What It Means To Be A Sheep

John 10:1-21

John 10:1–21 NKJV

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 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. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 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. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 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.” Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

In certain circles, being called a sheep is a big insult. Even has resulted in a relatively new term over the past 25 years: Sheeple. Merriam Webster’s informal definition: “people who are docile, compliant, or easily influenced : people likened to sheep”. However, we find many references in the Bible that the Christian is part of Jesus’ “flock”. How should we react to this? What are we really?

We are sheep! (Psalm 78:52,79:13,95:7,100:3)! Practically, what does that mean?

Psalm 78:52 “But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock;”

Psalm 79:13 “So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture, Will give You thanks forever; We will show forth Your praise to all generations.”

Psalm 95:7 “For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:”

Psalm 100:3 “Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

It means I need a Leader. (1-6)

Sheep are not independent animals.

Helpless, defenseless, leaderless.

As Christians, we are not called eagles, or wolves, or any other “majestic” creature. We are called sheep.

We need to EMBRACE such a label, because it really does describe our life of sacrifice to God.

Sheep, if not properly led, will follow each other to their deaths.

Can easily be outrun and devoured by wolves if not protected.

We need to get rid of our pride, and admit that THIS IS WHO WE ARE.

Note that we “do not hear the voice of strangers”.

Western shepherds use a sheepdog; eastern shepherds traditionally have led their sheep. “Sheepfolds” might house multiple flocks, but when one flock’s shepherd leads the flock out, the other flocks don’t listen, because they know THEIR shepherd’s voice.

Blindly following the word of Man makes us WORSE than sheep. Isaiah 55:6-11

If someone calls us a sheep because we are blindly following the mandates of mankind, then it is truly an insult, and one we deserve.

Sadly, many of Christ’s flock are wandering off to strangers on a daily basis!

This may be because we are too concerned about the CONSEQUENCES of following His Voice, rather than simply trusting Him more than mankind.

Isaiah 55:6-11 - We are blaspheming and apostate if we think that following the word of Man is the same as following the word of God.

It means I am part of my Shepherd’s flock. (7-10)

He is “the door of the sheep”.

The “sheepgate” is the door that protects the sheep in their “sheepfold”. (Illustrate on board)

Massive implications for the Kingdom citizen! John 14:6; Ephesians 2:14-18

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Ephesians 2:14–18 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

We “know His voice”

We “will not follow a stranger” Deut. 32:16-17; Ps. 106:37-38; 1 Cor. 10:20-21

We should not confuse ourselves about who our Shepherd really is.

Deuteronomy 32:16–17 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.

Psalm 106:37–38 They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood.

1 Corinthians 10:20–21 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

We might be confused when we see people abandoning God. It means that they don’t really know His voice! 1 Pet. 2:25

Whole congregations turning from the LORD means that the flock is leading itself, and is not led by the Shepherd. We need to remember to follow the SHEPHERD, know HIS voice, and NOT to follow the flock.

1 Peter 2:25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

When we blindly accept the word of men, we are being sold by Satan. 2 Pet. 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:1–3 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

KJV: “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you"

Do you want to stand in the Kingdom of Christ, or cower under the lies of mankind?

It means I am completely dependent upon my Shepherd. (11-16)

We “find pasture” only in Him.

He is our ONLY sustenance. When we find “spiritual fulfillment” (i.e. Usually an emotional experience) in something else, we need to be very careful! Heb. 13:20-21; Matt. 6:33

Hebrews 13:20-21 - We find no fulfillment or purpose without Him.

Matt. 6:33 - develop a HUNGER and THIRST for His kingdom and His righteousness!

He is our ONLY protection. Eph. 6:11

This is the shepherd who will lay His life down for us - and not stop when it gets tough!

We can find NO GREATER defense than what Jesus provides!

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

We are “saved” only in Him.

Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

We are sheep that need salvation, no matter what we do. Matt. 25:33

Matthew 25:33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

We will still be sheep at the judgment.

God imparts salvation to His flock. If we want to be saved, we need to be part of the flock that Jesus died for. Acts 4:12

If I am part of a group that denies the Truth of the Shepherd, I am either ignorant of the True Flock, or I simply am no longer following the Shepherd.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

We are to be the ONLY, SINGULAR flock of Christ. 1 Cor. 12:13

God has assembled His flock (a union of Jews and Gentiles - the Kingdom of Christ), and this is a sacred thing.

We are not considering an earthly institution, but a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM.

The world will try to tell us there are multiple “flocks” and that no matter what flock you belong to, you will go to heaven.

We are NOT blind followers of human culture, human government, human fads, etc.

We need to want to be a part of the “one flock”, under “one shepherd”.

Further, it means there is NO distinction among the sheep based upon those human parameters.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

It means I must understand My Shepherd’s motives. (17-21)

He does all of this for us WILLINGLY. Luke 22:42

The Father loves Him because He lays everything on the line for us.

“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” - Jesus was never forced into this!

Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”

“This command” - Jesus shows us an amazing portrait of free will and obedience working TOGETHER! Behold the model “kingdom citizen”, the Great Shepherd Jesus!

He will be constantly misunderstood and mislabeled.

The charges:

He has a DEMON. Mark 3:22-30

A common accusation against Jesus that held no truth.

Mark 3:22–30 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Let us gain courage from this exchange! Jesus presents healthy boundaries here, and turns the question back around to the accuser. Who is the one who REALLY has a demon?

We need to remember this when people call us “sheep” as an insult. Who are the REAL ignorant, blind, dumb “sheep”? Much to show that those who blindly follow what mankind says are the true sheep.

He is MAD.

If we think Jesus is crazy, their question rings true: “Why do you listen to him?”

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord. No other possibilities about the identity of Jesus.

The clear question: “can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Clearly, NO. Nothing like what Jesus had done had ever happened before.

We know that our Shepherd cares for His flock.

Matthew 18:12–14 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If He cares that much for the lost, how much do you think He cares for every one of us?