• Right after Jesus’ healing a man born blind on the Sabbath and the heated encounter with the Pharisees over breaking the Sabbath Jesus points out that He is only doing what any shepherd would do for his sheep.
• One of the most intimate pictures of Jesus we find in Scripture is that of His being the GOOD SHEPHERD who loves and cares for His sheep.
There was a shepherd tending his sheep at the edge of a country road. A brand new Jeep screeches to a halt next to him. The driver dressed in a fancy suit, tie, shoes, sunglasses, and a Swiss wrist watch gets out and asks the shepherd, “If I can guess how many sheep you have, will you give me one of them?” The shepherd looks at the young man, then looks at the sprawling field of sheep and says, “Okay.”
The young man parks the SUV, connects his notebook and wireless modem, enters a NASA site, scans the ground using his GPS, opens a database and then prints a 150 page report on his high tech mini printer. He then turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1,586 sheep here.” The shepherd answers, “That’s correct! You can have your sheep.” The young man takes one of the animals and puts it in the back of his vehicle. The shepherd looks at him and asks, “Now, if I guess your profession, will you pay me back in kind?” The young man answers, “Sure.” The shepherd says, “You are a consultant.” “Exactly! How did you know?” asks the young man. “Very simple,” answers the shepherd. “First, you came here without being called. Second, you charged me a fee to tell me something I already knew. Third, you don’t understand anything about my business - and I’d really like to have my dog back.”
• The image of God being our shepherd is a continuation from the OT.
Ezekiel 34:31 "You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God," says the Lord.”
Psalm100:3b “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
Psalm 95:7 “For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.”
Isaiah 40:11 “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.”
• Why are we so like sheep? Why not dogs or cats? God’s horses?
1. We are prone to wander (All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way)
2. We need a Shepherd to guide us (like sheep do)
3. Sheep flock together, so should we (should be no lone wolves!)
1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
• The problem today is not that we don’t have a Good Shepherd but that we don’t know have to be good sheep. Three truths about what it means to be good sheep.
GOOD SHEEP KNOW THE SHEPHERD: 1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
• We live in a world that has a lot of false shepherd knocking at the door of the sheep fold. People are being misled, confused and wasting their lives without ever truly understanding Who God is and what He wants for their lives.
• What can I know for sure about the true Shepherd?
1. The False Shepherd avoids the proper way. he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
a. Does not enter by the door. The purpose of the sheepfold was to provide protection during the night.
A Sheepfold was a circular wall about 10 feet tall with a single opening that served as a door. Several flocks might be placed into the sheepfold at night, with one of the shepherds lying in the opening to serve as the door. Nothing could get into, or out of the sheepfold without having to go through the shepherd and only thieves and robbers seek to enter the sheepfold by another means besides the door.
• False shepherds surround us on all sides looking for ways to get at the flocks. Sometimes they come through religion? Morality? Excitement? Promises of wealth or health? Intimidation? Guilt? False hope. They always distort the truth in one way or another. Primarily the truth about Who Jesus really is.
• They WORK HARD: Climb up….put lots of effort into leading the sheep astray.
• Their real motive is to STEAL and exploit the sheep for their own purposes.
I am amazed at how blind people can be to the obvious efforts of those who would steal and exploit sheep. The world seems to be very aware how obvious it is. Just ask the average non-Christian what they think of what they see on most Christian TV programs. All about the money or the ministry of the person hosting and little about Jesus Christ.
2 PETER 2:2-3 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and IN THEIR GREED they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
2. The True Shepherd enters the proper way. 2 "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
It is the fall of the year, the weather is getting colder.
In the summer, the flocks stayed out in the field all night.
In the winter, the flocks were gathered into pens, or sheepfolds.
Shepherding in the ancient East worked differently than it does in our western culture.
In the west, sheep are driven by the shepherd on a horse.
In the east, the shepherd leads the flock on foot, and they follow him.
In the east, sheep were given names, as we do to dogs and pets.
The shepherd was familiar with his sheep, knowing them all by name, and they would know the sound of his voice.
When the sheep came in for the night, several flocks from various shepherds would all share the same sheepfold for the night.
Sheepfold was typically a large stone wall enclosure without a roof, with a single entrance into it.
Sometimes the entrance was just an opening in the wall, and a shepherd might spend the night sleeping in the opening, keeping his sheep in and the predators out.
In the morning, all a shepherd had to do was call to his flock, and even if they were mingled with another shepherd’s flock, his flock would respond to his voice and follow him out of the sheepfold.
• The true shepherd would show up AT THE DOOR to gather His sheep the proper way. Jesus came in direct fulfillment of God’s Word. In the fullness of time He knocked at the world’s door perfectly in line with God’s revealed will.
AGOOD SHEEP KNOW THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE: 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Now in that communal sheepfold you might have 100’s of sheep belonging to different shepherds How would they sort out who’s was who’s ?
In the morning the shepherds knocked at the barred door & the porter would open from within Each shepherd would separate his sheep by giving a call. The flock would follow its shepherd.
1. Good sheep know the Shepherd’s VOICE:
Arkansas fans like to call their football team to play by using their HOG CALL. SUEY PIG!!!! Chop Suey? Bird Calls….Deer Call….Eddy Arnold’s lonesome cattle call. Ever heard a SHEEP CALL? Buy one at the store? Sheep don’t respond to calls they respond to Shepherds.
A man in Australia was arrested for stealing a sheep but he claimed that it was one of his own that had been missing for many days. When the case went to court, the judge was puzzled, not knowing how to decide the matter. At last he asked that the sheep be brought into the courtroom. Then he ordered the plaintiff to step outside and call the animal. The sheep made no response except to raise its head and look frightened. The judge then instructed the defendant to go to the courtyard and call the sheep. When the accused man began to make his distinctive call, the sheep bounded toward the door. It was obvious that he recognized the familiar voice of his master. "His sheep knows him," said the judge. "Case dismissed!"
• What does the voice of the Shepherd sound like? Voice of religion? That was the voice of the religious leaders? Jesus sounded radically different than them.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…(JN 1:14)
Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt.”
• Too many in the church speak a very different language from the Savior Who called them. He called them in a spirit of forgiveness and love and grace and yet they project to the world something much different and claim that they belong to Jesus. ARE YOU SPEAKING WITH HIS VOICE?
2. Good sheep know the Shepherd’s NAME:
In Bible times the sheep were raised more for their wool than for LAMB CHOPS – OR food. The wolves would devour the sheep.
The Shepherd would name his sheep – usually after some characteristic
The individual sheep in a flock all look alike to the untrained eye. A good shepherd can tell them apart--often because of their defects and peculiar traits. Jesus also knows the individual weaknesses and failings of His flock and watches over the members with love and understanding. The doubts, fears, trials, conflicts, and defeats that disturb their peace, and He swiftly comes to their aid.
He knows what you are worried about right now
He knows the temptations that you battle with
He knows the struggles you have had this week
Names convey a sense of who we are and how others relate to us. “The Lord has called Me from the womb; . . .He has made mention of My name” (Isa. 49:1).
Korean Presbyterian Church in Baltimore the people seldom refer to one another by their first name. They speak formally of each other and to each other—Mr. Kim, Mr. Pyen, Mrs. Hugh. “Only when we know people intimately do we use their first name.” Jesus calls us by name because He knows us so well. When an oriental shepherd was with the same flock for many years, he developed a close relationship with each animal. He would give them descriptive names like “Brown-leg” or “Black-ear.” And they responded to his voice. WHAT IS JESUS’ NAME FOR ME? FOR YOU? Mr. Kindness? Mrs. Grace giver? Sister Gossip? Brother Criticizer? Faithful or Fearful? Obedient one or Apathetic?
GOOD SHEEP FOLLOW THE SHEPHERDS LEAD: …..and leads them out. 4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."
Speak on the subject of guidance and opened concordance to look up the word guidance, expecting to find a long list of verses promising guidance from God. Guidance wasn’t there but instead the word guide and a number of verses promising that God Himself would be the guide of His people. People who are blind need guide dogs, not guidance dogs! Even if dogs were capable of talking, how unsatisfactory it would be if they were mere bystanders, shouting warnings to the blind from a distance: “Careful now! You’re approaching a hole. Watch out for the curb!”
1. He would get them out of an unhealthy place: and leads them out.
Although the communal sheepfold was a protected place – It wasn’t the healthiest place to be. The ground would get eaten up and the vegetation trampled on.
Sheep in close quarters would often fight with each other
It was important that the Shepherd lead them out Better vegetation Exercise
Shepherd often leads us out of our places of comfort: get lazy in the sheepfold. Might think the shepherd would lead them to the mountaintop.
Abraham { Left UR David { Left sheep on the run Gideon { left w/ only 300 men Paul never seemed to be comfortable.
2. Those who got out were those who were following: 4 "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
a. Those who weren’t paying attention were left behind. Not driven along but left without the protection of the Shepherd who had called them to get moving
Many doing nothing for God today are in a very dangerous place and very vulnerable to the enemies attack. Keep moving with Him is a place of safety.
3. Those who are with Him are there because they know His voice. 5 "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."
a. The reason the thieves and wolves are so successful is not because their voice is so effective but because the sheep don’t know the voice of the true Shepherd.
A person who spends time with God, His Word, in Prayer develops a sense of His voice and knows when a stranger is speaking and trying to lead them astray.
As a young believer I spent hours in God’s word. Mornings, lunchtime, evenings would sit in my apartment and read and re-read books of the Bible. I would put notches at the head of each chapter to make how many times I had read. I quickly learned to hear a familiar voice. I saw in the newspaper a church offering an institute on various doctrinal issues. I did not understand at that time all the differences that were out there and what to avoid. I went there, sat and waited. Met a friend from high school. Then the speaker started and things began to happen and I had an intense grieving come over me and a strong sense that this was in no way the same voice of the one I was hearing as I spent time each day in God’s Word. I bolted for the door and as soon as I stepped in the parking lot I felt an immediate sense of release.
It grieves me what I see on so much Christian TV today. It grieves me what I see in newer churches that had stepped away from God’s Word and embraced high energy entertainment instead. It grieves me that many newer pastor are not men called to preach and teach God’s Word but church builders marketing God to build crowds by whatever means acceptable.
And to try to explain that to the average person caught up in these things is like speaking Portuguese to a parrot. These religious leaders were clueless to what Jesus was saying.
6 This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
Erik Weihenmayer on May 25, 2001 reached the peak of Mt. Everest. Suffering from a degenerative eye disease, he lost his sight when he was 13, but that didn't stop him. On a mountain where 90 percent of climbers never make it to the top—and 165 have died trying since 1953—Erik succeeded, in large measure because he followed well. He followed to the little bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him, so he would know what direction to go. He followed to the voice of teammates who would shout back to him, "Death fall two feet to your right!" so he would know what direction not to go. He followed to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he would know whether the ice was safe to cross.
Jesus calls today – Will you follow? Do you know what to listen for?
(1 Pe 2:21) For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
He is never stagnant, never still…always on the moving…where are u?
