The Good Shepherd - John 10:1-21

©Copyright April 18, 2021 by Bruce Goettsche

A good parent feels a deep responsibility to protect their children. They will sacrifice for them and would even give their lives to protect them. They are devoted to their children. A true Shepherd feels much the same way about their sheep. And, we will see this morning, that the Great Shepherd, Jesus, cares about us with this same kind of devotion and care.

Today we look another popular and perhaps familiar passage from the Gospel of John. It is the story of the Good Shepherd. Jesus contrasts himself with the religious leaders of the day. To adequately understand the analogy He is using, we need to know a little something about sheep pens.

There were two kinds of pens. In town the pen was usually a high-walled pen with a paid guard. Sometimes it could be rough stone or mud-brick structure, only partially roofed, if covered at all. It had only one opening through which the sheep could pass when they came in for the night. The pen served as the protection for the sheep against thieves and wild beasts.

Out in the fields the pens were more rustic. They were smaller and less substantial. These pens did not have a door, only an open space in wall of piled rocks. After bringing the sheep into the pen the Shepherd would lay down in the doorway to protect the sheep. This gives us context for John 10,

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

The Good Shepherd

On the surface it is easy to glide through this passage since most of us don’t have any dealings with sheep. But Jesus starts this with “I tell you the truth” which is better translated as “Truly Truly” I say to you. Words were repeated to add emphasis. Since they didn’t have bold print, they repeated words. In other words, Jesus starts His discourse by saying, “Hey, listen up, I am going to tell you something important!” As I hope you realize, the sheep and shepherds are an analogy. Jesus is really talking about our relationship with Him!

Think of the Sheep pen as a right relationship with God. We enter that relationship through Christ who is the true gate. Our Shepherd knows us and cares for us.

Jesus points out that without Him, we are in danger because there are those who do not have the heart of a Shepherd. He calls them thieves and robbers. He says they have to sneak into the pen, and they are not there to help the sheep but to steal or destroy them. Later He compares the good shepherd to a hired hand. Whereas a Shepherd will fight to the death to protect the sheep the employee will run away saying, “I don’t get paid near enough for this!” He would leave the sheep to save himself.

So, there are stark contrasts between the Good Shepherd and the others who seek to lead the sheep. What’s the point? What is Jesus teaching us? First, there is a direct contrast between He and the Jewish leaders. Remember, we just read the story of the man who was born blind and healed by Jesus. Instead of rejoicing with the man, the Jewish leaders were upset because this took place on the Sabbath! They were not concerned about the spiritual welfare of the people (the sheep), they were concerned about control and their rules and regulations.

The thieves are those who use people or seek to draw people away from God. There is a movie based on the life of Marjoe Gortner (who stars in the movie). He learned how to preach powerfully and was ORDAINED as a Pentecostal evangelist at the age of 4. Marjoe “played the game” he worked up crowds, raked in riches, and didn’t believe any of it! In his last year before leaving “the life” he arranged for a documentary film crew to follow him to help expose the deception that he had been such a big part of. The movie “Marjoe” won an academy award.

I’d like to think Marjoe was an isolated case, but I know there are those who dress as Shepherds but really are not concerned for the sheep, they are only doing what makes them feel good or makes them money. It is a powerful thing to stand before people and be looked to for advice and counsel. There are people who love the adrenalin rush. Others look at this as a way of having a fairly easy job. You can get sermons off the internet, and, if you have the right personality, you can speak in ways that make people feel good. This is why Peter wrote,

Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. 3 Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4 And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

The Gate

We have another “I Am” statement in verse 9

Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.

As we have already seen a good Shepherd leads his sheep to the pen. As the sheep come in the Shepherd stands at the door and inspects them to see if they are scratched or wounded in any way. If so, He anoints them with oil to help their healing. He will give them water if they are thirsty and then the Shepherd lays across the doorway to keep the sheep in the pen and to guard against an intruder of any kind; even (especially) against wild animals.

This is what Jesus does for us. He is the Good Shepherd who buys our pardon with His life. Jesus calls others, “thieves and robbers.” It seems clear He is saying He is the One and only way of salvation. In John 14:6 (another of the seven “I Am’s” of John), Jesus is crystal clear.

I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me.

This kind of statement is politically incorrect. It will be called hate-speech by some and narrow-mindedness by others. People want to believe “all roads lead to Heaven.” There is a reason for that: we want to be free to choose the way to God we want. We want to make God in our image rather than accept the fact that we are created by Him.!

The idea that we need to admit our sin and weakness and turn to Jesus as our only hope is way too humiliating to some. They would rather find their “higher life” or their “actualized self” or some other nonsense. They will not humble themselves before the Lord.

The problem stems from a basic disagreement about our situation. The world says we are good people who are trying to achieve a “better personhood” or something like that. The Bible tells us we are rebellious and sinful people who refuse to fully submit to God. In other words, we are OK with God as long as we can come to Him on His terms.

The person who is dying of thirst does not quibble that they do not have more beverage choices, they are grateful for the water. The person who is starving is not upset that there is not more choices on the menu, they are grateful they have the opportunity to save their life! Likewise, the person who has lived their life as an enemy of God is foolish to complain that there are not more ways to be right with God . . . they should be grateful that there is ANY way to be right with God!

There is nothing discriminatory about the gospel message. This salvation is available to anyone who will confess their sin and embrace Christ. It does not matter who you are. There is an open door provided by the grace of God. Some will enter, others will not.

The Good Shepherd Wants to Enrich Life Not Restrict It

Jesus said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” This is a surprise to some people. They believe God “cramps our style with all His rules and regulations.” But, the truth is the Lord shows us the potential in life. He gives life meaning and purpose. He shows us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and teaches us who we were created to be and helps us to see His creative genius in others. If life is a room, the Lord enters that room and turns on the lights and opens all the curtains

D. A. Carson comments:

The world still seeks its humanistic, political saviors—its Hitlers, its Stalins, its Maos, its Pol Pots—and only too late does it learn that they blatantly confiscate personal property (they come “only to steal”), ruthlessly trample human life under their foot (they come “only … to kill”), and contemptuously savage all that is valuable (they come “only … to destroy”).[1]

If you are a believer, I suspect you have said on many occasions, “I don’t know how anyone can survive the crisis times of life, apart from the Lord.” This is because we have benefited from His strength, we are guided by His wisdom, we are fueled by His grace. And the idea of a Christian having a “fun” and enjoyable life sounds like an oxymoron but it is not. This “fun” is deeper than any “fun” the world around us dreams up.

Many believe if they live the way God tells us to live they will be miserable. “ “I want to live life my way.” They declare. Imagine approaching football the same way. You say, “I’d like to play football but there are too many rules to follow. I don’t want to have to run plays sent in by the coach, I just want to play my way.” How would that work out for you? You might get some exercise picking yourself off the ground but you would lose every game. It wouldn’t be much fun.

It is a popular saying from GK Chesterton Rick quoted a few weeks ago. I share it again because you should memorize it: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” Everyone who dismisses the superior joy of living in and walking with the Lord needs to ask themselves some questions:

1. Do I trust Him or Don’t I?

2. Has He robbed me of joy in the past?

3. Are not some of my best times in this world the result of His gifts and mercy?

4. Have I done something His way and been disappointed?

I hope the answers to those questions bring you to a point where you can see that He WILL give you abundant life. The problem is you don’t want it. C.S. Lewis says it is like a little child playing in a small puddle on the ground while a block away is an entire ocean.

The Good Shepherd Sacrifices His life for the Sheep

Jesus adds one more dimension to this:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So, I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

The famous Swiss theologian Karl Barth was once asked to give the most important word in the Bible. He answered with the Greek word hyper. This is the word that is translated as “for.” The Good Shepherd lays down his life “for” the sheep. The word may also be translated as “on behalf of,” or “in the place of.” This shows us that Christian salvation comes not by what we do for ourselves or even what we might do for God. We are saved by what Christ has done for us.

What makes Jesus the great Shepherd is the fact He actually gave His life for us! It was the only way for us to be saved. We needed someone who would bear our penalty for us. A mere man could not do the job because we all have our own sin to pay for. God became man and fully experienced all of this life. He knew who He was dying for and why it was impossible for man to be saved in any other way. He did not die merely for the Jews, He also died for Gentiles (you and me). These are the “other sheep” He speaks of.

Any other man could only give his life for one other person. Because Jesus is the Son of God, His life was of such value that it can be traded for any who would come to Him. Jesus ALONE can provide what we so desperately need. We can get into the family of God in no other way,

· Personal achievement

· National citizenship

· Religious knowledge

· Church membership

· Being a “nice” person

It is only (there is that word again!) through the death of Christ that we can enter God’s presence. One last thing:

Our Relationship is Rooted in Intimacy

Listen again to these words,

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. (3-4)

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. (10:14-15)

The relationship between the sheep and the Shepherd is one of intimacy. It is not cold, it is not adversarial, it is not like that between a slave and a servant. God draws us into an intimate relationship with Him.

This intimacy is noted by a couple of things. First, the Shepherd knows his sheep. Have you ever worked in a place where the head of the company had no idea who you were? Maybe you went to school (like me) that was so large you felt completely anonymous and alone. You may even have gone to gatherings where everyone was having a good time and you felt invisible. Perhaps you even felt that way at church! This is why I love these words! Jesus sees us! He knows us! He understands us! He loves us! He is so intimately aware of us that there is nothing that is hidden from Him. At first, that sounds scary, but in reality, it is wonderfully freeing! You don’t have to try to be something you are not. You don’t have to worry someone is going to learn the truth! It is already known, and you are embraced! His love will help you grieve, repent, heal, and move forward freed by love.

The Sheep recognized the Shepherds voice. There are many voices in the world clamoring for attention. In all this noise how are to hear His voice? We learn to discern the Shepherd’s voice by training our ears. We do this through the study of the Bible, times of prayer and listening in quiet to the whispers of God’s Spirit. The Good Shepherd loves you and wants you to love Him back. He does not want a formal relationship but an intimate one.

The Sheep trust and follow the Shepherd. The Shepherd calls and the Sheep follow. How do we do the same? How do we learn to trust? I believe we do this over time by reflecting on the past looking at how faithful He has been. Time and again He has brought us through trials and difficulties. over and over from the one seeking that trust.

C.S. Lewis wrote a book titled The Screwtape Letters. The book is a letter from a senior demon to a junior tempter. So, in the letters, the “enemy” is God. I love the way this is expressed,

To us (the demons) a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which the Enemy (God) demands of men is quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself—creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct. (Chapter 8)

The relationship you have been longing for is with Christ. Don’t push Him away. Don’t wander off. Run to Him, listen to Him, trust Him.

[1] Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 1, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 634–635.