I AM THE GATE AND THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Notes
Transcript
SERIES RECAP
SERIES RECAP
Today, we’re continuing our series, “I AM” where we’re looking at the 7 “I am” statements of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John
These statements Jesus makes are declarations about who he is. So, in this series, we’re inviting Jesus to tell us who he is… not who we assume he is or how we think he should be.
These “I am” statements refer back to Exodus 3, where God reveals himself to Moses by declaring, “I AM WHO I AM.”
Jesus is communicating to us that he is God. He is the “I Am” revealing himself to us in human flesh.
So far in this series, we’ve seen that Jesus is:
The Bread of Life who provides true satisfaction in our lives.
The Light of The World who purchased our freedom from sin, bringing us out of our darkness and into his light.
Today, we’re going to look at 2 more “I am” statements found in John 10 where we will see that Jesus is, “The Gate and The Good Shepherd.”
INTRO
INTRO
Sheep are extremely vulnerable creatures.
Sheep are feeble, anxious creatures.
This is primarily because sheep have no defense mechanism.
In fact, I heard a pastor one time share a story about a time he was in Israel. There was a shepherd with a flock of sheep so he and his friend who was with him approached the shepherd to get some milk. As the men approached, the sheep bunched up together forming this cluster of a circle. They all turned their heads to the middle of the cluster and just sort of ducked to hide from what they thought was danger.
They have no way to protect themselves from attacking predators, therefore they have a lot of predators.
The National Agricultural Statistic Service reported in 2020 that in one year almost 1/4 of a million sheep in the US died from the attacks of predatory animals (cougars, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes).
A shepherd by the name of Phillip Keller shares this story one time of 2 dogs attacking and killing over 200 sheep in one night.
Sheep also tend to wander.
In 2005, 1500 sheep in Turkey all ran off a cliff into a body of water for no apparent reason other than because the one in front jumped first. The first 400 sheep died by drowning, the other 1100 survived solely because they landed on the floating corpses of their fellow sheep.
Sheep wander...
The reality is we wander too. In fact, the prophet Isaiah compares us to sheep in a similar fashion. He says this:
Isaiah 53:6 (NIV)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way; ...
What Isaiah is saying here is that
We chose to wander from God.
We chose to turn our backs on God.
We chose to be our own God, our own authority.
God had a plan for our lives, but we chose our own plan. We chose to wander from God, and now find ourselves lost preparing to lunge ourselves over the cliff for no apparent reason other than because we simply don’t know how to live this thing called life without someone leading us in the right direction.
Sheep are vulnerable, anxious, wandering creatures who need a good shepherd to protect them from predators, and lead them to pasture.
And just like sheep without a shepherd, we are lost and vulnerable people who desperately need a Good Shepherd to lead us along the right path.
TEACHING
TEACHING
The opening of John 10 continues the events from chapter 9.
In John 9, Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. The man is taken before the Pharisees by his neighbors who obviously knew he was blind and now he isn’t.
The Pharisees question the man and discovered that Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. The Pharisees claim there’s no way Jesus could be of God because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.
Of course, there’s nothing in the Law that forbid healing on the Sabbath, it was the Pharisees own self-righteous interpretation of the Sabbath that suggest Jesus wasn’t keeping the Sabbath.
The man is questioned more by the Pharisees concerning who healed him and whether or not Jesus was a sinner. The man basically tells them, look all I know is I couldn’t see and now I can see.
The Pharisees are frustrated with the man’s answers, claiming he is a disciple of Jesus and not a disciple of Moses as they are. They throw him out of the synagogue.
When Jesus hears about this, he goes and finds the man. The man believes in Jesus as the Son of God, and worships the one who healed him.
There’s a dialogue at the end of chapter 9 in which Jesus is condemning some Pharisees who were near by, and it’s under this context that we pick up in John 10.
The Sheep Pen Parable
The Sheep Pen Parable
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
Jesus shares a parable with the Pharisees:
Now, Jesus uses parables a lot in his teachings.
In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) he uses parables to explain the kingdom of God.
In John, however, parables are used to unveil who Jesus is.
Jesus says to the Pharisees, “anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. (v.1)
Sheep pens were these rock enclosures that looked something like this. (Show Sheep pen images).
The setting of this sheep pen parable is in a small Jewish village.
Most families in the village owned a few sheep. And, the homes had small walled courtyards where they would house the sheep overnight.
The pens had tall stone walls that could stand as tall as 6 1/2 ft tall. There was only one small opening to the pen that provided only one way in and way one out.
A gatekeeper, or doorkeeper, would stay at the entrance of the sheep pen and the only person allowed to enter would be the shepherd.
Since most of these households only had a few sheep, it didn’t make sense economically for them to all have their own shepherd, so they would often hire a shepherd that they would share with their neighbors.
The shepherd would come to each household’s sheep pen, the gatekeeper would give them access to the sheep because they knew the shepherd, and the shepherd would call the sheep to take them with the herd out to pasture.
If they didn’t recognize someone they wouldn’t allow them to enter.
Therefore, if thieves and robbers came attempting to steal the sheep, they would have to climb over the wall to get the sheep.
Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees, labeling them as thieves and robbers, because they have not truly cared for the sheep.
They have not been good shepherds of Israel, thus they are not true shepherds.
They kicked the blind man out of the synagogue after being healed, and they’ve been mistreating and mishandling the sheep of Israel they were supposed to be leading.
Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus is God’s shepherd who is granted access into the sheep pen and enters by the gate. (v.2)
As the true shepherd of the sheep comes to the gate, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own , he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (v.3-4)
Shepherds have a specific call for their sheep, and the sheep recognize their shepherd and follow him to pasture.
In the 1980s the Israeli army punished a village near Bethlehem for not paying its taxes during the Palestinian uprising. The commanding officer rounded up all the village animals and placed them in a large, barbed-wire pen.
A woman and her son came later in the week, and asked the commanding officer to release her flock. Her husband had died and her livelihood depended on her sheep.
He laughed her off, claiming it would be impossible to find her sheep amidst the hundreds of animals in the pen. She bargained with the officer and he agreed to let her take her sheep if she could sort them out herself.
A solider opened the gate for them, and her son pulled out a small reed flute. He played a simple tune over and over again. Soon, sheep heads began popping up all over the pen and the woman’s son walked home playing his flute with their flock of about 25 sheep following him the whole way home.
Sheep know their shepherds call. They know his voice and follow him.
The image of the shepherd leading his sheep is significant.
Unlike shepherds here in the west who drive their sheep, shepherds in the east lead their sheep out.
The sheep willingly follow the leadership of their shepherd, because they trust they will flourish under the care of the shepherd as he leads them to green pastures.
Keep in mind, this is a desert climate (something we’re all too familiar with here). There’s not a lot of pasture for the sheep to feed on for much of the year.
It is a dry, desolate place where danger is lurking along the journey from rough terrain to vicious predators and thieves and robbers.
The sheep trust the shepherd to lead them safely to green pasture where they can feast.
Here’s the significance.
Moses prays this prayer in...
“May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
We discover in the next verse that Joshua is the successor that Moses prays for.
Joshua is a Hebrew name. When the Hebrew name Joshua is translated into Greek, we get the name Jesus.
By pointing back to Moses’ prayer, Jesus is declaring, “I am the true shepherd that Moses prayed for.”
I will call my sheep by name, and lead them so that they will not be wandering like sheep without a shepherd.
The Pharisees are like thieves and robbers, whose voice the sheep do not know. Jesus, however, is the shepherd who enters through the door, calls the sheep, and has authority to lead the sheep to green pastures.
I Am The Gate
I Am The Gate
The Pharisees were confused, and didn’t understand what Jesus was saying so he explains it again.
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Here we come to our first “I am” statement in this passage “I am the gate.”
In these verses, the setting shifts a little. Previously, Jesus described a village scene, but in these verses Jesus describes a setting in the open country where the shepherd has led the sheep for grazing.
In the summer months, the shepherd and his flock might spend the night in the desert. (SHOW PICTURE OF SHEEP PEN 2)
The sheep would be placed in pens that were roughly constructed with waist high stone walls.
The walls were covered with thorns to keep predators out.
The shepherd would secure the opening of the pen, sleeping across the entrance.
The shepherd would become the gate that would secure the sheep pen.
Jesus again, speaks out against the Pharisees, calling them thieves and robbers.
They, like the shepherds of Israel in Ezekiel 34 who took care of themselves, and neglected the sheep.
The sheep have not listened to them
I think we see this clearly in chapter 9 how the blind man didn’t listen to the Pharisees, and instead received Jesus as his shepherd.
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved...” (v. 9)
Once inside the pen, the shepherd would secure the gate, and the sheep would be safe.
In the same way the shepherd brings salvation to his sheep, Jesus as brought salvation to humanity.
Jesus is the gate to salvation. All who enter through him will be saved.
Despite the cultural belief that there are many ways to God, there is only one gate in which we enter into and are saved.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the way to the Father.
Jesus is the truth.
He is absolutely true.
His words never lie.
He is the great I am!!
Jesus is the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME!!
Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
The thief would find no greater joy than to deceive you into thinking there is some other way to the Father.
He has come to destroy you! He’s come to bring chaos, to make you a wanderer, to encourage you to jump off the cliff and plunge yourself into despair.
JESUS, is the way to true life!
He came to bring us life.
And not just life, but LIFE TO THE FULL.
An abundant life! —
Not one filled with money, status, and cars as some false prophets, some thieves and robbers may lead you to believe.
Not one that promises you will never experience trouble and suffering in your life.
But one that is filled abundantly with the riches of his love and mercy so that I can find joy and contentment in all circumstances of my life!!
Jesus is the gate. All who believe in Jesus are eternally safe and secure with the promise of an abundant life in Him. We know God through Jesus Christ and experience the richness of life in relationship with God both here and now, and in the future when Jesus returns for his sheep.
I Am The Good Shepherd
I Am The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd”
Throughout the Old Testament, God is described as Israel’s shepherd.
See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Again, Jesus is declaring that he is the “I am.”
He is God.
He is the Good Shepherd.
He says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
At night, the shepherd would lay down at the opening of the sheep pen and sleep there for the night, becoming “the gate” to the sheep pen.
If predators came to attack the sheep, they could not scale the walls because they would be impaled by the thorns that lined the top of the walls.
They would have to face the shepherd.
The Good Shepherd cares for his sheep so much that he will die before he allows predators to kill his flock.
The hired hand, flees in self preservation. The Pharisees will do what serves them best, while the people they are taking watch over suffer and die.
The Good Shepherd, however, will not even throw one sheep as a sacrifice to the predators in order to save the rest of the flock.
He will stand at the gate and fight off the predators, and the only way they will get to the sheep is if the shepherd dies.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his flock so that they can have a full, abundant life.
This full life that is experienced by followers of Jesus came at a cost.
When someone commits a crime, a just judge will impose some kind a fine that you must pay for your crime.
There is none who is more just than God. Even the most just judge in the world doesn’t compare the God’s perfect justice.
Therefore, a PERFECTLY JUST God requires payment for sin, or rebellion against him.
We all have sinned against God. If you don’t believe me go read Romans 3.
We all are guilty before a Holy and Just God.
We all, (as Isaiah says) like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; … (Isaiah 53:6).
We owe a fine that is too great for us to pay on our own.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our fine is death, yet the GOOD SHEPHERD lays down his own life for the sheep.
He faces death in our place so that we don’t have to face that death.
Instead, we can experience abundant life in him both now and forevermore.
Jesus continues in verse 14.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to 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 authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
There is a deep and intimate relationship between the shepherd and his sheep.
He KNOWS his sheep, and his sheep KNOW him.
In this relationship, there is familiarity and trust developed from the times spent together as the shepherd protects and provides for his flock, leading them to green pastures.
I wonder, today, if you know the Good Shepherd. Like, you don’t just know about him, but you REALLY, TRULY know him.
I’ve been in church basically since birth. And throughout my life I’ve heard many people who claim to be Christians throughout my life who say things like, “Well, how do I hear from God? Like, how do I know his voice?” I think this is a fair question to ask, especially when we are new to the faith.
But, often I believe the reason many people ask this question is not because they are new to their faith. I believe it’s because they simply haven’t spent enough time with the Good Shepherd to discern his voice.
I just wonder today, do you KNOW the shepherd? Are you experiencing that DEEP, INTIMATE relationship where there is familiarity and trust between you and Good Shepherd?
Jesus compares the intimacy of this relationship between the sheep and shepherd to his relationship with God the Father.
Jesus doesn’t simply know about God, as the Pharisees do.
He isn’t simply acquainted with God as some Rabbis may have been.
He KNOWS the Father, and the Father KNOWS Him.
This speaks of a deep, intimate relationship between the Father and the Son.
God is a triune God.
He is three distinct persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and yet these three persons are all one God, perfectly united.
This is the doctrine of the trinity, and it’s entirely too complex for me to go much farther than that today so I’ll leave that one to Pastor Rob.
But, Jesus, being one with the Father has a deeply intimate relationship together.
He knows the Father, because he is one with the Father.
Likewise, Jesus KNOWS his followers, and we who are his followers KNOW him in a similar, intimate, personal relationship.
Jesus longs to have a relationship with you and I.
He wants to KNOW you (and he does know you), but he also wants you to KNOW him.
“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (v.16)
Jesus seems to be clearly speaking of the Gentiles in this verse.
Gentiles are simply non-Jewish people.
Praise God, that’s most of us in this room!!
God’s plan of salvation has always been focused on all people, of all nations, everywhere; a reality that many of the Jews never fully understand.
In fact, when Jesus says this, most Jews believed Jews go to heaven, and Gentiles go to Hell… simply because they’re not Jewish.
But, Jesus promised to extend salvation to all peoples “first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” as Paul says in Romans 1:16.
We all will be saved, and we will be one flock under Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Jesus concludes with this:
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to 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 authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:17-18)
God’s plan of salvation, to save humanity from our sin and restore our relationship with him, is woven throughout the Scriptures.
This plan required the Son to lay down his life for his people.
He would become our sacrifice, atoning our sin so that we can stand blameless before God.
Jesus laid down his life for us, in obedience to the Father’s plan of Salvation and out of his love for us.
Jesus’ death was not the result of human intentions.
It was a willing act of loving obedience to lay down his life to save his people.
The beauty is, Jesus didn’t stay in the grave after he laid down his life for us. He rose again, purchasing our freedom from death, hell and the grave.
Jesus had the authority to lay down his life, and die as the payment for our sins. He took our sins upon the cross. The debt was paid, but the work wasn’t finished.
In the same way he had authority to lay down his life, he had the authority to “take it up again.”
Jesus, being one with the Father, was obedient to the Father’s plan of salvation.
He paid for our sins by his death on the cross.
He ensured eternal life for his believers by rising from the grave.
He’s alive today, promising abundant life for those who believe in Him, both now and beyond the grave. And he’s returning some day to make all things new!!
Jesus declares, “I am the Gate and the Good Shepherd.”
RESPONSE
RESPONSE
**Will you stand with me today?
I wonder today: are you a part of Jesus’ flock? Or are you the sheep that are not of this pen, and Jesus is calling out to you? Will you respond to his voice today and enter through the gate that leads to eternal life?
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; … (Isaiah 53:6).
I have gone my own way, and so have you.
And when I went me own way, it wasn’t working out so well for me. And I’m sure that’s true for you too.
Jesus is calling out to you today.
He’s inviting you into the sheepfold.
He’s inviting you into an abundant life where you are filled with the riches of his love.
Will you respond to his call?
**I’m going to ask my prayer team to step out into the aisle.
If you’re here today and you want to make a decision to believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, recognizing that you are totally lost in this present moment, you are a wandering sheep in need of a shepherd, and you want to step into abundant life with the Good Shepherd who purchased your freedom from sin on the cross and rose from the dead to give eternal life to all who believe in him. If that’s you would you raise your hand so one of our prayer team members can come pray with you?
For the rest of us in the room:
Do you know the Good Shepherd today?
Have you been spending adequate time with him for you to really KNOW him?
Or have you been allowing things to distract you from spending time with the shepherd?
If you’re here today and you would humbly say, “you know what I haven’t been spending enough time with the Good Shepherd, but I want that to change today.”
I’m going to invite you to step out of your seat and come to the altar and find a space where you can get alone with the Good Shepherd and spend a few moments with him.
Maybe, you have been spending a lot of time with the Good Shepherd, but you want to just take the next few moments we have together today to spend with the Good Shepherd. I mean that’s me! I’ll take some more time in the presence of the Good Shepherd.
If that’s you I’m also going to invite you to respond and let’s encounter the Good Shepherd together!
