John 10- I am the good shepherd

John 10:1-11

                                                            Ezekiel 34:1-11

                                                    I am the good shepherd

Today we are going to explore what Jesus meant when he said that He was the Good Shepherd.

But in order for us to understand what Jesus meant when he said this statement, “I am the Good Shepherd”, we have to look at what happened just before he said this, and so we have to look back at John chapter 9, which funnily enough comes before John chapter 10.

We haven’t got time today, to go over all in detail what had just happened back in John chapter 9, but let me encourage you today, at some time, to read through John chapter 9-

I love it….It is one of my favourite stories in the bible.

I will just give you a quick sketch of what just happened in John chapter 9.

It goes something like this……….

Jesus and his disciples saw a beggar on the street, who was blind, in fact this man had been blind from birth.

Jesus disciples saw this blind man and asked Jesus a reasonable question……they asked

Why was this man born blind?

Did his parents sin?

Did he sin?

Why was he blind?

And Jesus said to his disciples that he wasn’t born blind because of any specific sin that he or his parents had committed, but he was born blind so that the works of God may be displayed in him.

He was blind so that the works of God may be displayed in him.

And after Jesus said those words, “he was blind, so that the works of God may be displayed in him”, he went over to the blind man, spat on the ground in front of him, made some mud with the saliva, and then smeared the mud on the eyes of the man- don’t you just love it?

Jesus then told the man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash the mud off.

So, the blind man went to the pool, washed the mud off his face and guess what……..the man who was born blind, could see, for the first time in his life.

Jesus had healed him, he gave sight to a man who was blind……but that was just the beginning of the story.

What unfolded next was unbelievable.

The blind man’s neighbours, who knew the man, and had seen him beg every day and knew he was blind, but now saw this same man, had received his sight, they couldn’t quite believe it, in fact some thought it wasn’t him.

Some of his neighbours thought it wasn’t the same man- how could it be, this man was a blind beggar, but now he was a man who could see.

But the man who was blind who could now see, actually told his neighbour: no, I am that guy, I am your neighbour, I was blind, now I can see. He then told his neighbours what happened.

A bloke come over to me, I heard this spit like noise, he spat in the ground, made some mud, smeared mud on my eyes, told me to wash off the mud in the pool,- I did, and now I can see.

His neighbours, still didn’t believe his story, and so they took him to the religious leaders- the pharisees and this man who was blind who could now see, had to tell the same story to the pharisees, but this time, he told it quicker.

Man spat, made mud, put on eyes- I washed off, then I could see.

The religious leaders didn’t believe him and so they found his parents and asked them- is this your son?

His parents told the religious leaders, yes, he is our son, he was born blind, but now that he sees, we don’t know how that happened, nothing to do with us, don’t blame us if he can now see.

His parents were so scared of what the religious leaders thought, that they washed their hands of their own son, and left him to defend himself.

A man had just received his sight for the first time in his life and the first thing he has to deal with was scrutinizing questions.

The religious leaders asked the blind man, who could now see again, what happened, and more importantly they wanted to know who was the man who spat on the ground, made mud, put it on his face and told him to wash…….

And finally, this poor man, who had just been able to see for the first time in his life, was facing scrutiny, finally said these words which we find in John 9:25

Whether he (Jesus) is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see

This man had met Jesus and even though he didn’t have all his theology down pat, he didn’t know that Jesus was sinless, he didn’t know that Jesus was the Son of God, ………….but, but…. he did know this- He was blind but now he could see. Jesus had touched him, and healed him.

The pharisees on the other hand, were still perplexed and so they asked the man again, How did this man heal you?

By that time, this man who could see for the first time in his life, had enough. He said I told you the first time, I am not telling you again, but then he developed his theology, he told the pharisees, I don’t know exactly who he is, but he must be from God, if he can open the eyes of the blind, he must be from God.

Jesus had opened the eyes of a man born blind at birth, and yet this work of God that Jesus displayed produced two opposite reactions.

The Pharisees and religious leaders, had eye witness accounts of this work of God and yet they refused to believe that Jesus was the son of God, they refused to believe that Jesus was promised Messiah they refused to believe that Jesus was the light of the world and so they threw the healed man out of the temple.

The religious leaders witnessed the work of God in this man’s life and they rejected him- they threw him out.

The opposite reaction was that of the blind man.

He had witnessed the work of God in his life and he knew that Jesus was the Son of Man that Daniel prophesied about, He knew that Jesus was the Son of God and this led him to worship Jesus.

Look at chapter 9 verse 38

He said, Lord I believe, and he worshipped him

Just as a very important side note, this man’s knowledge of Jesus led to the worship of Jesus.

Our theology, our doctrine should always lead us to doxology.

Or let me put it another way, if we know who Jesus truly is, it will always lead us to worship.

If our doctrine, just leads to us bashing other people over the head, who don’t have the “right” doctrine, then we are missing the whole point of doctrine.

The more we know God, the more it will lead us to worship him.

But back to the story.

At the end of this story, there are two responses to the work of God that Jesus did.

1. Rejection

2. Worship him as Lord

But why are their two responses?

Both witnessed the same work of God and yet some believed and yet others rejected…….and in order to answer this question, we will look at the figure of speech Jesus used when he claimed that he was a Good Shepherd.

Remember as we hit John chapter 10, Jesus was still speaking to the pharisees and religious leaders, those who had just witnessed this blind man receive his sight.

And so, Jesus used an analogy which everyone would have understood in order to help these religious leaders understand exactly who Jesus was.

And yet despite using this anology of a shepherd and sheep, which everyone would have been familiar with, especially the religious leaders, they still failed to understand what Jesus was talking about.

Look at John 10:6

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them

Jesus wasn’t explaining rocket science to them, he was saying some simple things which really anyone could have understood.

Look at John 10:1-5 with me:

“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.”

Jesus was talking about a shepherd and his sheep, a practice that all were familiar with.

Jesus was just stating a few facts about the shepherd and the sheep which everyone would have known.

A shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know their shepherd.

And so, when the shepherd called their sheep by his whistle or his whatever signal, the sheep would know his voice and follow him. They wouldn’t follow the voice of another, because the sheep knew it wasn’t their shepherd.

The shepherd is the one who was in charge of the pen and so he had the authority to open the door or the gate of the pen, to let the sheep in and out. The shepherd didn’t need to climb over the fence to get in, since it was his fence, his paddock, his sheep. Only someone who wasn’t the shepherd and wanted to steal the sheep would try and climb over the fence. They didn’t have authorised access.

What was so hard for these religious leaders to understand?

They couldn’t understand that when Jesus was talking about thieves and robbers- he was talking about them.

These religious leaders had led the people astray. These religious leaders thought they were the gatekeepers to the kingdom of God. They thought that it was they, who determined who was or was not part of the kingdom of God.

These religious leaders were like the shepherds that Ezekiel described in Ezekiel chapter 34.

These were shepherds who fed themselves and not the sheep. They wore the long robes, decorated the temple, made sure they were well looked after, and yet failed to look after the poor and the widow.

These were the shepherd who slaughtered the fat sheep in order to feed themselves. They had given favours or turned a blind eye to the sin of those rich people in the congregation because they were filling the coffers.

These were the shepherds who were not helping the weak sheep, they weren’t seeking those who had strayed.

These were the shepherds who ruled with a harsh fist.

And now Jesus tells these shepherds, those religious leaders and pharisees standing before him that day- that they were these false shepherds, these were the robbers and the thieves, who, rather than protect the sheep, put the sheep into danger.

And so, one of the reasons, that these religious leaders, could not understand who Jesus was, because they first failed to recognise who they were, and this was an ugly truth they didn’t want to accept.

It is hard to accept truth that you don’t like.

Remember when the prophet Nathan told David that he was like a man who stole his poor neighbours lamb and cooked it, even though, David had thousands of sheep himself?

You can read it in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.

Nathan, the prophet, was making the point that David sinned by killing Uriah and taking his wife. Dave was slow to understand this, but when he did, the reality hit him between the eyes, he deeply repented and healing began.

These religious leaders didn’t want to acknowledge their sin and they certainly didn’t want to acknowledge who Jesus was.

Look at chapter 10, verses 7-11 with me:

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.

Firstly, Jesus told them that he is the door or the gate.

This means that he is the only legitimate way the sheep can go in and out of the sheep pen. Unlike the thieves and robbers who enter illegally, Jesus is the only way for the sheep to get in and out of the pen.

Jesus decides who is in and out of God’s kingdom- not the religious leaders.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, no-one comes to the father except through me

Friends, we only enter into God’s kingdom through Jesus.

Jesus and Him alone.

And so, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. That means we are saved now, as his spirit lives in us, saved in the future as we pass from this life to the next. And unlike the thieves, robbers, the false shepherds, who kill and destroy the sheep, Jesus the good shepherd, looks after his sheep, in fact he laid down his life for them, as he died on the cross to pay for all of their sins. In our good shepherd, we will find complete satisfaction in this life and the next.

But we are still left with this question, why do some people reject Jesus and others believe?

Well throughout John 10 we can see the answer.

Look at John 10:3 again with me:

Remember Jesus is talking to the religious leaders

To Him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Notice, that the sheep who hear his voice and respond to his call, are those sheep who belong to him.  Jesus calls his own by name.

Those who don’t belong to him, don’t hear his call and follow him.

Jesus puts this more emphatically in John 10:25-26

Look at those verses with me:

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep”

Jesus did not say that these religious didn’t belong to God’s family because they didn’t believe but he said it the other way around, he said, you don’t believe, because you don’t belong.

This leads us to the doctrine of predestination which is the truth that God chooses who are his before time, not based on what he sees in us, because purely based on his mercy…….and if this doctrine of predestination is understood properly, it should lead us to praise, worship and the mercy of God.

Because the heart of predestination is this:

God decides who are his.

God decides who are in the pen or not- God decides.

Not me, not the church, not you, not your family, but God.

You can pat yourself on the back as much as you like, and say look at the choice I made to follow Jesus, you can point out losers who haven’t made their own choice to follow Jesus, but the truth is, you didn’t choose Jesus- Jesus chose you.

It is humbling to know, and yet also very comforting to know that Jesus chose you.

And so, when your faith feels weak, it doesn’t matter, it is not about your faith, it is about Jesus, the good shepherd who laid his life down for you and has already secured you in his pen, no matter how you feel.

And the salvation which he has given you, is not just future life, but life now, life by his spirit.

The good shepherd Jesus came to give us life and life to the full.

Let us pray.