Coming Into Focus - Part 1
The Endless Journey - John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Reading:
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Introduction:
There was a show that began in 2010 and it went until 2022.
The premise of the show was to disguise the owner or CEO of a company or franchise and get them hired as an entry level employee.
It was called Undercover Boss.
The show brought a perspective for a boss who can easily be out of touch with their employees.
They are out of touch because they are taking care of all that trickles down to those making the business run.
Often people on the bottom believe they can be the person on the top, and the people on the top forget what it’s like down on the bottom.
It would often end with the boss’ big reveal at the end with the employees that trained, and worked with them.
The Boss would relay admiration for a job well done or an firing.
Because no one was the wiser about the new hire they couldn’t put on a show for the boss.
John 10 presents a similar picture.
Transition:
The Boss has come to the world but He is revealing Himself to all.
The managers pride has puffed up to a point of almost exploding and making decisions from that anger.
That’s an spiritually immature position!
What begins to come into focus is their hatred boiling over to a point where they don’t want to talk anymore, they want to kill Him!
In this chapter Jesus calls Himself: “The Door” and “The Good Shepherd”.
The 3rd and 4th of the 7 “I Am” claims about Himself.
To re-cap for context Chapter 9 ended with Jesus telling the religious leaders that they were “sinfully” blind.
They were in the condemned category.
This had followed the healing of the blind man.
Chapter 10 is where the religious leaders raise their sights and begin zooming in on the target.
Jesus points out their dereliction of their duty of shepherds to stand at:
The Entrance (1-7)
The Entrance (1-7)
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.
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.
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.”
The implication isn’t quite clear on the surface, and Jesus doesn’t just plainly state the facts concerning Himself or the religious leaders.
We are given a parable, which isn’t common in John, more in Luke.
His parable consists of a few different categories of people.
A thieves and a robbers.
(?) What are the differences with these 2 titles?
The thief steals quietly.
The Robber steals forcefully.
What are each of them stealing?
Sheep - Souls.
Who is Jesus calling thieves and robbers?
They are stealing from the Lord through force and quiet additions to the law.
The thievery is peoples faith, which hangs on upholding religious acts as worship and merits them favor in the Lord’s eyes.
That isn’t a relationship with God!
That is a religious hope that you can do enough for Him to find favor in you!
It will never work.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
No one can boast about their works earning anything.
Paul who had more reasons to claim salvation by his works than many of us had this to say about it:
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
It meant nothing regarding “earning” favor in God’s eyes.
Sometimes we might believe that we are going to be treated different.
Application:
How many times doe we do “religious” things so that we are seen by God?
Illustration:
There was a pastor who offered wisdom for “testing” a persons heart to serve.
He said ask someone who says they want to serve God to do menial tasks around the church.
His thought is when someone wants to serve God, they will serve Him in any capacity.
It also reveals their desire. For self or for God.
When they complain or don’t want to do it, ask them: Why did you want to do it in the first place?
Often times it was so that people saw them doing things, and in turn God saw their works and efforts.
They desired importance.
The Jews desired this more than anything else from the people.
They had it, and they would abuse their position to force people into doing what they say!
Makes sense why Jesus is calling them thieves and robbers.
The shepherds were to sit at the gate to the sheepfold, to protect the sheep.
If you remember the sheep fold was an area cornered in by 3 walls with an small gate.
The purpose was that the shepherd could keep his sheep safe from predators, thieves and robbers because there was only one way in.
Jesus is that entrance/gatekeeper.
Even better the sheep know their shepherds voice.
They follow him.
The Pharisees could not understand what Jesus was saying because they were too focused on protecting their position.
So Jesus removed any ambiguity and makes His identity even clearer.
6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
He plainly states to them who He is.
The Leader (8-21)
The Leader (8-21)
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.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
The Leader called into the courtroom a historical point.
Jeremiah 23:1-8 and Ezekiel 34.
This was where the prophets pronounced judgment on the shepherds of Israel for their failure to care for them.
In Jeremiah we hear a few important statements.
1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.
God said to them: Your disobedience has scattered my sheep, I have taken note and deal with you.
“I will gather them and place a “righteous branch’”
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
It kind of sounds similar to the scenario with Saul, Israel’s first King.
The kingdom was torn from him and given to another, because of his disobedience.
The priests didn’t do their job and the Lord was going to do it Himself!
That branch is in charge and His name is Jesus.
The Lord appointed Him as Leader over all His people, to gather them back into the fold.
The Ezekiel passages really get specific about the shepherds focusing on themselves more than their calling.
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
Jesus is re-iterating these points to the religious leaders.
I will gather My people, because you are selfish and derelict of the duties God has called you to.
You are thieves and robbers.
The failure of Israel's shepherds wasn't merely an ancient problem.
The same danger exists today whenever something pulls us away from following Christ.
What things are robbing you of your relationship with the Shepherd?
When you are distant from Him you’re missing out on His leading hand.
Choices seem less sure or confident about how God would've wanted it that way.
When your not communicating with Him, typically you’re avoiding Him to do what you want.
You’re doing it alone and might be heading into more danger than you'll want.
Illustration:
I had a friend in high school who really wanted a Jeep.
He looked for months, then finally found one.
It was cheap (in his price range).
His dad went with him to look at it and told him don’t buy it, it’s junk.
He thought no biggie to fix a few things.
It was the money pit of jeeps.
He worked on it more than he drove it.
Application:
This connects in the sense that he stopped listening to his dad, communication was minimal, and a wedge had been placed between them because of the son’s choices.
The son wasted a lot of time and money on something he took to the scrap yard.
Point:
The Jews had done the same thing with the Lord, similar to what we do.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The Lord now had shown up to be the way to enter the sheepfold and:
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Jesus knew what it would take to redeem the sheep; it was freely offered.
The owner was the only one who could save them and give them an abundant life.
But why would He do it?
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
When you aren’t the owner you typically don’t care about it as much as the one who does!
Illustration:
There was a common phrase amongst those in construction, which I couldn’t get behind or ever say.
“Looks good from my house”: Why? Because they don't own it.
The implication was it’s not mine, so who cares.
The owner notices every detail because it belongs to him.
Jesus isn't a hired hand watching from a distance.
He is the Owner of the sheep!
“Another was caulk will cover it”
The workers didn’t care about quality as much as the owner of the company.
That’s the difference Jesus highlights between Him and the religious leaders.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
But the shepherd is different.
Jesus is different!
14 I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me,
I think they understood Jesus’ statement
When Jesus revealed this He prophesied to them about His job which related to being the door and how and who can enter the sheepfold.
15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
The point is Jesus will die on the cross as the sacrificial lamb!
No qualms there; but Jesus mentions something peculiar to them, almost like new news.
Jesus has another “fold”.
What does He mean?
Is there another Israel in another place?
I believe He is speaking of the Gentiles!
After Jesus the Jews and Gentile can worship in the same way, before Jesus the Jews were more privileged.
The separation is why the Temple had Solomons porch, so any who proselytized could come and worship; but they were still second rate in comparison.
The Whole world through Jesus can enter the sheepfold and have a relationship with the creator.
This means Jews and Gentiles are sheep owned by the same shepherd, even though we are separate!
This puts an emphasis on the covenants given to Israel, which we as Gentiles don’t have, but are blessed because of.
Jesus’ words for unifying all who would enter through the gate and come in the one and only way should rejoice!
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.
20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to Him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
(?) What was it that caused confusion amongst the religious leaders?
Was it what Jesus said?
Was it what the religious leaders said?
Where does the Bible say that confusion comes from?
33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,
It’s not of God, He brings peace.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
What does the serpent offer into the scenario?
Doubt, and doubt can cause confusion.
Illustration:
I raced with a guy who “cased” a triple. (explain what “cased” means)
He broke both ankles and wrists at the same time.
When asked what happened. He said: “I hesitated”.
What caused hesitation?
Doubt, which caused confusion, then he hesitated!
The religious leaders were confused because of the statement made from pride:
20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”
Their pride spurred the fight or flight instinct.
They were going to fight for the loyalties of all present.
They were just called thieves and robbers who scattered the people of God and God had to come and clean up their mess.
They didn’t like it very much.
Connection:
Confusion is crafted in the thoughts of doubt, and as we learned: hesitation kills.
What is it that you are doubting about God?
For unbelievers
Have you entered through the Door, or are you trying to reach God some other way?
For believers
Are you listening to the Shepherd's voice more than the voices around you?
What are you confused about in your life?
Believe what scripture says: God is not the author of confusion
33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,
Stand up to Satan and tell Him, NO!
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Don’t let confusion cause you to hesitate and cause you or others harm.
Conclusion:
As Jesus finished speaking, the crowd was divided.
Some said He was insane.
Others remembered the blind man and asked, "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
The question was never really about the miracle.
The question was about the Shepherd.
Would they listen to His voice?
That same question stands before us today.
Jesus declared that He is the Door.
There is no other entrance into the fold.
No amount of religion, good works, church attendance, or moral effort can bring us into a right relationship with God.
We enter through Christ alone.
Jesus also declared that He is the Good Shepherd.
Unlike the false shepherds who used the sheep for their own gain, Jesus laid down His life for the sheep.
He willingly went to the cross so that those who belong to Him could have abundant life.
The question is not whether Jesus is speaking.
The question is whether we are listening.
What voice are you following today?
The voice of culture?
The voice of fear?
The voice of pride?
The voice of self?
Or the voice of the Shepherd?
-Pray!
