The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
Notes
Transcript
Text: John 10:1-21
PRAY
When did Jesus give this teaching?
When did Jesus give this teaching?
Chapter breaks (and verse numbers) not inspired: look at end of 9 and beginning of 10
“Truly, truly” (or verily, verily) never begins any of Jesus’s messages (always in the middle or end of a teaching)
So this is happening probably around October of the year before Jesus died, shortly after the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) in chapters 7-8, and right after healing the blind man in chapter 9.
This also means...
Who was Jesus’s audience?
Who was Jesus’s audience?
Almost certainly the same people he was talking to at the end of chapter 9 — the religious leaders, Pharisees especially, and probably also the blind man he had healed. So these same people from the end of John 9 are hearing this teaching in John 10, the first part.
(The second part of John 10 takes place a couple of months later, likely in December, according to v. 22)
The Parable of Shepherds and Sheep (v. 1-6)
The Parable of Shepherds and Sheep (v. 1-6)
This is very appropriate imagery that Jesus uses in this story. The people he was speaking to were very familiar with shepherds and sheep (like Sarah!), and there is much OT imagery of shepherds and sheep. God is often described as a shepherd of his people, and the people of God are often described as sheep.
God as Shepherd:
Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my shepherd”
Genesis 48:15, (Jacob speaks of) “The God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day”
Psalm 80:1, God is called “Shepherd of Israel”
Isaiah 40:11, says of God, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
God’s people as sheep:
Psalm 95:7 says, “For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”
Psalm 100:3 says “we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
Ezekiel 34:31 God says, “And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.”
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
The shepherd can go in through the door; so if someone tries to get in another way, he is an illegitimate shepherd (or thief, or robber) — someone who is taking advantage of the sheep, like the religious leaders.
In Ezekiel and Zechariah, God had spoken of evil shepherds who took advantage of his people, who failed to care for his people as they should. These are the religious leaders, who took the honor of spiritual leadership for themselves without taking seriously the responsibility to care for the flock.
In Ezekiel 34 we read about how God says that he himself will be the shepherd, and how he will set up David (referring to David’s descendant, the Messiah) as shepherd over Israel. This shows us that the Messiah will be both God and man, and he will be a Shepherd.
3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
The Shepherd (Jesus — though he hasn’t told us that yet)
Calls his own sheep by name
Leads them out
Goes before them
Guides them with his voice
The Sheep (God’s people)
Hear (listen to) his voice
Follow the shepherd
Know his voice
Flee from strangers (imposters)
6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
They did not understand — they were blind, just like Jesus said at the end of John 9.
Jesus as the Door of the Sheep (v. 7-10)
Jesus as the Door of the Sheep (v. 7-10)
Twice Jesus says that he is the door (v. 7, 9)
What does it mean that Jesus is the door?
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
It is through Jesus that the sheep enter, are saved, and find freedom and satisfaction forever—truly an abundant life
There are many pretenders (thieves, robbers, etc.) that come to take advantage of the sheep, but the true sheep do not listen to such people.
Jesus as the Good Shepherd (v. 11-18)
Jesus as the Good Shepherd (v. 11-18)
Again, Jesus makes this claim twice, in v. 11 and 14
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 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. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Contrast of Jesus with the religious leaders — they were supposed to be caring for the flock, but in reality they cared nothing for the flock and only sought their own interests. They would never think of giving their lives for the sheep.
But Jesus gives his life for the sheep. He says this twice, in v. 11 and 15. Unlike the religious leaders who were unwilling to sacrifice anything for the sheep, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for the sheep.
He laid down his life for his sheep, for these ones that belong to him, the ones that the Father had given him as he says in chapter 6.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
I have other sheep that are not of this fold — sheep that belong to Jesus outside of the Jewish fold, outside of Israel; he’s talking about the Gentiles who would believe in him. As the Good Shepherd, he wasn’t just laying down his life for the sheep of the Jewish nation, but for all of his sheep of all time all over the world.
Consider this commentary from John on the prophecy of Caiaphas in John 11 that Jesus would die for the people:
51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
There John uses different imagery — children instead of sheep, but the meaning is the same: God has people (children, sheep) scattered all over the world that he is going to bring into his fold, so there will be one flock, one people, one family.
We read in Revelation 5:9 that by his death Christ ransomed people from all over the world and has made them one new people:
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
So when Jesus says in John 10:16 that there will be one flock, one shepherd, this is what he means.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
There is one flock; there is one people of God; there is one family of God. Not two — not a separate or distinct people of God in the OT and NT, but one flock. A flock that includes both Jews and Gentiles, a flock led by one shepherd, Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd.
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice — this speaks of the certainty of God’s mission. Those who are his sheep, those whom he has chosen, will listen to the shepherd. Both the Jewish sheep and the Gentile sheep will hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow him, together.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 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. This charge I have received from my Father.”
What happens to sheep when their shepherd dies?
The reason that the Shepherd’s death for the sheep is a good thing is that he not only has authority to lay down his life, but also to take it up again.
The death of the Shepherd would not be good news for the sheep if the story ended there. But we know it did not end there. Just as Jesus was in complete control of his physical life and only laid down his life when it was the right time (“his hour had come”), he also took it up again. And it is his resurrection that gives us hope for our own resurrection someday.
Implications of these teachings (v. 1-18):
Jesus is the only way of salvation — he is the door. Not one of many, but the only one. Only by coming through him can we be saved.
Jesus is God. He is the Good Shepherd, the one who sovereignly leads his people, the one whose voice calls his people to himself, the one who gave his life for us and then took it up again.
The Responses to Jesus’s Message (v. 19-21)
The Responses to Jesus’s Message (v. 19-21)
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Division among the Jews (see also 7:43, 9:16)
he’s demon-possessed, he’s crazy, stop paying attention to him
he’s not demon-possessed because he healed the blind man (shows that this was fresh in people’s memory)
Two Possible Responses to Jesus (Many different ways of expressing the same ideas)
Throughout John’s Gospel, John is constantly presenting us with these alternatives:
Receive him or reject him
Believe him or doubt him
Love him or hate him
Follow him or walk away from him
But John wants us to believe, to receive him, to love him, to follow him.
Application
Application
If you are his sheep — if you belong to him,
you hear the Good Shepherd’s voice
you follow him wherever he goes
you don’t listen to false shepherds
you have an abundant life — eternal life; the blessing of close fellowship with God now and forever
What does the shepherd’s voice sound like?
God’s Word — reading it, listening to it, hearing it preached
It speaks words of rebuke when his sheep are going astray: “Repent!”
It speaks words of comfort when his sheep are anxious or afraid: “Fear not!”
It speaks words of encouragement to those who are discouraged: “Come to me, all you who are weary… I will give you rest.”
Do you hear the shepherd’s voice?
Are you listening to him?
Are you following him?