Believe and Live
Notes
Transcript
I Am the Good Shepherd
John 10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 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. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for 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; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
There are three basic figures in this allegory: the true shepherd, the false shepherds, and the sheep.
The Pharisees do not understand Jesus’ allegory so He proceeds to explain it to them.
Jesus shows himself as the door and the shepherd:
As the door, he is the only way into the fold.
As the shepherd, he contrasts himself with the false religion crowd. He thinks only of the sheep and is willing to give His life for them.
The true shepherd knows his sheep and calls them by name. v. 3
There are those who are His sheep (i.e. His disciples who have come to have eternal life by believing in Him),
He knows each one of them,
Each of them recognizes in Christ his own True Shepherd.
The true shepherd loves his sheep. v. 11
If there is one characteristic we must come to realize, it is the fact that he loves us.
Don’t stop with the soft love of a savior but understand he loves us enough to correct and lead us in the proper way.
Consider what all this means. When we sin, we are encouraged to
bring our mess to Jesus because he will know just how to receive us
He doesn't handle us roughly. He doesn't scowl and scold. He doesnt
lash out, the way many of our parents did. And all this restraint on
his part is not because he has a diluted view of our sinfulness. He
knows our sinfulness far more deeply than we do. Indeed, we are
aware of just the tip of the iceberg of our depravity, even in our most
searching moments of self-knowledge. His restraint simply flows
from his tender heart for his people. Hebrews is not just telling us
that instead of scolding us, Jesus loves us.
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly
The true shepherd owns the sheep. v. 16-17
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
In a chapter which lays out what is sin, we are instructed to not walk in such ways because we are his.
Salvation is not something that happens because of you. It is not your own.
The call of assurance.
Romans 8:31–39 (ESV)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.