The Good, The Bad, and The Wolfy
The Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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I have been having to do a more in depth study of sheep as I have been going through this message. This is something interesting I found out.
Wikipedia states, "Sheep have good hearing and are sensitive to noise when being handled. Sheep have horizontal slit-shaped pupils, possessing excellent peripheral vision with visual fields of approximately 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads. However, sheep have poor depth perception; shadows and dips in the ground may cause sheep to balk. Sheep can become stressed when separated from their flock members. Sheep can recognize individual human faces and voices, and remember them for years. Sheep are frequently thought of as extremely unintelligent animals. A sheep's herd mentality and quickness to flee and panic in the face of stress often make shepherding a difficult endeavor for the uninitiated."
Those sheep that know the shepherd. That is the thing that really sticks out.
Don’t get me wrong, being able to see all around you would be really cool too. I already have poor depth perception so I am good on that part.
Enough of the information on sheep for now, but it will come back up later, but for now let’s read our text for today.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 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. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 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.”
Let’s pray.
Notice the title of the message today. We will be talking about three people that are in these verses. And I will throw an extra in at the end of this message.
The first one is :
The Good Shepherd
Of course, we can see that Christ is talking about himself. This is the 4th of 7 I Am statements that Christ says about himself.
What makes this statement so special is that the majority of the people he was speaking to would have understood what a good shepherd was and what it meant to be one.
Shepherd or shepherding is stated over 500 times in the bible, but this is the only time we see the word good before it.
Probably one of the most famous use of the word shepherd is in psalms 23
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.
Notice something very important here. David is calling God “my Shepherd” and Christ is saying “I Am the good shepherd.” John is again linking Christ as 100% man and 100% Divine.
The word Christ used for good was Kalos. Now we describe things as good in a commendable or positive quality. Oh this food is good, that is a good man, oh that is such a good baby.
Here good has so much more meaning to it.
The biblical definition is good, excellent in its nature and characteristics.
In other words Christ is saying He is the perfect shepherd.
Now we as Christians are supposed to emmulate Christ in our lives, so we must look at the qualities that make Christ the Good Shepherd.
He is good.
Jesus is the only one who has, or ever will, live a sinless life. He kept and fulfilled the commandants perfectly. Those who call on the name of Jesus are forgiven and are seen by God as good, but it is only through Jesus that we can lay claim to this goodness. And as we know, we’re all still works in progress. For now, what’s left of our sin nature is still fighting against our true nature (who we are in Christ).
Just then someone came up and asked him, “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?”
“Why do you ask me about what is good?” he said to him. “There is only one who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
2. A Good Shepherd Protects
When we place ourselves under the care of Jesus our life is safe and secure with him.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
3. A Good Shepherd Guides
When we follow and obey, Jesus guides us to a better life.
He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4. A Good Shepherd Nurtures
He provides exactly what we need to grow in our faith.
He protects his flock like a shepherd;
he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them in the fold of his garment.
He gently leads those that are nursing.
5. A Good Shepherd Gives His Life
Jesus showed his love for us by leaving heaven, entering humanity, living a perfect life, and paying the price for our sins by dying on the cross. He rose again, ascended to heaven to be with his Father, and intercedes on our behalf so that we can enter into relationship with God. Jesus rescued us and lay down his life for us, his sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
These five qualities of the good shepherd are proof to me that Jesus is a leader that can be trusted. Jesus loves you. He is the good shepherd. He will never leave you. You can trust him.
But Christ warns us about the hired hand or
The Bad Shepherd
The "hired hand" refers to someone who is not the true shepherd and is only working for wages. They lack the genuine care and commitment that a shepherd has for the sheep. Christ was talking about those who were and are currently in religious positions that do not care about about the flock entrusted in their care.
We have all seen them, the ones that say “I need a personal jet to do the ministry properly.” One even said that he could not be in a commercial airline around all them demons.
One even said that God told him the tell his own congregation they owed him $54 million to buy his own plane.
In the context of the passage, the "hired hand" are the religious leaders who are more concerned with their own positions and benefits than with the spiritual well-being of their followers.
The hired hand doesn't own the sheep and therefore doesn't feel the same level of responsibility for their well-being.
Jesus uses the image of the hired hand to illustrate the difference between a true shepherd who deeply cares for the sheep and someone who is merely working for pay.
Jesus is actually referencing a passage in:
The Lord also said to me, “Take the equipment of a foolish shepherd. I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, and he will not seek the lost or heal the broken. He will not sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.
Some scholars believe that the shepherd mentioned in Zechariah and here in John is pointing to the Anti Christ in Revelation which leads us nicely to our next person mentioned...
So we have the good, the bad and
The Wolf
The devil wants so badly to destroy the bride of Christ, that he comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing
“Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.
The devil doesn’t need demons to do his dirty work, he has people behind the pulpit to do that for him.
You want to know why it is so easy for him to do this.
The one in the pulpit can say what he wants and people will believe it because they do not know Christ’s voice. They do not read His word.
I said earlier we would revisit the sheep information.
Sheep know their master by their appearance and their voice.
This is why I stress so much that you need to worship, pray and read your bible. It is so you will know the voice of the Good Shepherd.
So you will not be tossed back and forth by the whim of the devil.
I do not want you to follow my voice. That is why each and every service I ask the Holy Spirit to use my voice for His benefit and glory.
This isn’t the David Richard show. This is God’s house and he is just using me to shepherd His flock for Him.
It is a humbling honor to be behind this pulpit. It is not something I chase for my glory ever.
We must always be vigilant and aware that the devil does not want the bride to flourish. He will use everything he can to stop it’s growth.
The good, the bad and the wolfy!
But there is one more
The Other Sheep
This is where I will close for today.
The other sheep is you and me. Not those born as a Jew. Those who have been adopted into the sheep fold.
Christ says He must bring us also and that we would be able to hear his voice.
Church today, we have people here that may not know Christ’s voice because they have never heard the Gospel before, There maybe someone here that is saying I don’t hear his voice because all I hear is the things going on in my life, and there are those who just need to stop and listen because He is calling out to you.
