The Shepherd and His Sheep

In his book, Jesus Among Other Gods,

Christian apologist and professor Ravi Zacharias

makes the insightful observation

that every other religion in the world

lays out a way of life for people to follow.

Zoroastrianism says it's people who seek to follow it

to pursue good thoughts, good words, good deeds.

Hinduism says you should pursue the objectives of human life,

which they say are righteousness, wealth, sensual pleasure,

and freedom from the birth-rebirth cycle.

Buddhism says to follow the four noble truths

and the Eightfold Path,

and that will grant you nirvana or enlightenment.

And Islam teaches you to follow the five pillars,

the declaration of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting,

and pilgrimage to Mecca.

These are all ways of life that he tells people to follow.

If you follow this, then you will be saved,

then you will be enlightened.

By contrast, Zacharias writes,

Jesus did not only teach or expound his message,

he was identical with his message.

In him, says the scriptures,

dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

He did not just proclaim the truth,

he said, I am the truth.

He did not just show a way,

he said, I am the way.

He did not just open up vistas,

he said, I am the door.

I am the good shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life.

I am the I am.

In him is not just an offer of life's bread,

he is the bread.

Right.

That fundamentally sets Christianity apart

from the other religions,

that Jesus doesn't offer simply a way of life,

but he offers life itself.

He doesn't leave us to strive

and to earn our own salvation

and may find our way there.

Rather, he takes the initiative

and comes to save us

and rescue us from our sin.

In this sense,

Christianity is not like any other religion

in the world.

And this pattern of relationship

between our Savior Jesus and us

is demonstrated in this passage.

It teaches that Jesus is the good shepherd

set apart and sent by the Father

to call, save, and preserve his sheep.

And those are going to be the three main points.

It's that the Father calls,

the Father sent the good shepherd

to call, save, and preserve his sheep.

Read verses one to two with me.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

he who does not enter by the sheepfold,

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 shepherd of the sheep.

Given the context and the confrontation

that just took place

between Jesus and the Jewish leaders,

Jesus is implying here

that those Jewish leaders are thieves and robbers.

It's the real shepherd of the sheep

enters by the sheep pen,

the door of the sheep pen,

but thieves and robbers enter secretly

in order to take advantage of the people.

And he's accusing them

of being illegitimate shepherds.

And the image of the shepherd

and this accusation in particular

is stinging and it's significant

because in Ezekiel 34,

God had prophesied,

he had indicted the Jewish leaders

at the time of being false shepherds.

It says in Ezekiel 34,

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 have not bound up,

the strayed you have not brought back.

So they were scattered

because there was no shepherd

and they became food for all the wild beasts.

Now this was God's indictment,

personal indictment of the Jews,

the Jewish leaders at the time.

But then this skating indictment

was followed by a startling promise.

God said himself,

Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep

and will seek them out.

I will feed them with good pasture

and on the mountain heights of Israel

shall be their grazing land.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep

and I myself will make them lie down,

declares the Lord God.

I will seek the lost

and I will bring back the strayed

and I will bind up the injured

and I will strengthen the weak.

So God promised this in Ezekiel 34

that he would himself come

as the true shepherd to lead Israelites,

to lead his people

who had not been taken care of

and led properly by the Jewish leaders.

And this is in fact what Jesus has come to do.

Jesus saying he's fulfilling this,

he's now the good shepherd

that the Father has sent.

And now how does the shepherd of Israel

relate to his sheep?

In verse 3 it tells us,

To him the gatekeeper opens,

the sheep hear his voice

and he calls his own sheep by name

and leads them out.

Now the scene here is that

you shouldn't imagine like a private sheep pen

but this seems to be a larger enclosure,

a sheep pen that contains several families' flocks

and that's why it says

that he calls his own sheep by name.

So there's several flocks in that pen

and Jesus calls out his sheep,

the sheep that belong to him.

And so because Jesus is the true shepherd,

that tells us who the pastors are supposed to be.

So pastors like me, the shepherds,

we're really gatekeepers,

like the gatekeeper in this parable.

He's the shepherd,

the true Jesus is the one that truly leads them

and we are at best under shepherds,

serving under his guidance

and we make way for him,

for him to come and lead,

for him to encounter his sheep.

And that's why we make the person and work

of Jesus Christ central to everything

that we do in our ministry.

It's because it's not about us,

it's not about people,

it's about encountering and being led

by the true shepherd, Jesus Christ.

And that's why we let God's word,

rather than our personal preferences,

opinions, rule and lead our church.

So my job or the job of any pastor

is not to make you guys loyal to me,

to follow me,

but to make you loyal to Christ,

to follow Christ at all costs.

That's our call.

We're just gatekeepers.

And when the true shepherd comes to his flock,

it says he first calls his flock.

Verses three and four.

It says the sheep hear his voice

and he calls his own sheep by name

and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own,

he goes before them

and the sheep follow him

for they know his voice.

There's a notable difference

between Western shepherds,

like shepherds in our parts,

and Eastern shepherds,

shepherds in Middle East, Asia.

And in our parts,

in Western parts,

the shepherds use sheepdogs, right?

And they drive the sheep

from behind them.

In Eastern cultures,

the shepherds don't use sheepdogs actually.

They lead from the front

and they use their unique calls

to call the sheep to themselves.

And so it's remarkable.

If there are several flocks

and different shepherds,

they each have a unique call

and when they call,

all the sheep that belong to them

will follow them.

And so that's kind of the picture

that is in view here.

Jesus has a specific call for his sheep

and they recognize his voice

and they follow him.

And note the logical priority

of the shepherd's call, right?

It's not that the shepherd takes

whatever sheep come to him.

The shepherd calls the ones

that already belong to him, right?

And that's why in verses 26 and 27,

later Jesus says to the Jewish leaders,

you do not believe

because you are not among my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice

and I know them

and they follow me, right?

The reason why they don't believe

is because they don't belong.

It's not that they don't belong

because they don't believe, right?

And so if you're a Christian,

then we should be assured of the fact

that you are one

because you have believed in Jesus.

Yes, that's true.

But even prior to that,

you belong to him.

You are one of his sheep

because he called you.

The shepherds called you

because you belong to him.

You followed

because you were already called by Jesus

and that should make us,

as Christians,

immensely grateful for him

because it's his grace

ultimately that first chose us

and called us.

And what that means

for those who have not responded

to his call then

is for you to respond to him

because it's in responding

to his call,

in hearing his call,

that you confirm

that you belong to his sheep pen,

his flock.

So then I want to invite you

because I believe

there are some here

who are hearing his call

for the first time

then you should not hesitate

or delay

but come to him

because that's where

you are confirmed

in your identity

as one of his sheep.

So the true shepherd

calls his own sheep

but he goes even further

than the traditional

Near Eastern shepherd

because he calls them

each by name.

He calls them individually.

He knows each one.

And it's such an amazing picture

of God's care for us,

detailed, intimate,

specific care for us.

He doesn't just call us out in mass

but he chooses

and calls us each by name.

But once we are called by name though,

we are gathered into one flock.

We're always gathered

or congregated into a flock.

So verse 4 says,

When he has brought out

all his own,

he goes before them

and the sheep follow him

for they know his voice.

The shepherd grazes,

guides, and guards

the flock together.

He doesn't become

a personal shepherd

of one sheep.

In a sense it is

but he always gathers

and congregates the sheep together.

And that's why

in verse 16 also

Jesus says,

So there will be one flock

and one shepherd.

And that's actually

what the word church means.

The church,

in Greek,

the word means

to be called out,

the called out ones.

So the church

is a group of people

congregated to sheep

that have been called out

by the true shepherd.

That's what a church is.

And since today

is Membership Sunday,

which is a really joyful occasion

for us inducting five new members,

I want to use this passage

just to briefly teach

on the importance

of church membership

before returning

to the rest of the passage.

Because membership

is not explicitly mentioned

in the Bible

and the reason why

it's not mentioned

is because for the most part

it's assumed

in the early church.

When you are baptized

in the early church,

you are assumed

to be then

from that moment

a part of that local church

that baptized that person.

And that became now

your new family,

the family of God

and people were wholeheartedly

committed to that

new community.

But since the second

great awakening

in the U.S.,

Christianity

has become much more

about personal piety.

You know,

Jesus,

just me and my Bible,

having my own

personal relationship

with Him.

And that emphasis

on community

has really fallen

by the wayside.

But the Bible

doesn't know

of any such

self-centered Christianity.

It speaks of

us being born

into family.

When you're born,

physically,

biologically,

you're born

into a family.

It could be

a broken family.

It could be

an adoptive family.

It could be

a rich family.

It could be

a poor family.

But when you're born,

no one can be born

in isolation.

When you're born,

you're born

into a family.

In the same way

as a Christian,

when you're born

again by the Spirit,

you're born

into a family.

You can't be born

again and be

a Christian

apart from being

born again

into a family

of God.

the same way

you can't become

a part of Christ

without being part

of the body

of Christ.

The community

is essential

to what it means

to be a Christian.

And so then

the early church

understood this

and so they

took community

seriously

and cared for

one another,

asked for their

own families.

But because

we live in a time

and culture

where privatized

Christianity

is the norm

and when there's

a lot of

nominal Christians,

church membership

is necessary

to tell us

who exactly

is part of the flock,

who is actually

part of God's people.

And the pastors

as undershepherds

and gatekeepers

need to know

who belong to the flock

and other members

of the church

also need to know

who belongs to the flock

so that they can

minister to one another

as God calls us to.

So maybe at this point

you might be thinking

to yourself,

well,

why can't I just

do that

without becoming a member?

Why is that formal process

necessary?

Why can't I just

be a part of church

and come every Sunday

and minister to people

without being a member?

And maybe this illustration

would be helpful for you

because many of you

have dated before,

right?

And if you have,

unfortunately,

some of you might have

experienced a relationship

that Facebook classifies

as it's complicated,

right?

And if you've been

in one of those relationships,

you understand the importance

of defining the relationship,

right?

Because there are a few things

more relationally frustrating

than having a semi-significant

other that takes you

out on dates,

texts you way late at night,

and then,

you know,

and calls you way too frequently,

yet refuses to say

whether he or she

is actually your boyfriend

or girlfriend,

right?

That leaves you

in a state of insecurity

and indecision,

doesn't it?

Right?

It's in this kind

of relationship

that irresponsible,

semi-significant other

can simply just one day

stop talking to you,

refuse to acknowledge you

and leave you,

and there's nothing

you can do about it.

Because there was no

responsibility taken

by that person

in the first place,

so there can be

no accountability.

There's nothing you can do.

The relationship

was never official.

This kind of illustrates

the importance

of that formal process,

right?

The church membership

lets pastors

and other members

of the church know

whether you're committed

or not,

whether you're in

or not,

whether you're saying,

yes,

we're going to live

with this community,

care for this community,

exhort one another,

confess our sins

to one another,

greet one another,

care for one another

in each other's needs,

yes,

I'm committing to do that

with this group of people.

That's what church

membership tells us.

It defines that relationship

so we can be free

to care for one another

and obey God's commandments.

So then the shepherd

calls his own sheep

and in so doing,

he constitutes the church

and those who are called

by him follow him.

It says in verse 5,

a stranger they will not follow

but they will flee from him

for they do not know

the voice of strangers.

Isn't that such a wonderful picture

of Christian discipleship,

right?

Christ leads us on the head,

he calls to us

and we follow his voice

and we disregard

all other voices

because he alone

is our shepherd.

And that's an important truth

because if you're a Christian

and your ultimate allegiance

is not to your parent,

it's not to your spouse,

it's not to your coach,

it's not to your president,

it's not even to your pastor.

Your ultimate allegiance

is to Christ

and Christ alone.

And if anyone,

any one of those people

seek to draw you away

from Jesus,

then it's not merely

your right,

it's your duty

to flee from that,

to not follow that.

And that's in fact

what a Christian does.

A stranger they will not follow,

but they will flee from him,

for they do not know

the voice of strangers.

And interestingly enough,

governments throughout history

that have sought

absolute power for themselves

have always persecuted Christians.

And I think because

they understood this truth

perhaps even better

than we do today.

They knew their ultimate allegiance

was not to them.

The Christian's ultimate allegiance

was to Jesus.

There's a story

that Roman historian Eusebius

writes about a time,

AD 177,

a Christian was being tormented

for his faith,

persecuted by the authorities.

And he writes this about him.

With such determination

did he stand up

to their onslaughts

that he would not tell them

his own name,

race,

and birthplace,

or whether he was slave

or free.

To every question

he replied in Latin,

I am a Christian.

I am a Christian.

I am a Christian.

This he proclaimed

over and over again

instead of name,

birthplace,

nationality,

and everything else.

And not another word

did the heathen

hear from him.

That's where

our true allegiance lies.

Christ.

We're first and foremost

before anything else

a Christian.

And then,

so that's what the shepherd,

the shepherd calls his sheep

and then constitutes the church.

And then the shepherd

also saves.

This figure of speech,

this metaphor of the shepherd

changes slightly

in verse 7

because they changed

to serve the purpose

of the author.

And it says,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

I am the door of the sheep.

So Jesus is not only

the shepherd of the sheep,

now he says,

I am the door

of the sheep pen.

And so,

and he continues,

I am the door

in verse 9.

If anyone enters by me,

he will be saved

and will go in

and out

and find pasture.

In other words,

Jesus is saying

that he's the sole means

by which

we can be saved.

He's the only way

to God the Father.

There's no other way.

There's no other door.

The only way to come to him

is through him.

And this metaphor

switches back and forth

in verse 8 and 10.

It says,

All who came before me

are thieves and robbers,

but the sheep

did not listen to them.

In verse 10,

the thief comes only

to steal and kill

and destroy.

I came that they may have life

and have it abundantly.

And I think here,

as Jesus talks about

all those who came before him

who are thieves and robbers,

he probably has in mind

not only the illegitimate

Jewish leaders

who are leading

the people astray,

but also any false pretenders.

There's been a lot of

messiahs,

so-called messiahs,

who pretended to be

the promised messiah,

and they all failed

in their claims.

And if Jesus is the only one,

if he's the only true shepherd,

then of course,

not only all those

who came before him,

but also all those

who came after him

who seek to supplement

what he taught

are also false teachers.

They're also robbers

and thieves.

They're not coming in

through the door.

Only Jesus is the true shepherd

who can save his sheep,

and it's he that has come

that we may have life

and have it abundantly.

The fulfillment that you seek,

the life abundant

that we all desire

can only come from Jesus,

and that includes

spiritual eternal life

here and now

and the resurrection life

that is to come

in the future.

And Jesus continues,

and this gets into

one of the favorite passages

for most people,

verses 11 and 15.

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.

So this difference

that we know

between a hired hand

and a true shepherd,

just like a nanny

is not going to take care

of the child

in the same way

that a parent does,

right?

So the true shepherd

takes care of his sheep

in a way that

a hired hand

can't come close to.

A hired hand,

I mean no matter

how responsible

or conscientious they are,

you can guarantee

if a wolf's coming at them,

they're going to run

to save their own skin,

right?

The sheep doesn't belong to them.

He doesn't own them,

right?

But shepherd,

the true shepherd,

the one who owns the sheep,

Jesus says

he will lay down

his own life for them.

And I think

we need to kind of tweak

our image of the shepherd

a little bit

because for us,

we've seen so many pictures

and when we think

of the good shepherd,

we have this image

of this kind of

congenial face

with this cuddly lamb

in his arms.

That's what we think

of a good shepherd,

this kind of a softy

kind of a person,

right?

The good shepherd.

But that's not at all

the picture of a shepherd

that the original readers

and hearers

of this word

would have had

because in the

Near Eastern context

of John,

a shepherd is one

of the most grueling

professions there is

because remember

that it's a desert,

that they're in

a desert climate,

so you have to walk

a long way

of scattered patches

here and there

to get adequate food

for all your flock.

So this involves

a lot of walking

and not only that,

there are wild animals

seeking to claim

your sheep

and you have to be

willing to fend them up

whether it be wolves

or marauding bears

or whatever they may be.

And so it's no wonder

that this man,

he was a Scottish theologian

named George Adam Smith

and he traveled

to Palestine

and came back

and wrote an atlas

about the region

and that's still used

as standard textbook

in some places

and in it he writes

about the shepherd.

On some high moor

across which at night

the hyenas howl

when you meet him

sleepless,

farsighted,

weather beaten,

leaning on his staff

and looking out

over his scattered sheep,

every one of them

on his heart,

you understand why

the shepherd of Judea

sprang to the front

in his people's history,

why they gave his name

to their king

and made him

the symbol of providence,

why Christ took him

as a type of self-sacrifice.

The shepherd,

the rugged, strong,

courageous,

and noble shepherd,

that's the good shepherd

and that's what the word

good can mean.

It means noble, worthy,

as well as good

as we typically understand it.

And that reminds me of the,

you guys,

many of you have read

the Chronicles of Narnia series,

right?

Lion, the witch,

and the wardrobe.

There's a great conversation

that Lucy has

with Mr. Beaver

about the prospect

of meeting Aslan the lion

and Mr. Beaver says,

Aslan is a lion,

the lion,

the great lion.

Oh,

Susan actually,

oh, says Susan,

I thought he was a man.

Is he quite safe?

I shall feel rather nervous

about meeting a lion.

And then Mr. Beaver says,

Safe?

Who said anything about safe?

Of course he isn't safe,

but he's good.

He's the king,

I tell you.

That's our good shepherd.

He's not safe.

He's not tame.

He's not a softie,

but he's the courageous,

the noble king,

the shepherd,

the good shepherd.

And he not only calls us,

he saves us

by laying down

his life for the sheep.

And this sacrifice

is not accidental,

or it's not something

that he can't help but do,

but rather it's something

that Jesus willingly does.

He sacrifices himself.

Verse 17, 18,

I lay down my life

that I may 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.

So imagine this shepherd

maybe looking at this disease

that's taking over his flock

or staring at this wolf

that is coming at his flock.

He stares him down in the face

and decides he's going

to lay down his life

for his flock.

That's what Jesus does.

He sees sin plaguing us

and leading us

to eternal death

and separation from God.

He stares death in the face

and he says,

I lay down my life

for my sheep.

That's what Jesus does.

He saves us.

And he does that

because he loves his father

and that's the charge

he has received from him.

And this truth

that Jesus saves the sheep

that belong to him,

that he has already called,

has great implications

for our evangelism as well.

Because sometimes people say,

well,

if you already know

the sheep,

if God already knows

the sheep that belong to him,

then there would be no reason

for us to evangelize.

Well, that's actually

quite the opposite.

Because if you recall

the parable that Jesus tells

in Luke 15,

he tells the parable

of a good shepherd

and the shepherd

leaves the 99 sheep

in his flock behind

to go find that one

missing sheep.

And about this,

he says,

what man of you

having a hundred sheep,

if he has lost one of them,

does not leave the 99

in the open country

and go after the one

that is lost

until he finds it?

Did you catch that question

in the beginning?

He says,

what man of you

wouldn't do this?

He assumes

that that's exactly

what we'd do.

This is not remarkable

for him.

And do you know why

that's not remarkable?

Because he says

they're his sheep.

We would go

to great lengths

to find the stuff

that belongs to us

that we're missing.

Like,

think for a moment

about the person

maybe that's dearest to you.

Maybe your son

or daughter

or a loved one,

a spouse

or a sibling,

a parent,

and imagine

they go missing.

Oh,

there's a few things

I wouldn't do

to go find that person.

It's because

they're ours.

They belong to us.

And so that's

what Jesus says.

You see,

the reason why

we often don't love

and seek sinners

and unbelievers,

it's not because

we don't think

that they're lost.

It's because

we don't see them

as belonging

to our God,

as belonging

to our family.

We're God's people

in here.

They're God's enemies

out there.

They're strangers,

non-relations.

Others.

But the truth

is that there are

people who belong

to God,

the sheep for whom

our good shepherd

laid down his life

out there.

There are brothers

and sisters

in our family

and the family of God

who are currently missing

and they're out there.

There's compatriots

in the kingdom of God

who are in a foreign land

without citizenship,

without rights

out there.

there are comrades

in the army of God

held prisoner

out there.

That's why we go

to reclaim people

that belong rightly

to our God

and to our Father.

We don't go

to minister to people,

evangelize people

that God has no claim on.

Oh, you're on this

neutral ground

and we're going to bring you

and convince you ourselves.

No, they belong to him.

They're his sheep.

That's why we,

with passion and zeal,

with love,

we go after those sheep.

This should give us

great faith and hope

in our evangelism.

So the good shepherd

calls and saves his sheep

and once he has saved them,

the final thing he does

is he preserves them.

Now, verse 24,

Jews ask him

after all this dialogue,

how long will you

keep us in suspense?

If you are the Christ,

tell us plainly.

And Jesus makes it plain to them,

I did tell you,

you just didn't believe.

I mean,

if you've been with us

for even just one week,

you know Jesus makes this

abundantly clear

throughout the Gospel of John

that he is the Son of God,

the Son of Man.

He is the bread of life,

the living water,

the new temple of God,

the true Son.

He said all these things

and not only that,

not only has he said these things,

not only his words

testify to this,

but his works.

He says in verse 25,

the works that I do

in my Father's name

bear witness about me.

He's told them

and he has shown it to them

and they don't believe.

So he rebukes them.

You do not believe

because you are not

among my sheep.

In contrast,

verses 27 to 30,

my sheep hear my voice

and I 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.

I and the Father are one.

No one can snatch the sheep

out of the good shepherd's hand,

not wolves,

not thieves,

not robbers,

not anyone

and the reason for that,

the reason why the security

of his sheep is guaranteed

is because Jesus

and by relation

to God the Father himself

stand behind that promise

and guarantees it

and because the Father

who has given them to Jesus

is greater than all

so no one is able

to snatch them

out of the Father's hand.

if the Father

were not strong enough,

if the Father

were not smart enough,

if the Father

was not capable enough,

then we would have

cause to worry

but the Father

is greater than all

and no one can snatch them

out of his hand.

It would be infinitely

more futile

than a toddler

trying to steal

a soccer ball

from Lionel Messi

or Cristiano Ronaldo,

right,

trying to run after them

and you can't snatch them

out of the Father's hand.

A pastor,

a friend of mine,

actually made me,

I just wanted to ask

actually first,

do you feel secure

in your salvation?

Do you feel assured

in that?

Because a lot of people

live in insecurity

and anxiety

about their own salvation.

Maybe you're one

of those people

who have these doubts

that persistently creep up.

Is that really true?

Do I really believe that?

And you wonder

whether you're

a real Christian at all.

Maybe you're one

of those people

who have been dealing

with a rather pernicious sin,

a besetting sin

that you just can't seem

to shake off.

And then you wonder,

if I do that,

am I really a Christian?

Or maybe you've done

something that you think

is so heinous

that you don't think

God can forgive you

and you wonder,

can I really be saved?

Can God really save me?

And to you,

God would say,

your preservation

is not up to you.

It's up to the Father.

It's up to the Good Shepherd.

And no one can snatch you

out of His hand.

Pastor,

a friend of mine

sent me a video

which was totally random

because he's the kind of guy

who never watches YouTube.

And it was entitled

Brave Bear Cub Against Cougar.

And it seems quite realistic

as you watch it.

And there's a cub,

a bear cub,

who is being attacked

by a cougar.

And it's just a cub,

so the cub is not strong enough

to get away from the cougar.

He flees,

he runs,

and in one desperate measure

he jumps into a river

and climbs onto a floating,

you know,

a piece of wood.

And the cougar

is way smarter than him,

so he runs right downstream

to the end

and just waits for him

to come to him.

And he's there

and you're watching this

and you're starting to freak out

and like,

oh no,

it's going to happen.

And so the bear gets there

and the cougar starts slashing him.

And the bear tries to roll,

I mean,

just to roar against him,

but he,

I mean,

the cougar's not scared

of this little bear cub,

so he keeps going.

And then in a weird turn of events,

you hear this really kind of loud,

unusual roar from this cub.

And then this cougar

just kind of whimpers

and scampers off,

runs away.

And then the camera pans away

and then it shows

what's actually going on

is that that wasn't

the bear cub at all.

The mother bear had arrived

and she's standing

on her hind leg

behind the cub

and roaring at the wolf

so the wolf flees.

Right?

No one dares to rob

a mother bear of its cub.

Our good shepherd,

our father in heaven,

guards you.

And he neither sleeps

nor slumbers.

So be assured of your salvation.

Amen.

And the reason why

we can be assured of this,

that Jesus,

the true shepherd,

calls us,

saves us,

and preserves us

is because he's

the consecrated one,

the sent one.

note that this happens

at the Feast of Dedication.

That's not a feast

that's commanded

in the Old Testament

but it's what we know

as Hanukkah.

Right?

So this is,

they're celebrating Hanukkah,

the Jews here.

And the Hanukkah celebrates

a time when,

so there was a Syrian ruler

who took over the temple,

overran Jerusalem,

took over the temple

and set aside,

set a pagan altar

inside the temple

and in doing so

he desecrated the temple.

And the Jews

fought a successful

guerrilla warfare

led by a man

named Judas Maccabeus

and he,

and they took it over again

and then

re-consecrated the temple

and Hanukkah celebrates

the re-consecration

of this temple.

That's what's called

Feast of Dedication.

And in Jesus,

in this,

in this context,

during the Feast of Dedication,

the consecration,

he says,

whom the,

he is the one

whom the Father

consecrated

and sent

into the world.

So Jesus is making

a deliberate connection

to the feast

that they're celebrating.

And so when

these

Jewish leaders

accuse Jesus

of,

of claiming to be God

even though he's a mere man,

he gives this answer

which might be

a little bit enigmatic

at first

but I'll explain.

It's a quotation

from Psalm 82,

6-7.

I said,

you are God's

sons of the Most High,

all of you.

And,

and if that's what

the Word of God says,

if you call them gods

to whom the Word of God came

and Scripture cannot be broken,

do you say of him

whom the Father

consecrated and sent

into the world,

you are blaspheming

because I said,

I am the Son of God.

God,

this is probably

as good a passage

as any to teach

on angels.

I mean,

you guys have,

there's a lot of fascination

with angels

and messengers nowadays.

But this Psalm 82,

if you go back

and look at it,

it paints a scene

of God

assembling these

sons of God

who are angelic beings

and he rebukes them

for their miscarriage

of justice.

God had given them

to rule and judge

parts of nations

throughout the world

and they have failed

in their task.

So God says to them,

I said,

you are God,

sons of the Most High,

all of you.

Nevertheless,

like men,

you shall die

and fall like any prince.

So this is God's punishment

for their miscarriage

of justice.

And then the Psalm

ends with the prayer

that God would rise up

and judge the earth

and inherit all the nations.

And that's what Jesus

has in fact come to do.

And so in biblical cosmology,

there's God,

the Supreme Being

at the top

and then there's

archangels,

right?

And we don't know

of very many of them.

The only ones we know

from the Bible

are Michael and Gabriel.

And at that level

seems to be another

evil being who opposes God

named Lucifer.

It's actually not a name.

The name's not mentioned

in the Bible.

But 2 Corinthians 11, 14

says that Satan

disguises himself

as an angel of light.

And Lucifer means

shining one

or light bearer,

so it's fitting for him.

So that God at the top

and these angelic beings

who are leaders of angels

and below them

is what the Bible

calls sons of God

whom God has given

dominion over certain

nations throughout

the world.

And then he promises

in Psalm 82

to disinherit them

and to come himself

to rule

and gather all the nations

to himself

and to be the judge

over all the earth.

And that's why

the promise

in Matthew 24, 14

is,

and this gospel

of the kingdom

will be proclaimed

throughout the whole world

as a testimony

to all nations

and then the end

will come,

right?

That's why the mission

we go to all the nations

and that's part of

God's promise

already given

in Psalm 82

of gathering all the nations

to himself.

And Jesus,

in effect,

is saying,

if these lower

angelic beings

can be,

in a sense,

called gods,

how much more

the Son,

the consecrated one

whom the Father

himself sent,

so he justifies.

And that's the guarantee.

It's because he's

that special envoy,

the unique Son

whom the Father sent

as the ultimate

revelation representation

of God,

we can be assured

that he can call us,

save us,

and preserve us.

And Jesus,

being a good shepherd,

does many good works,

but the greatest one,

the one that is most good

that he does,

is what he does

on the cross.

And we already see

a glimpse of that

here in verse 40.

It says that he went away

again across the Jordan

to the place where John

had been baptizing at first,

and there he remained.

If you recall,

Jesus began his ministry

where John was baptizing,

his public ministry,

and now that public ministry

is coming to a close.

And after this,

at the end of this chapter,

now we're in earnest

going directly to

and swiftly going to the cross.

Jesus is on his way

to the cross now.

And that's the ultimate

good work.

And the Jews accuse Jesus

of being a man,

but making himself

out to be God.

But actually,

quite the opposite

is true,

because Jesus is God,

yet he takes

on human mortality.

Jesus is the holy one,

the consecrated one,

yet he bears our sin

on the cross.

Jesus is the eternal one,

the God of all creation,

yet he dies

a human's death.

And it's

his humiliation

that opens the door

to our glory.

It's his death

that opens the door

to our eternal life.

I am the door.

If anyone enters by me,

he will be saved

and will go in

and out

and find pasture.

my prayer for you

this morning

is that you

will hear his call,

be saved by him.

Let's pray together.

God, we thank you

that you did not

leave us

to our own devices,

but you took the initiative

to come and save us.

We thank you

for the good shepherd,

the good shepherd

who calls,

saves,

and preserves us.

And we pray

that you would enable us

to entrust ourselves

to him

and to grow deeper

in our relationship

with him each day.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.