I am the Good Sheperd John 10:11-18
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, and guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, it exists in all parts of the globe, and it is an important part of pastoralist animal husbandry. In many societies, shepherds were an important part of the economy. Unlike farmers, shepherds were often wage earners, being paid to watch the sheep of others. Shepherds also lived apart from society, being largely nomadic. It was mainly a job of solitary males without children, and new shepherds thus needed to be recruited externally. Shepherds were often the younger sons of farming peasants who did not inherit any land. In other societies, each family would have a family member to shepherd its flock, often a child, youth or an elder who couldn't help much with harder work.
Because of the ubiquity of the profession, many religions and cultures have symbolic or metaphorical references to the shepherd profession. For example, Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd, and ancient Greek mythologies highlighted shepherds such as Endymion and Daphnis.
It is this metaphorical reference that Jesus made to the shepherd profession that we are going to take a look at today.
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 is not the owner of 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 is not concerned about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
Transitional Sentence: No matter what is going on in your life the Good Shepherd will know about it and will be with you for the rest of your life and beyond.
What is a Good Shepherd?
a. A Shepherd John 10:12-13 (Lead, safety and welfare, protect them from predators, health, shearing)
12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of 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 is not concerned about the sheep.
Jesus points to the idea that most shepherds will run when the flock is attacked by predators, but the good shepherd protects his flock.
b. But, the Good Shepherd doesn’t run. The Good Shepherd protects the flock. John 10:15
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
The Good Shepherd will lay down his life for the flock. This is exactly what Jesus did. He laid down His life for us. His life was exchanged for all those who believe in Him. The hired hand would never do that, he will only run away and let the flock be scattered and some taken by the wolves.
An example of a good shepherd doing more than a hired hand comes from:
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
35 I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
The shepherd David who later became King didn’t run when the lion or bear attacked. He went after it and struck it down. The hired hand would have run, the hired hand would have saved his own skin and not worried about a single sheep.
c. He knows His own John 10:14
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
This is important for the shepherd. When four or five flocks are all mixed together in a sheep fold for the night it might be hard to tell the difference between them - for an outsider for the hired hand. But the shepherd will be able to pick out his own and the sheep will know the sound of the shepherds voice.
For us this is important because Jesus knows each of His flock intimately. When we are:
Overwhelmed with grief…He knows. When we are weary and unmotivated…He knows. When we are facing difficult decisions… He knows. If we are feeling crushed by sin…He knows. When we are Broken, Lost, Hopeless, Alone, Confused…He knows. In all of your victories and your struggles, in every moment of your life, in all the circumstances for the rest of your life…He knows and He will be with you from the time you call upon His name until forever.
After Jesus finished telling the crowd about what He as the Good Shepherd will do in verses 11-15, He tells them something new. Something that may not make any sense to most of them. He tells them that He has sheep in many folds.
2. A Shepherd of many folds John 10:16
16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
That’s a pretty bold statement coming from a man who has nothing. How can He have many sheep? Especially enough to fill many folds. That’s the power of a metaphor. Because...
a. People are sheep and when He is talking to the Israelites He is talking to only one flock in one fold. Those who understand know that He is saying there are other people in other places waiting to hear His voice. They are waiting for Him to gather all the flocks together. So, if the Israelites are one flock then who or from where are some of the other flocks?
One way to determine that is to look at the New Testament:
b. Other flocks: Pentecost which is described in the book of Acts brought a wave of new sheep into the kingdom of God:
Some of those other flocks were: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Asians, Phrygians, Egyptians, Libyans, Cyrenians, Romans, Cretans and Arabs.
Other cities that were later associated with having Christian churches were Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossi, Thessalonica, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.
Flocks now (World map)
With all of this going on all over the world how can we be one flock?
c. One Flock: Ripped the curtain - Peace with God Mark 15:38
38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Tore down the dividing wall - (court of gentiles) Ephesians 2:14-15
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Explain the picture and the rule for gentiles.
Now Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Asians, Phrygians, Egyptians, Libyans, Cyrenians, Romans, Cretans and Arabs, and all the rest can work and worship together. There is no more law saying that they can’t even talk to a gentile. We are all one family in Christ Jesus. He is the One shepherd over the one flock.
3. The Good Shepherd Lays down His life for the flock.
a. The Father loves Him.
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
With these two verses Jesus is telling us one of the reasons why the Father loves Him. As the Good Shepherd He is going to lay down His life for His flock. But this has been the plan all along. This was foretold to the serpent in the garden of eden when God said that the seed of the woman would bruise the seed of serpent on the head. This laying down of His life would be the necessary sacrifice to break the curse of sin and death. This sacrifice would bring reconciliation and peace between God and man. This sacrifice would cover whoever would believe in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.
b. This sacrifice was an example for us. John 15:13
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
With this one sentence Jesus is saying that the greatest thing anyone could ever do is to lay down their life for someone else. To give your life in exchange for the lives of others. The U.S. military is full of stories of people who have given their lives to save others. They died helping to evacuate others, taking out enemy gun emplacements, or fighting to keep the enemy from over running their positions.
There are also stories all around us of people who have given up everything for others. It doesn’t take a hero in the military. It only takes someone who loves others more than self. It only takes a high school student who stands up to an evil gunman.
Jesus was one of those someones. Jesus loved the Father so much that He was willing to do God’s will instead of His own. And God’s will was that He would lay down His life on a cross to reconcile the world that He loved to Himself. All you have to do is believe and obey.
Because the Father loved His Son He gave Him the authority to lay down His life for us. Just as we have the authority to lay down our lives for our friends.
c. There is one big difference between us and Jesus, the Father also gave Jesus the authority to take His life up again. The Greek word used here is exousia. Exousia can be translated as authority or power. Which means Jesus was given the power to take His life back after He laid it down on that cross. This becomes important when you realize that Jesus’ bones are not rotting away in a tomb somewhere. Mark 16:19
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest.
This leads us to next week: John 11:25
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
Exit: Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He knows what is going on in the lives of His sheep. When we are overwhelmed with grief…He knows. When we are weary and unmotivated…He knows. When we are facing difficult decisions… He knows. If we are feeling crushed by sin…He knows. When we are Broken, Lost, Hopeless, Alone, Confused…He knows. In all of your victories and your struggles, in every moment of your life, in all the circumstances for the rest of your life…He knows and He will be with you from the time you call upon His name until forever.
When you are His, He knows you, He will watch over you, He will provide pasture for you and give you rest.
He does all of the things a good shepherd would do and more for those who call upon His name. And all those who call upon His name will be saved.
If you are not a sheep of His sheep fold you can be. He will hear you when you call out to Him and He will let you into His sheep fold and you will be a part of His flock.
Pray!