I Am The Good Shepherd

Intro

Illustration: Waiting for raccoons to enter the chicken coop

Those chickens knew that there were 2 different things that were going to come into their coop, and their reaction would be wildly different depending on what came in.

If it was someone from my uncles family, they would come in through the main door and the chickens would know that they were about to get food, their coop was going to be cleaned and they were going to be let out to roam around the property

If a raccoon came in, they came scrambling over the fence and snuck in at night. They would all start making very loud noises because they knew that the raccoons were there only to eat them.

Other than the fact that one was a human and one was a raccoon, you can tell a lot about someone’s intentions based on how they approach you. We know that this is true deep within us. If someone comes into a shop through the front door, they will get a warm welcome because that is how the shopowner has set up his building to be entered. If someone comes crawling in through a back window, they will probably get the police called on them because thats shady.

Jesus uses an illustration theme that is all over Scripture: We are God’s sheep in his sheepfold.

In this specific illustration, we are pictured as a flock of sheep in a gated enclosure with a door that God has designed for our shepherd to come through, and as we will learn shortly Jesus is both the door and the Shepherd. He is both the way that God has shown us to expect our care to come from and the caregiver that God has told us to expect. But, there are two different types of people that will come into our sheepfold

there are people who will ignore the door that God has built for us and come scrambling in through different ways. Never making mention of Jesus, they will come scrambling into our lives with promises of health, wealth, pleasure and success. These men are thieves and robbers

Then there is the man who will come in by the door and who will feed us, clean us and allow us to walk around the property that we can stretch our legs and enjoy good pasture. This man is the Shepherd of the Sheep.

Thieves and Robbers Are Selfish

Everyone who tries to fill the “savior” role in your life is an imposter

John 10:8 ESV

All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

What does Jesus mean when he says this?

Well because spirtually speaking we are sheep, we naturally are looking for our shepherd. Humans have always been looking for their Shepherd, ever since he was promised to Adam and Eve after the fall.

Jesus is saying that everyone who came to the people attempting to be their “shepherd” or “spiritual guide” or “savior” was a thief and a liar.

And now, 200 years after Jesus came, we can also say that everyone who came after him was and is a thief and a liar.

You have met these people before, these raccoons that crawl over the fence of the chicken coop, these shady people that climb into our lives through back windows. They stand on stages for Ted Talks, they write best selling books, they teach classes at school, they’re some of your best friends. “thieves and robbers” might sound like harsh terms for people, but Jesus tells us that they come only to steal and kill and destroy.

We may say “but they don’t try to do that” but that’s exactly what they are doing! Whether or not their intentions are evil, sheep are being led to the slaughter at their hands. And this isn’t calling us to start a revolution against them, but it is calling us not to heed their spiritual counsel, not to treat them as the shepherd of our souls.

One of the reasons Jesus warns us against these imposter shepherds is because…

Imposters abandon us when things get difficult

John 10:12 ESV

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 life throws us things out of our control (sickness, mental illness, loss)

When we seriously mess up and push everyone away

Imposters are in it for themselves

John 10:13 ESV

He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Sometimes this can be hidden in a fake “selflessness,” but that soon disappears as long as it no longer serves the imposter to serve you

And so we see that

Following an Imposter will leave us spiritually vulnerable

Jesus Truly Loves Us

That brings us to the contrast of the Shepherd, namely Jesus. Jesus is the One True Shepherd, who we truly belong to.

Though Imposters only care for themselves, Jesus seeks our greatest good

John 10:10–11 ESV

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.

Jesus consistently placed himself in the service of sinners and made his entire life about the service of others.

Mark 10:45 ESV

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus’s whole life was about laying down his life for his sheep, which was eventually what he did. And it wasn’t just that his flock were prize-winning sheep that earned that type of love and sacrifice, but...

While Imposters run away in times of difficulty, Jesus displayed his love for us when things were most difficult

Even for those who can be difficult to love because of all the things that life throws at them. Whether it was a physical illness like leprosy, physical disabilities like paralysis or blindness, mental illness that caused people to be social outcasts, Jesus consistently showed an authentic love for the people that nobody else cared about. In fact, when Paul was struggling with insecurities about his own self, God said to him

2 Corinthians 12:8–9 ESV

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

But it isn’t just for those struggling with insecurities about the hand they were dealt. Jesus also shows that he has a great love even for those who actively opposed God by choice.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You see, the true colors of these two types of people become most clear when things get difficult. When we are difficult to love, either by nature or by choice, the imposters always up and leave; but Jesus remains and quiets us by his love.

Because of that, we can know that

Following Jesus will keep us protected from the enemy in His fold

John 10:4 ESV

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

Jesus never leaves us, and we can know that we are always protected in this life. We get to enjoy the benefits of a healthy spirit because of what Jesus has done for us.

Because Jesus Loves Us, We Should Follow His Voice

Yet those imposters are still plentiful in the world around you, and even still they are scrambling through the back windows of your life claiming to be your shepherd. You can listen to them, or you can listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Where is his voice now? In Scripture

Read it in the Bible

Understand it through prayer and regular, passionate study.

Do it by applying the precious truths to your own life.

In following the voice of our Shepherd we will safely dwell in his good pasture forever.