The Voice Of The Shepherd
Notes
Transcript
The Voice Of The Shepherd
The Voice Of The Shepherd
Text: John 10 22-30
Series: Seeing Jesus Clearly
Setting: Gospel Community Church, Price, Utah
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Opening Story: The Voices We Choose to Hear
Opening Story: The Voices We Choose to Hear
Before we recap where we’ve been in John 10, I want to start somewhere personal—because this passage draws out honesty and vulnerability.
There was a season in my life where I was convinced I was making my own decisions.
I told myself I was in control.
I told myself I could stop whenever I wanted.
It might seem like I was talking to myself but the truth is—I was listening to a voice. And it wasn’t my own voice.
It was the voice of addiction.
And I didn’t realize it at the time, but once I gave that voice authority, it opened the door for other voices to move in.
The voice of shame: “You’ve already gone too far.”
The voice of guilt: “God couldn’t want you now.”
The voice of sorrow: “This is just who you are.”
The voice of self-pity: “You deserve this.”
And behind all of them was the same enemy, doing exactly what Jesus said he would do:
steal, kill, and destroy.
Here’s what I learned the hard way:
None of these voices care for you one bit, not like the voice of the Shepherd!
So let me ask you—honestly—before we go any further:
What voice have you been listening to lately?
And what other voices has Satan used to pull you further from the Shepherd?
Because the hard truth is that even when we are following the Shepherd the chatter doesn’t stop.
The voice of our ego: “I’m gonna show everyone I’m the best”
The voice of religion: “I’m not just gonna show others I’m the best, I’m gonna show God how Holy I am with my works”
Because every one of us is being led by a voice.
The question is—whose?
Recap: How We Got Here in John 10
Recap: How We Got Here in John 10
John 10 is one continuous conversation. Jesus hasn’t changed subjects—He’s turning up the clarity.
In verses 1–6, Pastor Tony helped us understand the Shepherd’s voice—what it is and what it is not.
The voice of the Shepherd is not confusing.
It’s not manipulative.
It’s not fear-based.
His sheep recognize His voice because they belong to Him.
Then last week, Gill walked us through verses 7–21, where Jesus identified Himself as:
The Door — the only way in
The Promise of Protection
The True Shepherd who lays down His life
And we saw something important: truth divides.
Some leaned in.
Others hardened their hearts.
Now in verses 22–30, Jesus removes all ambiguity.
This is no longer metaphor.
This is definition.
So as we dive into today’s message I want us to look at 4 points and close with a question. You guys good with that? Good because I didn’t have a plan B if you said no!
Point 1: Clarity Is Not the Problem, Belonging Is
Point 1: Clarity Is Not the Problem, Belonging Is
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
So a little history to start off. The Feast of Dedication in John 10:22 is what we know today as Hanukkah, a Jewish festival that commemorated the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after it had been defiled by the Syrian ruler Antiochus the 4th around 167 BC. After years of oppression and the desecration of the temple, a small group of Jewish rebels known as the Maccabees reclaimed Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, and restored true worship to God, celebrating His faithfulness to preserve His people and His dwelling place among them.
So when John tells us it was the Feast of Dedication, and it was winter, he is setting the stage for a powerful contrast: the people were celebrating the restoration of the temple and the faithfulness of God, while the true Temple, the true presence of God in the flesh, Jesus Himself, was standing right in front of them… and many still refused to recognize Him.
When the religious leaders come to Jesus in this moment, they ask Him what sounds like a fair and honest question. They say, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
On the surface, it sounds like they are just asking for clarity, like they are open and searching and willing to believe if Jesus will just make it simple enough for them. But Jesus doesn’t respond by giving them more information or a clearer explanation. Instead, He responds with a statement that cuts straight to the heart of the issue.
He tells them, “I told you, and you do not believe… because you are not among my sheep.” That is a sobering response, because Jesus is making it clear that their problem is not a lack of information, it is a lack of relationship.
Jesus does not say, “You don’t believe because I haven’t been clear enough.”
He does not say, “You don’t believe because the evidence isn’t strong enough.”
He tells them plainly that they do not believe because they are not His sheep. In other words, their unbelief is not caused by a lack of clarity from Jesus; it is caused by a lack of belonging to Him.
That truth flips the way we naturally think about faith. We often assume that if we can just gather enough evidence or hear enough teaching, belief will come first and relationship will follow. But Jesus shows us that it works the other way around. It is belonging to Him that produces the ability to hear Him. The sheep recognize the Shepherd’s voice because they are already His.
So the real problem is not a lack of volume from heaven, it is the authority we have given to other voices in our lives. There are voices that appeal to our flesh, voices that come from our past, voices that echo our fears, and voices that reinforce the lies we have believed about ourselves.
And when those voices are given authority, they begin to drown out the voice of the Shepherd. The question this text forces us to ask is not whether Jesus has been clear. The question is which voice we have chosen to listen to and obey. Because the sheep of Jesus do not just hear His voice as one option among many—they recognize it as the voice of the One who knows them, who laid down His life for them, and who alone has the authority to lead them.
Point 2: Who Jesus Is? The Shepherd Who Knows His Sheep
Point 2: Who Jesus Is? The Shepherd Who Knows His Sheep
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Now after confronting those who are not His sheep, Jesus turns and speaks words that are meant to settle and strengthen the hearts of those who do belong to Him. He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” There is a tenderness in that statement, but there is also clarity.
Jesus is not describing a vague spiritual feeling; He is describing a living relationship. His sheep hear His voice. That means His voice is not distant, not hidden, not reserved for a spiritual elite.
When Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice… and I know them,” He is revealing something far deeper than simple recognition.
He is showing us that the foundation of our relationship with Him does not begin with what we do for Him, but with what He has already done in knowing us.
He knows His people personally, intentionally, and covenantally. This is not distant awareness or general knowledge. This is the Shepherd who knows every detail of your life—every weakness you battle, every failure you carry, every place you have wandered—and yet He still calls you His.
That kind of knowing is what makes His voice trustworthy, because the One who leads you understands you perfectly and still chooses you.
Scripture reinforces this kind of intimate, covenantal knowing all throughout the Bible. In 2 Timothy 2:19 , Paul writes,
But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
“The Lord knows those who are his,” reminding us that our identity as His people is rooted in His knowledge of us, not our performance for Him.
And Jesus Himself echoes this in John 10:14 earlier in this very chapter when He says,
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
That mutual knowing is relational, but it begins with Him. Even David recognized this kind of personal knowledge in Psalm 139:1–2
O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
The beauty of the gospel is that the God who knows us fully does not reject us, He redeems us, He calls us, and He leads us as His own sheep, secure in His care.
And out of that knowing, Jesus says, “they follow me.” Notice the order that Jesus gives. The sheep hear, they are known, and then they follow.
Following Jesus is not about modifying behavior to look religious. It is the natural response of a heart that has learned to recognize and trust the voice of the Shepherd. The beauty of this is having a Shepherds voice that we can hear over all the brokenness of this world that we are in.
This is why David could say in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” When the Lord is truly your Shepherd, His voice becomes more trustworthy than your own instincts, because His voice is rooted in His care for you.
The sheep do not follow because the path is always easy or because we have somehow become wise enough to figure everything out on our own.
In fact, the Shepherd often leads us through valleys, through shadows, through places we would never naturally choose. And yet we continue to follow, not because we have perfect understanding, but because we have learned that His voice is the one place of safety in a world that is not safe.
Think about a newborn baby for a moment. A baby is not intelligent enough to sort through a crowd of voices and logically determine which one belongs to its mother.
It cannot reason through tone, pitch, or context. And yet, when that baby hears its mother’s voice, something inside of it responds.
There is an internal recognition that comes from relationship, from connection, from having been held, cared for, and nurtured by that voice.
In a room full of noise, the baby calms at that one voice because it knows that voice is connected to comfort, protection, and provision.
That is the kind of recognition Jesus is describing. The sheep of Jesus do not follow Him because they have achieved some higher level of spiritual intelligence. We follow Him because His voice has become, over time, the voice of life, the voice of safety, the voice that has carried them through their darkest valleys.
Now hear this clearly—does God care about changing the behavioral sins in our lives? Yes, absolutely. That is part of His loving work in us, a lifelong process of sanctification where He shapes us more and more into the image of Christ. But in this passage, Jesus is not first presented as a rule-giver standing over us with a checklist.
He is revealed as a Shepherd leading His flock from where they are to where they need to be. And when you look at the flock, you realize they are not walking through a peaceful meadow untouched by life. They are walking through a world filled with real danger, real pain, and real weight just like us.
Some in our flock are battling cancer diagnoses or living with illnesses that no one has been able to name yet.
Some are parents carrying the heartbreak of children caught in addiction or sitting in prison cells.
Some are grieving their sons and daughters who have walked away from their relationship with the Shepherd.
Others are spouses trying to move forward after the devastating loss of a husband or wife, sometimes through tragedies that have left deep deep scars like suicide.
And there are those who are still trying to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives after addiction or the fallout of broken homes.
This is the reality of the flock that the Shepherd is leading.
And it is into that kind of real, heavy, and often painful world that His voice comes. In a hostile world filled with competing voices, His voice stands out as the one that leads toward truth and life.
And so even when the terrain is difficult, even when the path leads through places we would not choose on our own, His sheep continue to follow, because they have come to know that wherever the Shepherd leads, His presence is better than any path we could carve out for ourselves.
That is why the question in front of us is not simply whether we can recognize the sound of Jesus’ voice in a quiet, easy moment.
The deeper question is whether we trust His voice enough to cling to it when life is heavy, confusing, and painful—when the valley is dark and we cannot see very far ahead. Because in those seasons, His voice does not always lead us into what is easy or comfortable.
Sometimes His voice leads us through treatment plans and waiting rooms.
Sometimes it leads us through grief that comes in waves.
Sometimes it calls us to keep loving a prodigal child, to keep praying when there has been no change, to keep walking in faith when everything in us feels tired and worn down.
The Shepherd’s voice often calls us to places we would never choose, but never to places where His presence doesn’t go with us.
And in those moments, following Jesus is not about having everything figured out or having perfect strength.
It is about direction. It is about holding onto the voice that has proven itself faithful, even when we do not understand the path in front of us.
The sheep of Jesus are people who have come to know that they are known by Him, and that His leading—no matter how difficult the terrain—will never lead them away from life.
They follow because they trust that the Shepherd who laid down His life for them will not abandon them in the valley, and that even there, His voice is still guiding, still sustaining, and still leading them safely home.
Point 3: Who Jesus Is Not. He Is Not A Savior Who Lets Go.
Point 3: Who Jesus Is Not. He Is Not A Savior Who Lets Go.
(John 10:28–29
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Jesus now speaks one of the most comforting and unshakable promises in all of Scripture. He says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” That is not weak language. That is not uncertain language. That is the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking with divine authority over the eternal security of His sheep.
And what Jesus makes clear is that your security does not rest on your ability to hold onto Him. It rests on His unbreakable grip on you. If your salvation depended on your consistency, your strength, or your faithfulness alone, you and I both know we would lose it.
There have been seasons in our lives where our hands couldn’t hold onto anything steady. I know in my own story, when I was lost in addiction, my hands were grasping at everything that was destroying me, and I didn’t have the strength in myself to hold onto what was good and right. But even in those seasons, His hands never let go of me.
This is why the promise of Isaiah 41:10 speaks so deeply into what Jesus is saying here.
fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
The security of the believer is not anchored in our ability to stay strong; it is anchored in the righteousness and faithfulness of God Himself. And Jesus does not stop there. He strengthens the promise even further by saying that no one is able to snatch His sheep out of the Father’s hand.
In other words, the same sheep that are held securely in the Son’s hand are also held securely in the Father’s hand. This is not a fragile salvation. This is not a temporary covering. You are not barely saved, hanging on by a thread, hoping you do not slip. If you belong to Christ, you are held—fully, securely, eternally—by the power of the Son and the Father together.
Point 4: The Line That Demands a Decision
Point 4: The Line That Demands a Decision
(John 10:30
I and the Father are one.”
When Jesus concludes this section by saying, “I and the Father are one,” He removes every possibility of misunderstanding who He is. This is not symbolic language and it is not poetic expression. This is a declaration of divine identity. Jesus isn’t simply claiming to represent God or to speak on God’s behalf—He is claiming unity with the Father in nature, authority, and power.
The same hand that holds the sheep is the hand of God Himself. The same voice that calls the sheep is the voice of God calling His people. This is why the crowd will respond so strongly in the following verses, because they understand exactly what Jesus is claiming. He is not leaving room for a lesser view of Himself.
That means we cannot reduce Jesus to something more comfortable or manageable.
He is not a life coach who gives us helpful advice for a better version of the life we already want.
He is not one spiritual option among many that we can take or leave depending on what fits us best. He is the Shepherd who calls His sheep, the Door through which we must enter, and God in the flesh who has come to save His people.
This is why His words in John 14:6 carry such weight: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is no alternate path, no secondary access point, no other name that can reconcile us to God. To know Jesus rightly is to recognize that He alone has the authority to save, the right to lead, and the power to hold His people forever.
Closing Point: Which Voice Will You Follow?
Closing Point: Which Voice Will You Follow?
Church, as we come to the end of this passage, it presses one question down into our hearts. It’s not complicated, but it is deeply serious: whose voice are you listening to? Because the voice you follow will always shape the direction you walk, and over time, the direction you walk will reveal who you truly belong to.
And we are not asking that question in a vacuum. We are asking it in the middle of real life—the valleys we just talked about.
In hospital rooms and grief-filled homes, in courtrooms and recovery meetings, in quiet moments where the weight of life presses in and you are trying to figure out how to take the next step.
In those places, there are many voices competing for your heart.
There is the voice of fear that tells you the worst is coming.
The voice of shame that tells you God is done with you.
The voice of despair that says nothing will ever change.
And if we are not careful, those voices begin to shape not just our emotions, but our identity and our direction.
But right in the middle of those valleys, Jesus is still speaking.
He has not gone silent.
He is still speaking through His Word, still drawing His people by His Spirit, still holding His sheep securely in His hand.
The enemy would love to drown that voice out with fear, guilt, distraction, and a false sense of comfort, using whatever he can—your past, your pain, your busyness, even good things out of order—to pull your attention away from the Shepherd.
And yet, even in the darkest places, the voice of Jesus still cuts through the noise with a clarity that only He can give.
He calls His sheep by name, and He leads them, not away from the valley, but through it, toward life.
So the question is not whether Jesus is still speaking. The question is whether we will quiet the other voices long enough to listen, and then trust Him enough to follow, even when we do not understand the path.
Because the Shepherd is still speaking today just as He did then, and His invitation has not changed. In the middle of whatever valley you are walking through, His voice still comes to you with authority, with tenderness, and with promise, and He says, “Follow me.”
Amen? Amen!
Let’s Pray.
