I AM the Good Shepherd
Notes
Transcript
TITHE AND OFFERING SEGMENT
Today is known as Palm Sunday…so what is so special about Palm Sunday?
Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1–11). As Jesus entered the holy city, He neared the culmination of a long journey toward Golgotha. He had come to save the lost (Luke 19:10), and now was the time—this was the place—to secure that salvation. Palm Sunday marked the start of what is often called “Passion Week,” the final seven days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Palm Sunday was the “beginning of the end” of Jesus’ work on earth.
In Zechariah 9:9, the prophet speaks of a future king presenting himself to Jerusalem while riding on a humble donkey.
9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
This foreshadowed something that happened about 500 years later. As explained in Luke 19:35-37, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and presented himself as the Messiah, the King.
Even as the coatless multitudes waved the palm branches and shouted for joy, they missed the true reason for Jesus’ presence. They could neither see nor understand the cross. That’s why, “as [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies . . . will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41–47). It is a tragic thing to see the Savior but not recognize Him for who He is. The crowds who were crying out “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday were crying out “Crucify Him!” later that week (Matthew 27:22–23).
There is coming a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10–11). The worship will be real then. Also, John records a scene in heaven that features the eternal celebration of the risen Lord: “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9, emphasis added). These palm-bearing saints will shout, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verse 10), and who can measure sum of their joy?
Today we celebrate our Risen Lord, as we do ever Sunday.
Let us pray....
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SERMON FROM GOD’S WORD
In the book Life of Christ, the author on page 32 states the following about "The Great I Am":
We can see that John's aim is two-fold. On one-hand, he seeks to demonstrate that Jesus is "The Messiah, the Son of God." On the other, he wants people to know the true identity of Jesus, so that "you will have true life." When God commanded Moses to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked what God's name was. God replied, "Tell them that the Lord, whose name is 'I AM,' has sent you (Exodus 3:13-15). Jesus shows that he has been in God's plan from the beginning when he said: "Even before Abraham was, I was, and I am." (John 8:58).
In John's Gospel, Jesus uses the term "I am" to connect himself to God's nature and to identify himself as the one who:
Is the Bread of Life
Is the Light of the World
Is the Door to Eternal Life
Is the Good Shepherd
Is the Resurrection and the Life
Is the way the truth and the Life
Is the Vine and we are the branches.
Today in the Gospel of John Chapter 10 begining in v. 11 Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
1. The Good Shepherd Fulfills the Messianic Role of God being the Shepherd of His people.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Jesus is fulfilling the messianic role of the shepherd. The prophet Ezekiel reveals the role of God as the shepherd of His people. So Jesus is making the claim that He (God in flesh) is the one fulfilling it.
23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 34
The role of shepherd will be returned to the Davidic Messiah, who will care for God’s sheep properly. Jesus fulfills that role and alludes to the imagery of Ezek 34 in John 10:1–18.
In Ezekiel’s day, the religious leaders were more like predators than shepherds. Ezekiel describes them as eating the sheep rather than feeding them; they were more akin to thieves than caretakers (Ezek 34:2–10). It is against the backdrop of Ezekiel’s prophecy that Jesus declares Himself to be the Good Shepherd whose care for the sheep, including His sacrificial death on their behalf (John 10:11)
So this is the purpose of the “I AM” Statement, once again Jesus is giving Himself the name of God, the holy and unspeakable name. It would be considered blasphemy for someone to say such a thing and it not be true.
2. The Good Shepherd Cares for His Sheep.
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
As in Ezekiel’s day, many in Israel at the time of Christ were taking unfair advantage of God’s people. They were like thieves who sought to use religion for personal gain.
Jesus described them as coming only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:8, 10).
They considered the people of Israel solely for their own use. The religious system of Jesus’ day, practiced primarily on the basis of ritual rather than righteousness, placed heavy burdens on the people while ensuring that the religious leaders grew in wealth and power (e.g., Matt 23:2–4; Luke 11:46).
But Jesus—the promised Messiah—came to care for the sheep and lead them back to God. His great concern for the sheep was in His willingness to do what was best for them. Unlike the person merely hired for the job, the true shepherd would act in the best interests of the flock, despite the risks He might face. He came not to take their lives or profit from their lives, but rather so that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
3. The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep Personally.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
A man in India was arrested and charged with stealing a sheep. But he claimed emphatically that it was one of his own that had been missing for many days. When the case went to court, the judge was puzzled, not knowing how to decide the matter.
At last he asked that the sheep be brought into the courtroom. Then he ordered the stranger to step outside and call the animal. The sheep made no response except to raise its head and look frightened. The judge then instructed the other man to go to the courtyard and call the sheep. When the true shepherd of the sheep began to make his distinctive call, the sheep leaped toward the door. It was obvious that he recognized the familiar voice of his master.
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
4. The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for the Sheep.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”; and therefore the death of the good Shepherd is the subject of all the Church’s testimony.
Christ died to save His sheep:—At the time of the gold fever in California, a man went from England to the diggings. He would send money for his wife and child to follow him.
A few days after sailing, the terrible cry of “Fire! fire!” rang through the ship. Everything that the captain and sailors could do was done, but it was of no use; the fire rapidly gained ground.
The captain gave the word to lower the life boats. But there was not room for all; so the strong pushed in and left the weak to their fate.
As the last boat was moving off, the mother and her boy were on the deck and she pleaded to be taken. The sailors agreed to take one but not both.
What did the mother do? Did she jump in herself? No! Kissing her boy and handing him over the side of the ship, she said “If you live to see your father, tell him I died to save you.” That was great love, yet it is but a faint type of what Christ has done for us.
CONCLUSION TEXT
20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.