Jesus, the God Man: The Gospel of John
“The Shepherd’s Voice”
John 10:1-6
Introduction: “Hey, Pastor Tim! Yeah. I recognized your voice.” How many times has someone said something similar to you? You call and you don’t need to say who you are because they know your voice.
Years ago RCA Victor used a logo of a dog looking into a Victrola speaker with the tag line “His Master’s Voice.” The point being that the dog heard his master’s voice on the record. (Show picture on PowerPoint)
Scripture teaches that God considers us as sheep (see Psalm 78:52, 95:7, 100:3, Isaiah 53:6, Ezek. 34:31) and like the dog or the person on the other end of the phone they know the voice of the one with whom they are well acquainted.
Although one chapter has ended and another has begun we are still in the same setting with the same people present. Jesus is talking to the former blind man and the Pharisees that had him unsynagogued. As He talks He draws a comparison between Himself as the True Shepherd and the Pharisees as false shepherds of the people. As we study this passage I want you to hear “The Shepherd’s Voice.”
1. Follow the True Shepherd. (vv. 1-2)
Explain shepherds of Judean area. Each shepherd had four items:
scrip which was their “lunchbox”
a sling to protect themselves and the sheep or to frighten a wandering sheep to returning to the flock
a staff for checking the ground or to rescue fallen sheep
a rod for correction or protection.
Shepherds would bring their sheep in for the night to the city; they would lay their rod across the entry to the sheepfold so they would pass under the rod and check each sheep as they came in. They did this every night to make sure they were okay and to doctor any wounds.
The sheep would all be kept in the community sheepfold and a person would be left to guard the sheep overnight. If there was a door it would be closed and locked for the night or he would be the door. Sometimes the shepherds that used it would take turns being responsible for it. In the morning the shepherds would each return and call their sheep by name and with certain sounds or tone and they would come running out to their own shepherd.
Thieves and robbers would climb over the high fence around the fold and either steal the sheep or kill it and toss the body over the wall and take it. Jesus in this passage makes a comparison between Himself as the Good Shepherd and the thieves and robbers which represented the Pharisees.
“Verily, verily, truly, truly, most assuredly” – Pay attention. Don’t miss this comparison.
The “sheepfold” is Israel or the Jewish people.
“thief” – steals or takes what does not belong to him.
“robber” – takes by force or slaughters.
They do not come in a legitimate way but instead sneak in. How do you tell who the false shepherds are? They are sneaky and illegitimate leaders. They will steal your joy, your trust, but they cannot steal your salvation. That does not belong to you but to God!
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 2 Peter 2:1-2 (NIV)
These Pharisees were not true shepherds, but actually thieves and robbers. Killing the sheep, leading them to their destruction. How many so-called shepherds today are leading their flocks to destruction by giving them religion instead of relationship? By leading them in legalism instead of love? By teaching them false doctrines instead of faith and discipline? –Ron Daniel, former pastor, Cheyenne Calvary Chapel
v. 2 – BUT not the True Shepherd! He comes right through the front door. He is not sneaky, but bold because He is the rightful Shepherd as promised by prophecy!
2. Listen to the Shepherd as He leads. (vv. 3-4)
“Doorkeeper” signifies John the Baptist or the prophecies of the OT. They have both foretold His coming and so when He arrived, He fulfilled all Scripture and thus the sheepfold opened to Him as the legitimate shepherd of the sheep.
“Sheep hear” – Those that are His are listening for His voice and His call.
Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. John 5:25 (NIV)
THIS is why the lost cannot and will not make it to heaven. They will never hear the call and thus will not respond.
How do you know His voice and His call? It is through a relationship and through your knowledge of the Scriptures. Become an expert on the voice of the Holy Spirit and not the lies of the devil. You DO NOT need to know the devil better in order to defeat him, you need to know Jesus and His Word better so that you will follow Him!
He calls His sheep BY NAME! He knows your name. You are not a number or “Hey you”. He KNOWS your name. The hairs of your head are numbered and He knows that number BUT HE KNOWS YOUR NAME!
The God of ALL Creation knows you personally by name. Sometimes we feel special because we know a big important person. Well, let me tell you I am on a first name basis with Yahweh and HE KNOWS MY NAME!
You want to see how special that is in Scripture?
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:16 (NIV)
“leads them out” – He does not drive them. He leads them! Goats have to be driven. Sheep are lead. They follow their shepherd.
The Shepherd ALWAYS goes first! He knows where He is going because He has been there before. Jesus will NEVER take you where He Himself has personally not already been.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)
If you do not feel His leading in your life it may be because He is NOT your shepherd! If He is leading then your job is to listen and to follow His lead.
3. Obey the voice of the Shepherd. (vv. 5-6)
The sheep will not follow a stranger or a thief. Instead they will run from them. That is why the Pharisees could only gain followers through threats and intimidation. The sheep (or Israel) were afraid of them and would run if given the chance.
Some churches do the same thing. They keep people by threats or intimidation because they are not following the True Shepherd.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. Matthew 23:15-16 (NIV)
If you always seem be chasing after other things and the newest fad and religion then you have a spiritual problem because Jesus’ expectation is that you will follow Him and His voice and not the voice of false shepherds. Either that or He is not your Shepherd.
If you know and follow Jesus as Shepherd you will be able to flee from untruth and ungodly belief systems.
D.L. Moody told the following: A friend, who was traveling in the East, heard that there was a shepherd who still kept up the custom of calling his sheep by name. He went to the man, and said: “Let me put on your clothes, and take your crook, and I will call them, and see if they will come to me.”
And so he did, and he called one sheep, “Mina, Mina,” but the whole flock ran away from him. Then he said to the shepherd: “Will none of them follow me when I call them?”
The shepherd replied: “Yes, sir, some of them will; the sick sheep will follow anybody.”
I’m not going to make the application, I leave that to you.
v. 6 – Jesus used this “parable”. Not a good word. Illustration, simile, example, or allegory are better words. They still did not understand because they didn’t know His voice so they could not follow His lead.
This illustrates that they were neither leaders nor followers.
Conclusion: A man in Australia was arrested and charged with stealing a sheep. But he claimed emphatically 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.
Do you know your Shepherd’s Voice? When He calls have you responded first by trusting Him as Savior and do you continue to listen to His call? Don’t be distracted or drawn away by the lies of the thieves and robbers that are all around.
Listen! It’s “the Shepherd’s Voice!”
