I AM Good Shepherd; John 10:1-18

Introduction

Series Recap - I AM

Week 1 - I AM the bread of life - Jesus is the bread of life that sustains us, like the manna sent from heaven for the Israelites in the exodus

Week 2 - I AM the light of the world - Jesus is the light that leads and protects his people - like the pillar of fire that led the Israelites in the exodus

Today - I AM the Good Shepherd

this passage today has two I AM statements in it

I have combined them into one message

the first is found in the parable in the first part of the text, and the second is found in the explanation of the parable

I will focus more on the second

Sometimes the bible isn’t very nice to us

we here the nice words of Jesus saying he is the shepherd

but that means we are sheep, sheep are not the best, smartest animals

Play video of sheep jumping into ditch

I do not know about you, but I think this sums up my spiritual life with Jesus

John 10:1–18 (CSB)

1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.

5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.

9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.

13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about 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. I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.

17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

PRAY

How did we get here… blind man healed

The words of God cannot be the voice heard least in our day. We must be willing to turn off all other voices and listen to our shepherd.

Thieves and Robbers

In the first century the shepherds would put their sheep in the sheep fold at night

would be about 10ft high walls made of rock they got from the fields

you could only get in by going through the gate, unless you climbed over the wall

John 10:1–3 (CSB)

1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Thieves and Robbers can disguise themselves as good

Ez 34:1-10 God rebukes the shepherds of Israel for not shepherding his sheep, but feeding themselves.

this is not just a problem from the OT or in the first century, we have this problem today

There are a lot of voices out there that will call for you

We know what voice to listen to

There is only one voice that offers grace

Paul told Timothy that in the end people will go to people who itch their ears

meaning they will preach in a way that makes them feel good

we must be willing to listen to the truth

that my sin is destructive

both to my life and those around me

and it separates me from God

you are not good on your own

you cannot be good on your own

Psalm 53:1–3 (CSB)

1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.” They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

2 God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

But Jesus has taken my sin upon himself so that I could be made righteous

The test of thieves and robbers

they will lead you to rely on self

we are so smart we do not need a shepherd to lead us

How the serpent tempted them in the garden, “You will be like God.”

There is a practice that has been around for decades where we play God with our weather

CNN story on Cloud Seeding

The most popular way is by plane, using flares. “There are flares on the wing of the planes with silver iodide inside of cardboard casings and there are flares on the belly of the plane,” Gondzar pointed out.

they will lead you to the law

you will have steps to go through

rules to keep

this is not a test of style, or beliefs about third or fourth tier issues

the robbers and thieves lead to the law, the shepherd leads to grace

They do not have good intentions

they didn’t mean to hurt me, lead me astray…

V 10 tells us they have only come to steal, kill and destroy

this is their only purpose

satan uses all types of people and things for one purpose, to steal, kill and destroy

if we know this is the purpose, why would we ever want to listen to anything that he has to say

Jesus says that his sheep run from the thieves and robbers because they only know the voice of the shepherd

The Sheep and Shepherd

Sheep get a bad wrap and rightfully so

Spurgeon, “We are a weak flock, a silly flock, and a wandering flock…”

meaning that we cannot defend ourselves

we would foolishly follow the next shiny thing or simply dance around looking busy but going nowhere

wandering to and fro…

I like to think of them as Jr High kids…

but Jr High kids will listen to the voice of the one who leads them

John 10:3–10 (CSB)

3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice.

5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.

9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

But we are his sheep… Sheep have two things in this passage that they do

they listen and follow

the sheep follow where the shepherd leads

this is an important part of the christian life

too many of us try to take Jesus to where we want to go

desiring to do certain things and believe that if we take Jesus with us then he will be ok with it

sheep do not lead, sheep do not go in front of the shepherd and determine where they are going and what pasture they will be in that day

I have not worked with a lot of sheep or really any animals for that matter

but I have heard many of you talk about how smart cattle are

Jesus did not compare us to cattle, no they were too smart, sheep he calls us

we do not lead we follow the shepherd

where is God leading you right now

you may not know because you’re too busy trying to lead

you may be afraid not realizing that the shepherd is there and will care for you better than you could ever care for yourself

you have witnessed and experienced too many hired hands in the past that have turned you out to the wolves.

You may not know because you are not listening, the second thing the sheep do, listen for his voice

the shepherds would come get their sheep in the morning and they would call for them

Jesus said, “I know my own and my own know me…”

this is not just a head knowledge, knowing

this is an intimate knowledge, a relationship

John 10:14–15 (CSB)

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. I lay down my life for the sheep.

how close, just like the son and the father know each other, the shepherd and his sheep know each other

The Shepherd and Sheep

There seems to be a contrast with the way the Bible describes us and how we see ourselves

We say things,

I found God, I made him Lord,

God was never lost and you certainly did not put him on the throne

He calls us lost, sheep

we think we are smart sheep, even smart sheep are sheep

John 10:11–18 (CSB)

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.

13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about 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. I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.

17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

The Shepherd comes for his sheep

Imagine the opposite being said…

I am the good shepherd, I was standing in the field one day and these sheep found me

the sheep did not initiate this interaction, they did not go out looking for the shepherd

left to my own, I am always looking for justification in another way than by the grace Jesus offers

I am looking to my works, my position

in the church,

in the community,

in the world

but the shepherd comes to the sheep

I know that you are lost, searching for something that you do not even know

this will only lead to more pain

this will only lead to more searching

this will only lead to death

But the gospel removes this from our hearts

we are not perfect yet, and still begin to wander

that is why I love the old hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

Oh to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be… Let Thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee… Prone to wander, Lord I feel it Prone to leave the God I love… Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above

The Shepherd offers his life for the sheep

nobody forced him to do this

even when they were nailing him to the cross nobody could make him stay on the cross if he had not wanted to do so

see how much your shepherd loves you

this should keep us in amazement for all of eternity

that Jesus left heaven and the praise of angels to take on human form

to which John declares, we have seen his glory, the glory of the only begotten

for a people that are prone to wander, prone to leave the God they love

This was the desire of the Father

Different places in scripture we know that God sent his son

John 3:16 for example

but interesting in this passage, it was the command from the father

command = specific order to do something

to me this is the difference between going to somebody’s house when you were little to see if they could play, and the Navy Seals going in to remove somebody held hostage

we see a soft and timid Jesus gently coming and inviting any that would come

the Father said go rescue our sheep

offer your life, for theirs

This is what Jesus was sent to do and he was happy to do so

this is how much Jesus loves his people… You cannot overstate how much love God has for you.

Exalting Jesus in John Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. What image does God give to convey how he cares for his people?

2. Why does God appoint human shepherds for his people? How had the Israelite leaders failed this purpose?

3. How does God respond to the failure of the Israelite leaders in Ezekiel 34?

4. In what ways does Jesus care for his sheep?

5. Take time to reflect on the fact that Jesus knows and calls you by name. In what ways does this stir your emotions?

6. What significance is there in Jesus’s knowing his sheep by name?

7. Why do Jesus’s sheep follow him?

8. How is Jesus the gate for the sheep?

9. What have you been saved from and saved to as a Christian?

10. What hope does the formerly blind man, who was cast out of the synagogue, have in Jesus the good shepherd?