The Good Shepherd Series

There was a typical blond. She had long, blond hair, blue eyes, and she was sick of all the blond jokes. One day, she decided to get a make over, so she cut and dyed her hair. She also went out and bought a new convertible. She went driving down a country road and came across a herd of sheep. She stopped and called the sheep herder over.

“That’s a nice flock of sheep” she said.

“Well thank you” said the herder.

“Tell you what. I have a proposition for you” said the woman. “If I can guess the exact number of sheep in your flock, can I take one home?”

“Sure” said the sheep herder.

So, the girl sat up and looked at the herd for a second and then replied “382".

“Wow” said the herder. “That is exactly right. Go ahead and pick out the sheep you want to take home.”

So the woman went and picked one out and put it in her car.

Then, the herder said “Okay, now I have a proposition for you”.

“What is it?” Queried the woman.

“If I can guess the real color of your hair, can I have my dog back?”

The monologue of this chapter follows on naturally from the fact that the blind man has left the fold of Israel for the flock of the good shepherd.

Outline:

1. Christ is the True Shepherd (1-6)

2. Christ is The Good Shepherd (7-11)

3. Christ is The Only Shepherd (12-16)

4. Christ is The Obedient Shepherd (17, 18)

∙ Christ in presenting Himself as the true shepherd and is showing why some in the nation responded to His word, left Judaism, and committed themselves to Him.

∙ On the other hand it shows why some in Israel were rejecting Him. Their rejection did not show that His word was false but rather that they were not His sheep.

1 ¶ 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.

The Lord sets the stage by depicting the false shepherds of Israel, long foretold (Ezekiel 34:1-6; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Zechariah 11:4-11), who had just demonstrated their disregard for the welfare of the sheep by casting out the blind man.

Jesus had presented his credentials. He had demonstrated His love for the lost sheep of Israel in many ways but most recently with His care for the man born blind. The Lord was the true shepherd.

∙ He entered by the door, born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); He came “in the fulness of time;” called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1). He was the right person, born at the right time, in the right place, summoned from the right country, and attended by the right signs.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

My sheep know my voice. . .

“For the past 15 years, announcer Dave Johnson has called the Triple Crown races for ABC-TV. When away from the horse races Johnson does a great deal of commercial and voice-over work.

“‘I tried out for a spot in a commercial where they wanted someone to say, “They’re off!’” Johnson recalls.’The casting director told me, ‘I want you to sound like the guy who calls the Kentucky Derby.’

“‘No problem,’ I said. ‘I am the guy who calls the Kentucky Derby.’ I figured I was a cinch to get the part. The funny thing is—I didn’t! Apparently there was someone who sounded more like me that I did.”

Source: Reader’s Digest (May 1996), p. 156.

In the city, many flocks would converge on a town, and gather at a central location. One man would be hired to watch those flocks through the night. This man would station himself by the door to protect the sheep. The next morning the shepherds would arrive, and the hired keeper (porter) would open the door for the various shepherds. A shepherd would then call his sheep with a special sound that his sheep would recognize. From among those flocks, one by one the shepherd’s own sheep would walk through the door and gather round him. This happened again and again as each shepherd made his vocal call.

4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

But not only does the shepherd call his sheep with a peculiar sound, “he calleth his sheep by name” (10:3).