Characteristics Of Jesus' Sheep

Characteristics of Jesus’ sheep

John 10:22-30 says:

John 10:22 - 30 (NIV) 22Then came the Feast of Dedication£ at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ,£ tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all£; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”

Introduction:

Let me start off by telling you a story. I am not sure how many of you have been of Steve Greens home. But this man has been blessed by God. He is basically a farmer. He raises cattle. Just ask him about his cattle especially during mating season when all the females are having babies. He gets so excited and loves to tell you about them. Well one day I was with him in the middle of his entire flock of cow. Now personally I am not comfortable in the middle of all this because if you can’t tell from my accent I am a city boy and believe it or not in a situation like this I am intimidated. I can walk down a dark ally in the ghetto and I am fine. But put me in the middle of a bunch of cow and things change. Well anyway here we are standing there and something happens that was to me quite amazing.

There is this one big cow who is about 30 yards away from us or so looking the other way and all of a sudden Steve calls to this cow. I am not sure what he said it was some southern slang thing I guess. You know what I am talking about. “Jeep jeep” I don’t know. But as soon as he said it this cow turned around and came towards us. Now I was amazed. This cow was actually listening to Steve. This big dumb cow actually understood Steve’s voice and responded. He started to follow Steve.

Trouble in the text: Unbelief of the Jews

As soon as I saw this, I couldn’t help but think of this story. Jesus is standing before a crowed in the temple in Solomon’s colonnade during the Feast of Dedication. (The time where they celebrate the cleansing of the temple which was destroyed) and they ask him,

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the CHRIST tell us.”

Now Jesus knew there heart. He knew that they really didn’t want to know. He knew that all they wanted was that he would admit that he was the messiah and that by doing this the Romans would come and execute Him. You see at this time everyone believed and some still do believe that the messiah was going to be a military leader who would overthrow the Romans. Jesus knew this and the whole time did a wonderful job never giving himself the title messiah. He said I am the way. I am the light of the world. HE did everything He could to tell them who He was without giving in to their misconceptions.

So He answers them. “I did tell you but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,

Basically saying; haven’t you’ve been watching? You’ve seen what I have done. You have heard what I have said. You’ve seen the many miracles I have done in my father’s name. I gave sight to the blind, the cripple walk, I have cast out demons. I have demonstrated mighty works over, nature, disease and the spirit realm. You know who I am. But you don’t believe. And Ill tell you why. It’s because you’re not my sheep.

You see, my sheep hear my voice. My sheep follow me. But that’s not what you are doing. You don’t want to believe the truth. I threaten you. I come to bring truth, you want lies. I can read your hearts and that bothers you. It threatens you. It doesn’t feel good when someone can point out your true motives. You only take the parts that you like and use them to your advantage. Jesus once called them a brood of vipers! A brood of deadly snakes.

He Goes on to say, my sheep hear my voice I know them and they “follow me.” My sheep don’t just hear what I say but they respond to what I say. They follow were I go. They sit intently listening with all intentions to do what I ask.