Follow The Good Shepherd Series

Follow the Good Shepherd  

John 10:1-14

Introduction

In 2 Samuel 5:1-5, there is a story of victory and celebration. David has been appointed King of Israel, and his first move is to bring the Ark of the Covenant - the presence of God - back into Jerusalem, where it belongs. (2 Samuel 6:1-5) . The celebration was hearty, ecstatic, joyful. Israel has a King they can love and to whom they submit.

2 Samuel 5:2 “You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will be ruler over Israel.” The idea of shepherding would come naturally to David.

Shepherding is all about feeding the lambs and the sheep, bringing them to good pasture lands and water, grooming and clipping them, delivering new lambs, leading them, and teaching them to stay together, going off after wandering lost ones, and protecting the sheep in the field and in the fold. (Simpson)

The prophets spoke of a coming Shepherd King.

Micah 5:4 “He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of the Lord his God….”

Ezekiel 34:23 “I will establish over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.”

Matthew 2:6 “And you, Bethlehem … out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”

These statements foreshadow the kind of King Jesus would be.

I’m so grateful that King Jesus is a shepherd who loves and guides his flock - those who have submitted their lives to Him. John 10 offers an extended teaching of Jesus in his role as our shepherd.

John 10:1-14

I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me...

1. Why We Need a Shepherd's Leading

We do not always perceive the best path forward. Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Also 16:25). Most of our messes began with a bad decision.

We Trust our Heart. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Our emotions and feelings change rapidly. Not dependable.

We are more like sheep than we want to think; we wander. Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way….” Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus teaches us that He is the Shepherd of our hearts. Peter 2:25 “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

2. How Jesus Shepherds Us Today

By His Word (John 10:1-3 “The sheep hear his voice…”). Most reliably, we hear Jesus through the Bible. We also hear Jesus through the example of others, through the Creation, and through the Spirit. Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Jesus Shepherds us Individually (vs 4-5 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”). Jesus knows us individually.