Speaker 1: 0:00

You know, I want to take a second as we get ready to look into the gospel of John here, to just you don't have to turn to the gospel of John yet because we're going to turn somewhere else first. So you are likely familiar with like a lot more than you would realize a lot of pop culture with, like a lot more than you would realize, a lot of pop culture references. In fact, our culture is full of references, and the thing about these pop culture references is that they are specifically designed so that certain people will immediately recognize one, and so when you catch a reference, it changes how you experience that moment. Imagine you are someone who watches the show the Mandalorian. If you've never watched the show the Mandalorian, you're about to have no idea what I'm talking about. But if you do, and I were to be up here and I were to say this is the way you would immediately be drawn into that Star Wars world. You would recognize it not as just some random statement, but it would bring to mind an entire philosophy or way of life for a people those Mandalorian people in that show. Or if someone were to give a line such as you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Anybody recognize that. A couple of you recognize that reference, but some of you don't. It's from the Dark Knight. You immediately, as you see that you feel the weight of that reference. It's about power, about corruption and about, ultimately, a tragic downfall.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Last week Ricky titled his sermon To See or Not to See, a clear reference to Hamlet's famous soliloquy To Be or Not to Be. Likely all of you recognized that, except perhaps some of the youngest among you, because you know I imagine that some of the children in here didn't but it's very well known and if you know Hamlet because a lot of you probably know that, recognize it but you don't recognize, you're not actually familiar with Hamlet you wouldn't realize the weight that is carried there, that it's about life and death, choice and consequence. Ricky used that title to signal something deeper, something deeper in the passage about whether or not people could really see who Jesus was. Think about it this way when Jesus says I am the good shepherd, I am the good shepherd. Every Jewish listener knew exactly what he was referencing. It was like a perfectly placed callback to Ezekiel 34, which, if you want, you can open your Bibles to Ezekiel 34, because I'm going to read from there. So it's like a perfectly placed callback to Ezekiel 34, where God calls out Israel's leaders as corrupt shepherds and promises that he himself will come and take care of his people. He himself will come and take care of his people. That's significant.

Speaker 1: 3:21

So for us, these words might just sound like a comforting image of Jesus holding a sheep, but for the original audience, there was a direct, explosive challenge to the religious leaders of the day. Jesus wasn't just saying that he was a nice caretaker. He was claiming to be the fulfillment of God's own promise in Ezekiel 34. And he was also saying you guys, the ones leading Israel, you're the ones that Ezekiel was condemning. So today, as we dive into what is ultimately going to be John 10, I want you to hear it like they heard it Not just a soft, poetic metaphor, but a radical, earth-shaking claim about who Jesus really is. So you're going to need to hear these words. And so let's look in Ezekiel 34, where God speaks about shepherds, not literal shepherds in fields, but the leaders of Israel who were supposed to care for God's people but had utterly failed. We're going to look at verses 1 through 10, and then we're going to look at verses 22 through 24, where God promises a solution in those closing verses, so you can turn there. It's also going to be on the screen.

Speaker 1: 4:58

But let's read in Ezekiel, chapter 34, starting in verse 1. The word of the Lord came to me, son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. As I already said, these are not literal shepherds, these are those that are the caretakers. 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.

Speaker 1: 6:03

So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered, they wandered all over the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. 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 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 put a stop. These are powerful words of condemnation, powerful words of condemnation, but do you notice the undertone there of sincere care by God of the sheep?

Speaker 1: 7:36

I don't know about you, but if you read that, and with me being a pastor, which means shepherd it's from Latin for shepherd I read that and I'm like, okay, I really want to be a sheep in this passage and not a shepherd in this passage, because that sounds pretty rough, right? Well, let's read these few verses, starting in verse 22 of Ezekiel 34, verses starting in verse 22 of Ezekiel 34, where God promises rescue. And I want you to pay attention to who is the rescuer. Okay, there's someone that's going to be given as a rescuer. So let's read these.

Speaker 1: 8:23

I will rescue my flock. They shall no longer be a prey and I will judge between sheep and sheep, and I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd, and I, the Lord, will be their God and my servant David shall be a prince among them. I am the Lord, I have spoken. I don't know about you, but I read that and all throughout that there is this declarative aspect of God is making it crystal clear. What he says is absolute. There's no question about it. And then when it ends with the I am the Lord, I have spoken. It's like okay, if there's a promise in scripture that God's going to fulfill, it's almost like he's just saying this one's an extra promise. I'm going to promise it like 10 times in one passage. Here it is this is my word, and obviously all of God's promises are with that same weight, because it comes from the same God, but it's just so clear in writing for us here.

Speaker 1: 9:46

So, with this context in mind, with the fact that everyone in the day would have recognized this, I want us to turn to John 10. So we're not going to spend a lot of time there in Ezekiel, but in John 10, where we're going to be. This is the context, this is what comes to mind, and so we're going to approach this text today having that knowledge, because Jesus is about to make a claim, because, if you noticed there, who was the deliverer, who was the one who God was going to send, david. David was going to send, but David was long dead. David wasn't coming back. No, it was one like David, one of the line of David. It was the king who was going to sit on David's throne. Jesus is going to say, hey, I am that David, but I'm also that God.

Speaker 1: 10:56

Okay, so let's look at this text and see how Jesus makes these bold claims to the Pharisees and those he is talking to. So sorry, I lost my place there for a second. So the thing that I want you to see as we look, we're going to look, we're going to break this up into four sections. Ultimately, we're going to start by looking at verses one through six of John 10. So the first thing I want you to see, and so I'm going to tell you the point ahead of time. A lot of times I tell you the point afterward, but I want to tell you the point ahead of time, the point that I'm going to try to bring out here is that the supposed watchman did not recognize the shepherd. Yet Jesus gathers his sheep. So in this text there are going to be someone who is like a watchman. Okay, watchman is a kind of a theological theme that comes out of the Old Testament. That actually even developed between the Testaments, where there were several different groups of people who would have identified in one way or another as the watchmen, the ones who were looking out for the Messiah. It was a job that these watchmen had put on themselves. Yet these supposed watchmen didn't recognize the shepherd who they were supposed to be watching out for, and so that is what we're going to see in this text. So follow with me, we're going to read through these first six verses and we'll talk about them 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.

Speaker 1: 12:56

So think sheep, pen, and you have sheep and and he's saying, hey, someone that sneaks into the pen and he's saying, hey, someone that sneaks into the pen, he's not the shepherd, he's there to do harm. Right, like you get that, like someone who comes through the front door, they're the one who owns the house. But the person who breaks into a window into the house, they're there to do harm, they're there to steal or to do something right. So that illustration makes sense. 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. So the shepherd comes out, the sheep recognize him and he is able to lead them. They follow him where he wants to go.

Speaker 1: 13:48

Now let's pause here for a second. And clearly this illustration of sheep is talking about people. Now, is it a compliment if someone calls you a sheep? No, it's not a compliment if someone calls you a sheep, right, but God's calling people sheep, and the sheep seem like the kind of people you wanna be in this passage. So you're like well, what's that about? Well, let's ask why is it not a compliment to be called a sheep?

Speaker 1: 14:22

Well, sheep are weak, sheep are dumb. Sheep cannot survive on their own. They need a shepherd. Everything in our world would say well, you need to have pride, you need to be able to take care of yourself. You shouldn't need a crutch to get through life. You should be able to do what you want and get what you want and work towards what you want, and that's what good is. You shouldn't need someone to guide you through life. If you do, you're just a sheep. And I would say that as Christians, yes, we are sheep, that's what we admit. When we come to the cross, we say, yeah, I'm dumb, I'm weak, I can't do it on my own, I need someone. I need Jesus, the shepherd. 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. It's interesting that it refers to it as a figure of speech rather than a parable.

Speaker 1: 15:54

The way you approach these texts is perhaps a little different in John than some of the other gospels, but what is clear here is that Jesus is teaching about himself, and for some reason it was not understood. And so in just a moment, we're going to obviously continue on in the text, and what Jesus is going to do is he's going to tell a very similar but different figure of speech, but different figure of speech. It's going to be different than this, where Jesus is no longer the shepherd, but Jesus is the gate into the sheet pen. And so these two versions of the story are going to teach something very similar, but also a little bit different.

Speaker 1: 16:48

What we're going to mainly see here from this first part is that, though the supposed watchmen didn't recognize the shepherd they were supposed to be so this is talking about the Pharisees, but there were a number of other groups who would have claimed to have been the watchmen for Israel. We don't need to get into who all these groups are, but just know that there were many who would have claimed to be. Hey, we are the ones looking for the Messiah, we are the ones looking for him, and when he comes, we're going to be the ones that identify him. And of these various groups, particularly the Pharisees, they, though they were supposed to be recognizing Jesus as the Messiah. They didn't. In fact, they essentially call him of the devil, which they're going to do later on in this passage as well. Yet, despite that Jesus' sheep follow him anyway. Why? Not because of anything good in and of themselves, but because he called them and they recognized his voice, they believed what he said and followed him. It's simple. It's simple yet profound. Only those who recognize that they were sheep could follow the one who is the shepherd. So let's, we're going to, let's keep going, so we're going to, let's keep going, and we'll look at verses 7 through 10.

Speaker 1: 18:32

The next section, this section, again, I'm going to give you the point up front, and the point is this there are corrupt gatekeepers, but Jesus guards his sheep. So Jesus, in the last section, gathered the sheep. But let's see what the text goes on to say, because, remember, they didn't understand the first teaching, so he teaches it a different way. Starting in verse 7, he says so Jesus again, 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 I 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. Jesus is making it really clear, remember, remember that Ezekiel context. Jesus is making it really clear to those that are challenging him. I want you to remember the context, too, of what Pastor Ricky has taught the last two weeks, like where are we? Well, we are just right after having this blind man having been healed miraculously, someone who was blind from birth.

Speaker 1: 20:17

And what did the gatekeepers, the watchmen, what did they do? Well, they called him in, they questioned him several times. Who did this? Who is he? What is he? And the healed man, the sheep, is there saying well, it was Jesus and he's a prophet, he is who he says. He is Jesus in that passage, reveals himself to be the Messiah and he believes.

Speaker 1: 20:53

Yet what did the watchmen do? They threw him out of the synagogue. Why? Why? Because they did not want what Jesus had to offer. They had a plan. They had a Messiah that they were looking for. And guess what? Jesus was not the Messiah that they were looking for. They had a corner on what righteousness was supposed to look like. They had a whole law set up and laws upon laws and regulations upon regulations, and that's what holiness looked like and that's what good religion looked like. And you know what? Everybody saw them and thought, yeah, those are great guys, those are the holy ones, but in fact they were corrupt gatekeepers.

Speaker 1: 21:58

But here is the good news presented in this passage it doesn't matter that the blind man was thrown out of the synagogue, because what was it but a den of liars and thieves. What was it but a place where those corrupt? We're preaching a false religion? No, instead, jesus tells us here that he actually actively guards and protects his sheep. He goes out from them and comes into them. He goes and he finds pasture, he finds nourishment, he provides what is needed for the sheep. And so when he uses this illustration where he says that he is the gate for the sheep, he is ultimately saying that he is the way to access life. On the other side of that gate is the pasture. It's the place you want to be, it is where you are protected, it is where you are safe, it is where you are fed and nourished and loved. But you can only get there through the gate.

Speaker 1: 23:20

And when you think about this in conjunction with the last, where he is the shepherd, well, what does the shepherd do? If you think back to Ezekiel 34, what did God say he would do as the shepherd? He said that he would go out and find his lost sheep. He would gather them and he would bring them back, he would fight for them, he would protect them, he would save them. You see Jesus, as not only the shepherd but the gate, is setting himself up as the entire way to eternal life. There is no way to come to God but through him. This is a theme in the book of John that we're gonna to keep seeing.

Speaker 1: 24:09

Let's go to the next section, verses 11 through 18. In this section, I want you to see that, unlike a false shepherd, the good shepherd truly loves his sheep. So up until this moment, jesus is having this kind of confrontational discussion with those that are listening to him, where he is putting himself in kind of the seat of God and David in the Ezekiel 34 passage in the Ezekiel 34 passage. And now he is. So he's saying, hey, you missed me, I'm the one you were looking for. And if there was any doubt in those who were like, well, maybe he is the one he's about to blow that up because he's gonna claim that he is gonna do something that they would not have expected of their Messiah. Yet for those that are the true sheep, they will recognize him. So let's look at how it is that the good shepherd will truly love his sheep, starting in verse 11. He says I am the good shepherd. What does the good shepherd do? 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 wolves coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he has a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Speaker 1: 26:01

We are familiar with the story of King David and how King David, before he was king, as a young man he was a shepherd right and he was guarding the sheep. And later on, in a scene where perhaps one of the most well-known scenes in the Bible probably everybody in America at least, and a lot of people around the world, would know the story of David and Goliath right, because we like the story, even as non-Christians. You like the story. It's the underdog beats, the giant beats, the one that could not be defeated. And so you have this Goliath, this immense man, the soldier that is hardened and has killed many, and David, a young shepherd boy, there and he says I can kill him. And why does he know he's killed him? Well, why does he know he can kill him. Well, he knows he can kill him because of God. But what does he cite? He says well, because I've killed wild animals that wanted to kill my sheep.

Speaker 1: 27:03

Who is the promised one who's going to come and guard the sheep? David, okay, all of this comes to mind as Jesus here, making all of this, making this claim, when he says I am the good shepherd. He says I am the fulfillment of the promise that David is coming. And I am not like these, these who ought to be watching for you, these who ought to be looking for you. Well, you know what? When danger comes, they run, they scatter, because they don't own the sheep. They're not their sheep. It's not worth giving up their lives. When a pack of wolves come, they say well, I'm going to run away and come back tomorrow when the wolves are gone and pick up what's left. But no, that's not what Jesus does. Jesus is going to stand in the way of the pack of wolves and fight and die.

Speaker 1: 27:58

Lay down his why Because he loves them. He says 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.

Speaker 1: 29:17

Jesus is committing to a level of love here, to a level of love here. That's the extreme example of love. You know everybody's familiar with the verse no man has love like this. That he lays down his life for his friend, right Like this is the ultimate expression of love that one would lay down their life. Yet it's not just for a friend, it's for a sheep. It's for a sheep. I'm going to tell you this If you have a sheep and there are wolves coming for your sheep, let the wolves eat the sheep and go away. Right, that's not a noble thing to die to save a literal sheep. But what is a noble thing is for the Messiah, but not just the Messiah. God, the Son himself taking on flesh, laying down his life. You notice the point here that nobody takes it from him, but he gives it. It's not that? Oh, he came and he had a certain plan and he was going to do one thing, but then, you know, people got mad at him and so they killed him. No, this was plan A, not plan B, not plan C. Plan A was for Jesus to lay down his life for the sheep. Yet he can take it up again, yet he is doing all of this to bring together one flock.

Speaker 1: 30:55

There are different takes on what this exactly means, but know this that Jesus gathers together both Jews and Gentiles, gathers people from all tribes, nations, tongues, to be God's one people, and that is a profound truth, but also something that would be very difficult for the watchmen, the gatekeepers to hear. Now, the watchmen and the gatekeepers are looking for a Messiah who is going to come and is not going to lay down his life, but is going to take life. And he's not going gonna gather together lost sheep from around the world, but he's gonna lead this nation to prominence, to take their rightful place. That's what they're looking for. But Jesus is like no, that's not me. Yet I am the Messiah. Yet I am this promised David. Yet I am the very shepherd who goes out to seek the sheep who, in Ezekiel 34, is identified as God himself. The reality is here is that Jesus paints for us a picture that is very unique. He's identifying himself as the leader who gives rather than takes. Following Jesus means trusting him to be the one who gathers us, who brings us in, who protects us, who does it all. We trust his sacrifice above our efforts. And then we conclude with verses 19 through 21. And in this section I want you to see that those who hear the voice of the shepherd believe.

Speaker 1: 33:24

Starting in verse 19, there was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Jesus is saying words, and what do we keep seeing happen? We keep seeing division. Right, some people believe, some people reject. It's becoming a theme where you have these different divisions of people and again here they're divided.

Speaker 1: 33:57

Many of them said he has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? He has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? I mean clearly, clearly. This man can't be the Messiah we've been looking for. He can't be him. The only explanation for how he could do any of these is if he is exhibiting some kind of demonic power. Yet others said these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. They're hearing his voice, they're hearing what he says and they're saying, hey, I recognize these words not as the voice of a demon, but as something else.

Speaker 1: 34:44

And they say, they ask the question can a demon open the eyes of the blind? This ties it all back into the story from last week, where this blind man, blind from birth, had been healed. And why was he born blind? Well, he was born blind so that the glory of God could be manifested in him. And you know what? Those who had eyes to see saw who Jesus was in that moment. And so here they are, in this moment, and they recognize that Jesus is who he says he is and in that moment, in this text, these are those that are identified as the true sheep.

Speaker 1: 35:46

You'll notice, in Ezekiel, if you recall. In Ezekiel, in 34, where we read it, it says that God will come and judge between sheep and sheep. You see, not everyone who says, oh, yeah, I'm a sheep is truly what it's like. Not everyone who says, yes, I am a Christian, really is a Christian. It's much more than mere words, but it is those who hear the shepherd's voice, the biggest dividing line. We see the biggest dividing line. We see the biggest dividing line between who is and who is not a sheep is those who hear and respond to Jesus. Do we recognize Jesus' voice? Recognize Jesus' voice, or do we get drowned out by the other voices? There are a lot of voices, there are many who are telling us what to do, what to believe, what to believe, what is right, what is wrong, both within the church and outside of the church.

Speaker 1: 37:15

The scriptures warn us of those who, even today though this is after this time, obviously those who would come as false teachers, as wolves, into the church. We must be vigilant. We must compare the things we are taught, the things we see lived out, to the Scriptures. We need to. Yet the good news is that Jesus is ultimately our protector. He is our shepherd and, yes, he has appointed pastors, elders to be under shepherds of the flock, elders to be under shepherds of the flock. But I am not your shepherd, ricky is not your shepherd. Jesus is your shepherd, he is the one that protects you. So, even if me or Ricky fail or fall, you are safe in Christ, because we don't depend on human leaders.

Speaker 1: 38:36

But we must remain vigilant to make sure that the voice we are hearing and responding to is the voice of our shepherd, because there are many, both within and without the church, that would seek to lead us astray, that are trying to rob and destroy. So I encourage you as Christians, yes, be on guard, but also be seeking to hear the voice of Jesus. We hear it in his word, we hear it proclaimed. We gather together with other sheep to remind ourselves and to hear afresh the word from our great shepherd. And as we go from this place, we ought to be continually going back to the word of the great shepherd. We need to hear, and it's not simply hearing words, but it's responding. What did the sheep do that heard his voice? They followed. So I just encourage you follow Jesus. If you've never followed Jesus before, if you've never said yeah, I am one of those sheep. If you've never followed Jesus before, if you've never said yeah, I am one of those sheep.

Speaker 1: 40:16

Well, the good news we call it the gospel is that Jesus laid down his life so that those who are not sheep can be called to life. That's the good news. Let's pray, heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you for sending us Jesus, thank you that through him we have life. Thank you that through him, we are protected. Thank you that through him, him, we are provided for and thank you that through him we can see your face. It's in his name we pray, amen.