The Best Shepherd
Notes
Transcript
The Best Shepherd
The Best Shepherd
Introduction
Working on Car, Oil Leak, wanting to “get it right”
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If a $1,000 repair job is important enough to want to get right, how much more so our faith.
When you’re looking at a church to attend, when you’re looking at elders and preachers and what a church teaches, and how a church is led, it is extremely important to get it right.
You wouldn’t want to spend time under Christian leadership if they’re not getting it right any more than you’d want to have your car put together incorrectly. It’s important.
That’s going to be the topic of our study this morning as we’re looking at John chapter 10, as Jesus is having a conversation with a group of Pharisees...religious leaders of the day… who are NOT getting it right.
Now I want to say at the outset, this sermon is not
Transition
We’re working through our “Sevens” Series. One of the things that we’ve been finding is that all throughout the book of John, John uses themes in groups of seven.
Seven is a number of holiness, it’s a number of completeness. And John very specifically includes seven different “I AM” statements, seven different “Witness Testimonies” “Seven different Miracles.”
And today we’re looking at number 4 of the seven different conversations or “discourses” that Jesus has we people, showing us a response to the idea that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.
We’re going to be looking at John chapter 10, if you have your Bibles start making your way there.
But in order to understand what’s going on in John Chapter 10, we need to know a little bit about what has happened in John chapter 9.
Remember, those little chapter and verse numbers weren’t in the original. People added those later to help us find stuff easier, but John wrote this gospel as one big story, and everything flows together for a reason.
So if we back up to John 9, what we’ll find is that Jesus has just finished Healing a man who had been born Blind. He had been blind all of his life. Jesus smeared mud on his eyes and told him to go wash in the pool, and he came back and was able to See. This is incredible.
And in come the Pharisees.
And at this point in the book of John, most of the pharisees have their mind made up about Jesus. They don’t like him, they think he’s a blasphemer and a threat.
And so the pharisees...bear in mind, these are supposed to be the religious leaders.
These are the Jewish equivalent of Pastors, elders, ministers,. These are people who are supposed to be caring for and looking after the spiritual well-being of the people.
They refuse to believe that the man had even been born blind. They get into a big argument with him.
They went to his parents and accused them of making the whole thing up. They’re like was he really blind from birth?
And the parents are like “look you go talk to him, leave me out of this”
(His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders. For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
This is a big deal. This isn’t 21st century America where if you get into a disagreement with a church you can just find another. There’s one synagogue in town and you’re either a part of it or you’re not.
And the pharisees find the man and they argue and argue and argue, and the man is like “look, I don’t know what to tell you. This Jesus is Obviously from God. He’s obviously the Christ the Son of God. He’s obviously not a blasphemer and a sinner, because I used to be not able to see, and now I am able to see.
I don’t understand what’s so hard for you pharisees to understand.
Honestly I think the conversation in John 9:28 speaks for itself.
They heaped insults on him, saying, “You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses!
We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man comes from!”
The man replied, “This is a remarkable thing, that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see!
We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, God listens to him.
Never before has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see.
If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
They replied, “You were born completely in sinfulness, and yet you presume to teach us?” So they threw him out.
Roadmap
These are Religous leaders who are supposed to be shepherds of the people.
And it’s in that context that Jesus turns to the pharisees and tells them what he says in John 10.
John chapter 10 is a chapter meant to describe what it looks like to “get it right” as a church leader. It’s a chapter of what it looks like to “Get it wrong.”
“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice.”
If you didn’t know already, Jesus is using a parable, a metaphor, describing the relationship between the sheep...that’s us, the church, the people of God...and their shepherd.
And hear me for a minute, because I know that most of you have read this passage a thousand times, and you know that it teaches us about what our relationship with the Good Shepherd Jesus looks like.
And we’ll get to that, but first I want to focus on Jesus’ primary purpose, which is to describe what a good lower-case s “shepherd” human shepherd, ought to look like.
So for us, as the flock, as we read through this passage, I want you to think about being the sheep, and deciding whether or not you’re going to follow a certain shepherd.
As we go through this passage, here’s what I want you to think about.
as the sheep in this metaphor… you should seek out religious leaders — elders, teachers, preachers, ministers.… you seek out people who fit the criteria that Jesus gives
Let’s read John 10:1 again.
“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice.”
Point
Statement
The first Criteria that Jesus gives for a shepherd is that he enters through the door (Gate), and not through any other way.
Explanation
If someone is sneaking in through the back, or climbing over the fence they’re a thief and a robber. It’s only the ones who come through the gate that you ought to trust.
And the pharisees don’t understand what he’s saying
Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus begins to break it down for them. and explain line by line what he means by this.
So Jesus said again, “I tell you the solemn truth, I am the door for the sheep.
All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
And I don’t want us to lose the plot here. Because again, remember, the context of this conversation is to the pharisees, and to the young man who had been thrown out of the Synagogue, in the context of what a good religious leader and a bad religious leader looks like.
And the first criteria Jesus gives is they need to come “through the door” and then he says that he “is” the door.
And if we put those two ideas together we get, basically, Jesus saying “hey sheep. Don’t let so called teachers into the “sheep fold” which represents the community of the people of god, don’t let so called teachers in if they’re not coming through the door of Christ.
Illustration
This is meant to be the baseline bare minimum that you should expect out of your shepherds and teachers and leaders.
That they come “through” Christ.
It’s like a bouncer at the concert.. sorry sir, not ticket, no entry.
If you’re not coming through Christ, you’re not getting in, we will not allow you to be our shepherd.
Argumentation
But what does he mean by that, exactly.
What does it mean to come “through the gate” of Christ
In the context of what’s happening, The pharisees have thrown this man and his family out of the synagogue over the question of “Is Jesus from God” Is Jesus the Christ.
And I have a hunch, when John wrote this down, based on the details of the account he chooses to emphasize, i think John had his own churches in mind when he was relaying this story.
John was an elder, a shepherd over several churches in Ephesus, and they too were being thrown out of synagogues over the question of “Is Jesus from God? Is Jesus the Christ”
Look at the letter of 1st John, written very close to the time the gospel of John was written
1st John 2, John is writing to the church about False teachers, and who they ought to look out for.
Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.
Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Jude is another example, it’s an entire letter written about “false teachers” and “bad shepherds”
And Jude tells the churches he’s ministering to:
For certain men have secretly slipped in among you—men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe—ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Application
If you want a baseline....what does it look like for a church or church leadership to get it right
It’s a really simple test.
Do you affirm the Kingship of Jesus
Do you affirm him to be lord of lords, king of kings, our only Master and Lord.
Alpha and omega, begining and end, the Word made flesh.
If Jesus does not hold supreme authority in all things
Do not follow that Shepherd. He is not a true shepherd, he’s a robber, and a theif, and the only reason he has come is to steal kill and destroy.
Transition
But back here in the Book of John, in verse 11, Jesus continues on and describes more about what the sheep ought to look out for.
Point
Statement
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.
Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.
Explanation
I just want to say… verse 11 is the understatement of the year as far as I’m concerned.
This is Jesus being extremely modest.
Him calling himself the “good” shepherd.
That’s like Michael Jordan saying “I’m a good basketball player”
Jesus is not merely the “good shepherd”
He is the best shepherd.
He is the perfect model example of what a perfect shepherd looks like
There is no better shepherd than Jesus.
Application
If you’re the sheep, and you’re looking to learn from “lowercase s shepherds”
and you’re like I don’t even know what a good shepherd should look like
Well you have the perfect supreme example with which to compare.
And hear me church, no minister or elder or shepherd or preacher is ever going to come close not by a long shot.
But you have the template.
You can ask yourself, does this person I’m learning from, look more or less like Jesus in how they act, how they teach, how they care for the flock.
Are they acting like a true shepherd who is willing to sacrifice everything for the sheep, and look out for their spiritual welfare, or are they like the hired hand who’s going to turn and run anytime something is hard.
Do they actually care for the sheep.
Is Jesus rubbing off on them?
James 3:1 “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.”
1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”
Christian Leaders in the New Testament, are held to a higher standard because they are shepherd of the people.
Leaders in the Old Testament were punished more harshly because they were shepherds of the people
and we are expected to be immitators of the Best shepherd.
Illustration
Grew up with a guy named Tex, from texas had a thick southern accent
I have been to texas exactly one time in my entire life. And it barely counts. Because I went from the airport to Fort Bliss in El Paso for one day, and back home again.
So that really doesn’t count in my book
I have no texan relatives, I’ve never lived in Texas.
You know the funny thing that happens, when I would hang out with Tex
I developed an accent.
Slowly, over time, just being around him, I’d develop a texas drawl. And I couldn’t control it.
And after two or three days of hanging out with Tex, it would be like really bad. and eventually it got so bad people would be like “why are you talking like that?”
Texas Joke Australian
But the point is, I started to develop that accent from being around this person.
You should seek out Christian leadership that develops a Jesus accent, because of the time they spend with Jesus.
Transition
Admitedly, the first two thirds of this sermon has really been a sermon to me, and to Ron, and to Stew. And I get that, for a lot of us, that can be a bit of a lackluster sermon.
OK, so what, I’m not a pastor, why does this matter to me.
But here’s where your part as the sheep comes in.
And this is the absolutely most important part
Point
Statement
“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—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd.
It does me no good to tell you to seek out earthly shepherds who acknowledge Jesus, who try to emulate the good shepherd… if you don’t know the shepherd’s voice.
It does me no good to tell you to look for Christian Leaders who affirm Christ if you don’t know his voice.
It does me absolutely no good to tell you, you should really look for Christian Leadership that looks like Christ and Acts like the good shepherd if you have no frame of reference to what that’s supposed to look like.
I can’t and won’t speak for myself, because that’s not for me to judge, but I will tell you, I believe that the elders of this Church have the qualities described by Jesus here.
I believe they are following Christ’s example, they’re imitating Christ.
I can tell you that’s what my goal is.
But guess what, every church you go to is going to tell you that.
If you went to any Church in america today and you found the preacher or elders or minister and asked “Are you trying to immitate Christ” what do you think they’re going to say?
And if you don’t know what Christ looks like, the only choice you have is to just believe them.
I don’t want you to believe me. I don’t
Illustration
Reading Rainbow, “don’t take my word for it”
Read it for yourself.
Application
Don’t take my word for it.
Spend time in the word, spend time reading the gospels, spend time knowing the shepherd’s voice
Transition
One or two sentences to smoothly shift to the next part
Conclusion
There’s a woman in the gospel accounts by the name of Mary Magdalene.
I’m sure a lot of people, even non- Christians, know the name mary magdalene, from the traditions surrounding her.
There’s all sorts of accounts of her outside the bible that no doubt are fabrications of who she was. In the actual text of scripture we don’t get a whole lot.
Luke Talks about her in Luke 8,
Where he describes Jesus going out throughout the towns and villages proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
And luke says the 12 were with him, as well as several women. and Mary was one of them
He says mary had been healed of seven demons by Jesus.
And Luke says that she and the other women had worked and provided for the ministry of Jesus.
So while it’s not much to go on, it definitely paints a bit of a picture.
Here’s a woman who was possessed by 7 Demons. I can’t even imagine one, let alone 7. This woman had to have had absolutely no life before she met Jesus.
If you could just imagine the torment and pain and anguish that she went through every single day.
And Jesus Came into her life, and healed her and made her whole.
And Mary was obviously willing to go the distance when it came to following Jesus.
First of All, she gave up any hope she could have dreamed of of living a Normal life… Getting married, having children. These aren’t the sorts of things you can do if you’re traveling all around Israel.
And if she was there with the 12 disciples, we know it must have meant that she got to have first-hand experience listening to Jesus.
She wasn’t part of the broader crowd of disciples, she was there with him and his inner circle.
She was there, patiently and dillegently working behind the scenes, making sure the ministry of Jesus could continue.
Because I don’t know if you know this or not, but it costs money to be able to travel around the country and preach the gospel. Even if you’re the king of the universe, you need food, and lodging, and clothing.
And these women did everything for Jesus.
And at his crucifixion. When they nailed his hands to the cross. When the divided his garments into pieces, when all of the other disciples had scattered and left Jesus alone to suffer the pain and anguish that he went through to pay for the sins of the world...
It wasn’t Peter there at the foot of the cross.
Andrew, Philip, Peter, all the other disciples, they all stood a far way off.
Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
She stood at the foot of is cross.
She no doubt had her arms around Jesus’ mother Mary and comforted her as she watched her own son being executed.
When everyone else had deserted Jesus, Mary was there.
And she watched him as they took him down from the cross, and took him to be buried.
And then, because it was the sabbath, Mary and the other women would have had to spend all day Saturday Just waiting.
you can’t go out, you can’t do anything, it’s the sabbath. It’s against the law to do a lot of things on the sabbath. And certainly being in contact with a Dead body was not one of the things that you could do.
And so all day Saturday she just sat.
John 20 says very early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene got up to go see his tomb.
The very earliest point she could, she couldn’t take it any longer, she had to go see him.
And she finds that the tomb is empty. And she tells the other disciples, and they don’t understand what’s going on.
John 20:10–11 “So the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.
This woman loved Jesus so much, that while everyone else had gone home, she stood outside the tomb and just wept.
And the Risen Jesus comes up behind her, and says woman, why are you weeping.
And obviously because of her distress, and her weeping she thought he was just the gardener or something, ad she cries out If you’ve taken my lord, tell me where you put him.
If you’re a grave robber, or whatever, I dont’ care, justtell me where his body is.
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni” (which means Teacher).
She knew his voice and he called her by name.
We don’t know much else about mary.
Almost all the other details that we know about her are probably false, they’re not scriptural, but I know this.
She knew his voice. She spent time with him, at his feet. She worked tirelessly for his kingdom, She wept at his cross, she ran to his tomb.
And she knew his voice.
