Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Chapter ten in the book of John is where we're gonna be today. We last week started off the chapter and then today we'll continue on in verses.
[00:00:10] As you can see, I think on the screen here in a minute. But verses eleven and following, we've been walking through this book. We've seen over and over again that Jesus has been talking with all sorts of people through his life and through his ministry, calling them to believe in him. John starts off in chapters one, two and three. We see that there's a calling to people to pay attention to Jesus as the lamb of God. And appropriately, even ten chapters later, nine or ten chapters later, we see Jesus talking about sheep. And today we'll see that he's calling himself the good shepherd. Last week we saw in the beginning of chapter ten, Jesus talking about sheep, the shepherd and the sheep full of. And we saw that Jesus said he is the door. Last week we talked about how there were different sheepfolds. Some sheepfolds had a gate on it, and there was an under shepherd who was to guard the sheepfold. And then there was also another kind of sheepfold that didn't have a gate, a door on it. But Jesus said, he is the door. He is the one that keeps the sheep safe and keeps the danger out. And so today we pick up, after he has talked through that, it called people to find life in himself, safety in himself. And he says here now, as he alluded to in the beginning of chapter ten, that he is not just the door, but he's also a shepherd. And that's important for us to see today. He often uses parallels jesus does and metaphors to describe spiritual truths to people who are very physically grounded. And you and I know we can be pretty physically grounded sometimes. We can be very tangible kind of people. We need physical things that we can understand, pictures that we can understand.
[00:02:00] As we look at this, we'll just read this passage in just a moment. If you see in your bibles, we'll start in verse eleven. Jesus here leans into the reality of what a good shepherd looks like. And sometimes we can look at this. And even talking about sheep and shepherds, we can talk about dumb sheep. But that's not Jesus focus. Jesus focus is helping us to understand his character and friends.
[00:02:28] This, for some of you, maybe many of you, is not new in thinking about some of these traits, some of these characteristics of Jesus. And I just want to encourage you and challenge you, call you to lean into what Jesus is saying about himself, not just as information in our minds and songs. That we sing, all of which are good. But how does this engage your heart on a day to day basis? As you think about your marriage, as you think about your kids, as you think about your friends and your coworkers? What does it look like for you and I to rest in the fact, in the knowledge that Jesus is a good shepherd? Now, even as I say that you and I know this to be true, you're not. I think everybody, probably everybody in this room is not a shepherd in your day to day life, right? Is anybody here regularly? Shepherds. You take care of sheep on your day to day life? No. None of you. So even this picture of a good shepherd, most of us go, okay, I know that to be some biblical concept and there are people out there that are shepherds of sheep. But for me, that is not me. And so even as we consider this concept, this picture of a shepherd and a good shepherd and sheep, there's a level of distance that exists for probably all of us because we don't understand. We don't see as the people Jesus was speaking to. We don't see this happening regularly, right? Most of us are not driving out in the field regularly looking for shepherds and watching them interact with their sheep. If you ever have time to do that, go and do that. It's pretty cool. But most of us, that's not our life. And so, as we walk through this text, I'll help maybe bridge the gap between 2000 years ago and the shepherds and the culture and the era that they were walking in to us today. What you and I have to know is this.
[00:04:14] A shepherd is one who cares deeply about individual sheep, not just the flock. A shepherd is one who sees further out, who sees beyond what the sheep see in and of themselves. A shepherd is one who knows where they're going, where the sheep are going before the sheep know where they're going. The shepherd is one who sees the brokenness of the sheep and calls them to himself. A shepherd is one who can see if there's something amiss in the life of a sheep and say, let me take care of you. A shepherd is one who knows the danger that a sheep is going to experience before the sheep experiences it and knows how to protect the sheep. These are all things that you and I desire in our daily life. We want to know, is there someone or something out there that can help guide me in this life that I'm in? In the midst of the danger that the world has to offer, I have uncertainties all around me. Is there someone who can say? I've got you.
[00:05:21] We all desire this. We all want to know, is someone going to watch out for me because I don't know about what's gonna happen with my job or with my kids or with my marriage or with my friendship. I don't know. I need direction. And Jesus says, I'm the good shepherd. I'm the one who offers you the direction, the protection, the guidance, the hope that you need. That's what we need to see here. And we will see here as we walk through this passage together. So read with me and then we'll pray. Jesus is continuing on. He's already talked about in verse ten, the thief will look to destroy, to kill.
[00:06:02] But I came that you may experience abundant, full, overflowing life, joy, hope in your life. And then he goes on. After talking about the door in verses one through ten, we see in verse eleven, and following Jesus clearly saying, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:06:24] He is one, he who is a hired hand and not a shepherd. He does not own the sheep.
[00:06:31] When he 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 what? 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. 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 and 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. Amen.
[00:07:20] This charge I have received from my father.
[00:07:24] Verse 19.
[00:07:27] Jesus has stopped talking there. Verse 19 says, there was again division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, he is a demon. He is insane. Why do you listen to him? Yet others said, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon.
[00:07:50] Can a demon open. And this is a reference to chapter nine. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?
[00:07:58] Lord, we come before you today as our Lord, as our savior, as our king, as the creator of the world that we live in, the creator of our bodies, the one who can bring healing and restoration, even as this text just mentions here. Who can bring healing to a blind mandeh, who can bring freedom to souls that were in bondage to sin.
[00:08:26] You, Lord, are the one we look to this morning. We ask that you would guide and direct us to see the beauty of your character in this text.
[00:08:37] You would remind us of what this looks like in our daily life, that it wouldn't just be head knowledge for us today, but we would find great comfort in knowing that you have not abandoned us, your children, in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:08:54] Contextually, what's happening here, it's important for us to know, as I made mention moments ago, is there were people in this era that would have known regularly, because they would have seen regularly shepherds and sheep all over the place. This is not an uncommon sight for them. They also would have known this, particularly in the conversation that Jesus is having a. There are what's called, we call religious leaders, or the Pharisees. There are scribes. There's people who are familiar with the Old Testament and their job as the Religious, as the title implies, leaders was to guide and direct the spiritual lives and actually, many times, the physical lives of the israelite people. So their job was to, in many ways, be like pastors to the people. And they viewed, as the Old Testament made reference, they viewed themselves as the shepherds, spiritual shepherds to spiritual sheep. So the spiritual leaders viewed themselves as spiritual shepherds, and then the regular israelite folk being the sheep that were to listen to them. And we see that the picture of shepherd and sheep is actually a beautiful picture that goes back even to someone like King David, right? It's not something that was scorned all of the time, but rather, you're a shepherd. The king David, the great King David, was a shepherdess. Many of us know psalm 23, right, a well known psalm that speaks about the Lord being our shepherd, the Lord being our shepherd. And even today, we get this picture, this spiritual picture of shepherd and sheep with churches, don't we? Isn't that why some people calling pastors of a church like the shepherd and the people in the church, the sheep? Right. There's this spiritual picture of someone who's supposed to guide and direct, who's supposed to protect others as they lead. There's a spiritual picture that is true today, just like it was true thousands of years ago. And so it's worth noting that in your outline in front of you, there's five points that talk about what the good shepherd looks like. You'll also see that parallels well with what a good, healthy pastor should look like as well sheep shepherd, Jesus as the shepherd us as the sheep. And also in the midst of life of the church, we see this parallel. I think it's a beautiful picture. We're gonna look, actually, in your first point, in verses twelve and 13. And I know we're skipping verse eleven. Don't worry, we'll come back to it. The first point that's worth leaning into is this Jesus. He creates this parallel between a good shepherd in verse eleven to chapters verses twelve and 13. And we'll look at that now. Firstly, we get this picture of the hired hand. And Jesus says he's not like the hired hand. We see that the good shepherd protects his sheep. You can write that down if you'd like. The good shepherd protects his sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd. Or particularly the shepherd of the particular flock, who does not own the sheep. Just a clarifying sentence. Sees a wolf coming, and what leaves the sheep? He does not stand between danger and the sheep, but rather he gets out of the way. And then it says, he not just leaves, but he flees. He runs away, and the Wolfenhe snatches them, looking perhaps for the weak one, the one who's distant from the flock and scatters them. He flees. Why? Because he is the hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. But particularly because he's a hired hand. He cares more about the money that he's able to make because of his job, rather than the care and the care, the welfare, I should say, of the sheep. And anyone in that culture would have known this jesus talking about this one who's a hired hand. And they're probably going, we know all about hired hands. Hired hands. I've heard stories about hired hands. I want to make sure that I'm with my sheep regularly, or at least if I'm going to hire someone to watch my sheep, I want to make sure I know them well. Because there seems to be this nature of the hired hand who is not willing to sacrifice himself and to protect the sheep. Being in the wilderness, being in the countryside as a shepherd, was dangerous work. Remember, David, not that you actually, in your life, remember David. But remember reading about David as he talks to Saul. And he says that when a bear or a lion came to attack the sheep, what did he say? I ran away? No, but rather he fought them off. He stood in the gap between the sheep in whom he was to protect and the danger. That is a good shepherd, one who's willing to protect the sheep, as we'll see, at any cost. They care more about the welfare of the sheep. Than they do about their own welfare.
[00:13:45] Hired hands, though Jesus says, I'm not like that. I care deeply about you now, spiritual connection. Because Jesus often does this, right? Who's the hired hands that he's talking about here?
[00:13:58] The religious leaders. The religious leaders who do their job, and they probably do what they think they're supposed to be doing. But when hardship comes, who do they care about first? Themselves?
[00:14:11] Who are they looking out for? The welfare of the sheep of Israel or themselves?
[00:14:16] It doesn't take a great scholar to read through the gospels and see they seem to care more about their own agenda. They do the agenda of God and his heart for the sheep. They lead and they teach to their own benefit because it benefits them. Rather than I'm willing to go out of my way to think differently, I'm willing to go into places where there's danger or hardship or uncomfortability so that the sheep are safe. So without directly calling out these spiritual leaders, these religious leaders, Jesus metaphor truly would have hit home. We see later on in verse 21, you might have. Or verse 19, notice what it says. And I know we're jumping way ahead. There was again, division. There's probably a bunch of those religious leaders who are like, I know who he's talking about. That's not very nice of him to talk about us. Like those hired hands. We do care. They might think to themselves. So Jesus clearly lays out here who he's not. I'm not like those people who are in it for themselves. I'm willing to, like a good shepherd, stand in the gap between danger and the sheep. So Jesus tells us here who, yes, who he is, but also who he's not. He moves on a little bit more in verse 14, and he clarifies the sentence again as he did in verse eleven. He says, I am the good shepherd .2 on your outline, is this Jesus, or the good shepherd knows and is known by his sheep? Knows and is known by his sheep. Again, he makes this emphasis. Again, I am the good shepherd. As a good shepherd would, I know my own. And you see in verse 14, I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me. By the way, the word we're going to talk about here in a moment is the word no. So just notice that just as the father knows me and I know the father, I lay my life down for the sheep. This idea of knowing something. How many of you know what two plus two is?
[00:16:20] Most of you do.
[00:16:23] Which is good. Which is good.
[00:16:27] How many of you know how to get home from here. Okay. Yeah. You know some things. How many of you know what your favorite food is? That's a little harder, maybe I don't even know if I know what my favorite food is.
[00:16:40] The idea of knowing something like that. What's two plus two? How do I get home? What's my favorite food? What's my favorite color? Do I know how to do a particular task? That's knowledge in the head. I'm aware of something. This. No. This word, no, here is one that is much deeper than that. It's an intimate kind of knowledge of someone. The word that we see parallel here, if we look back, even in other places in scripture, is in Genesis when it says, for example, Adam knew Eve, or a husband knew someone else, or God even knew his people, Israel. Or God. Actually, the passage is, he only knows Israel. This idea of knowing is this deepest, intimate kind of understanding of the person, the character, the heart of somebody else. It's more than just, I know of something, but rather I'm close to that thing or that person. So when Jesus says, I know my own, it's not, I know that there should be 13 sheep out there, but rather we get this other picture.
[00:17:52] I know the names and the traits of all 13 of those sheep. I know which one is most likely to run faster than all the other ones. I know which one is most likely to walk that way when he sees a little squirrel running over there. I know which one is going to run fastest to me when he sees me, even when I've only called one time. And I know which one's probably going to be at the back after I've been calling and calling. I know them. I know their heart. I know their character. I know their actions. I know my own and my own. What's the word? Know me. So we get even a step beyond just the shepherd knowing the sheep. But also we have this picture of the sheep who are deeply aware of the shepherd. It's not just, oh, that's right, my shepherd wears like this red hat. And so that's who I'm going to follow. But rather, if you've ever seen, maybe there's some videos floating around about this, a shepherd who calls their sheep, we talked a little bit about this last time. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd. They know the tone that the shepherd might use with them when they're calling them by name and bringing them back. The sheep know me. And so we have this picture of intimate knowledge in it. And if we didn't get this glimpse already, Jesus expounds upon this a bit more. In verse 15, he says, just as the father knows me. Now we have this picture of two parts of the Trinity, right? Jesus and the Father, the son and the father is not one of where Jesus says, I know about the father and the father knows about me, but rather I have close relationship with. Think about the unity of the Trinity here. Close, intimate knowledge of the other. And that's Jesus point here. We don't just know of each other, but we closely. We deeply know each other. We have to ask ourselves this question when we think about this kind of relationship that Jesus has with his sheep. Do you know Jesus like that?
[00:19:54] Do you know of. I can tell you all the stories about.
[00:19:58] That's knowing of Jesus, or do you know him?
[00:20:04] I know what Jesus would say if he were in this situation. Remember that wristband a couple decades ago. What would Jesus do? A lot of it was, well, I read this story, maybe, and I think I saw when Jesus did this one thing, so I'll do that. But rather, I know the heart of Jesus. And so in this situation, I know how Jesus would treat my husband or my wife, because I know the heart of Jesus. In the midst of this frustrating parenting situation, I need to be like Jesus to them. Well, what would jesus do? Well, I can't find when Jesus interacted with a three year old. So I don't know what to do. But rather someone who knows Jesus says, I know exactly what to do because I know the heart of the master of my shepherd. That's Jesus point here. He calls us to not only know him, but he reminds us that he deeply knows. You think about that every day right now. The doubts that you have, the worries that you have, the concerns that you have, the fears that you have. Jesus knows that. And he knows how you're going to respond to it as well.
[00:21:09] He knows what you're going to do. When that one person walks in the room, he's like, I know that one. I know what they're going to do.
[00:21:16] I don't want them to do that, perhaps. And as they get to know me, they're going to see what my heart is for them in that situation. And so, friends, I want to just remind you this morning, no matter where you are, Jesus knows you. He knows your heart. He knows your fears and your concerns, and he knows what you need and what he calls you to do, just like he would call any sheep to do, is when you're wandering, when you're afraid, when you're uncertain, run to me. Because I am good and I have your best in mind.
[00:21:53] I have your best in mind.
[00:21:56] He goes on and he says this. I lay down my life for the sheep. Again, we have this beautiful picture of a good shepherd who's willing to say, not just I know you and I know all about you, but I'm willing to die so that you may. What? Live? I'm willing to go the distance, whatever it may be, so that you can experience hope, so that you can experience a future.
[00:22:25] I want that for you. Even at the cost to myself. That's not what a hired hand would do, is it?
[00:22:31] Here Jesus says, as a good shepherd, I know you, so much so that I'm willing to die for you. Now also, it's worth noting this, that Jesus is willing to not just lay down his life for the flock, but for the sheep.
[00:22:48] For the individual sheep, this gives us a greater glimpse into why he loves so much and will. He's willing to lay down his life in the way that he is because he knows he's not just, I care about the flock as a whole, but rather I care about the individual sheep. I know them personally.
[00:23:09] This question we have to ask before we look at, .3, it's this. Are you one of Jesus's sheep?
[00:23:17] Because the answer that you have is dependent on what you do with the person of Jesus. Have I trusted in him as my lord, as my savior, as we saw last week, as the only entrance, as the only way to get into a place of safety, eternal safety. Are you one of Jesus sheep? Do you deeply know and desire to be close to him? As a good, as a sheep would do? They would follow closely with the good shepherd. They would respond when the shepherd calls them. So too, Jesus desires this for us. How do you know if you're close to someone? How do you know if you're close to Jesus? If you deeply know him and are known by him?
[00:24:00] I think this question, this evaluating question might be something you can consider.
[00:24:05] Do you miss him or even somebody in your life? How do you know if you're as close to somebody? Do you miss them when they're not there?
[00:24:13] How do you know if you are close in your relationship with Jesus? If for some reason there's distance, a day, a week, a month has gone by and you realize I have yet to engage with the person of Jesus. The words of Jesus and I feel fine, check your heart. Say like, wait a minute. If he's my shepherd, I should feel lost. I should feel confused. I should feel like. Like wondering, what am I supposed to do in my life as any sheep would do who is far from the shepherd as any sheep would do. Just like we see a sheep wandering by themselves. We would say, you don't have a shepherd because you're by yourself. You're off in the distance hear Jesus saying, I'm good and I'm worth your time. I'm worth you following me. And I know your heart and I want you to know me. We see something else, verse 16.3 on your outline. Not only does he protect, does he know, but he also unites. And this is a unique verse just kind of inserted in here that gives us a beautiful glimpse of Jesus foreknowledge, of Jesus sovereignty, of Jesus power over the future and involvement in the lives and care for the lives of all people everywhere in the world, not just the people of Israel, especially as the religious leaders are listening to Jesus. They all in the let's go back in our time machine, maybe 2000 years. The people of Israel believe this. We are God's people and no one else's. God cares about us and everyone out there, they're heathens or as they would use a different word, gentiles. That's who they are. God does not care about their salvation. Now if we look as we do 2000 years later back at the words of Jesus, we read verses like John 316 for God so loved the Israelites, the world, but for them there, they would have gone, okay, okay, we'll just kind of move on. But here we have Jesus inserting again a beautiful picture that his heart is not just for the jewish people, the Israelites, but for the world. I have verse 0.3 on your online. He unites, the good shepherd unites all of his sheep. Verse 16. And I have other sheep that are people. That is what he's talking about is I have people that are not a part of this group of Israel here, that are not of this.
[00:26:30] I have people who will put their faith and their trust in me who are not here today.
[00:26:37] Isn't that good news? He's talking about you. He's talking about you and I.
[00:26:43] It is really, really good news that he didn't say and you are the only ones who are going to be saved and the only ones going to heaven. That's it. But rather I have other sheep that are not a part of this fold the nation of Israel. And I must bring them also. We see again the heart of Jesus who desires to find people who are outscattered about as imagine the flock of sheep here. And Jesus, I have other sheep out there who I desire to come, follow me, and they will look what it says there, and they will listen to my voice. My sheep will.
[00:27:19] To what end? So there will be one flock and what one shepherd. This speaks of the foreknowledge of God, as he knows all people before the foundation of the world, and he knows who is going to trust in him and who is going to reject him. He knows this because we look at time like a timeline. Jesus looks at time like this. I see the beginning and I see the end. I know it all.
[00:27:47] There's a passage in Ephesians chapter two, I put a few of the verses on the screen that show this beautiful picture of what it was like for us before.
[00:27:59] And then because of Jesus in chapter two, if you have your bibles, you can flip there as well. A few of those verses will be on the screen. Ephesians two, starting in verse eleven.
[00:28:10] The apostle Paul, writing here, is calling us and the people, the church in Ephesus, to remember. He says, therefore, remember that at one time, you gentiles, again, as we might use the word, heathens, you people who are far from God, you people who thought you had no part in the nation or in the family of God, you gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision, but what is now called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember here again, we see the word. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. That's where salvation was believed to be in the nation of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise. In other words, he's listed off three big ways that you were apart from God. And then he lists off a fourth way, having, if we didn't get it by now, having no hope without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off, have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ.
[00:29:18] Jesus desires to unite his church, his sheep. He desires to bring us together.
[00:29:27] Romans 116 speaks first for the Jews, then for the Gentiles is the gospel. Romans 910 and eleven speak about how the Gentiles, the uncircumcised, those who were far off from God, are now brought close to God because of the rebellion of. If you look in acts chapter ten, you have the story of Peter and Cornelius, who Peter thought, I am not going to go that person. He's not a jew. He doesn't have any right to be in the family of God. But God showed up and said, my sheepfold is bigger than just enough room for the people of Israel.
[00:30:03] I desire the world to follow me. I desire my sheep to experience unity around me. This is what Jesus prayed for in John 17, isn't it? I pray that my, my people, my sheep, my disciples would be unified, would be one. They would follow me. Friends, there is a bond between God's people across the world. We here in this assembly this morning, yes, are united as maybe smaller sub flocks, if you will, of Jesus. But there is a greater flock that Jesus says, come follow me. And even at times, you know this and I know this, we can hopefully not support. But there is division amongst God's people at times. Maybe it's denominational difference, maybe it's just churches.
[00:30:53] Jesus calls us to be united around him.
[00:30:57] In the end, we're gonna get to heaven. There's gonna be people there of all different skin colors, of all different races, of all different languages, and people who believe some different things than you about some pieces of parts of doctrine. There's gonna be different denominations there. We're gonna get there, and we're gonna be united under the throne of Jesus.
[00:31:18] We're called to come together under Jesus as our shepherd. Imagine a flock that is scattered, and Jesus begins to call, and they begin to come closer to him. And as they come closer together, they no longer look like a group of scattered sheep, but they look like one flock. Why did they become one flock? Because they responded to the voice of the shepherd .4. On your outline, Jesus expounds a little bit further. We lean into verses 17 and 18, but we also jump back now to verse eleven as we lean into this idea of sacrificing for that of which you love. We've already got glimpses of this before, but now we see in verses 1117 and 18 in great detail, he expounds upon this sacrifice that he's willing to make for the sheep. Jesus, the. .4. You can write this down. Sacrifices. The good shepherd. Sacrifices himself for the sheep. In verse eleven, it says, I am the good shepherd. In the original language, it reads like this, I am the shepherd, the good one. That's actually how it's written, because they would have understood what a shepherd is, and he now clarifies that he is. I don't know if you caught this. Not a good one.
[00:32:27] I am the good one. I am better than all of the rest. You have pictures in your mind of what a good shepherd is. I am better than that. When you're looking for a standard of who is to protect and to know and to sacrifice for and to unite. If you're looking for a picture of what that looks like, it's not just like what the other shepherds do. I do it better. I am the shepherd, the good one. And the good shepherd, they know this. You know this now as well, lays down his life for the sheep. Now, verse 17, we go on a little bit further. He says, for this reason, and this is so fascinating, for this reason, because of my love for the sheep and my obedience to the father, the father loves me because why I lay down my life that I may take it up again. Now we have to kind of come to a halt there because there's two really key pieces that we can't miss in this one. Sacrificial love is not unique to Jesus.
[00:33:26] And you might know this. We sing about the sacrificial love of Jesus frequently, which is good and right, and it's beautiful, especially considering the character and the nature of Jesus as God, not deserving of death and for us. But the concept of sacrificial, of dying for someone to sacrifice yourself for someone else, is not unique. You consider going to a veteran cemetery, you see a bunch of tombstones. What are you thinking? Wow. They gave their life so that we can experience freedom, so that we can experience life. There's all sorts of other pictures of this as well, that sacrificial giving of someone's life. A husband might die, or a spouse might die for their other so that they could live. A parent might die for their child. Someone lays down their life for a friend. But here we see.
[00:34:12] We see this.
[00:34:14] Jesus, who did not deserve to die, took the death that you and I deserved. Now this, we have to kind of step back from the shepherd picture, because now we're stepping into a different picture of God. The theology of God and Jesus, the holiness of God, the holiness of Jesus, and the sacrifice that he made in our place. What that's called theological term, is substitutionary atonement. How are you to be able to be at one atonement or right with God, a holy God? You and I, who are apart from him, who are dirty, have no right to be close to him. How are you able to do that? How am I able to do that? There's nothing we can do by ourselves to get into the presence and the righteousness of God, to experience that. There's nothing we can do because the consequence, the wages of sin, is death, is separation from God. So Jesus said, I will experience death, a moment of separation, if you will, so that you can experience at one mint atonement with goddesse. I will do that. This is why we celebrate the cross.
[00:35:17] I will take your place. Jesus says, as we look at this passage, we know that this picture is being drawn for us, don't we? But for those listening as jesus is talking, they say, okay, I know that a good shepherd would die for a sheep. Okay, I got that. But now, Jesus, it's almost like he's saying this for us here, because at this moment, in the early church, they would have got that, but at this moment, they wouldn't understood that. And then we come to again, a screeching halt as we look at what Jesus says. He says that I will take it up again. Now, I don't know about you, but resurrection is not a common thing in the life of most humans. Out there in the field, if something happens and a lion comes running and mauls somebody or they die, or a bear or a wolf or somebody dies out in the field, it's not like the shepherd was like, well, I was protecting my sheep, so I can just come back to life now. And so everyone listening would have been, wait a minute. What?
[00:36:14] To take it back up again? That doesn't happen. Resurrection is not just something that is commonplace in this world. So that would have grabbed their attention. I have this authority, is what he. Excuse me, is what he said. And then he leans into this a little bit more, not to give clarity necessarily to them, but to us. He says, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
[00:36:41] Now, their imagery is, wait a minute. No one takes it from you. That means some robber didn't do it. A bear didn't do it. A lion didn't do it. No one took it from you, but you laid it down. You willingly gave up your life for the sake of the sheep. And then Jesus leans into this a little bit more. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my father.
[00:37:04] Jesus chose to die. He did not have to.
[00:37:09] He said, I love you, and I want you to experience life with me. And the way that you get to experience life is by me giving my life.
[00:37:18] Remember, before we move on to .5 here, remember the words of Jesus to Pilate in John 19. Just read this. So Pilate, in the midst of the trial, Pilate says, this said to him, do you refuse to speak to me? Do you know that I have authority? Notice that word again. I underlined it a few times up there.
[00:37:34] Do you not know that I have authority to release you? And authority to crucify you.
[00:37:39] He kind of rubbed off one of the shoulders.
[00:37:42] Look at me. I have got power here. And then Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me if it were not given to you from above. You think you are strong and can take my life? You have no ability to take my life. I'm the one who laid it down for the sake of my sheep so that they can live .5 in the midst of this conversation, there's light bulbs going on in the midst of the people listening, and they're realizing he's making some significant claims here. He is paralleling himself with God, which Jesus, by the way, has done many times already. But in the nature and the nation of Israel, as they believed, God is our shepherd and we are his sheep. Now Jesus is saying, I am the shepherd and you are my sheep. You, Israel, you listening? Are my sheep. You're saying you're God. You're saying we should believe you. You're saying you know us all.
[00:38:36] I don't know about this.
[00:38:38] Jesus causes division. This word division is the same where we get schism from. He causes separation. So there was again division among the Jews, verse 20. Many of them said, he is a demon. He's insane. Which is another way of saying, ignore him, he's crazy.
[00:38:58] Why would you listen to a crazy person? This is not the first time they've said this, by the way. Verse 21. Others said, no, these are not the words of a demon. This makes too much sense. Plus, on top of that, not only does it make a lot of sense, what he's saying, but did you notice just moments ago, for us it was a chapter ago or a few weeks ago, but just moments ago, he brought someone who was blind from birth. He brought them from being blind to seeing. Now, I don't know about you, I've seen some crazy people out there, and they usually can't do that.
[00:39:31] That's their point here. So there is a separation. There's a camp over here that says we shouldn't listen to him, he's crazy. And there's a camp over here that says, this makes a lot of sense, and he's doing supernatural work.
[00:39:43] The sheep of Jesus. Here's the point here.
[00:39:46] The shepherd is trusted by his sheep.
[00:39:49] The people that say, no, this makes sense. I think following him makes sense. He's saying things that make sense. He's doing things that make sense. He's showing power that no one else can show. This makes sense. I'm going to trust him. I'm going to trust him and the fault line that existed here between the Jews listening between the camp that said he's crazy or I'm just not going to listen to him or this just isn't good for me, maybe it's good for him and for the other people and the camp that said yes, I believe that fault line. Imagine a line going right here, right in the middle. That fault line exists today in our world. This is not a 2000 year ago problem, is it? There is a real fault line in the hearts of people today.
[00:40:37] I think Jesus is good for some people, but he's not good for me. He's kind of crazy. I don't really know if I'm going to trust him or yes, I trust him. Here's my life and Jesus says, you're on one side or the other. You can't do this kind of I'll be on both sides depending on what he says. I think he's crazy and I don't like that. It doesn't fit my life. Oh, this part I really like. Oh, but this, today I'll be over here. That's not what happens. That's not how the sheep respond. Either you trust me or you don't trust me. Either you live and say, I'm going to follow you or you live your life saying I'm going to follow me. And I might take some ideas of Jesus and apply them to myself.
[00:41:16] But Jesus is calling his people to trust him, to not sit in as they did here in this passage, to not sit in division in your heart over who he is.
[00:41:28] I want to ask a question as we close this portion. We're going to have a time of communion in just a minute. But before we get up and do that, I want you to just sit and reflect for a moment about this idea of the good shepherd, one who cares and knows you, one who sees the midst it sees you in the midst of the pain that you might be in the midst of the danger you might be in the midst of the attacks, maybe of the mind or of the heart that you might be in. And he saw it says at the top of your outline, you see that he is one who will protect you. He says, run to me. This is where you will find safety. To those who maybe say, I know that my life feels like it's wandering and I don't know what to do. He says, I know you and if you want clarity and direction, run to me.
[00:42:10] I want that maybe for those of us here who are okay with division or know that exists and aren't going to fight for it or seek it out. Jesus says, my heart is that we would be unified around the name of Jesus. That's my heart.
[00:42:28] And maybe for some of us, we think, I don't know if I'm good enough for Jesus. I don't know if I'm good enough for God.
[00:42:36] And here's what Jesus lays out for us. You're not.
[00:42:43] But I am.
[00:42:45] And I bought you with my blood.
[00:42:48] And now if you trust and believe that I am sufficient for you, if that substitute is good enough, if you believe that it's good enough because it is, if you take that upon yourself, the father God will look at you and say, you are my child.
[00:43:08] And the last thing we see. Will you trust me? Will you trust me because I'm trustworthy? I am. Good. It's just a matter of wondering, will you be my sheep?
[00:43:19] Because it will be so much better for you when you trust that I am the good shepherd.
[00:43:26] So do you trust Jesus? Ask yourself that question. If not, why not? Second question. A thing to consider a sheep. In the morning, as the sun is coming up, they're going to go out to graze. The gate is opened. They don't just wander out by themselves.
[00:43:44] They wait and they listen for their shepherd to call them friends. Each day you and I have a choice to pause and to say, shepherd, where do you want me to go today?
[00:43:54] Do you want me to go that way or that way? Too often in the morning, I know myself as well. I just kind of get going and we start running. And then we wonder why we're lost sometimes in our life. Just imagine that sheep who just took off somewhere and it went off a cliff. The shepherd was like, ah, you should have listened.
[00:44:12] We are the sheep and we need guidance, we need direction. We're also, we're being called here today. Pause, stop in the morning, stop throughout the day and say, shepherd, where are you taking me? I'm going to look around for you and then I'm going to go that way because I believe that you are good and I'm a sheep and I need help.
[00:44:34] Dear Jesus, as we think through this, help us to trust in you.
[00:44:42] Help us to believe that your way is better than our way. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you that you know us, that we can rest this morning and know that you call us to yourself, you call us to safety, and you put in our laps this morning a choice. Do we want to trust you?
[00:45:05] Help us to see this morning your incredible love for us, the grace and the mercy that you have for us each day, even as we stumble and we fall over and over again as we are sheep that are often wayward and wandering. Lord, this morning you are calling us back to yourself. Help us to respond, to turn around from whatever we're doing and run back to you.
[00:45:29] Thank you that you are a God who is good and who will accept us back.
[00:45:35] You won't say that we've wandered too far, that we're unredeemable, but rather, as long as we're listening and able to come back to you, you will show us your grace and your mercy. In Jesus name, amen.
