Autobiography: I Am The Good Shepherd: Exploring Jesus' Personal Connection and Sacrificial Love | John 10:10-21

1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado.

Will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?

I'll tell you this I was up in Kansas City this week and some of my sermon prep took place at Midwestern Seminary in what they call the Spurgeon Library, the Charles Spurgeon Library, and quite literally it is this room surrounded with Spurgeon's library, like his books with his writing in them, and you can look at them and it's sitting there is Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century preacher in London.

It's his handwriting and you can see it.

And so if there's any extra something in the sermon today, it's 99% the Holy Spirit and 1% Spurgeon.

He may have gotten into it somehow.

I don't think that's theologically correct, but I think it's all the Holy Spirit, but man Spurgeon may have gotten in there a little bit.

Holy Spirit, but man Spurgeon may have gotten in there a little bit.

Let me read one verse.

I know I read the passage earlier.

Let me read verse 11 of John, chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Let me pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your word, holy Spirit, we need you to speak.

Would you speak and would you transform our heart and Lord, let us leave today knowing, being reminded, that you are the good shepherd.

Spirit, would you speak?

We ask in Christ's name, amen.

We live I think we'd all agree in a celebrity culture.

All over the place there are celebrities and I think now, because of the internet and social media and you know different television shows and different access that we have it's amazing what we can know about certain celebrities, like we can know details about their lives that maybe before we never could.

But maybe there's a celebrity, a movie star, a TV star, that you know, maybe it's a sports figure that you really like, maybe it's a political figure that you have a preference for, and now, because of social media, we can know so much about their lives and we might say there's a celebrity, an individual, that we know a lot about them.

And so that person your favorite movie star, you might know things about them.

You might know when their birthday is, you might remember the first movie they were in that nobody else remembers, when they were just a little kid, before they were even famous.

With a sports figure, you might know where they played college football and you might be able to recall stats from their college days.

With a political figure.

You might know that they ran for second grade class president years ago and won, and that's what started their whole political career.

Which quick side note.

I ran for second grade class president and I did not win.

But it was not for lack of a great slogan Vote Tarren, it's a guarantee.

And I didn't win.

I don't remember the other slogan, but it must have been really, really good.

But we have these figures that we see on the TV screen or through social media or at a football game and we can know so much about them, and I have those people too.

But here's what's interesting If I saw them walking on the sidewalk later this afternoon and if I could force myself to, you know, not go crazy when I see them and we walked by each other when that individual saw me, what would he do?

He would keep walking.

Nothing about his day would change.

He might look at me, he might nod or he might not.

Why?

Because I know so much about his life and who he is and he knows nothing about me.

But that's okay, it's how society works.

He's the elevated one and I'm just me.

But I think this morning about Jesus you talk about.

Celebrity status doesn't even come close to who Jesus is, the elevated one, the one above all.

But here's what's fascinating about our good shepherd Not only can I know him, but he is intimately familiar with me, and not just me.

He knows you and he is intimately familiar with you and your life and who you are.

That's the beauty of the good shepherd that I want to see this morning that he knows us.

We remember chapter 10, verses 1 through 10, we see Jesus talking to the Pharisees using these illustrations of sheep and the sheep pen, and Jesus says I am the door.

So if you're a sheep of the pasture and you want to come in the father sheep pen, there is one way in.

It is through Jesus.

He says I am the door.

And now, in verse 11, he gives us another.

I am statement right off the bat, verse 11, he gives us another.

I am statement right off the bat, verse 11, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd.

Now we could stop right there and preach a sermon or a sermon series just on that phrase I am the good shepherd.

In fact, I've preached before just on that phrase, because every word of that phrase is powerful.

I am the good shepherd, I I myself, I am Not, will be, not was.

No, that's true.

But I am here and now.

I am the good shepherd, I am the.

That's an exclusive claim, as we've seen throughout the I am statements.

I'm not one of many, I am the good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd.

We'll see in a minute.

That implies that there are some not so good shepherd and I am the good shepherd.

We could spend a year on that word just the shepherd and go to Psalm 23 and other places in scripture where we see God refer to himself as this shepherd.

That leads us to green pastures.

But this is what Jesus wants us to see that he's the good shepherd and he lays down his life for the sheep.

Now, that's a big phrase and that's one he's going to keep bringing up and we'll see it throughout.

But first and foremost, that is contrasted with verse 12 and 13.

Look at this 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.

The wolf snatches them and scatters them.

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

So first we have the good shepherd the good shepherd willing to lay down his life for the sheep, and then we have this, the hired hand.

This is the individual that maybe a group of shepherds would hire out to watch the pen overnight, and the reality is they are clocking in and they are clocking out and they are just a hired hand and there's no real ownership over the sheep.

There's really not this idea of you know, I've got skin in the game.

And the reality is, when the wolf comes, they can just say this listen, this paycheck I may or may not get is not worth the wolf that's coming my way, and they will leave the sheep to be devoured and they will get out of town.

That's what a hired hand does.

But not Jesus.

I am the good shepherd.

We saw this hired hand idea even last week when Jesus is really speaking about the Pharisees, who are the thieves and the robbers.

We saw Jesus in chapter 9, it healed a man born blind, and the Pharisees didn't like it.

We don't like Jesus messing with the status quo.

We don't like it when someone else threatens our standing as the religious authority in town, and so they don't like it.

But Jesus wants to remind them.

They are just thieves and robbers and they are the hired hand.

They don't really care about the sheep and they are the hired hand.

They don't really care about the sheep.

And so there's a good shepherd, but there are also some not so good shepherds, and this is an idea that didn't begin in John, chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

The idea of some not so good shepherds had been around for a long time, near 600 years before Christ was born.

The prophet Ezekiel spoke about some not so good shepherds.

The prophet Ezekiel was writing about the reality around him that the people of God, because of their own sin, rightly deserved, were being carried off into exile by Babylon and they were going to exile the consequence again of their own sin.

And throughout Ezekiel, ezekiel really God, through Ezekiel is coming down hard on the people of God for the sin they have committed.

But in verse in chapter 34, something changes.

The Lord moves from going after the people and their sin to looking at the shepherds, the religious leaders, the shepherds that were supposed to be caring for the flock, for the people of God.

And the Lord says this, ezekiel 34, starting in verse one the word of the Lord came to me, son of man.

Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.

Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, israel, prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds.

Thus says the Lord God ah, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves, should not, shepherds, feed the sheep?

You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.

The weak, you have not strengthened the sick, you have not healed the injured, you've not bound up the strayed, you have not brought back the lost, you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.

So they were scattered.

Because there was no shepherd, they became food for the wild beast.

My sheep were scattered, they wandered all over the mountains and on every high hill.

My sheep were scattered over the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

What is God saying in this moment?

That there were these shepherds, these leaders in Israel that were called on by God to care for the sheep, to care for the people of God, amen, to meet their spiritual and even physical needs.

These were the shepherds called by God.

And here's what they did Instead of caring for the sheep, they devoured the sheep, they abandoned their calling as a shepherd of Israel and devoured the very people of God.

They made their sheep their food instead of giving them food.

And I think about this and I think about the reality that even today we sadly still hear about so many shepherds and I'm not talking about the good shepherd, there's one good shepherd but so many under shepherds, shepherds called on by God to care for the flock that seemingly now more than ever I'm not sure if it's now more than ever, if we just have more access to these kinds of stories but these shepherds that abandon their call of God to care for the sheep and instead are devouring the sheep, sheep and instead are devouring the sheep.

And sadly, we get too many stories of these pastor shepherds who think about their flock as maybe individuals that can lift them up, put the shepherd on the pedestal that the shepherd can be the one that impresses the group.

We see too many that the shepherd thinks that ministry exists for the sake of the shepherd and not the good shepherd.

And we even see and it's with tears that we read these stories of moments when the shepherd has even become the predator who goes after the sheep and hurts the sheep and hurts the church of Christ in so many big and even small ways, shepherds that have abandoned their call.

And I wonder, if you're in the room even today and maybe along the way at some point in time, that maybe you've been hurt by someone who was supposed to be a shepherd.

Maybe sometime in your history a shepherd, in a big way or a small way, was not the shepherd God had called him to be and did not care for you as they should have.

I want to say two things.

Number one is this I'm just so sorry I really am for you.

I'm just so sorry and I lament this, and I, I, I, I am just terribly sorry that the very shepherds that were supposed to feed the sheep have not done that for you or have not always done that for you.

But I'd also say this maybe there was a time in your life where, because of a certain situation, you needed to leave a certain local church.

But I beg you of this please don't leave the church, the big C, church of Christ, and please do not leave the good shepherd, because I want us to see the good shepherd's response to those would-be shepherds who abandon their duty and devour the sheep.

What does God say about this?

Verse 7 of Ezekiel 34,.

Therefore, you, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord as I live, declares the Lord God.

Word of the Lord as I live, declares the Lord God.

Surely because my sheep have become prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but my shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep.

Therefore, you, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord.

God behold, I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep.

No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves.

I will rescue my sheep from their mouths that they may not be for them.

I want to tell you something.

When we think about shepherds that have gone astray and think about shepherds that have completely abandoned their duty to help care for the flock of God, that shepherd, that individual may say that he is on the Lord's side, but please know that our God is saying he is not on my side and I am not on his.

The Lord takes seriously the shepherds that care for his flock, and the Lord takes seriously when a shepherd abandons that duty and becomes the very thing they were supposed to fight off.

And our God is a God of justice and the good shepherd takes care of his sheep.

We go back to John in verse 11.

We see this I am the good shepherd.

And the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Then we contrast that with the hired hand who's just here for a paycheck cares nothing for the sheep.

Then we contrast that with the hired hand who's just here for a paycheck cares nothing for the sheep.

But then we see this verse 14, again, I am the good shepherd.

Continually we're reminded of this.

And then we see I know my own and my own know me.

It's interesting I know my own and my own know me.

There is a close relationship there.

There is a knowledge on both sides.

But then I think about this how might Jesus choose to illustrate that relationship?

If Jesus wants us to see that he knows the sheep and the sheep know him, what might he use to illustrate the closeness of that relationship?

Maybe he could use like a husband loves a wife there's a close relationship.

Like a parent loves a child.

Like one best friend loves another best friend.

There's many ways he could have illustrated the closeness of this relationship.

But what does he say?

Verse 15?

Just as the father knows me and I know the father, I want you to know it doesn't get closer than that.

How does Jesus illustrate the closeness of the relationship between the good shepherd and the sheep?

Just as the father, god, the father knows God, the son Jesus, so too he says that's the closeness the shepherd has for his sheep.

It does not get any closer, any more intimate of a relationship with that, and that's how your good shepherd knows you and your good shepherd delights to know you in that way.

Verse 16, he continues and I have other sheep that are not of this fold and I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

We saw so much of that last week.

They listened to the voice we talked about, listening to the word of God.

They will listen to my voice so that there will be one flock, one shepherd.

What does Jesus mean here?

I have sheep that are not of this fold.

Well, jesus is talking to these Jewish religious leaders and he wants them to know that this thing is wider than just even the Jewish people.

It's not less than that for these Jewish individuals who would accept Christ as the Savior.

They're part of the family of God, the flock of God, but even more, jesus wants to see hey, we're going to get the Gentiles in this thing too, and we're going after all the lost sheep.

We see that throughout the book of Acts as the Great Commission goes forward, and Acts chapter 10, cornelius' house, this Gentile house, is saved and they receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

And Acts chapter 15, they have no idea what do we do with this?

Acts 15 · chapter mention

And the Jerusalem council meets together and we're hearing rumor that the Gentiles have the Holy Spirit and they know Jesus.

What do we do?

And they end that council by saying we rejoice in God.

That's a really good thing, because the lost sheep are coming into the flock of God.

Jesus is one who goes after his sheep.

Don't we see that time and time again?

Luke, chapter 15, there's three stories.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

A lost sheep he's got 99 and one's missing and he might be content with the 99, right, no, no, no, he goes after the one that's lost.

There's a lady has 10 coins, one's missing, surely nine's good, no, no, no.

Turn the house upside down.

There's a father who has two sons and they're missing, one in the far country and one right outside the home and he will not rest until he sees that those children have come home.

Jesus loves to go after the lost things Verse 17,.

For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life.

He keeps going back to this time and time again.

For I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

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

I have authority to lay it down.

I have authority to take it up again.

This charge I have received from my Father.

He keeps going back to this, doesn't he?

I lay down my life.

I have authority to lay it down.

I have authority to take it back up again.

I think we can imagine what the good shepherd, jesus, is really talking about in this moment.

He's talking about the cross.

He's talking about the sacrifice that, that that he would go through for the sake of the sheep.

I want to ask you this question.

I want us to think together.

Maybe you've asked it before, maybe you've never considered it before.

Who put Jesus on the cross?

That's my question for us this morning.

Who put Jesus on the cross?

Now, there's many answers to that question and there are many correct answers to that question.

We could go down the list.

We'd say this let's start with this I think Judas put Jesus on the cross.

We could say that sure, judas is the one that betrayed Jesus, that the whole mob shows up to arrest Jesus because Judas gave the word and told him where Jesus is, and so the arrest and the trial and the cross, it kind of all started, at least on that night, because of Judas.

We could say surely the Pharisees put Jesus on the cross.

The religious leaders, the scribes, the religious authority, again, they didn't like the new teacher in town, they wanted him arrested, they wanted him ultimately gone.

The Pharisees, surely they put Jesus on the cross.

That's a correct answer.

Or we could say the crowds, the crowds standing outside the court saying crucify him.

When Pilate offered Barabbas instead of Jesus, they said give us Barabbas, crucify Jesus.

The crowds surely did it.

Surely the Romans did it.

I mean, crucifixion was their invention.

It was Pontius Pilate that had the authority to give the word to crucify Jesus.

Surely that's the right answer.

We could even go very theological.

A beautiful answer.

And you know who or what put Jesus on the cross?

My sin did, your sin did, and surely that's accurate.

It was for our sin and for our sake that Christ Jesus went to the cross.

And so, in a very real, very correct sense, it was our sin that put Jesus on the cross.

All of these answers are correct.

If you answer any of these on the test, I will give you full credit for them.

It's a good answer.

But I think we can go even who put Jesus on the cross?

Well, the answer is nobody, nobody.

Nobody put Jesus on the cross.

Jesus by his own authority, as we see here.

I have the authority to lay down my life, lay down my life.

Jesus voluntarily went to the cross for us because there was never a moment when Jesus was out of control, never a moment when anyone had the upper hand on Jesus.

I think of Matthew 26.

The mob comes to arrest Jesus.

Peter doesn't like it much.

He grabs his little pocket knife, his little blade, and he goes to cut off the ear of one of the individuals that had come to arrest Jesus.

And Jesus stops him.

And I'll paraphrase Matthew 26, this verse.

But Jesus basically says this do you not think, at the snap of a finger I could bring the armies of angels down and put a stop to everything that's happening?

But this has taken place as it was supposed to, under his authority, as it was the will of God to take place, in such a way where, even as they were taking him to the cross and on the cross at a moment's notice, jesus could have said the word and that army of angels would have been there and everyone putting him on the cross would, in that moment, cease to exist.

He could have done it, but what did Jesus do?

He didn't say a word, because Jesus voluntarily went to the cross for you, for your sin.

Do you know this?

That the gospel is not plan B, the cross is not plan B, that nothing about our sin caught God off guard, that God in the heavenly places didn't see man's sin and had to scramble and think what do we do now?

Let's form this redemption plan?

No, no, no.

Even 600 years before Jesus was born, what does Isaiah say as he's looking ultimately to Jesus?

He is the suffering servant.

All the way back in the garden, man has just sinned.

And Genesis 3.15,.

God looks to the serpent and says this that one day, from the seed of woman will come one who will crush the head of the serpent.

We can go back further than that.

We see Revelation 13, 8, that says there are those written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world that this was the Lamb who would be slain.

And if they are written in there from before the foundation of the world, that means before the foundation of the world.

That means before the foundation of the world.

This redemption plan was already on the heart and mind of God.

And so what we must know is that the gospel and the cross it's not plan B, but from eternity past, god had the cross on his mind.

Why?

Because he had your redemption on his mind, because he knew he would pay for your sin.

No one takes his life from him, but Jesus says I have authority to lay it down.

But I'm thankful he has authority to lay it down, but the verse does not end there.

He has authority to do something else as well.

I go back to Ezekiel, this time 37.

There's this moment in Ezekiel 37 when Ezekiel has this vision and he's looking over this valley and everywhere there's dry bones.

These dry bones everywhere which you know, with Halloween coming, driving around our neighborhoods right now, it feels like there's a lot of those dry bones everywhere in people's yards, these dry bones in the valley.

And we see in Ezekiel 37 that these are the people of God and they're just a pile of bones.

They've been exiled because of their sin.

They are lifeless.

And they're there in the valley, these dry bones.

And God looks to Ezekiel and says Ezekiel, can these bones live?

Can these bones live?

Again, robert Jensen, in his book A Theology in Outline, paraphrases this question by God can these bones live?

By just saying this, that God is asking this does death win?

Does death win?

And Paul answers that question in 1 Corinthians 15.

Hear these words 1 Corinthians 15, 20 through 26.

But in fact, christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man has also come resurrection from the dead, for as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order.

Christ, the first fruits, then it is coming, those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God, the father, after destroying every rule and every authority and every power, for he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

And so, to answer Robert Jensen's question can these bones live?

Does death win?

Paul answers it by saying this death is swallowed up in victory.

He continues, first verse oh death, where's your victory?

Death, where's your sting?

The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, jesus Christ.

Because Christ Jesus says this I have authority to lay down my life.

But then he continues, and I have authority to take it up again.

And so I just got to tell you it's just the truth that there was a tomb in Israel 2,000 years ago and it was completely lifeless.

And then one Sunday morning the Holy Spirit breathed life into the very Son of God and he rose from the grave and walked out of the tomb and he has all authority, over sin and death and hell.

And this is the good shepherd that you and I follow, and because of this work we can truly say that we are the sheep of his pasture, that he is not just the good shepherd he is, but he is our good shepherd, we are his and he is ours, as I again up in Kansas City and you know doing this program where I just kind of study preaching and it's a group of people sitting around a room talking about preaching and we talk about what you better always do and what you better never do.

And you know, one of the things you better always do is have some very practical application.

How do you take the text and how does somebody apply it on Monday morning?

How do you take the text and make sure it changes something in your life?

I just got to tell you, sometimes the knowledge is the application.

How do you apply this to your life?

Wake up tomorrow morning and tell yourself these words I am a sheep in the good shepherd's pasture.

That for now and eternity, I am his Filter, your day and your life and your work and your family and your community and your relationships, through that gospel reality that says this I am a sheep in the good shepherd's fold and I am his and he is mine.

And my shepherd knows me and he knows my name and I can hear his voice.

And for now and forevermore, because he both laid down his life and took it up again, I can know that I'm a sheep, once again of his pasture.

I want to pray in a moment.

We'll continue to worship, but maybe this morning you want to come chat with me about what it looks like to be a sheep of his pasture.

I'd love to introduce you to the good shepherd this morning.

Maybe you need to right where you are, just pray and just thank the Lord as we sing.

Thank the Lord that he is a good shepherd.

However, you need to respond.

Maybe you want to come make this your church home.

Maybe you just want to come down front and allow me the absolute privilege of praying for you and with you.

However, you need to respond.

After we pray and we sing again as we sing, would you respond?

Let me pray for us now.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are the good shepherd and you care for your sheep and you love your sheep.

And, lord, let us live and serve and move throughout our lives in that reality that you are a shepherd that cares for your sheep.

Lord, I thank you, I praise you and, lord, let that reality that you are our shepherd change everything about our lives.

If there is one now that needs to respond, would they do so as we sing in Christ's name, amen.

Would you stand now and I'll be down front.