The Good Shepherd

Well, I'm going to read from the Gospel of John chapter 10, and you can open that with me if you have your Bibles. But before I read, I'm going to pray so that the Lord opens up our ears and our hearts to His Word. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you that we are here and we've been called to worship you. We pray that you open up by your Spirit our ears and you remove those distractions from us so that we can hear you speaking to us today.

Please humble me so that I can focus on delivering your words and not my own. Change us by your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. John chapter 10.

Jesus is speaking. 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. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to 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 comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd.

I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 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.

For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. 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 was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

Many of them said, he has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? Others said, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? At that time, the feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem.

It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. 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.

But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.

So far, the reading of God's word. Well, my brothers and sisters, in the Gospel of John, we find seven what are called I am sayings of Jesus. These are sayings in which Jesus describes himself and his ministry, sometimes figurative language, and you might be familiar with some of them. Jesus says, I am the vine, or I am the door, I am the bread of life. Well, this morning, we're going to focus on that one in John 10 where he describes himself as the good shepherd.

The good shepherd. And we'll draw five points from that. Five points. Point number one, the difference between the shepherd and the thieves. Number two, the sheep hear and follow the shepherd's voice.

Number three, the sheep will be one flock. Number four, the shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. And number five, the shepherd will lose none of the sheep. Have any of you ever had to look after sheep? I haven't.

Well, the only lamb I've ever been asked to keep an eye on is the lamb roast in the oven that my mother would put on Sunday morning for Sunday lunch. But in the first century, the practice of shepherds was to keep the sheep in pens. And they did this to keep them safe from wild animals and also thieves because thieves would come in and try to steal them because sheep were quite valuable. And as we find ourselves here in John chapter 10, we see that Jesus is talking about thieves and he's talking about sheep. And we have to understand what Jesus is doing here because we sort of jumped into the story partway in the middle.

Jesus is responding to the Pharisees because of what had been happening earlier in chapter 9. You see, earlier, Jesus had just healed a man born blind. And the religious leaders of that time, they had misinterpreted and exaggerated parts of the Old Testament so that blind people and lame people, they weren't allowed in the temple. When Jesus healed this man who was blind and he reported himself to the religious leaders, they didn't like what he had to say. They didn't like the fact that he was healed by Jesus because they didn't really accept Jesus.

And so they decided they would try to cast doubt on the miracle of Jesus. They got his parents involved. And his parents said, he's a great man. Ask him. Well, this man was kicked out of the synagogue, the place where God's people came together to worship Him and hear His word.

And so now Jesus is on the scene and he's responding to these Pharisees. Verse 1, he says, 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. Verse 2, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

What Jesus is doing here, my brothers and sisters, is he's reminding these Pharisees of a prophecy from Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 34. Jesus, and in Ezekiel 34, we read these words. I'll read from verse 1. The word of the Lord came to me, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.

Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back. The lost you have not sought. And with force and harshness you have ruled them.

See, those shepherds in Ezekiel 34, those were the religious leaders. Those were the leaders who were given the responsibility of caring for God's people. And so it should be sort of evident what Jesus is doing here. He's sort of making a comparison between the religious leaders of his time, the Pharisees, and how they are treating God's people, such as the man who was healed by Jesus, and those false shepherds, those people whose responsibility it was to take care of people in Ezekiel 34, but who abused them, who used them for their own gain. And so Jesus sets up his judgment against them.

Continuing in John chapter 10, from verse 3, Jesus says, to him the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. And when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. We see here another contrast between the relationship that the shepherd has with God's people and the thieves. See, whereas there's a familiarity between God's people and the shepherd, there isn't that familiarity with the thieves. And we see that in verse 5, Jesus says, a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers.

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. And so Jesus makes it more clear. In verse 7, Jesus says to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. You see, these Pharisees, they were sort of taking upon themselves that responsibility of saying who can come into God's people, a place of worship, who can be considered one of God's sheep, and who is cast out.

Jesus says, I am the door of the sheep. Verse 9, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. If you want to be saved, Jesus says, you have to do it through me. Verse 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jesus continues. In verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Let's pause there. Jesus doesn't merely stop at saying that he's the door.

He doesn't say, oh, I'm one of the sheep too. He says, I'm the shepherd of the sheep. I'm the one that you people who want to be sheep are supposed to be following. Have you ever seen that TV programme Undercover Boss? Where the boss sort of disguises himself as one of the regular workers and then he gets to know, he works alongside them and he hears the supervisors and how they view the management and how they view the company, how they view their work, whether they have a good work ethic or not.

And you should see the look on some of these people's faces at the end of the programme when the boss reveals himself and they've seen that the one that they've been mouthing off or been complaining about the work to was the actual boss. Well, we see here that Jesus, the one that these Pharisees have been disparaging, the one that they've been saying, well, if you're a follower of him, you're not one of us. It turns out that Jesus is the actual shepherd of the sheep. So these Pharisees then, by sort of separating themselves from Jesus, are they in a sense therefore implying that they are not his sheep. What an ironic twist.

And so continuing. Jesus says, verse 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. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. We read in Ezekiel 34, the shepherd comes himself to save his sheep. From verse 7, therefore, that's Ezekiel 34 verse 7, therefore you shepherds hear the word of the Lord. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand, and I will put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God, behold, I, I myself, will search for my sheep and will seek them out. The shepherd comes to save his sheep. Now the contrast we see there is that the sheep know the shepherd's voice and that brings us to point number 2.

The sheep know his voice and follow him. We'll read from verse 19. There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Let's note that there was a division among them because of Jesus' words. Many of them said, he has a demon and is insane.

Why listen to him? Others said, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? At verse 25, they've been asking him, why don't you tell us if you are the Messiah? And so Jesus answers them, I told you, and you do not believe.

The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me. And hear carefully what Jesus is about to say. But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Let's pause.

Let's reflect upon that. Imagine Jesus saying to you, you're not one of my sheep. What a scary thing to hear from the words of Jesus himself. We also see there that the reason why they do not believe is because they are not his sheep. To make that more clear, does a person become a sheep by hearing Jesus?

Or does a person hear and follow Jesus because they are one of his sheep? I'll repeat verse 26, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. Well, do we become sheep then? Do we become sheep because we're open-minded and we're seeking for the truth, and so when we hear the gospel, we follow Jesus?

Is it because we're sort of more sensitive? We're less rebellious, we're less hesitant to believe in spiritual things. Well, no. The sheep, for example, are described in Jeremiah chapter 50 as those who've gone astray and followed after idolatry. And yet they are still called God's sheep.

In Isaiah, and Peter draws from this in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 25, he describes the sheep as those who have gone astray. The sheep can and do go astray, but when they hear the shepherd's voice, they follow him. The sheep follow Jesus when they hear his voice. Well, how does one become a sheep then? Well, the first instance we have in the Bible of anyone being described as sheep is in Genesis chapter 48.

And that's when Jacob is passing on that covenant blessing originally handed down to Abraham by God, which is not based on anything that Abraham did and which Jacob receives not based on anything that he does. This covenant blessing, this relationship between us as sheep and God is due entirely to God's loving pleasure toward us. But in verse, as we read in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 25, we who are like sheep have gone astray and we, each of us, have turned to our own way. But now we have returned to the shepherd and overseer of our souls. And this was due to the work of Jesus calling us to himself.

Now brothers and sisters, this is a powerful and comforting truth because when we pray to Jesus for those people we love that do not know Jesus, we aren't praying to a God who is waiting for an evangelist or a good preacher to come along and convince our friends or our family. Jesus is not up there wringing his hands, oh, I hope someone will come along and save my sheep for me. We're praying to a God who has absolutely the power to save and call his sheep, and that's comforting. Well, we now turn to our next point, point number 3, that when Jesus calls us, he calls us to be one flock.

So jumping back to verse 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. Now the sheep, my brothers and sisters, the Jews understood to be them. We read it in Ezekiel 34 and we know it from the Psalms.

Perhaps most famous of all is Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. But Jesus says he has other sheep. And so what he means there is that he's not just talking about the Jews, he's talking about all people from every nation, every language. We are all welcome and Jesus unites us all under one shepherd and we are one flock. Now there are two parts to that I'd like to draw out.

The first one I call gospel separation. Probably not the best terminology. And the second is gospel unity. But when Jesus calls his sheep, he doesn't just expect them to keep munching away and say, okay, I understand that. No, Jesus expects us to stop those things which distract us and lead us from him in the first place and to do what?

To come and to follow him. We must leave aside and leave and set ourselves against and say goodbye to those things which distracted us from Jesus in the first place. Though there is that element of separation, but what about the unity? See Jesus calls all of us not only to leave things behind, but to join one another as one flock and one shepherd. And it's a sad thing, isn't it?

That throughout the history of Christianity, we haven't always lived up to this. We haven't always considered other Christians as much a Christian as us. Sometime we've allowed our differences to be more important than what keeps us and brings us together, that is Jesus. And we have to see that our identity as members of Jesus' sheep is more fundamental to who we are and more lasting and eternal than all those things which keep us apart and which we know one day will fade away anyway. So let's as Christians try to live better and live up to what Jesus has called us to, to be his one flock.

So the fourth point, Jesus lays his life down for the sheep. Verse 15, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. Now throughout this teaching of Jesus, we've seen that everything that Jesus does for the sheep in knowing them, in calling them, he does because he is their shepherd. And I stress that because when it comes to the part of Jesus laying down his life for the sheep, there is a tendency sometimes to forget that. That the reason why Jesus does things for the sheep is because he is their shepherd and they are his sheep.

Now the reason why I make that more clear, my brothers and sisters, is because there is the question of whether Jesus, when he dies on the cross, whether or not he is doing it to save those who he knows won't be saved anyway, those who aren't his sheep. Jesus' sheep are those who come and believe in him. And that question of whether Jesus dies for those who he knows will not be saved is something that we have to address. Now the question isn't whether Jesus' salvation is of infinite value and enough to save as many as would. That's not the question.

And we see that in our Canons of Dort, which we, as the Reformed churches, hold on to. This death of God's Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins. It is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the world. The question isn't whether Jesus needed to, if Jesus wanted to save more people, then he would have had to die longer or he would have had to bleed more blood. No.

Jesus' death on the cross, his sacrifice is of infinite value. Now the question is whether Jesus was trying to save those people who he knows weren't his sheep. And the Reformed want to say no, there is a special relationship between Jesus and his sheep. The Canons of Dort goes on to say that this death of God's Son, this death of God's Son is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins, is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world, but that it's done in order that he might grant justifying faith to them only and thereby lead them without fail to salvation. Jesus' death on the cross was done to save his sheep and his intention was to save them, not to just make them savable.

His intention was to do the will of the Father. This is more clear, I think, in John chapter 6 and this brings us to the next point, none shall pluck us from his hand. Let's read that from verse 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Jesus says, I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. No one shall snatch us from his hand. Perhaps you've heard that well, no one can snatch us from his hand, but that doesn't mean we can't get out of his hand ourselves. But how can Jesus guarantee that these sheep will have eternal life if they can choose not to have eternal life?

So let's, as I alluded to before, I do believe John 6 makes that clearer and this is a parallel to our passage. If you have a Bible, you can turn there with me. In John chapter 6, and this is where Jesus has another I am saying, I am the bread of life. From verse 36 in John 6, but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Verse 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.

For I have come down from heaven, Jesus says, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. Jesus doesn't say the will of the Father is for me to save as many as I can. Jesus says the will of the Father is for me to save all that he has given me and I will raise them up at the last day. John 10 again, from verse 28, let me repeat.

Jesus says, I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Now, DA Carson's commentary is helpful because he draws out, he draws out that what Jesus is emphasising here isn't just how long eternal life is. Jesus isn't just making an observation of how long it is. Jesus is teaching us not about how long the life is, but his power to sustain that life. He isn't merely saying eternal life is eternal.

He's saying eternal life is something that I eternally secure, I guard, I keep, because I am the good shepherd, therefore none shall snatch them out of my hand. Now, this idea of snatching out of the Father's hand, we find in the Old Testament. You find it in places such as Deuteronomy, where it refers to God's power over everything. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 39, it says, God has the power to give life or to take it away. The power to wound and also to heal.

And then it says, no one can take from his hand. You see that power of being able to hold anything that he wants to hold onto, the fact that nothing can take out of his hand, that is the power of God. That isn't something that we can just choose to overcome by our human wills. That is why Jesus can guarantee that if we are his sheep, he will eternally secure the life that he gives us. Then Jesus says in verse 30, I and the Father are one and the Jews respond to this by picking up stones to stone him.

Why do they respond in that way? Because everything that Jesus has been saying here, Jesus is taking upon himself those things that only God can do. You see that prophecy in Ezekiel 34, that's God speaking when he says, I am the shepherd that will come down and save my people. Imagine just some ordinary believer saying, I'm going to be that shepherd and I'm going to save that people. No, that's God.

Only God can do that. The power to give life and to take it away. The power to give eternal life. The power to say, I can guarantee that you're going to have eternal life, the knowledge to say, you're not one of my sheep. That's God language.

That's God talk. The power to say that, well, as God said that none, none can take out of his hand, none can take out of my hand. That's the power, that's the language and power of God. And so when Jesus says in verse 30, I and the Father are one, he's saying more than just that we are in agreement. He's saying we have that same power.

We have that same concern. We have that same authority and control over your salvation. And so the Jews pick up stones to stone him because they know exactly what Jesus is saying. My friends, let's draw these truths together. Jesus isn't like the thieves that come and steal us away for their benefit.

Rather, Jesus is the true, the good shepherd. He personally knows each and every one of us and he cares for us. He cared for that blind man who was healed. He didn't allow him to just be badgered and kicked out of the synagogue. Jesus came and he defended him and he spoke against the Pharisees.

As his sheep, Jesus has made himself known to us and he has called out to us to follow him. That's why we're here. See, we could easily find a million reasons why we shouldn't be here. We could think of other things that could give us more fun, but the reason why we are here is because we have come to see how beautiful, how lovely and how precious the truths of Jesus are, that he is our shepherd, that he is the one that we should be following rather than the things of the world. That's why we wake up early in the morning to come to church.

And thanks be to God that Jesus has called us here. Jesus, our shepherd, unites us, all his sheep together as one flock. Look at us. We're all different, aren't we? We all have our different hobbies, our different senses of humour, things that we like to do, but we're all sitting here because we have one thing in common and that's Jesus.

He has that power. Whether you're from Kathmandu or Kilimanjaro or wherever, we are here because we love Jesus, because he has called us as our loving shepherd. Exactly. He is our Saviour. For even though we were like sheep who went astray, he gave us his precious life and suffered the penalty of sin so we won't have to.

Thanks be to God. And so having saved us by his death, we have eternal life that he secures, that he guarantees in which no one and nothing in this world can stop. From before we hear his voice, he is our shepherd who has come to find us. And we can pray for our loved ones because that's the God that we worship, the God who can save. For this is what the sovereign Lord says, I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

He is with us and leads us, who loved us so much that he gave his life for us. He tends his flock like a shepherd, we read in his word. He gathers the lamb in his arms and carries them close to his heart. He gently leads those that have young. Jesus is our mighty shepherd and none can take us from his care.

The Lord is my shepherd and I lack nothing. And surely your goodness and love shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Praise God. Let's close with prayer. Father, in whose hands your people are most secure and your adversaries, those who oppose you most, have fear, be our shepherds so we may receive all good things from your kindness.

Fill us with your overflowing cup and bring us all to dwell in your house forever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.