The Beautiful Shepherd
John 10:1-21
“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.
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.
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? ” (CSB)
The Danger (V. 1; 8; 10)
How do you see yourself?
What are we on the lookout for?
False Leaders & False Messages
Ezekiel 34:1-6
The word of the Lord came to me:
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock? You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock. You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered. My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.
Acts 20:28-31
Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
2 Timothy 4:2-4
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.
What shepherd are you following?
You may regularly go to a place of worship. You may have a full, devout set of doctrinal beliefs. You may be trying very hard to believe and obey God. However, what is your real, daily, functional salvation? What are you really living for, what is your real – not your professed – god?
– Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods
The Declaration
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD
What makes Jesus the BEAUTIFUL SHEPHERD?
JESUS CALLS US BY NAME (v. 3)
JESUS LEADS FROM OUT FRONT (v. 3-4)
JESUS IS THE GATE (v. 7-10)
Particular – Protection – Provision
JESUS LEADS WITH SERVICE (v. 11-13)
JESUS LEADS WITH SACRIFICE (v. 11-15)
The Shepherd becomes the Sacrificial Lamb
Isaiah 53:6-7
We all went astray like sheep;
we all have turned to our own way;
and the Lord has punished him
for the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughter
and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
JESUS MAKES US ONE (v. 16)
JESUS HAS ALL POWER (v. 17-18)
He’s not the victim, he’s the VICTOR!
Colossians 2:14-15
He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
Our Decision (V. 19-21)
Will you trust the Good Shepherd?
If Christianity were a philosophy, it wouldn’t have such a personal impact. If Christianity were principles, or a way of life, or an ideal, we wouldn’t react so strongly. Mere concepts and lifestyle choices we can fit into our own prearranged reality. But Christianity is the person of Christ himself. And he is threatening, he is invasive, because he comes to us not as our lifestyle coach; he comes to us as our King, our Messiah.
– Ray Ortlund