The Garden in the New Creation (Matt. 27:57-28:15) (4/5/26)

Today, our text is going to be from John chapter

John 10 · chapter mention

10, but let us now pray. All glory be to you,

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy

Ghost. Make us ever mindful that we are the people

of the resurrection, and now there is no power

greater than your power, no power that can overthrow

your purpose and your kingdom. Help us to hear

and obey your voice. We humbly ask you now that

by your mercies and grace that you would make

the words of my mouth and the meditations of

all our hearts acceptable in your sight. O Lord,

our strength and nearest kinsman, Redeemer, Jesus

Christ. Amen. So here on this fourth Sunday of

Easter, we're returning to a place where we're

reflecting back on what Christ said of himself

in John chapter 10. So as children of the resurrection,

John 10 · chapter mention

Let us now hear John chapter 10, beginning with

John 10 · chapter mention

verse 1. Most assuredly I say to you, he who

does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but

climbs up some other way, the same as a thief

and a robber. But he who enters the door is the

shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper

opens and the sheep hear his voice. And he calls

his own sheep by name and leads them out. And

when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before

them. and the sheep follow him, for they know

his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a

stranger, but will flee from him, for they do

not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this

illustration, but they did not understand the

things which he had spoken to them. Then Jesus

said to them, again, most assuredly, I say to

you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever

came before me are thieves and robbers, but the

sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone

enters by me, he will be saved and will go out

and find pasture. The thief does not come except

to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come

that they may have life and that they may have

it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd, and

the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

These are the words of Almighty God. receive

them in your hearts. There are three things I

want you to take away from today. They are beginning

with this. We must know and follow Jesus' voice.

We must know and follow Jesus' voice. Number

two. All other voices deceitfully bring destruction

and death. All other voices deceitfully bring

destruction. and death and good pasture. You

know that pasture where peace and joy and love

is? Good pasture is only found in Jesus. Good

pasture is only found in Jesus. Last week we

were instructed by our text from Luke 24 about

the disciples traveling on the road to Emmaus.

that they had their eyes restrained why for their

certainty They have their eyes restrained for

their certainty the certainty in Jesus revealed

in His abiding presence and the breaking of the

bread Now this begs the question of God's work

for us in hard times where we cannot seem to

have a clear path Does that happen to you? Sometimes

it's hard. What's the clear path? What do I do?

Life often has uncertainties that God ordains

for his people. In keeping with that, have you

ever wondered about the broader application to

the church about Jeremiah 29 and 11? When I say

this, you're probably going to say, oh, I know

that passage. I've heard it. Jeremiah 29 and

11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward

you says Yahweh thoughts of peace and not of

evil To give you a future and to hope And he

does all this in uncertain moments and times

Our passage today provides us with certain confidence

and assurance in Jesus Now in our passage we

can be certain of two things Two things we are

sheep and we need the Good Shepherd So what do

we know about sheep I suspect most of us don't

know very much So you need to understand this

that sheep and by the way, we're the sheep remember

this we're coming through this we're the sheep

sheep are dirty and smelly We cannot clean ourselves

of our sins and offenses We need the good shepherd.

Sheep lack intelligence to be free. What I mean

is this. If the shepherd were to be out in the

field, and he was walking behind them, they'll

be going along, and if they see what looks like

a path, they'll start heading towards it. And

they'll go down that path no matter where it

leads, even if it's off of a cliff. Ask any shepherd.

Sheep are defenseless They need to be protected

from predatory animals Or those animals will

eat them We need God's protection we need the

Good Shepherd to avoid destruction Forth as one

commentator puts it Excuse me sheep are not only

dirty and not only not intelligent They're not

capable of defending themselves. We all agree

with that. So that's us. Remember that. But they

are also great complainers. If the shepherd comes

near the sheep, what do they do? They start bleeding.

Help me. Fix this for me. Do this for me. Help

me. All about me. We too, as the sheep of God,

are great complainers. They are always bleeding

and so are we because we want God to do something

for us So God here, this is important here is

not complimenting us when he refers to us as

sheep That's kind of a reference point we've

talked a little bit about sheep, but now we need

to look at what things give us the framework

for this passage. Our passage must be read in

the context of the fulfillment of Ezekiel 34.

Now, in the listing that I sent out last night

with reference verses for you, I'm only going

to read a couple of those verses in Ezekiel 34

today. But I encourage you to go back and read

all of Ezekiel 34 for a greater context. And

so again Ezekiel 34 says this, and the word of

Yahweh came to me saying, son of man, prophesy

against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and

say to them, thus says Lord God to the shepherds,

woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves.

Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You

eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool.

You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed

the flock. the weak you have not strengthened,

nor have you healed those who were sick, nor

bound up the broken, nor brought back what is

driven away, nor sought what is lost. But with

force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they

were scattered because there was no shepherd

and they became food for all the beasts of the

field when they were scattered. So here Israel

in the book of Ezekiel is being pointed out that

they are sheep. All the bad things, all the weaknesses

are exposed. And worse yet, the under -shepherds,

the shepherds that God has set for them, are

just like the predators. They're eating them,

consuming them, using them for their own good.

And so they are scattered and in need of a shepherd.

Now at the end of Ezekiel 34, God says this himself.

Therefore, I will save my flock. and they shall

no longer be prey and I will judge between the

sheep and the sheep and I will establish one

shepherd over them and he shall feed the sheep

my servant David he shall serve them and be their

shepherd and I Yahweh will be their God and my

servant David and a prince among them I Yahweh

have spoken So here in John chapter 10 Jesus

John 10 · chapter mention

is the fulfillment and he is declaring himself

the fulfillment of this prophecy in Ezekiel That

is the context of where we're at Finally the

third frame that we need to understand this passage

is to realize that John chapter 8 through 10

John 8 · chapter mention

are connected right Again, I'm gonna admonish

you as you read the scriptures. Don't look at

the chapters and verses as breaks Sometimes it's

it's a paragraph here. It's it's it's a different

thought there and other places. It's a long stretch

and here John chapters 8 through 10 are connected

John 8 · chapter mention

First of all, we have two feasts that are in

view that are being celebrated in the temple

in John 8 and 9 occurs during the Feast of the

Tabernacles, where Jesus declares to the Pharisees,

the scribes and the Pharisees, and he says they

are his enemies. Jesus said to them in verse

42 of John 8, if God were your father, you would

love me, for I proceeded forth and came from

God. Nor have I come of myself, but he sent me.

Why don't you understand my speech? This is important.

This is going to contrast this voices. We're

hearing and he says this Jesus himself says because

You are not able to listen to my word now listen

isn't hearing. It's doing it's hearing it accepting

it believing it and doing it He now speaks in

grim judgment you are of your father the devil

and the desires of your father you want to do

He was a murderer from the beginning and does

not stand in the truth because there is no truth

in him When he speaks a lie he speaks from his

own resources For he is a liar and the father

of it And now in chapter 10 this occurs several

months later during the Feast of Dedication This

feast is the one that recalls the time of the

Lord's intervention in delivering the people

of God during the intertestamental times with

the Maccabees the Maccabees by God's what mighty

work Bring relief from their Greek oppressors

But more importantly in the crisis in the temple

when there's not enough oil to keep it going

see oil to make oil for burning is a process

And they don't have enough to keep the lamps

lit. And God causes the oil in the lamps not

to run out until more oil is ready. So here,

remember, Jesus is in the temple during the Feast

of the Lights in this passage. Jesus himself

is illuminating. That is revealing not just himself,

but his light exposes the enemies. God Jesus

motives are for his light to provide light and

life to his people even though they are Simply

dumb sheep in need of constant care Here in John

10 Jesus continues to shed the light that the

scribes and Pharisees and most certainly the

chief priests Do not enter God's sheepfold properly

And of course it begins with most assuredly,

this is real important in the Old English and

in the Old King James, it says, verily, verily

I say unto you, that is actually a Greek translation

of amen, amen. It's twice, like it's saying,

I'm telling you this, no, no, I'm telling you

that this is a true saying. Most assuredly I

say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold

by the door but climbs up some other way. The

same as a thief and a robber, but he who enters

by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. You

see, these men, the Pharisees, the scribes, and

the chief priests, have been given the privilege

to care for God's people, the sheep who belong

to God. Rather than care for the sheep, rather

than feed the sheep, these men who opposed Jesus

were not motivated by God's motives. They rejected

all the miracles and teachings of Jesus because

was they did not want to follow God's word. The

words of men were of greater value to them than

the words of God. Let me say that again. The

words of men were of greater value to them than

the words of God. They saw the words of God not

as requirements to do justly, to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with their God. but rather

as a means to preserve their position on the

backs of the people of God. They were thieves

and robbers. They stole glory from God and robbed

the people of God by consuming not only what

the people of God were producing, but by the

very eating of them. They ate the flesh of the

sheep, they just consumed them for their own

benefit. Now Paul describes such men in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 that says this, but know this that

in the last days perilous times will come for

men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,

boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to

parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving. unforgiving,

slanderers, without self -control, brutal, despisers

of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers

of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having

a form of godliness but denying its power. This

is exactly what they were doing. They had a form

of godliness that they built themselves. What

does Paul say? people turn away. For this sort

are those who creep into households and make

captives of gullible women, loaded down with

sins and led away by various lusts, always learning

and never able to come to the knowledge of the

truth. By the way, man, you can be gullible too.

Now here, Jesus tells us that he enters the door.

He is sent from the father to fulfill the promises

of the father to his sheep He says this to him

the door keeper opens That's God's open the door

and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his

own sheep by name and leads them out And when

he brings out his sheep, he goes before them

and the sheep follow him for they know his voice

You know, this is one of the most comforting

and assuring passages in Scripture The shepherd

speaks and the sheep hear. The shepherd calls

his own sheep by name. God knows your name. Children,

look up here. God knows your name. He knows the

very count of hairs on your head. The shepherd

leads the sheep out. He goes before them. And

the sheep follow because they know his voice.

voice. This is important. You need to read and

sing and hear God's Word, certainly here in church,

but you need to do it at home. Do it with the

brothers and sisters. You need to pray, certainly

here at church, but at home and with your brothers

and sisters in various places. You need to listen

to your pastors and elders as under shepherds.

You need to hear God's word. Know it. Believe

it. Obey it. Follow it. Now Jesus now, he strongly

contrasts the opposing voices. Yet, Jesus says,

they will by no means follow a stranger, but

will flee from him, for they do not know the

voice of strangers. And it says here, Jesus used

this illustration, but they didn't understand

the things that were spoken to them. The Pharisees

were so blinded by their own self -preserving

motives that they could not understand that they

were strangers. In their disobedience to God's

word, they had become, as Psalm 115 and Psalm

135 points out, not only are idols deaf and dumb

and blind, but now so are they. For Psalm 115

and 135 says, thus those who make them are like

them, idols. So everyone who trusts in them.

So as you make your idols, so you become. And

then Jesus says to them once again, most assuredly,

remember, at that time it's a double, this is

true. No, no, this is true. I am the door of

the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves

and robbers. But the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will

be saved and go in and find. They go in and out

and find pasture. Jesus again in the most powerful

of ways declares that he is the only door for

the sheep. Jesus puts away any kind of thinking

that there is another way to the father. He said

that all others are thieves and robbers. Dearly

beloved, Jesus is declaring that there are only

two paths in life, two voices. His voice and

all other voices all of them are from Satan and

That they have come those voices have come to

steal and destroy Jesus is The only way to salvation

in life The Pharisees have become deaf dumb and

blind in creating their own way Saints of God

there is No third way. We either follow the word

of God unto life, or we follow Satan. And this

is the way to death and destruction. The lesson

and warning of the Pharisees is this. They sounded

like they knew God's word. They looked holy and

pious. They had special teachings supposedly

dedicated to God. but were based upon what they

wanted to hear. They had scripture memorized,

but did not obey God's word. They built a religious

life that excused sin for their convenience and

for their benefit and profit. This path may look

attractive and It might look like a good way,

but it always leads to death and destruction.

Many leaders, influencers and podcasters have

many attractive things to say. They look and

sound good. They even make true statements. Dearly

beloved, we think we're savvy. and that we wouldn't

fall for lies and deceit. But we need to remember

that every effective lie has elements of the

truth woven in it. Otherwise, it is too absurd

to be believed. And of course, we think we know

better, especially today, when we have seen and

experienced the absurdity of so many. And we've

seen that in the last five to 10 years. Absolute

absurdity. And we say, well, if I can pick that

out, I'm not going to be deceived by another

woman over here. After all, I know what a woman

is. I know that there's no gender fluidity. I

know that those sexual perversions are condemned

by God and are wrong. I don't believe the lies

of scientism or prophets. In this day and age,

we can easily too easily slip into a state of

pride arrogance and dishonor and dishonor to

God and dishonor to the body of Christ Jesus

is the only way for the forgiveness of our sins

and to enter into the kingdom of heaven that

is the full of God's sheep We are called to listen

to Jesus Not to the voice of a stranger Any voice

that is not Jesus's voice is not the way to peace

So what does the path and the voice of Jesus

lead us to? Do you live justly, love mercy, and

love humbly before your God? Do the voices you

hear drive you to obey God's word? Does it drive

you with humble gratitude to love mercy? to act

justly and not for yourself. You see, acting

justly, loving mercy, right, living humbly, that

matters in your house with your wife, with your

husband, with your children, towards your parents.

Are you hearing me now? Do you love? Do you live

justly so that they may benefit? Do you love

mercy that they may benefit, even if it costs

you, even like Jesus, if you have to die for

them? If you're listening to voices that are

not encouraging you in those things, stop listening

to them. Hear and obey God's word. Because remember,

is that the thief doesn't come except to steal

and to kill and to destroy. But Jesus says, I

have come that they may have life and that they

may have it more abundantly. Jesus came to give

us life and to have it more abundantly. The triune

God is not meager or stingy in his gifts. He

bestows all gifts that we may in turn share that

abundance. with others. Are you sharing the abundance

with others? God's love, His forgiveness? Are

you thankful? Are you full of gratitude? How

are you expressing that to your spouses, to your

children, to your parents? How are you expressing

that to your brothers and sisters in Christ here

and in the church more broadly? This passage

concludes with a clear and wonderful assurance.

All these voices, all these things. Coming back

to Ezekiel 34, he says this, I am the good shepherd.

And the good shepherd gives his life for the

sheep. Jesus is the good shepherd. we rejoice

when we hear that the Good Shepherd gives his

life for the sheep because we know that in the

fulfillment of Isaiah 53 6 this is true all we

like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone

to his own way and Yahweh has laid on him that's

Jesus the iniquity of us all that is our sins

Do you realize this promise and assurance in

Jesus doesn't make sense in our thinking. How

are we to be led into green pastures and to that

abundant and peaceful life? Well, it's through

obedience of hearing the voice of Jesus. But

what if obedience calls us for dying for others

to please God? I've said this before, but there's

always the grand gesture, throwing yourself in

front of a car, bullet for your loved ones. And

yes, man, I encourage you to do that. But for

you all out here, I want you to understand that

sometimes God's call to obedience to His word,

His service to your families, to your church,

that will cause you to walk in obedience, and

it might cost you your life. It might cost you

your hopes and your dreams and the things you

aspire to. It might cost you your goals. We need

to understand that God calls us to trust Him

and He will resurrect us and not just for the

last day. But in the obedience to the voice of

Jesus, we can trust the Good Shepherd to bring

us and His sheep into abundant life. When Abraham

took Isaac, I think oftentimes we just read the

story and we take it at face value. Yeah, that

was a great thing. Abraham trusted God when he

took his son. I want you to think about this

for a minute. It wasn't a five -minute walk with

Isaac to sacrifice his son, but he believed God.

He believed that God would either resurrect Isaac

Or he would bring provision for the sacrifice.

And he took that step day after day. They walked

and they walked and they walked. And they carried

up all the supplies. He did the hard thing, tied

up his son, restrained him. And the son, too,

had to restrain himself. I'm sure if he's a young

man, about 15, I'm pretty sure he could probably

handle his father at 100, right? Submission on

both sides. And what happened? God, in complete

obedience, in complete trust in God, God provided

there. We must, in obedience, obey the voice

of Jesus and trust the Good Shepherd. And He

will bring us to His abundant life. We may not

be able to clean ourselves from our sins and

offenses and we may behave like dumb sheep And

we may in fact be defenseless and to add injury

to insult we complain the whole way Dearly beloved

Jesus is the Good Shepherd and he is faithful

hear his voice and follow him We must know and

follow Jesus's voice. We must remember and guard

ourselves that all the voices are working deceitfully

to bring destruction and death, and that the

good pasture of love and joy and peace are only

found in Jesus. Let us pray. Heavenly Father,

we thank You for fulfilling Your promises in

Christ Jesus. He is truly the Good Shepherd,

who not only laid down His life for our sins,

but even now leads us to green pastures and still

waters. Help us we pray to hear the voice of

Jesus and to joyfully follow in obedience even

when you prepare a table for us in the presence

of our enemies. We humbly ask that you complete

your good work that you've begun in all of us

and that for the sake of Jesus goodness and mercy

might follow us all the days of our lives and

that we may dwell in your house forever and ever.

Amen.