Gospel of John - 9

Gospel of John - 9

John 9:1 – 10:42

Introduction

- Little different strategy tonight. With so much text (6th sign and 7th discourse), no way we could walk through it verse by verse. So, we will approach it a bit differently. More like a sermon than a bible study.

Things that are funny in one country are not necessarily funny in another country. Things that work in one country do not necessarily work in another country.

- In China, KFC’s slogan ‘finger-lickin’ good’ was translated as ‘eat your fingers off.’

- In Taiwan, Pepsi’s ‘Come Alive with Pepsi’ slogan came out as ‘Pepsi will Bring Your Ancestors Back From the Dead.’

According to Roger Axtell, in his book Do’s and Taboos of Hosting International Visitors, a high-ranking insurance company executive visiting Japan in the 1980’s delivered a speech that began with a joke. It went over well…but later on he learned that it was translated something like this... ’American businessman is beginning speech with thing called joke. I am not certain why, but all American businessmen believe it necessary to start speech with joke. He is telling joke now, but frankly you would not understand it, so I won’t translate it. He thinks I am telling you joke now. Polite thing to do when he finishes is laugh. He is getting close…Now!

When you take something from one culture to another culture, some things get lost in translation. Every culture is different. It has its own traditions, practices and languages. And to bring those from one culture into another often creates confusion.

That is part of the reason why people have such a hard time understanding the Bible. It is because we are looking at a culture that existed over 2000 years ago in a different part of the world.

Tonight, we are going to be looking at a passage that could bring difficulty because of cultural issues. Turn to John 10. Throughout John, Jesus has been identifying himself to the crowds and to the religious leaders. But there is much misunderstanding and division over his identity. We will see both of those things again tonight. Part of Jesus’ strategy is to introduce his identity through a series of I Am statements. We’ve already seen several.

John 10:11

TS - Now, there are 2 things going on in this passage that we might not understand.

First, the setting in which Jesus preaches this sermon.

- 10:22—Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem.

o Now, you have heard of the Feast of Dedication, but not by that name. It is also known as Hanukkah.

Since the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, Greek influence became more dominant in the Middle East. Greek influence controlled political aspirations and eventually assimilated Jews into their way of life, which included worshiping pagan gods.

Within 150 years, Israel had adopted numerous Greek cultural and religious habits. Even the OT was translated into Greek in the Septuagint.

There was severe resistance to this Greek influence, mainly among a party called the Hasidim. They hated that the Jews had abandoned their religion and their heritage. What is worse, those who were in ‘leadership’ were leading the way into Greek culture.

Jewish priests such as Jason and Menelaus were corrupt and contributed to the demise of the Jewish temple worship, while Greek soldiers desecrated the temple with pig’s blood, outlawed Jewish ritual, burned Scripture scrolls, and erected a pagan temple in the temple.

In the 160’s BC the Maccabean War erupted. It’s first leader, Judas Maccabeus, captured Jerusalem’s temple and in 165 BC rededicated it. Hanukkah is a Hebrew word that means ‘dedication.’

It thus became the name of the season each winter when the Jews remembered these events. Hanukkah thus became a season that asked hard questions about failed leadership and false shepherds. How did the temple leadership lose its way during this Greek period? Where were the shepherds? What must shepherds do today?

During this week of celebration and remembrance each year at Hanukkah, part of the liturgical readings came from Ezekiel 34.

Ezekiel 34:2-10

It is into this context that Jesus stands up to preach this sermon, saying, ‘I Am the Good Shepherd.’ It helps to shed some light on what Jesus is saying here.

And that leads us to the second cultural issue—that of a shepherd. We are very much unfamiliar with the role of a shepherd today—not a lot of shepherds in American society. Thankfully, in this passage, Jesus tells us what a shepherd does. And in so doing, tells us what he does as our Good Shepherd.

TS—Tonight we simply want to talk about what it means that Jesus is our Good Shepherd. We use that term about Jesus a lot and the Bible also uses this term in reference to God in multiple places. We understand this as the Bible talking about Jesus as our Leader. That we are his sheep and he is our shepherd. And the Bible continues to come back again and again to this same metaphor.

TS—So what makes this metaphor so important? Why does it seem that the Bible is trying to convince us to allow Jesus to be the only leader of our life? Well, because only HE is the Good Shepherd. And in this passage, we learn the ‘why’ behind Jesus being our leader. So, Jesus should be our leader because…

1. JESUS PROTECTS HIS SHEEP

John 10:7-10

There are a couple things I want you to notice about this passage.

- Jesus calls himself ‘the gate’ for the sheep.

Now that may seem odd because here in this same text, he is calling himself the ‘good shepherd.’ Is Jesus referring to himself by two different titles here? Not really. Let me explain what I mean.

In the desert at night, sheep were often herded into walled enclosures that either backed up against a cliff or were at the end of a canyon. The pen was for the safety of the sheep and so they would not become prey to wild animals. One small doorway in the wall served as the only entrance and exit. The shepherd would either close the door with some dry thorn bushes or would himself serve as the door.

So, a good shepherd would actually be the gate for the sheep. He would put himself in harm’s way to keep his sheep safe.

TS—Which leads me to the second thing I want you to notice about this passage…

Verse 9—whoever enters through me will be ‘saved.’

That word ‘saved’ can also be translated ‘kept safe.’ So, the imagery of what Jesus is talking about is of a good shepherd who puts himself in harm’s way to keep his people safe.

Now, before we get into the practical application of this, let me tell you what this is NOT saying.

This is not saying that if you are a Christian, then you are ‘protected’ from disease, cancer, car wrecks, accidents, etc.… This is not a promise that life will always go smoothly for you.

There are some preachers (read: false shepherds) out there who will try to tell you that God’s chief desire for you is your happiness and prosperity in the world. But that certainly does not match up with the teaching of the Bible.

So, here is what this is saying: In saying all of this, Jesus is contrasting himself with those who are false shepherds—those he calls thieves and robbers. He is referring to the religious leaders of the day. For several chapters he has been in arguments and debates with the Pharisees, as he is in this text.

Matthew 9:36— “When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

The religious leaders of the day were abusive to their people and took great advantage of them. They would crush them with unneeded laws and rules. The instilled guilt and brought condemnation to God’s people.

Jesus says in verse 10—the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy—a harsh declaration against the Pharisees. Not a text about Satan, but religious leaders.

In contrast…

- Jesus does not steal, he gives.

In fact, this is a theme that John develops in this book.

John 1:9— “The true light and gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

John 4:14— “whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 6:27— “do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

John 6:51— “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

John 14:27— “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

- Jesus does not kill, he gives life.

John 1:4— “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

John 3:15-16— “So the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 8:12— “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:51— “if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

John 10:10— “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

- Jesus does not destroy, he restores.

Chapter 9 – 6th sign is healing of man born blind. Remember, the signs and the discourses are attached. What Jesus is teaching here is directly linked to the miracle of chapter 9.

9:1-7 – Jesus heals man

9:8-12 – neighbors question him

9:13-17 – man interviewed by Pharisees (part 1) – read v. 16-17

9:18-23 – parents called in

9:24-34 – man interviewed by Pharisees (part 2) – read v. 25-27; v. 28-33

9:35-41 – Jesus introduces himself and the man believes – read v. 35-38

Jesus protects his sheep. He doesn’t steal, he gives. He doesn’t kill, he gives life. He doesn’t destroy, he restores.

TS—And if it wasn’t enough that Jesus protects his sheep, this continues. I mean, I could stop right there and say, ‘that is enough for me, to convince me to follow Jesus.’ But it just continues.

2. JESUS CARES FOR HIS SHEEP

John 10:11-13

Jesus is again contrasting himself to the religious leaders of the day. The leaders of the day would apparently abandon their people whenever trouble came. For them, trouble came in the form of the Roman Empire. Rome considered the Jews inferior to them and treated them as slaves.

Forced to carry their military gear.

Could demand your clothes off your back.

Abuse kill—didn’t matter.

And what they found again and again was that their leaders were nowhere to be found. They were unwilling to stand up to Rome. In fact, they compromised to retain their power.

What Jesus is saying is simply this: I will never run. I will never leave. I will never abandon. No matter what may come, I’ll be there. Because here is a truth we all know—you cannot care from a distance. And if Jesus is really going to be this good shepherd, then he cannot leave. He has to stay. And if need be, he will fight for his sheep.

The typical picture of the shepherd that we have in our minds is not really of a man who would stand up and fight for anything. But the accurate picture of a 1st century Jewish shepherd is nothing like that.

- These guys were highly skilled with a slingshot and could kill animals and people from dozens of yards away. They carried staffs and rods, which were 6 foot rods of steel that they used to beat wolves, bears, etc.

King David from the OT was a shepherd before he became king of Israel and stated that when he was a child, he had killed a bear. In fact, Roman soldiers said the one person they would not want to cross is a Jewish shepherd.

And this is the picture that Jesus gives of himself. That of a shepherd.

And in this light, Psalm 23 makes a whole lot more sense.

Psalm 23:4— “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Of course, you won’t be afraid, God, the Shepherd, is with you.

TS—But ultimately, Jesus caring for us is not just about him going with us but going to the cross for us.

In John 10:11 when Jesus said, ‘I lay down my life FOR the sheep,… the ultimate caring, of not abandoning, of standing in harm’s way, is Jesus’ death on the cross.

How easy would it have been for Jesus to abandon us while he was on the cross? I mean, I imagine that hurt a bit more than anyone would have guessed.

In Matthew 26, as Jesus is being arrested, Peter reacts violently and cuts off the ear of one of the guards. Then Jesus says these words in Matthew 26:53— “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

When things were at their worst, Jesus never left. And now Jesus gives to us the Great Commission to go out into the world on his behalf, telling us to make disciples in the world. And what is the last part of the Great Commission? ‘I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’

TS—And if all of that wasn’t enough to convince someone to follow Jesus, we get another reason.

3. JESUS KNOWS HIS SHEEP

John 10:14-15, 27

When you think of a picture of a typical shepherd, you think of one man and a whole mess of sheep. That they all look alike, and they are all the same to him. But in reality, things were much different.

If a shepherd was devoted to his sheep, he had nicknames for each of them individually. He would talk to the sheep, sing to them, even play a flute to them so they could distinguish his voice and music from the rest.

You have got to wonder that when Jesus looks at the church today, does he see just one large group of people that all look alike and are all the same to him. Well, that is not what the Bible says. in fact, the Bible says that God knows us by name. in fact, he even knows the number of hairs on our heads.

One of the neatest pictures in the Bible comes in Revelation 2:17.

Revelation 2:17— “To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”

Jesus knows us by name. He has a name for each of us that only he and us will know individually. He speaks to us all, so that when can distinguish his voice and his music from the rest. And that is one of the most awesome promises from Psalm 23—the Lord is MY Shepherd.

Conclusion

Tonight, I want to end a little differently than normal. Let’s read something together if we could.

- Put Psalm 23 on the screens and read together.

You want that? You can have that. And know that this Good Shepherd will never abandon you, never leave you, never abuse you, never hurt you. Because he Protects his people, he cares about his people, he knows his people.