John 10, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
This passage begins the great revelation of Jesus as the Shepherd of Life. Jesus is pictured as the only true Shepherd of the sheep.
1 “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.
The sheepfold or sheep pen. Jesus begins the parable with the solemn “verily, verily.” What He had to say was of critical importance.
There is a sheepfold, a pen where all the sheep are kept. The sheepfold pictures the place of acceptance by God, or the place of safety and security in God’s presence. It is the position of salvation, of spiritual sight that comes by believing Jesus to be Son of God. It is the position of being accepted by God because a man approaches God “in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.” The sheepfold symbolizes the place where the sheep (believers) are kept.
Now note: the whole parable has to do with a false shepherd and the true shepherd. Both go after the sheep. The true shepherd is Christ and the false shepherds are those who opposed Christ, the world’s religionists—the false teachers—who so blindly stood against His claim to be “the Light of the world”.
The false shepherd.
a. The sheepfold can be entered. There is a door into the sheepfold—an entrance, a way to get in—and the door is the only acceptable way to enter.
b. Some shepherds climb into the sheepfold from “some other way”. The word from is important. It indicates origin. The false shepherd comes from and originates from …
• some other direction
• some other way
• some other position
• some other source
• some other road
Note also the terms thief and robber. The very same words were used to describe Judas (a thief) and Barabbas (a robber). It is an awful thing for a person to be put into the same class as Judas and Barabbas, two who were as opposite from Christ as any men could be.
The false shepherd is …
• a thief: a seducer and a deceiver, a crafty and dishonest man, a man who will use any means to get into the sheepfold to steal the sheep
• a robber: a man who will use violence and cruelty and will destroy and devour if necessary to get into the sheepfold.
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.
a. The shepherd who enters the appointed door is the true shepherd (Jesus Christ). He knows where the door is and the way into the sheepfold. Therefore, He uses the door. There is no reason for Him not to use it, no reason for Him to climb in any other way.
⇒ His purpose is not to steal some sheep from the Owner (God) and start a flock of His own. Such a thought is the farthest thing from His mind. His thoughts are focused upon the sheep and the Owner’s will.
⇒ His purpose is to be the Shepherd of the Owner (God), to serve Him and to do His will.
Therefore, the Shepherd enters the sheepfold by the door. The door was made for Him and the sheep to enter; therefore, He uses it.
b. The Shepherd is known by the Gatekeeper (God or the Holy Spirit). This point is critical. The Holy Spirit (as God) is the One who opens the door into the sheepfold. The One who comes to the door is known by the Gatekeeper; He is known to be the Shepherd. The Shepherd therefore …
• is not afraid to face the Gatekeeper
• has been appointed to use the door
• has the authority and the right to enter
c. The Shepherd knows the sheep; He knows each one by name. This is said to have been a fact among shepherds and their sheep in Jesus’ day. Shepherds actually knew each sheep individually, even in large herds. The fact is certainly true with Christ and His sheep. The words “His own” mean He calls His own, not as a whole, not as a herd, but as individuals. The Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, knows each of His sheep by name.
d. The Shepherd leads and shepherds the sheep. He loves them as His own; therefore He must lead them to the green pastures and still waters. He must see that they are nourished and protected and given the very best care possible
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.”
a. The sheep know the Shepherd’s voice. They know both His sound and His words.
⇒ The sound of His voice is not uncertain and unclear, not weak and frail, not quivering and indecisive. It is clear, strong, sure, and decisive.
⇒ The words of His voice are words of care and tenderness, of warning and safety, of truth and security.
b. The sheep follow the Shepherd. Note He goes before them to lead the way. He does not drive them like cattle. He leads in order to pick out the safe and secure way to the pasture. He leads to show the sheep that the road is clear and safe. The sheep know this, so they follow the Shepherd, knowing they are perfectly safe and secure following the path He has laid out before them.
c. The sheep flee from strange voices. Note two things.
1) They will not (ou me) follow a stranger. This is a double negative. They will not, in any case, follow a stranger.
2) They flee from the strange voice. They do not know a stranger’s voice. Its sound and words are different.
6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
The parable was not understood. The spiritual truth was beyond the religionists, the false teachers. They could not grasp the truth with their natural minds. They could not see themselves as false shepherds, and they could not see Jesus as the true Shepherd. Natural man rebels against being called false and against Christ’s being the only Shepherd of the sheep.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “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.
Jesus claims to be the Door of the sheep. Jesus is probably referring to the door of a community sheepfold or a community pasture which housed all the flocks of an area. There is, however, another descriptive picture of Jesus as the door. When the sheep were kept out in the hill country overnight, they were kept in ravines surrounded by several rocky walls. Naturally, the opening into these ravines had no door at all. The shepherd himself literally became the door, for during the night he would simply lie across the opening. The sheep could get out only by going over him, and the enemies of the sheep could get in to the sheep only by going through him. Access in or out was only through the shepherd. Therefore Jesus is the only access to God!
All others who claim to be the door are thieves and robbers. There are some who claim to be the door and to have the way to God. They claim to know the right way and to have the newest ideas and the latest truth and knowledge. They claim to have the right teaching, religion, works, maturity, philosophy, psychology, ideas, and novel concepts. They claim to be the door that opens into God’s presence. But Jesus says that they are thieves and robbers. They are out to steal the sheep, both their wool (possessions) and their lives (loyalty). They want both their wool and their lives, for if they have both they have the sheep’s permanent loyalty.
The proof that Jesus is the only Door and that all others are false doors is the sheep themselves. The sheep do not hear the voices of false doors, not if they are the real sheep of the Shepherd. The real sheep of God know the Shepherd’s voice and have the ability to discern it. If they hear the voice of a false shepherd, they know that he and his sheepfold are false. His voice and message are not the voice and message of the true door, the Son of God Himself.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus is the only door that leads to salvation. Jesus said that He is the Door that leads to three great things.
Jesus is the only door that opens to salvation.
Jesus is the only door that opens to peace and security. He is the only door that allows the sheep to go in and out. This was a common Jewish phrase. If a man could “go in and out” without difficulty or danger, it meant he was safe and secure. Jesus brings to the believer safety and security, peace and tranquility.
Jesus is the only door that opens to healthy and lasting nourishment. He is the only door that leads to the true pasture, the pasture that has the living stream flowing through it and the pasture that has the living food in it.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The person who says there is another door is a thief and a robber. The person steals and kills and destroys the sheep. The thief misleads and deceives the sheep, leading them through a door that leads to destruction
By leading the sheep away from the restrictiveness of Christ, the false teacher becomes a thief—a thief in that he steals the soul of the sheep from God, leading it into a sheepfold that will be destroyed. It causes the sheep never to know the true Shepherd.
Jesus came not to steal life, but to give abundant life.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2004. The Gospel according to John. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
