Run to the Voice You Know

The Shepherd and the Sheep (1-6)

John 10:1–6 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.

Jesus begins this teaching with a familiar setting for his audience. Sheep were the first domesticated livestock animal and prior to this time had spent thousands of years being cared for by mankind. Even today there is estimated to be over 1 billion sheep in the world, nearly all domesticated and under the care of people. The “fold of the sheep”, or the sheepfold, would be a place of safety for the sheep where they were be kept within a particular area by a gate that they would pass in and out of. It is through this gate the the shepherd would enter to lead the sheep out for food and water, and it is back through this gate that the shepherd would lead the sheep back to keep them safe.

As Jesus offers this visual, His purpose is to contrast the shepherd from the thief. As we understand it today, it is more specifically Jesus contrasting Himself as the Good Shepherd and the Pharisees as both the thieves and the hired hands. Let’s see how he compares the two:

(V. 1-2) - The thief doesn’t enter by the door, but enters another way. The shepherd enters by the door. (V. 3) - The doorkeeper opens for the shepherd, but he does not open for the thief. (V. 3) - The sheep know the voice of the shepherd, but not the voice of the thief. (V. 3) - The shepherd knows the name of his sheep, but the thief does not. (V. 3) - The shepherd leads the sheep, the thief steals them away. (V. 4) - The shepherd goes on ahead of the sheep, but the thief sneaks up behind them. (V. 4-5) - The sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice, but they do not follow the thief because they don’t know his. (V. 4-5) - The sheep follow the shepherd, but they run from the thief.

Jesus makes it very clear in these verses - the thief is not the shepherd, and the shepherd is not the thief. The shepherd is known and he enters and leads with confidence, while the thief is a stranger and works in secret. Even though, as we see in verse 6, the Pharisees are confused by what Jesus’ purpose was in speaking, we can also safely assume that at this point Jesus is making agreeable statements - shepherd good, thief bad. So we ask ourselves our first question:

Do we know the shepherd? Can we hear his voice? Is it a familiar and comforting sound to us? There are countless voices in this world trying to pull us through every which way over the wall instead of through the gate, and here Jesus is making clear that any voice calling from beyond the wall is a thief and a robber seeking to steal us away from the shepherd. How do we know that it is the shepherd calling to us when some of these other voices just sound so good? There are two things that I think can help us to not only hear the voice of the shepherd, but to also know that it is his voice:

Read the Bible - the voice of God in the written word Fellowship with His people - surround yourself with people that will speak the words of the shepherd to you

Let’s move down to verse 7.

Jesus the Gate (7-10)

John 10:7–10 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Now Jesus expands on his metaphor. The gate that the known shepherd walks through - Jesus is that gate. Jesus is the one that lets the shepherd through. Jesus is the one the sheep go through to go into and out of the fold. Jesus is the one through whom we are saved.

This is the third “I AM” statement that Jesus makes in the book of John. First “I am the bread of life”, then “I am the light of the world”, and now “I am the door of the sheep”, soon followed by “I am the good shepherd”. Jesus is making clear that he is the one that makes the way to life for the sheep. He is the gate that lets them out to find pasture, and He is the gate that lets them in to find shelter. Though it is not a statement about the gate itself, let’s read about this life-giving shepherd in Psalm 23.

Psalm 23 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Look at the shepherd that this gate lets in. The sheep are without want. They have all that they need. They are led to green pastures full of life, and led by quiet waters. Did you know that sheep are afraid of water? Take a sheep white water rafting and it will probably die of a heart attack, but lead it by still water and it will drink and be satisfied. The shepherd takes the sheep on right paths. And even though those paths lead to dangerous places, the shepherd is there to defend the sheep, so the sheep have no need to fear. And even in the midst of that danger, the feast of green pasture is plenty. The shepherd leads to life in the house of the Lord forever.

Let’s look at verse 10 again real quick - one of the more common misused verses in all of Scripture.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Thinking back to Psalm 23, there seems to be a good shepherd out there bringing a great deal of life to his sheep. And this gate, who is Jesus, opened for that shepherd to come in and take the sheep out so that they could experience that great life. He doesn’t want to leave them in a cage, though it is there for their safety, but wants them to experience life to the fullest. Where we might get caught up with this verse is in what it means to have life “abundantly”, or perhaps your translation says “to the full”. We too often get caught up in the human measurements for success. Big house, nice car, well put together family, travelling the world…think for a moment to yourself what success looks like. It’s gonna be a little different to all of us, but a full and abundant life may have more of the world in it then we might have been thinking. And it’s not that we can’t enjoy the nice things that this world has to offer, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about. The prosperity gospel will quickly teach us that Jesus came so that we could enjoy all the riches of life - Jesus wants us to be rich. Okay, well what do you say to those who are poor? Jesus just doesn’t love them as much? They just don’t have enough faith? Actually they do say that. No, Jesus doesn’t “want us to be rich”, though we are all blessed differently.

Here is what Jesus is saying - take everything this world has to offer, take all the joy that it brings you, take all the status you’ve attained, and throw it away and still be found overflowing with life given you by Christ Jesus Himself. The source of light and life fills you to overflowing, so why do we keep trying to cram other things in as if they are the life He is talking about? May we respond to this like Paul when he says;

Philippians 3:8–11 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

So our next question to consider:

From where do we seek life?

Let’s move to verse 11.

The Good Shepherd (11-18)

John 10:11–18 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 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. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 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. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 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.”

Jesus’ next “I AM” statement, and another significant development in the analogy. Jesus isn’t just a shepherd, but the good shepherd. Look at what he repeats over and over again in these verses:

(V. 11) - the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (V. 15) - I lay down My life for the sheep (V. 17) - I lay down My life (V. 18) - I lay it down

The difference between a shepherd and the Good Shepherd? Both are going to protect the sheep, but only one is going to lay down His life for them. Look at 12 and 13 again - how many of us are going to be more like the hired hand? Even if we did own the sheep? Say you’re watching some sheep and a wolf comes. Are you going to give yourself to the wolf so that the sheep can escape? I think any of us would be more likely to give up one of the sheep so that we could escape with the rest of them. This, as we know, is a foretelling of His giving His life on the cross and taking the penalty for our sin. Now look at 14 again and look at the relationship between the one who lays His life down and the ones He lays His life down for…

John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.

He knows you. He knows me. And not just the us that we want the world to see, but the us that we try to keep hidden away. He knows the deepest and darkest things within us, and yet, He still lays His life down for us just the same. That’s crazy. He knows that we’re going to wander, He knows we’re going to stray, and He knows that everything in this world is not only going to try and steal us away, but some of it actually will steal us away. We’re going to sneak over that wall because we forget that the freedom that Christ leads us in is greater than the freedom we think is out there for us. He knows it all and yet He loves us and gives Himself for us.

So our next question is fairly simple:

Do you know the Good Shepherd? Do you know Him in the same way that He knows you? Do you spend time getting to know Him?

Let’s look at these last couple verses:

Division and Decision (19-21)

John 10:19–21 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

We’re at a bit of a crossroads just like these Jews listening were. Some thought He was crazy or even possessed, others saw the gifts of God working in and through Him. Each of these people made a choice. And we have a choice today to.

Do we run to the voice we know, or do we allow the thief to lead us astray?