The Good Shepherd - John 10:1-41; 20:31,32

Intro:

John 10:1–6 CSB

1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don’t know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

Point #1: Do You Know the Voice of Jesus?

Part of getting to know Jesus is getting to know him through God’s Word and through the men who walked with Him and were taught by Him!

John 1:1–4 CSB

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

A. Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. He is the perfect embodiment and fulfillment of the scriptures!

In Bible College our professors use to say that the Gospels (the biography of Jesus’ Life and Ministry) were the skeleton (framework) and the Epistles (Letters) were the muscles, ligaments and skin (that taught us how to apply proper belief (also called doctrine).

2. Additionally, we learn who Jesus is by interaction with the Holy Spirit through prayer!

A. Hebrews 8:11 NIV “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.””

TS: Continuing in John 10:7

John 10:7–10 CSB

7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

Point #2: Jesus is the Gate!

Jesus give us another figure of speech (Metaphor)...

John 14:6–7 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Acts 4:12 CSB

12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

TS: Continuing John 10:11

John 10:11–21 CSB

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. 13 This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” 19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and he’s crazy. Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These aren’t the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Point #3: Jesus is the Good Shepherd!

Jesus lays his life down for the sheep...

Mark 10:45 CSB

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

Romans 5:6 CSB

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

2. Jesus is combining the Jews and the Gentiles into one flock!

A. Literal Israel and spiritual Israel.

Romans 11:25–27 CSB

25 I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.

TS: Continuing in John 10:22

John 10:22–30 CSB

22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

Point #4: The Jews Respond, “How Long Are You Going to Keep Us in Suspense? If You are the Messiah, Tell Us Plainly.”

JESUS’ RESPONSE: I DID TELL YOU, BUT YOU DIDN’T BELIEVE!

John 10:31–39 CSB

31 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him. 32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?” 33 “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods? 35 If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God? 37 If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me. 38 But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.” 39 Then they were trying again to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

Point #5: What Jesus Was Speaking Was Only Blasphemy if He Was Not God!

Jesus starts his rebuttal with, “for which good deed are you stoning me?”

Their retort is, no for the good deeds but for blasphemy, making yourself equal with God...

Jesus then gives us a tough scripture… “If he called those to whom the word of God came “gods” - scripture cannot be broken-

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 10:34

10:34. Jesus’ response to their objection requires a bit of insight into the methods of argument common in Rabbinic discussions. He first directed them to the Old Testament: in your Law. Normally “the Law” refers to the first five books. But here it means all the Old Testament, for Jesus quoted from the Psalms. It was “your” Law in the sense that they gloried in their possession of it, and also in the sense that they should submit to its authority over them. Psalm 82 speaks of God as the true Judge (Ps. 82:1, 8) and of men, appointed as judges, who were failing to provide true judgment for God (Ps. 82:2–7). “Gods” in Psalm 82:1, 6 refers to these human judges. In this sense, God said to the Jews, You are gods. In no way does this speak of a divine nature in man.

10:35. As seen in verse 34, Jesus argued that in certain situations (as in Ps. 82:1, 6) men were called … “gods.” The Hebrew word for God or gods is ’ělōhîm. This word is used elsewhere (e.g., Ex. 21:6; 22:8) to mean human judges. Jesus added to His argument the words, and the Scripture cannot be broken, so that no one could evade its force by saying an error was in the Scriptures. This important text clearly points up the inerrancy of the Bible.

10:36. Jesus now completed His argument. Since the inerrant Bible called their judges “gods,” the Jews could not logically accuse Him of blasphemy for calling Himself God’s Son since He was under divine orders (set apart) and on God’s mission (sent into the world).

TS: Continuing in John 10:40

John 10:40–42 CSB

40 So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. 41 Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.

Point #6: The Debate About Jesus Continues and Many Believe!

Belief was the point for John!!!

John 20:30–31 CSB

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

We Have Two Who Have Expressed Belief in Jesus and Have Dedicated Their Lives to Follow Him, This Morning They Are Coming to Be Baptized!