so that my voice will have a place of familiarity in you.

And so it was common in Jesus' day that shepherds would take their sheep and they would take it to what was called a sheepfold.

And what that meant was that they would take the sheep, that the owner would take them off his hands, and they would go into the sheepfold, and then the the sheep would go down to the little village or town and do whatever needed to be done down there, or perhaps rest.

And upon the return, the gatekeeper would open the door, and since this was like a sheepfold that had likely a number of different owners putting their sheep in, the the the owner of the sheep would stand at the door and he would call to his sheep.

And they would recognize his voice, and they would respond by being let out.

And so what Jesus is saying here is that I am the legitimate owner of my sheep, and they know my voice and respond to it.

Think of Zacchaeus, a tax collector, collecting taxes, the Romans pocketing some for himself, one of the most despised people and professions in Jesus' day, and Jesus walks up to him in a tree and says, Zacchaeus, I want to stay at your house tonight.

And when we read that salvation came to the home of Zacchaeus, I consider a f fisherman named Simon.

Wasn't catching anything that particular day.

Jesus says, Simon, go put your nets on the other side of the boat.

He says, What do I have to lose?

So he puts his net on the other side and he hauls in this huge catch.

And he says, Lord, he falls down before him, and Jesus says, Simon, come into my company.

You now be fisher of men.

Calling, Jesus calling two people.

Mary Magdalene was another.

And you might remember at one point she was outside the tomb of Jesus and she was weeping.

And she was weeping because she believed that someone had taken her Lord and she didn't know where he was.

And so here she is crying, and she turns around at one point and she sees Jesus there, but she doesn't recognize him.

She thinks he's the gardener.

And so she says, Have you taken him?

Where have you laid him?

Where's the body?

And then Jesus opens his mouth.

Mary.

And immediately she knows the voice of her Lord.

Oh, the intimacy of a shepherd's voice.

And more specifically, his call upon his people.

Growing up in a sheep farm, we had uh about 2,000 sheep, um, give or take.

And oftentimes uh around the time of lambing, there would inevitably be uh lambs that were orphaned, there would be lambs that needed special attention and things like that, and so we would uh would take them on and we would uh bottle feed them, and we would keep them close to our house, and they would grow up being very familiar with us, and we would name them.

And then when it was time to let them out to pasture, we would let them out.

But occasionally we would call them and we would call them by name, and they would come running from however far away they were, and they would hear our voice, and they would hear their name, and they would come on running over because they heard and knew our voice.

Likewise, Jesus says, Here, I call my sheep.

And upon hearing my voice, my sheep respond to my leading.

And he's still doing that work today.

His call comes to us through the gospel and through faith.

We read of that in verse 16.

I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

Now, notice he doesn't say they might listen to my voice, or I hope they'll listen, but that they will listen.

And that's not a that's not a statement of prediction, that's not a guess that Jesus is making.

That is a remarkable statement of sovereign purpose.

And what that means is that when Jesus calls you, it is not a begrudging or a reluctant call.

Perhaps we know by experience what it is to have been called with some reluctance or begrudging manner.

Entertainer Garrison Keelor recalls the childhood pain of that kind of reluctant call and being chosen last for the baseball teams that he played in.

He recounts the captains are down to their last grudging choices.

A slow kid for catcher, someone to stick out in right field where nobody hits it.

They choose the last ones two at a time.

You and you, because it makes no difference.

And the remaining kids, the scrubs, the excess, they deal for us as handicaps.

If you take him, then you gotta take him, they say.

Sometimes I go as high as sixth, but usually lower.

But just once I'd like Daryl to pick me first and say, I want you.

Skinny kid with the glasses and the black shoes.

I want you.

You, come on.

But I've never been chosen with much enthusiasm.

I think we can all relate to that at some level, can't we?

But what Jesus is saying here is that you are no grudging choice.

I chose you, I had your name upon my heart.

And so we read the wonderful words of the Apostle Paul Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.

And notice what he says.

What that says most emphatically is that you and I are not an afterthought.

We were chosen and are called with enthusiasm by our good shepherd.

As the part of the intentional and the direct mission and pursuit of God.

And so we hear his voice and awakened to his call.

And we read this as the scripture says, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed the heir of all things.

Have you heard the call of your good shepherd?

Have you begun to follow him?

There is nothing more important, nothing more vital in all the world than to be attuned to his voice, to hear his voice, to be attuned to it, to be familiar, for it to be a familiar voice in your soul, leading you, guiding you, directing you, helping you, loving you.

He wants you to know his call.

Secondly, he wants you to know that he is more life for you.

Verse 4.

When he is bought out all his own, he goes before them.

And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

And then verse 9, I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

And so what Jesus is saying here is that I not only came to preserve life, but I came to impart life to you and to my sheep.

Which means he is a present shepherd to us.

He knows what we need in every moment and situation who leads us to find further nourishment.

He is the door of access by which we can go in and out and find a fresh heavenly pasture to nourish and sustain us with.

If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down.

Only when free of these pests can they relax.

And then lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel a need of finding food.

They must be free from hunger.

Free from fear, free from friction, free from irritations, free from hunger.

The truth is we need Jesus to rest us in the midst of life and all other pursuits that we might engage in.

We need him to make us lie down when fear seizes us, when we encounter friction with other people and other relationships, when we experience irritations and frustrations that weigh on us, and when we are famished through unbelief.

And the posture that he gives to us is always, always life-giving in nature.

He has promises to drive away our fears.

He grants forgiveness when we encounter friction with others.

He provides comfort and relief, healing our irritations and our frustrations.

And he sows within us more truth to feed faith and starve unbelief.

And because he is good, because he is our good shepherd, he offers this heavenly food, this heavenly pasture to us in all the various seasons of our lives.

Oftentimes I think we want to be fed in the mountaintops, do we not?

And Jesus does do that.

Perhaps you've had a mountaintop experience where you know he has fed you.

Many of us would say, though, that it's often been in the hardest situations, the valleys and the ravines of life, the moments in our lives where we have heard his voice most clearly, though.

And and gently, and then have been fed most intimately.

And it's for that reason that we look back on those seasons and moments in our lives and we say to ourselves, I would not necessarily like to experience that again.

But neither would I want to be without that experience.

Because I know, I know how life giving it was to have.

Gone through it.

I know how he fed me.

I know how he loved me.

I know how he cared for me.

No, Jesus is not deterred by valleys and ravines that we might go through.

He feeds us in all the various seasons of our lives.

And so knowing there is no limit to his offer of more life, we can only conclude then that there are better days ahead for us.

Right?

He has more promises for you to take hold of.

More depth of fellowship to enjoy.

More forgiveness to realize.

And more love to embrace.

And so he wants you to know.

He wants you to know that there's more life for you.

That's the second point.

The third, he wants you to know that he will never leave you.

He will never leave you.

Verse 11 and 12, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.

And the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

And so Jesus is making a contrast here between himself and a hired hand.

What we know about a hired hand is that he is not there for the sheep so much, he's there for the for his wages.

He doesn't occupy any sense of ownership over the sheep.

And so the problem with that is that as soon as the risk outweighs the reward, like a wolf, he is quick to move on.

On the other hand, Jesus says, I'm among you because you are mine.

I'm among you because you are mine.

I'm among you because I love you.

And because of that, he is willing to disadvantage himself for the sake of his sheep, for their benefit.

Jesus says, a hired hand leaves, but I must stay.

Now notice how he says this twice for emphasis.

I choose to lay down my life for the sheep.

What Jesus is saying is that unlike the hired hand who chooses to run away from the wolf, I willingly lay down my life to save you from the wolf.

In the face of the insatiable hunger of sin, and in the face of the great appetite of the grave and death, Jesus says, I lay down my life for you.

I've come to satisfy this hunger, and I've come to save you from the wolf.

You know, if Jesus came to know us, but not to die for us, then we would have an idea of who he is, but we would not be secure why.

Because the wolf would still be lurking.

Jesus said, I've come to deal with a wolf.

Jesus says, I know my sheep intimately, and I show the depth of my love and commitment by laying down my life for them.

He knows your life.

You are fully known.

But he also laid down his life and secured you by his blood.

And so you are fully loved.

To be known and not loved fosters insecurity.

To be loved and not be known fosters superficiality.

But to be fully known and fully loved means that you can be sure that Jesus will never leave you and he will never give up on you.

You are fully known and you are fully loved.

So Jesus says, I lay down my life for my sheep.

But then I also take up my life again.

And so we know that Jesus rose up from the grave in resurrection power.

Verse 27 and 29.

My sheep hear my voice and they know them and they follow me.

I give them eternal life.

And they will never perish.

And no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

Because Jesus died in your place, you will never die.

And because he lives, you also shall live.

And so when death comes knocking, and it will come knocking for all of us, when that day comes, if it be tomorrow or in days or in decades, Jesus would have you to know that he will be with you because he has gone before you.

For Jesus' sheep, death is merely a door into greater blessing and glory.

A place where disappointment will be removed, sorrow will be wiped away.

Every hardship and presence of sin will be erased.

Beyond the veil of death, there lies an unspoiled pasture that he would lead you to.

A final resting place.

And in the presence of our good shepherd, in the presence of the one who loved us, we will be whole.

And all will be perfect.

And all will be gloriously well.

Amen.

Let's praise God.

Let's pray.

Oh Father, we praise you and we thank you for sending your only begotten Son, our good shepherd.

Oh Lord, we are so grateful.

So, so grateful for his goodness, for his love, for the one who has sought us out, who has called us by name, the one who tends to us and all of our situations, all of the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of life, and all the seasons that we might go through.

Father, we praise and we thank you that you're the God who laid down his life for his sheep.

We thank you that you have nothing but life for us.

And so in him, Lord, we are infinitely blessed, fully known, fully loved.

And so we praise you and we thank you for your goodness.

We thank you for your love.

We thank you for your mercy in Jesus' name.

Amen.