Not a Christmas Story
Notes
Transcript
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
“All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
“He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
December 1, 2019
1st Sermon in Peculiar People Sunday school Class
This is the Word of God
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am athe door of the sheep.
8 “All who came before Me are athieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9 “aI am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they amay have life, and 1have it abundantly.
11 “aI am the good shepherd; the good shepherd blays down His life for the sheep.
12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a ashepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
14 “aI am the good shepherd, and bI know My own and My own know Me,
15 even as athe Father knows Me and I know the Father; and bI lay down My life for the sheep.
16 “I have aother sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become bone flock with cone shepherd.
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I alay down My life so that I may take it again.
18 “aNo one has taken it away from Me, but I blay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. cThis commandment I received from My Father.”
I’m going to give a quick introduction before I get started on the exposition of this text.
The Gospel of John was written by the Apostle John with the purpose of proving the absolute Divinity of Christ. The book was written
Many Christians, when pointing a new believer to Christ will have them turn to the Gospel of John, and we do that with good reason. We see the importance of the way in which John speaks about Jesus, who He was, and why He came here, and so direct people to John as a good starting point for someone first coming to the faith. All of the Gospels are from the same mouth, that is, the Holy Spirit, and point expressly to Jesus Christ, but this one differs one important way….as one commentator puts it:
“all of them (talking about the other 3 Gospels) had the same object in view, to point out Christ, the three former exhibit his body, if we may be permitted to use the expression, but John exhibits his soul. On this account, I am accustomed to say that this Gospel is a key to open the door for understanding the rest; for whoever shall understand the power of Christ, as it is here strikingly portrayed, will afterwards read with advantage what the others relate about the Redeemer who was manifested.”