Lectionary: The Good Shepherd April 26, 2026

Well, good morning.

If I haven't met you yet, my name is Matt.

I'm one of the pastors here at Trinity Church Burke.

If you don't have a Bible with you, it would be super helpful to have one in front of you to follow along as we go through the text this morning.

If you don't have one, feel free to hop up.

We have some in the back that I'd love for you to grab.

If you're on your phone, I'll just assume you're looking at the Bible app and not responding to any emails or answering any texts or texting anyone in the room saying how uh annoying the preacher looks.

But anyway, um that being said, it would be very helpful for you to have the text in front of you.

So as we dive into our text this morning, there are very few images in Scripture as comforting and as powerful as a shepherd.

Now, this isn't a new image that we find with Jesus in the New Testament.

We see this image throughout the entirety of the biblical narrative.

Abraham and his family were shepherds.

All twelve of Jacob's sons were shepherds.

Moses was a shepherd.

And then what was David doing when Samuel came to his home to talk to his brothers?

He was out in the fields tending to his father's sheep.

Now in John 10, Jesus takes this super familiar image, this super familiar metaphor, and he fills it with even deeper meaning as he speaks to his disciples.

His disciples were people who knew what it was like to tend to and gather sheep in a pen and guard them at night and let them out in the morning.

But Jesus here, he wasn't giving them instructions on how to farm.

He wasn't telling them how they should act with their sheep.

Instead, in this passage, he's revealing truth about spiritual life, about the nature of salvation, and truth about himself.

Now, before we dive into these verses this morning, let's pause for just a brief moment and pray together.

Lord God, would you give us open ears to hear, open minds to comprehend, and open hearts to receive what you have for us in your word this morning.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all your people's hearts be pleasing and acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

Amen.

So our passage this morning, if you've got a Bible in front of you, opens in verse one with Jesus giving a very stark warning to his disciples when he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the sheepfold or by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

Now, this isn't this isn't neutral language.

Jesus isn't giving his disciples some kind of casual reminder or some gentle cautionary tale.

What Jesus is saying here, it's urgent and it's very serious.

In the ancient Near East, you know, the time and the place where Jesus lived, sheep pens were often shared spaces where multiple flocks would gather.

And they often varied in design and shape.

Some were stone or mud brick enclosures that may have been partially or totally covered or not covered at all.

And others were even built into hillside caves.

Now there was, however, across the whole shepherding industry, there was one very, very similar thing that they all had.

Sheep pens always had one entrance.

They had one proper, legitimate, safe gate or door for the sheep to go in and out.

Anyone who avoided that entrance, anyone who tried to sneak in another way, these were the thieves and the robbers, they had bad intentions.

In fact, the Greek word used for robbers, Lestus, it implies violence, it implies plundering, and was often used to describe bandits and the care and the well-being of the sheep.

It would never have been at the forefront of their minds.

So Jesus, he's using this image of thieves and robbers to point out an important spiritual reality.

Not every voice that claims authority should be trusted.

Now, some may come with appealing words or persuasive ideas or even religious language, but their aim is not to care for the sheep.

Instead, their aim is to use and manipulate them.

Now, the difference that we see in these voices that we hear, it's not always obvious at first.

It can be subtle, and that's why Jesus emphasizes the response of the sheep in verses two through four, which if you your Bibles will read together now.

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

Now, when I was uh when I was a kid, I think about like five, six, maybe seven, uh, my grandma took me to see the sheepdog trials in Middleburg, Virginia.

This is like one of the one of the coolest things I had ever seen.

And it like captivated my attention.

It was so cool.

I mean, these dogs were so fast.

And they would hear these commands and they would sprint around the herds of sheep and drive them all back into the pen.

It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen, that one dog could get all these sheep and push them back in.

Now, from that moment on, I desperately, desperately wanted a border collie.

But sadly, sadly, I was told that we did not have a big enough yard for such an energetic dog.

Now, notice, notice the posture.

When we look back at our text, notice the posture of the shepherd in verse 4.

He goes before them.

Now, unlike the sheep dogs, the shepherd, he isn't driving or forcing the sheep forward.

In fact, he does the exact opposite.

The shepherd goes before the sheep and leads them to the pasture.

Now, true shepherds, they don't manipulate from a distance.

They don't stand behind the flock barking orders and telling them to move forward.

Instead, they know the sheep personally and they call them by name.

Now, false leaders, the thieves and the robbers who sneak in by another entrance, on the other hand, they tend to push rather than lead.

They tend to confuse rather than clarify, and they take rather than give.

And as we move on in our passage, Jesus adds something incredible onto this in verse 5.

If we look down at our Bibles again, he says, a stranger they will not know, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

Now, here's where this passage starts to become incredibly personal and incredibly relatable.

We're surrounded by voices all the time.

Social media, culture, different influencers, politicians, even our coaches, different people, trainers, and even our own internal thoughts.

Now, these voices, even if they aren't saying anything that may not be outwardly malicious, they tend to subtly pull us away from truth.

They pull us away from peace, pull us away from God Himself.

Even if we don't notice it happening, all these voices subtly tend to pull us away.

Now the question, the question that we must face, it isn't whether other voices are speaking, because they most certainly are.

The question we must face is which voices are you choosing to trust and which voices are you choosing to follow?

Which leads us to another even deeper question.

How do the sheep know the shepherd's voice?

How do they know the difference between the shepherd's voice and the voices of the thieves and the robbers?

Because I don't know about you, but for me, so many voices coming through my ears into my head throughout my day and throughout the week.

They can all compete and fight for attention.

So how do we how do we know?

How do we differentiate?

Now the sheep are able to do this because there is a relationship here.

There's familiarity, there's trust built over time.

The sheep don't have the ability to question the shepherd or break down his motives.

Instead, they've learned his voice and they know he cares for them.

There's something truly amazing that we can learn from this.

And it's that discernment isn't just about identifying a truth intellectually, it's about recognizing a voice relationally.

I'll say that one more time.

Discernment is not just about learning a truth intellectually, it's about recognizing a voice relationally.

Now, if I were to go through and I were just to erase every single contact in my phone, it would certainly be difficult to answer a call and figure out who's calling me.

I would have to ask follow-up questions to make sure that I wasn't being scammed or receiving an inheritance from a wealthy relative somewhere in Eastern Europe.

Now, responding to a cold call like that, especially when you don't recognize the voice on the other end of the call, it's risky and can even be potentially dangerous.

On the other hand, if my wife Liz, if she called me under the same kind of circumstances where I deleted all my contacts, it would be totally different.

I wouldn't need to ask any follow-up questions because I would recognize her voice right away and know who it is.

Now I want you to think just for a moment about recognizing the voice of someone you love on the phone.

You don't need them to introduce yourself.

You just know.

You know who they are.

And that recognition comes from time that is spent together.

And the same is true spiritually.

Same is true spiritually.

If we want to be able to discern and differentiate between the voices of the thieves and the robbers and the voice of the Good Shepherd, we must spend time with him in scripture, in prayer, and in quiet attentiveness.

Without that, without that time that we spend with God, every voice starts to sound convincing.

And Jesus' voice, which we once heard so clearly, becomes muted and muffled, like a damaged record that skips and sounds more like white noise than the music that you once heard so clearly.

And when the shepherd's call is muted, when the shepherd's call is muffled, we become vulnerable to all sorts of spiritual attack.

And not because we lack intelligence, and not because we lack strength or fortitude, but because we lack familiarity with the shepherd.

But here's the encouragement, and here's what I want you to hear.

Jesus does not abandon his sheep when his voice becomes faint to them.

He continues to speak, he continues to lead, continues to call, and continues to make himself known to them.

While there is deep security in that, Jesus, he takes this feeling and this truth even deeper when we consider the audience with whom he's speaking, the disciples.

Now, as devout Jews, the disciples, they kind of assumed they were already in the flock because they were descendants of Abraham.

They were from the lineage of God's chosen people.

They assumed, because of our lineage, because of who we are, because of where we come from, we're already in God's flock.

We are God's chosen people.

We're good to go.

But for Jesus, in these verses, he takes this foundational idea that the disciples have and he turns it on their head.

For Jesus, this background doesn't matter.

Lineage and good works, they don't get you into the flock.

Entrance into the flock is only gained by hearing and responding to the voice of the good shepherd.

Friends, this is indeed good news.

The voices of the thieves and the robbers in our lives, whatever they may be, they will never fully drown out Jesus' voice.

Even if other voices are shouting and Jesus' voice has grown faint in your life, even if the voices of your past are pulling you back and Jesus' voice has become but a whisper, even if you're desperately hearing, but you just can't hear, you can't listen, I promise you that his voice is not gone, his call to you is not silenced.

If you spend more time in God's word, if you speak to God in prayer, and if you surround yourself with other believers, God's call to you, which had become a whisper, will continue to grow in volume until he draws you back into his arms.

Now think about that as we continue in this passage.

Now, as we move on, Jesus, he starts to shift what the metaphor here is saying.

And it goes even deeper still.

And that's why I love this passage so much.

Let's look at verses 7 through 10 together.

If you have your Bible in front of you, feel free to read along.

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

And as a very wise voice in the room often says, if you have a pen with you, underline, highlight, or circle this, because I am the door, this will come up again, and this is very important.

Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who come 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 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.

So just in case, the metaphor of Jesus being the good shepherd, just in case that isn't enough and it wasn't powerful enough, Jesus takes it one step further in these verses.

So Jesus, he is even more than the shepherd who calls us to join the flock.

Jesus is saying he is in fact the very door through which we gain access to the flock and to his own father.

So Jesus is the gate, Jesus is the door, Jesus is the access point.

There is no other way in.

Now, in Jesus' time, when sheep returned to their enclosure at night, the shepherd, as he led them in, he would stand at the door, and he would inspect each sheep individually as they entered.

Now, if the sheep were injured, he would anoint oil on them to promote healing.

If the sheep were thirsty as they came in, he would lead them to water within the pen.

After all the sheep, after they were inside and they were accounted for, and any injuries were cared for, and any anything that the sheep needed was accounted for.

The shepherd would actually lay down across the door, across the entranceway.

And so no one could enter without his knowledge.

And he could easily be awakened if predators were nearby at night.

Now, in the end, what's really interesting is the shepherd who determines who enters the fold and who's excluded.

Now listen to how strongly this metaphor parallels John 14, 6, when Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

So Jesus, he's both the shepherd calling out to us by name and the door through which we enter the flock and become members of the family of God.

Now then in verse 10, we see a stark contrast.

Jesus plainly shows this contrast between the two voices we've been talking about this morning: the voice of the thief and his own voice.

The thief, he says, came to steal and to kill and to destroy.

Following the voice of the thief, it leads to death and separation from God.

Now, Jesus, what he's saying here is that he's the exact opposite.

Jesus came not just to bring life, but to bring abundant life.

What is abundant life?

Right?

Like, how can it even be achieved?

Is it something that can be achieved?

Now we know ultimately that in the end, true abundance is experienced when we come to, as we say in our liturgy, see our Lord face to face.

But what about now?

What does abundant life look like this side of eternity?

What does abundant life look like this side of heaven?

Now I'd like to share two examples that help me understand what this true abundance, this side of heaven, looks like.

Now the first comes from something called the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which sounds like a really nerdy name, but it's pretty simple to understand.

Like our catechism, this one also takes the form of posing questions and answers.

Now listen to the very first set of questions and answers in this catechism.

The question, what is the chief end of man?

And the answer, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

To glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Now, abundant life in Christ isn't a life where we live to follow rules of a distant God.

This is indeed actually the opposite of what Jesus offers us.

Abundant life in Christ is the life where we glorify our God, who longs to be in a close relationship to us.

So close, in fact, that we can enjoy his presence.

And this is exactly what we were indeed created to do.

So abundance includes our ability to enjoy God, who longs to draw nearer and nearer to us.

Now the second example comes from Psalm 23.

And I know we read this psalm responsively together earlier, but to close, I'd like to read it again over us.

And as I do so, I want you to pause, take a deep breath, close your eyes if you'd like to, and I want you to imagine hearing or speaking these words amidst the very presence of the God who longs to draw near to you, who wants you to enjoy his presence.

And I'll listen to these words again one more time, like we said earlier.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Now, when we through scripture, prayer, and fellowship, hear the shepherd's call and choose to follow his voice, we are saved and we enter into a life where just like this psalm says, our souls are restored, and we begin to experience what true rest is.

And we understand what it means to feel peace that surpasses all understanding through Christ Jesus.

But abundance, abundance this side of heaven, it doesn't mean that we won't suffer.

We will indeed still feel real pain and real loss.

However, in abundant life with Christ, we do not suffer hopelessly.

We still feel the real pain and the real loss, but we suffer as the good shepherd, through the power of the Holy Spirit, walks alongside of us and comforts us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The most important thing to know here and recognize is that abundant life is where we are not meant to suffer alone.

And we don't suffer without the Good Shepherd's guidance, without his rod and his staff protecting us.

And finally, we live abundantly today because we look forward to a time when we may sit at the table that Jesus has prepared for us, in a time where we may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Now, this is all summed up super well.

Well, in two quotes, one from Billy Graham and one from Dallas Willard, Billy Graham wrote, Abundant life is the overflow of Christ's life within us, producing joy, peace, and purpose.

In Dallas, Willard said, The abundance Jesus offers is a depth of life that circumstances can never steal.

Now, friends, if you've heard, never heard God calling out to you, or if God's voice has become more of a faint whisper in your life, I would love to explore what this all means with you over lunch or a cup of coffee sometime.

And please know that I'm praying for you.

Now, if you're sitting here and you have responded to the Good Shepherd's call and have begun to taste the sweetness of abundant life, I hope and pray that you will continue to lean in to dig deeper and allow God's voice to become louder and clearer in your life.

Now, in all, I hope that you are encouraged by this passage and leave today with the confidence that the Good Shepherd is calling you by name individually and inviting you to join the fold and experience the sweetness of what this abundant life in Christ has to offer.

And with that in mind, let us pray together this morning.

Lord Jesus, God, I thank you that you are indeed not only the Good Shepherd, but you're also the door through which we enter into abundant life.

Father, if there's anyone here sitting that hasn't yet heard that call, what I pray that it may become so clear to them that they may respond and enter into your fold.

Lord, God, if anyone here has heard that call and responded, but it is still but a whisper, what I pray that they may lean in, that they may dig deeper, so that voice can become clearer and clearer and clearer.

Lord God, if there are people here who follow you well, I pray that they may lean into that abundance and taste even more and more the sweetness of what life in Christ has to offer.

Father, if there's anything on our hearts this morning that's preventing us from tasting the sweetness of abundant life, Lord, I pray that we may have the courage and the boldness to lay that at the foot of your cross so that we may experience your peace that surpasses all understanding.

Jesus, we love you.

We pray that we may draw closer to you.

And I lift this all up in your name.

Amen.