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The Good Shepherd - Lesson II, John 10:1-11
Read Verses John 10:1-10, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
On two occasions, in our passage in John 10, our Lord spoke of thieves and robbers entering the sheepfold by other means than the door.
And for anyone to do this indicates that indeed he is a thief and a robber for only those entering through the door are approved to care for the sheep.
Entering into the fold by other than the door reveals one who will always do harm to the sheep, in fact Jesus said they are there to destroy the sheep.
So he compares the true shepherd with those who came in falsely by whom the sheep hear in John 10:8, All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
As on many other occasions Jesus uses strong language.
Thieves and robbers are motivated by self-interest. The rabbis had substituted tradition for truth; the Talmud for the Torah; the oral law for the inspired written law.
In this they used the sheep not for the benefit of the sheep but for their own benefit.
They entered the fold intrusively, clandestinely, under the mask of religion.
But the true sheep would not hear them.
The true sheep hear the shepherd’s voice but will not hear the voice of the false shepherds.
The true sheep will hear the word of God but will not hear the wisdom of men which is the mark of false teachers.
Go through the scriptures and you will often see severe denunciation of false teachers.
John the Baptist minced no words in: Mat 3:7, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Our Lord: Mat 23:14, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:24, Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:33, Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
The Apostle Paul: 2 Cor 11:13, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
The Apostle Peter: 2 Pet 2:17, These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
Jude: Jude 1:12, These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
This ought to tell us how God feels about those who teach falsely and therefore lead many astray.
This ought to tell us how important it is to faithfully teach and preach God's word and to shun the wisdom of men.
There is a time to be angry and sin not for Jesus knew exactly the corrupting influence of false shepherds who crept in to the sheepfold unawares in order to do harm to the sheep.
What a responsibility those have who teach and preach for God will hold us accountable.
Now Jesus had already said in verse 7 the astounding claim which only deity could make that He is the door of the sheep.
And again in verse 9 He repeats that claim and with it attaches a salvation result.
John 10:9, I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
So here in verse 9 he says that he is the door that brings to man salvation, both Jew or Gentile.
He is the door into the presence of God.
By nature we are separated from God by a wall of sin.
It is a barrier that no man can breech.
We are trapped behind this barrier of sin and we are without any ability to free ourselves from the barrier.
We try to climb the wall by our own strength, by our intellect, by our knowledge, but the wall bars us forever from God.
There is no man made door through this barrier wall of sin.
Man tries every possible way to find God but God cannot be found.
God has to reveal himself to you.
And he does it by only one door. And there is no hope without this door.
God is the only one who is able to provide a door and that door we are told here in John 10:9 is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ placed himself in that wall of sin by taking on the sins of the world.
By placing himself in that wall he breeched it and became the door by which his sheep can enter into the presence of God and go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus Christ is not a locked door.
He is not a long dreary passageway of many steps, not a hallway, but simply an open door that can be traversed by one step, a step of faith.
He tells that he is the door by which if any man enter in he shall be saved, but he also tells us that there is liberty in him.
We may come in and go out and find pasture.
We now have access to the green grass and still waters and ability to walk on the paths of righteousness.
The door is the entrance of a dwelling place for those who are called by the shepherd.
Within the door those who are called will find their portion.
They will find that of which they are most needful for the shepherd knows their needs completely.
Note also the careful words of Jesus in saying that those who enter in enter in "by me".
No man enters in by their own power but those that enter in enter only by the grace of God.
Without Christ we can do nothing and that includes entering the fold of God.
So Christ empowers his own to come in.
It is all of grace and none of us even to the entering in.
But in contrast to Jesus Christ as the door, the thief is not interested in the welfare of the sheep.
So John records the words of Jesus in John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
The thief is only interested in stealing, killing and destroying.
He is involved in deceit and violence.
Ezekiel knew about these self-serving shepherds when he wrote in:
Ezek 34:1-9, And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
And Zechariah tells of the leader of the false shepherds, the idol shepherd that we find in: Zechariah 11:16,17:
For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.
This idol shepherd is the anti-christ who comes into the fold not by the door but comes over the wall bent on destroying the sheep.
But Jesus emphasizes the difference between himself and the thieves and the robbers who take from the sheep.
Jesus takes nothing, bringing life, the thief takes everything, bringing death.
The thief's motives are totally malicious, the good shepherd desires the wellbeing of the sheep.
He wants them to have plenty of pasture and enjoy cool waters.
For he says in John 10:11, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
In contrast to the false shepherds Jesus presents himself as the good shepherd,
the only shepherd that truly cares for the sheep,
the only shepherd that is worthy,
the only excellent shepherd,
the only shepherd that will give his life for the sheep.
Ezekiel also knew about the good shepherd when he said in Ezekiel 34:
Ezek 34:11,12,15,16,23,30,31, For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.
So by saying that he is the good shepherd he affirms to the Pharisees that he is deity.
They knew David's 23rd Psalm.
They knew Ezekiel and Isaiah. He here identifies himself with Jehovah.
He here identifies himself with the redemption of the sheep.
He lays down his life for the sheep.
This is one of the scriptures which clearly defines the Atonement.
The good shepherd was not a martyr for a cause or a truth or as a moral example of self-sacrifice.
He would give his life for a people.
He would give his life so that they might live.
Had he not been willing to lay down his life for the sheep there would have been no hope for them. |