I AM Part 4

The Real/The Rub

Have you ever been robbed before? That just bothers me to think about my privacy being so invaded.

When I was at Hillsdale there was a lady who worked in the academic office who got robbed while she was at work one day. A couple of friends and myself went to her house to help clean everything up. She was single and didn’t have anyone else to help. I had no clue what to expect but it was bad. In the 5ish hours that we were there it went from a clean up job to a moving job. She kept getting so sad and distressed every moment that she got on her computer and found a new place to live that day. We loaded all of her stuff up in the back of our truck and took it to her knew house in a new neighborhood.

People take action when they get robbed don’t they. When my dad was a kid they always left the front door unlocked. Usually open also. Until they got robbed one Christmas. Whoever the jerks were, they took all the presents with my dads name. They took action and started locking the door.

Another time when I was in college there were a couple of cars that got broken into within a couple of days of each other. So I took everything out of my truck and left a sign on the door that said, “It’s unlocked, there’s nothing in here, please don’t break the glass.” Maybe not the best action but I responded to the threat with some sort of action.

When people feel threatened they take action. Well let’s read together about a threat that Jesus talked about and see if there’s an appropriate action that we can take.

The Read

There are two I AM statements within the same passage of scripture in John chapter 10. They go together in theme and they flow well together. The claim that Jesus is making in both is the same. He’s claiming his role as the Messiah. But each statement points to a different part of Jesus’ nature and character.

(NIV) 10 1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

Based off of this introduction and most other things that Jesus said and did, you clearly see that Jesus isn’t afraid of confrontation.

This was still at the Feast of Tabernacles. If you remember back to last week the Feast of Tabernacles was a big Jewish festival where Jews from all ranks and from all regions gathered to remember what God had done in their lives and to remember all that God had delivered them from.

So we know that there were a lot of Jews standing around listening to Jesus talk. But he called the Pharisees out. So whatever Jesus was about to say was geared towards them.

In the same breath he more or less calls them thieves and robbers. What have they robbed? Why is Jesus being so blunt to call them thieves?

Well if you look back at chapter 9 in the verses that lead up to this I think it begins to paint the picture.

You can see back in verse 22 that the Pharisees had issued a decree that anyone who believed Jesus to be the Messiah would be disfellowshipped. They did this because they didn’t want more people following Jesus.

You also see in the entire narrative of chapter 9 that they were trying to come up with any alternative means to the story. They couldn’t stand for Jesus to be performing life changing miracles.

They would rather the truth stay hidden so that they would still have the power. They were willing to conceal to truth and rob God of his glory. That’s why they didn’t want anyone finding out what Jesus did.

They were willing to to conceal the truth and rob people of God’s blessings in their lives. They didn’t want Jesus doing for more people what he had done for this man.

They were willing to conceal the truth and be thieves of joy. That’s why they didn’t want anyone else coming to try and find life in Christ.

So Jesus came right out of the gates here to say, “This is who you are. You are a robber. You are a thief. You don’t want the best for these people that you say you are leading. But I want to tell you who I am. I want to tell you the difference between us.”

10 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

John 10:2-6

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

I’m not going to spend much time here because we’ll be focusing on some of these themes next week. But Jesus wants to make sure that the people know the difference between the robber, who wants to harm them, and the shepherd who wants to help them prosper.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

This is where Jesus makes the first I AM statement out of this passage. He says, “I AM the gate for the sheep.”

I’m going to focus in on that statement in a minute but I think that it’s important for us to put ourselves in the story as well. Anytime Jesus said something bizarre like this it was metaphorical of something. He did this with the I AM statements as well as the parables that so many of us grew up learning about in Sunday School.

So who are the players in this story. Well first you have the thieves and the robbers. Jesus was talking here about the Pharisees but where does this cross over the bridge of culture and time for us. What is it that tries to steal God’s glory? What is it that wants to rob us of the blessing that God has in store for us when we follow him?

Obviously this can be anything. This can be anything that Satan wants to use because if there are a bunch of thieves trying to rob us, they all work for satan.

This can be things like addiction, this can be things like fear, this can be things like anger. This can be things like jealousy, discontentment. You name it.

This can come in the forms of people. This can be pastors who have no business being in ministry. This can be pastors who’s focus isn’t on spreading the gospel but on spreading their name.

There’s so many different things, or people, or circumstances that you can fit into this category. The point right now is not to identify the specific, that will take a lot more work on your part individually. The point is to recognize that thieves and robbers of joy do exist.

Then of course you have shepherd. We’ll talk more about that next week but you don’t have to read much longer to identify that Jesus is the shepherd.

So what you have left it the gate and the sheep. Jesus already said he was the gate, as well as being the Shepherd. He was a busy guy.

So that only leaves the sheep for us. Which isn’t a huge surprise because this isn’t the first place that Jesus referred to people as sheep. But why?

Well we probably have more in common with farmed sheep than what you may want to admit. Listen to these characteristics and I bet you’ll agree.

Sheep are vulnerable.

Sheep are the perfect target. They were easy to kill. Easy to still. It was easy for them to get sick.

We’re vulnerable also

Sheep are the perfect target. They were easy to kill. Easy to steal. It was easy for them to get sick.

We’re vulnerable also. You may be like, “I’m not easy to kill. I’ve go an 87th degree blackbelt in Jujitsu plus i carry a machete everywhere I go.” But you have a weak spot. You have a vulnerability.

Sheep are defenseless.

Sheep can’t do anything when attacked by a predator. They’re at the full mercy of their shepherd.

When it comes to your greatest vulnerability, you’re defenseless and at the mercy of the shepherd.

Sheep are stubborn.

Have you ever seen the video of the guy trying to herd sheep over the road and up the hill? This big ram decides he doesn’t want to do it anymore so he turns on the shepherd and knocks him to the ground and backs off a bit. As soon as the guy gets up he rams him again and knocks him to the ground. Sheep are stubborn. They wanna do what they wanna do.

Do I need to explain how we’re the same? Is anyone in here like, no I’ve been compliant my entire life. I’ve always done exactly what I’ve been told, exactly the way I was told to do it, and I did it with a smile on my face. Or maybe you’re like me and even when you try your hardest, it seems a lot more appealing to do everything your way.

Sheep are prone to wander.

Sheep go astray. I grew up with farm animal. Mostly cows. Some goats and stuff as well. We didn’t have to leave dogs with them. Sheep have dogs with them always and it isn’t just to protect them from predators. It’s to keep them with the herd.

We’re prone to wander also. We wander from the truth. We wander from the Lord. We wander from the church. We’re wanderers by nature.

Sheep need guidance.

This goes hand in hand with the last one but sheep need someone who will help direct them.

So do we. If I’m left to my own thoughts and my feelings I’m not going down the right path. Do you know why? Because my thoughts and feelings lie to me. That’s why I need guidance.

Whether you want to believe it or not. You’re a sheep.

And Jesus said there in verse 7 Jesus says, “I AM the gate for the sheep.” In most stories when you are trying to find the characters that are metaphors for something else you don’t think of the inanimate objects. You look for the people, you look for the animals, mostly you just look for the things that eat and breathe and assume that they have a deeper meaning.

But you don’t look at things like a gate and try to figure out the meaning so why is it significant in this story?

We live in farm country so we’re pretty familiar with the concept of a gate and a pen. The pen holds the animal, the gate is the way into the pen.

But our pens and our gates aren’t quite the same as what they were dealing with.

The sheep pen wouldn’t be like field fence that you could see through. It would be a rock wall that was around 10 feet tall. And on the top would be thorn bushes.

So when Jesus said that thieves and robbers couldn’t go through the gate, they’d go over this fence. That should be a sign and maybe even a warning that the thief is coming for you and they’re willing to risk pain and work hard.

There would only be one opening in the gate. And was the only way in. Jesus said he was the gate.

So one of the things Jesus was saying here was that if you want into this fold you gotta come through me. The sheep that were in the pen were part of the fold of God’s people. All of the “I AM” sayings have this flavor to it that says, “There’s only one way to Heaven and I’m it.” But this was very specific in saying that if you want to be part of God’s people you can’t go to the left, you can’t go to the right, you have to go through this gate. No other options.

When we were in Arizona this summer we saw some of this idea. There was a herd of sheep that hung out right around us every day the dogs would walk them down, they’d cross over the dirt road and they’d go into this pasture to graze and eat.

There was only one opening into this fence. I was driving alone one day after dropping someone off and out in the pasture there was all these sheep. But there was one sheep that didn’t make it in. It was pacing trying to figure out how to get in there with his herd. This sheep dog came out and got it and walked it down where it needed to go so it could use the opening.

There’s only one way into the fold of God’s people and Jesus said he’s that way.

But that’s not the only thing that Jesus was pointing to with this statement. You see there wouldn’t be a physical gate like you and I have. There would be an opening.

During the day the shepherd’s would come get their sheep and take them out to the pasture to eat. At night they’d take them back to the pen and a night watchmen would make himself the gate. He would literally sleep in the opening.

The man sleeping in the gate had one job: To protect the sheep. To keep the robbers and thieves out. The keep the predators out. To keep the sheep in.

So what was Jesus saying here? He was saying come whatever may, I will protect you. I will keep harm from you and I will keep you from harm. You are the sheep that I care deeply about and I will protect you.

Jesus kind of wraps this up and puts a bow on in with verse 10.

(NIV)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

There are people that want to steal, kill, and destroy. There are addictions that want to steal, kill, and destroy. There are fears that want to steal, kill, and destroy. There are circumstances that want to steal God’s glory, kill your joy, and destroy the life that God has for you.

But Jesus said, “I came to give you life and not just ordinary life. I came to give you the fullest life you can ever think of. I’m the gate. I’m the way into this abundant life. I’m the way in to this protective fold. If you follow me you’ll have life and have it abundantly.”

The Ready/The response

There’s one more similarity between you and the sheep that I didn’t mention earlier. Sheep are valuable.

For these shepherd’s this was their livelihood. This is how they fed their families. This is how they paid their taxes. Sheep farming wasn’t necessarily the highest paying job and it didn’t require the highest qualifications, but it was their job and these animal had great value to them. The shepherd’s would do anything to protect their sheep and make sure they made it in through the gate.

We hear the story of David before he fought Goliath. As a young boy he killed a bear and lion in an effort to protect his sheep. Sheep are valuable to the shepherd.

You and I are valuable. Jesus as the gate laid his life on the line to protect us and ultimately laid his life down to save us.

And he stands in the gap for us today keeping harm from us and keeping us from harm.

Your life had value when Jesus hung on the cross and dealt with the agonizing pain of the Roman death penalty. And your life has value today where Jesus stands in the opening and fights your battles for you.

Maybe today this is the first time you’ve ever felt value before. Perhaps you’ve grown up in a family where you were made to feel worthless. Unloved. Like nobody cares. I hope you know today that you are love and valued more than you can ever imagine and I hope you don’t leave here tonight without talking to myself or one of the other sponsors.

Or maybe you just need to be reminded that Jesus is actively protecting you. Don’t get me wrong, things may get bad. Life may get hard. You may get terminally ill. You may lose everything and go broke. You may lose someone you love so dearly far too early. But even when the waves are crashing down in front of you, behind you, beside you, all around you, and even on top of you, Jesus stands in the gap and he’s not letting the enemy take you.

I love the lyrics of an older worship song called “In Christ Alone.” It says, “No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand. Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.”

So come whatever may come, you can stand in the power of Christ knowing that he’s got you and that he loves you.