Audio Access Available Above
“The Good Shepherd" • 10.12.19
• Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Chapter 9 concludes with a
haunting refrain from our Lord to the religious leaders: "If you were
blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin
remains."
- The religious leaders, who
claimed to know God and believed themselves to be shepherds of God's people,
could not recognize Him as He stood before them!
- The formerly blind man not only
recognized Jesus, but was currently worshipping Him! He stood as a living
rebuke to the emptiness of their approach to God.
- Jesus has not taken a breath, but
will continue to seek to make them understand His true nature. Verse 1.
Text
• John 10:1 : "Most assuredly, I say to
you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other
way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep." :
"Most assuredly." "Amen and Amen." These words signal the
need for their most serious attention.
- Animal husbandry would have been
commonplace picture. The land around Israel was home to various kinds of
shepherds.
- The raising and keeping of
livestock, particularly sheep, would be an important industry in Israel, given
the amount of lambs necessary to fulfill Israel's sacrificial calendar.
- Sheep pens, built in various
places with varying materials, dotted the Israeli landscape.
- These pens were often privately
owned and sublet out to shepherds during certain seasons. In many cases, the
pens were large enough to accomodate several flocks together.
- Whether the pen was dug out of a
cave or built with wooden supports, each pen was distinct by it's singular
entry way. There was only one door.
- Naturally, anyone attempting to
enter a sheepfold by any other means, to gain access to the sheep, would
instantly be categorized a "thief" or a "robber." The two
words are not synonymous.
- The word used for
"thief" is the base word for one who is a "kleptomaniac."
Later, this word will be applied to false teachers, who come in under false
pretenses.
- A "thief" then is one
who employs deceit to con a person out of their resource. A "robber"
however, is a much more blunt instrument. This one uses force and intimidation.
He's a plunderer.
- Both types of people are
interested in sheep, but are not interested in accessing them through the
proper channels. They want control of the sheep without the authority.
- Their identity and character are
established by how they approach. What is Jesus meaning to address? Think again
of the context.
- God's sheep, the people in Israel
who have begun to believe in Messiah, have already been called into the pen.
The religious leaders are doing what they can to exert control over the sheep.
- They have been deceptive in their
methods, purposely obscuring the obvious signs that Jesus had performed and
when that hasn't worked, they've bullied the congregation into silence.
- The story of the formerly blind
man speaks directly to this. How many times did they try to deny the man's
condition? Why did they threaten believers with excommunication?
- They are digging their way
around, trying to climb up around edge, to get at God's sheep!
- In contrast, a legitimate shepherd
wouldn't have to access the pen fron any other vantage point. He comes directly
into the sheepfold by the door. This clearly identifies Him as the shepherd.
- Jesus has come in via His own
Father's command! He has been sent with God's full authority and boldly comes
to the door to gather His flock! Verse 3.
• John 10:3-6 : "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 spoke
to them." : Jesus
illustrates His identity by coming directly for His sheep and by the fact that
the doorkeeper has opened for Him!
- The doorkeeper recognizes his
right to be there! The porter would not open for anyone else.
- God the Father has given these
sheep, those out of Israel who are believing in Christ, to the Son! He has
opened the door for Jesus!
- God would not open that door to
organized, Pharasiacal religion! Their voices were loud and demanding, but the
Lord's sheep didn't respond. This was yet another point of authenticity for
Jesus.
- His sheep are able to distinguish
His voice over another's! They know his tone and manner of speaking with them.
They know His inflections and His calls. He knows each one by name!
- The shepherd is able to distinguish
between each sheep, having a relationship to each one.
- I read a book not too long ago,
in which an actual shepherd mentioned that he not only knew his sheep in their
present state, but could look at a lamb and know it's family tree by decades!
- How much more is this true of the
One who took part in your actual conception!?
- Jesus is aware of each one of His
lambs and has the ability to distinguish between one and another. The sheep are
willing to leave the pen at His call and follow Him as He leads them out.
- That doesn't happen with just
anyone. In fact, they will instinctually run for their lives at the sound of
another voice! The religious leaders listened and understood, but didn't
connect the dots.
- They weren't able to figure out
how this was relevant to them. It was relevant first, with relation to their
inability to recognize Him. They were not His sheep because they couldn't hear
Him!
- They wouldn't respond, no matter
the sign and or the urgency of His call! Can you hear Him calling you today?
His sheep recognize His voice!
- Second, no mattter what they did,
they could not influence His sheep away from Him! Their voice was authoritative
because it was backed up by force, but it didn't move Christ's people!
- Had they understood these
implications, they would have fought against Him. The fact that they didn't
allowed the Lord to continue. Verse 7.
• John 10:7-10 : "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 in and 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." : Jesus isn't just the shepherd of the
sheep. He is the door! He is the sole entry way by which the sheep enter into
safety!
- Certain pens were constructed
without a door. In such cases, the shepherd would sleep in the entry way and
literally become the door of the sheep!
- Jesus, once again employing the
very Name of God, describes His character through this metaphor. What did the
door represent? It spoke of protection from predators and safety for sheep.
- If a lamb was to try to leave, it
would have to go over the shepherd. If a predator was to attempt to gain access
to the sheep, it would have to go through the shepherd!
- These religious leaders sought to
hurt one of His own, namely the man that had formerly been blind. In order to
get to Him, they were going to have to go through Him!
- He is THE one and only door!
There isn't a need for another, for as God, Jesus will never lose His power to
keep His sheep in or keep their predators out!
- Anyone that tried to gain a
following with God's sheep before Christ are like the ones that sought to climb
up another way, attempting to bypass the door!
- The Pharisees and religious elite
are doing everything that they can to discredit the Lord Jesus, to exert
influence over the hearts of the Lord's people without honoring the Door!
- That story has been repeated
thousands of times by religious adherants all over the world, who claim that
their works, in one form or another, get them to God! Jesus is the only way in!
- No matter how hard they try,
God's sheep will hear His voice and follow Him, just as the formerly blind man
had! He tells the others listening that they may enter by Him right now!
- "I am the Door! If anyone
enters in by Me, he will be saved!" Consider this yet another invitation
to the religious leaders. "I'm your way in! Come in and be saved!"
- On the one hand, there is
salvation from our ultimate predator! But look at the life that Jesus provides.
With Christ, the lamb is saved and will go in and out and find pasture!
- The first benefit is emotional. To
"go in and out" is an odd expression that you find a few times in
scripture, which seems to express confidence and belonging.
- For example, Caleb at 85 years
old asks for the country where the Anakim dwell because even at that advanced
age, he has the strength for "going out and coming in." (Joshua
14:11)
- Contrast that with King Solomon's
prayer to God at the beginning of his reign. He admits that he is a proverbial
child not knowing how to "go out or come in." (I Kings 3:7)
- When you are a part of the Lord's
flock, you will walk with confidence and boldness because of the sure
protection of your Lord! Contrast that with the ways of religion.
- Religion tends to keep it's adherants
off balance. Their demands will never be satisfied and their adherants will
perpetually wonder if they have done enough to merit God's attention and favor!
- God's sheep have confidence, not
because of their own performance, but because of their Savior's finished work! That's
the greatness of belonging in God's sheepfold!
- You and I are confident and well
cared for! Notice that "they will find pasture." The word
"find" is an interesting one. It speaks of hitting upon something or
coming to a point of discovery.
- Sheep aren't the brightest
animals. They aren't good at finding food and are prone to wander!
- That beautiful pasture in front
of you was planted by the Lord God and He has brought you to it without you
knowing of it's existence! Everything in our relationship to God comes from
Him!
- We are beneficiaries of His grace
and are forever grateful for His generous heart toward us.
- It's not that way with the thief
and the robber. These possess no good intention for the believer's life! They
have come or are always coming to steal sheep, to kill them and destroy!
- Our enemy wants to steal lambs
away from their owner and to steal a life away from a lamb! The lamb is safe
and well fed with the shepherd. He wants to take Him away from that life.
- He always wants to kill, a word
indicative of the slaughter of an animal! The thief has no concern for the
lamb's condition and has no mercy in it's end.
- It seems redundant then to finish
by saying that He always wants to destroy! The idea is that the thief wants to
mar the lamb, to put it to utter ruin! That is the plan of the thief for your
life!
- He wants to steal you away from
safety in Christ, slaughter you and leave your marred carcase on the side of
the road as a testament to his work!
- Jesus says, "I have come
that they might have life!" Jesus wants His sheep to have the very life
that emanates from Himself! This is the possibility for all that would come to
Him!
- They will have life, but that
isn't enough for Jesus! He wants them to have that life or be always in the
condition of having that life superabundantly beyond measure! Verse 11.
• John 10:11 : "I am the good shepherd. The
good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." : Not only is Jesus the door to the
pen, but He is the good shepherd of the sheep! This is the second "I
AM" statement in as many sections! The grammar indicates a present
condition.
- "I am always and will ever
be the good shepherd." That goodness is defined in Jesus! I'd truly
recommend you take a good hard look at Psalm 23 today. Jesus is that
Shepherd in your life!
- For a shepherd to be capable, he
must be willing to give his life for the sheep! For a shepherd to be considered
good, he will have done this!
- Our Good Shepherd literally and
ultimately gave His life for the sheep. Religion requires sheep to give up
their life. Christianity requires the Shepherd to give up His! Verse 12.
• John 10:12-14 : "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the
sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves
the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care
about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own." : There is a difference between a "shepherd" and a
hireling. A "hireling" is what we would call a "day
laborer" today.
- No matter how skilled or noble
his character, he can never be invested in the sheep like the shepherd is. He
is not the owner of the sheep and that plays out in a critical way.
- The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. The hireling sees danger coming in the form of a wolf and
leaves the sheep in peril from their natural predator!
- The word can be used to describe
one who has abandoned his post. The man just lets go of any previous
responsibility in that moment and the results are catastrophic!
- One of the shepherd's lamb's are
seized violently by the wolf, while the rest of his flock are scattered abroad.
Blue Letter Bible's lexical aid describes it like this:
˚ "Of those who, routed or terror stricken or driven by some other
impulses, fly in every direction." : That is quite the description to leave the sheep in, but the
hireling, the day laborer is just happy to have escaped with his own life.
- He doesn't have any concern for
the sheep! He is only interested in his own skin!
- Jesus, by contrast, is the good
shepherd, who owns the sheep and will stand between them and their predator,
that they might live and remain in safety precisely because He cares for them!
- This is why Jesus is the good
shepherd. He knows His sheep and is known by them!
- This refers to experiential,
intimate awareness of a being's state. This same word is an expression relating
to marital intercourse!
- Jesus knows those that are His.
No detail of their life escapes His notice! He will not leave His sheep when
there are threats to their safety!
- We "know" this as a
matter of trivia, but we "know" it by experience when we experience
trouble! We can attest that He has stood by us in every circumstance! Verse 15.
• John 10:15,16 : "As the Father knows Me, even
so I know the Father; and I lay
down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My voice; and there
will be one flock and one shepherd." : Regardless of the religious leaders opinion of Him, there was no
break in the relationship between the Father and the Son!
- There was intimacy between the
two and the Lord was going to lay down His life for the sheep! That mission did
not take away from their love for each other or for the world!
- Jesus will lay down His life for
the sheep that are a part of the Jewish nation, who were coming to Him at that
time in history and for the Gentile church that would come to Him soon!
- Before the next decade was over,
there would be Gentile churches popping up all over the Roman empire! A Gentile
church in Antioch will give us our title in this world: Christians!
- Through Christ's death, both
Gentiles and Jews will come into one new man that will transcend race or
culture! All who believe in Christ will belong to one flock with one shepherd!
- There are many expressions of
God's local body and while they are singular in their approach, they aren't
true parts of His body unless He is their Shepherd! Verse 17.
• John 10:17,18 : "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I
lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.'" : "Therefore" refers to the
statement that Jesus makes in verse 15 about laying down, surrendering
His life. The Father knows and loves Him. Why?
- He will surrender His life and
will take it up again! Nobody had the power to take the Lord's life from Him!
If He had not laid down and surrendered His life, He would still be alive
today!
- He will lay it down of His own
volition and by the power within Himself, will possess it again! That was the
command of the Father!
- The Lord's resurrection wasn't
just because sin could not hold Him down. Jesus raised from the dead by His own
power because that is what the Father commanded that He do!
- In other words, Jesus could not
have remained in the grave for a second longer than His Father allowed! When it
came time, Jesus, by His own power, raised Himself to life again!
- He suffered at the hands of men
and remained in a state of death just long enough to procure eternal salvation
for all that would believe upon Him throughout human history! Verse 19.
• John 10:19-21 : "Therefore there was a division
again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, 'He has a
demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?' Others said, 'These are not the words
of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'" : Once again, the Jewish leaders fail
to come to a consensus regarding Jesus! The Lord's words always create a
divide!
- Some will hear and dismiss. To their darkened
minds, Jesus was demon possessed and a mad man, literally "one beside
Himself!" This was a term for schizophrenic behavior!
- Our friends will wonder how it is that we can
listen to Him! We must be as crazy as He is! The truth is that we hear our
Shepherd's voice and can at least agree with the second group.
- These people cannot negate the miracles that
Jesus has performed! How can a man with a demon open blind eyes? Interestingly,
John doesn't tell us that they actually believed.
- Their logic told them the truth and they
acknowledged it. That won't ever matter unless you put your full trust in
Christ, to enter the Sheep pen by His atoning blood.
- You are not saved until you hear His voice
calling you and until you acknowledge that He is your Shepherd personally!
Conclusion
- Let's pray!
No comments:
Post a Comment