Untitled Sermon (9)

hepherd Outline

Introduction: The Parable of Good News – Jesus Cares for us

Need to know the bad news first

It’s about leadership

The bad leadership

Prayer:

Ezekiel 34:1-6“The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.” –

Leaders cared for themselves

Fleeced the sheep

Sheep scattered

God’s Heart

· Where there is weakness, he looks for the weak to be strengthened.

· Where there is illness, he looks for the ill to be healed.

· Where there are wounds or brokenness, he looks for them to be bound up.

· Where people are disobedient, he looks for them to be brought back.

· Where people are lost, he wants for them to be sought.

Bad news, in Jesus day the leaders are like this too

John 9 recap (WORD FOR WORD)

In John 9 there’s a sheep that the religious leaders have neglected. He is a man that was born blind. The religious leaders and the people neglected him, justifying that clearly he or his parents were terrible sinners than them that’s why he was born blind. But Jesus saw him, and Jesus heals him. The Pharisees, the leaders of that day, they investigated the miraculous healing, never before has a man been healed of blindness. This is the clear work of the Messiah. This is how the blind man reasons, and the Pharisees reject his reasoning saying “how could a man in utter sin teach us” and they cast him out of the synagogue because he confessed Jesus to be the Christ.

Now let’s look at what Jesus has to say to this poor leadership.

John 9:35-41

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

If the Pharisees would have listened to the healed man, if they would have followed his extremely rational thinking, they could have come to belief in Jesus. But instead, they let their pride blind them. Their self righteousness. They thought they were better than the blind man, and better than Jesus. They refused to acknowledge that they could be in error, they refused to listen, their mind was made up and they refused to change it. They were cruel to him, and his parents, they were threatening to them. Since they claimed to know God, and yet they didn’t believe in Him, they were guilty.

Now Jesus continues by giving us a parable that compares his good leadership with the bad leadership of their day.

1. The Sheepfold

“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. 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.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

Let’s first catch up to speed on Sheep and Shepherding.

Sheepfold = protection for the sheep

Pasture = open land where they could graze under the protection of the shepherd.

Gatekeeper = protects the flock at night from predators and thieves.

Shepherd’s Calling = They would use a unique call for their flock to call them out of the fold.

2. The Door

“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.”

Jesus is the Door.

Life in Abundance

One Way to Life

John 14:6 “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me.”

Why so many religions?

Thieves and Robbers

Not everyone who leads leads to life.

Do they believe in Jesus or no?

Matthew 15:13 (talking directly about the Pharisees) He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Thieves are sneaky, silent, slip in

Robbers force their way in.

Both are not the way of a true shepherd.

The Wedding Story = This happens today.

I just met a guy last weekend, I attended Bible classes with him, he graduated Biola, he got a job as Bible teacher, he taught for two years, but he had abandoned his faith a year in, he doesn’t claim to be a Christian anymore. He doesn’t claim to believe, I am not sure if he ever really believed, or if he’s just straying and lost.

Who are the true religious leaders?

3. I am the Good Shepherd

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.

Jesus owns the Sheep.

Shepherd comparison vs. Hired Hand

Jesus OWNS the sheep completely.

Jesus cares about the Sheep.

Look how Jesus sees people in this verse.

Matthew 9:35-36

“35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus SEES people.

Sick people

Weak people

Broken people

Wandering people

Lost people

He is the good shepherd that cares for them.

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

Jesus knows His sheep intimately.

Special relationship he has with us.

We can know Him too. We can know His calling and never fall for the call of another.

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.

This has been the plan of the Father that there would be one way, one shepherd, one leader, one King, one priest, all wrapped up in one person for us, and that there would be one flock that follows Him together. That listens to His voice.

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.”

Jesus chose to die for us.

He didn’t arrogantly, pridefully, reluctantly, or foolishly, risk His life like a normal shepherd might. He willingly, lovingly, painfully, gave His life

He knew what would happen.

He planned it from the beginning.

Hear his heart in Ezekiel

Ezekiel 34:11-16

For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak,

And part of His love is His justice, in His care He will deal justly with those that oppress others.

“and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”

Jesus chose to be the perfect leader, by being the perfect lamb.

4. The Call. – Conclusion.

Western vs. Eastern Shepherding – Leadership.

“4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice”

Jesus leads people by serving them and being an example for them and He calls us to do the same.

We are not THE example, but we follow it.

Serve each other like Jesus.

Jesus gave us everything.

2 Peter 1:3-4 3 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

When Jesus saw the crowd gathering, all the people that need a shepherd he said this.

Matthew 9:37-38 (cont.)

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Jesus is calling us to follow His lead.

Jesus was THE Good Shepherd, and if we want to be good fathers, good mothers, good neighbors, good friends, good coworkers, or good congregants, we need to follow the example of the Good Shepherd and care for one another.

Personal Note on Fatherhood.

I think I’ll share what becoming a Father this year is teaching me. I need to serve my family. My family is not my own, my wife and my baby were a blessing from God that I did not deserve and that I was not entitled to. They are His sheep, and He cares for them more than I even know. He served them, and He asks that I would do the same.

I don’t know what that looks like in your context.

But I do know one thing, if you chosen to believe in Jesus you are one of His sheep. And you are part of the flock. And we’re in this together. We are all together. We all have one Shepherd. And as a sheep we need to stick together. Don’t let others wander off from the pack, its dangerous to go alone, care for one another, one is hungry feed them, when one is sick pray for them, when one is weak strengthen them, and follow the voice and call of our great shepherd Jesus. And remember this last thing, we are lucky sheep to have a shepherd that cares so well for us.

Now lets hear a verse from a fellow sheep’s perspective, and think about how cared for we are by our good shepherd.

Psalm 32

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

COMMUNION

Today we are going to take communion reflectively. Communion itself is a symbol of what it took to bring the flock together into one under one shepherd that is Jesus. It took his blood dripping off the cross, it took the ripping of his flesh. Our Shepherd chose this as the one way, the one door for us, that we could follow His voice into abundant, eternal, life with Him.