This week, more than two dozen people were arrested in connection with a $325 million counterfeit ring that was attempting to import knockoffs from China and Taiwan through a port in New Jersey. Among the fake items were counterfeit Nike shoes, Ugg boots, and Louis Vuitton, Coach and Gucci handbags.
But as we saw last week, Jesus was dealing with a counterfeit ring with much more damaging and lasting consequences – a group of Jewish religious leaders who appeared on the surface to be shepherds who had the interests of those they led in mind, but who deep down inside were really only looking out for themselves. We saw last week that at the beginning of John chapter 10, Jesus referred to those leaders as thieves and robbers who came only to steal, kill and destroy.
But when Jesus described Himself as the door, He pointed out that there was another way. For those who entered into a relationship with God through faith in Him, He offered a genuinely abundant life – a life without limits both in terms of quantity and quality.
This morning, we’ll pick up where we left off last week in John 10 and look at the fourth of Jesus’ seven “I am” sayings that we find in John’s gospel account. With each of these seven sayings, we are getting to know Jesus better through His own words and then seeing what we need to do in order to appropriate that which Jesus offers into our own lives.
So turn to John 10 and follow along as I begin reading in verse 11:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
John 10:11-18 (ESV)
In this passage, Jesus describes Himself as the “good shepherd” as He continues with the illustration of a shepherd and his sheep that began in the first of the chapter. So the first thing we need to do this morning is to determine…
What makes Jesus the “good shepherd”?
The sentence structure in verse 10 is quite significant. In Greek, it literally reads something like this:
I am the shepherd, the good one. The shepherd, the good one, the life, his life, he lays down for the sake of the sheep.
You’ll notice the predominant use of the definite articles in that verse. Jesus is the shepherd. He is the good one. His life is the life that is laid down for the sheep. In other words, there is no other good shepherd. He is the only one. But when Jesus described Himself as the “good” shepherd, there were two different words that He could have used:
Two Greek words for “good”:
• agathos = “moral goodness” or “usefulness”. In the New Testament this word is frequently used to describe something that lines up well with the will of God. But that is not the word that Jesus uses here.
• kalos = “preeminent”, “excellent”, or “genuine”. This is the word that Jesus uses here to describe Himself and that certainly makes sense given the context. Remember, Jesus’ primary audience here is the group of Jewish religious leaders who claimed to be shepherds who cared for the people, but who were really just knockoffs, or counterfeits. Jesus, on the other hand is the genuine shepherd, the one who is preeminent over all the other shepherds. And in this passage, Jesus goes on to expound on the three characteristics that make him the genuine shepherd:
1. He sacrifices for the sheep
Because the sheep belong to Him, Jesus is willing to lay down His life for the good of the sheep. He contrasts that with His audience, who consisted of men who were more like hired hands that cared only about their own safety. So when danger came, they immediately left the flock to go and protect themselves first. And the result is that the flock is scattered. Jesus on the other hand was willing to make a sacrifice for the good of the sheep – a sacrifice that cost Him His very life. And there are three crucial aspects to this sacrifice that help us to understand more fully the significance of what the good shepherd did for His sheep:
• Jesus voluntarily laid down His life
Jesus repeatedly says that as the good shepherd He lays down his life for the sheep. And just to make sure that His audience understands that He makes it clear that no one takes His life from Him – He takes the initiative to lay down His life for the benefit of the sheep.
Without that voluntary laying down of his life, none of us would have access to God because of our sin. But Jesus chose to take that sin upon Himself and die on the cross for our sake. There are some who would claim that really wasn’t that big of deal. After all, they claim, if Jesus really is God who just added humanity to His deity while He was here on this earth, giving up that body really wasn’t such a big deal.
But Jesus actually gave up more than just His physical life on the cross. A close examination of our text reveals that…
• Jesus sacrificed his soul for the sheep
Last week we looked at two different Greek words that can be translated “life”:
bios = quantitative life which can be measured in terms of length, accomplishments, wealth, etc.
zoe = both quantitative and qualitative life. That was the word Jesus used to describe the abundant life that comes from entering through Him as the door.
But Jesus doesn’t use either of those words here. He uses a third word throughout this passage:
psuche = soul. This word describes the entire person. It is the part of our lives that extends beyond just our physical life here on earth into eternity. So when Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t just lay aside His physical life, He laid aside His entire being. He did not merely feel the physical pain of the nails being driven into His hands and feet. He experienced the excruciating pain and agony of all the sins of mankind deep down in His soul. We see that beginning to occur even before the actual crucifixion begins:
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Matthew 26:38-39 (ESV)
• The sacrifice would have been meaningless without the resurrection
In the world of shepherding, a shepherd who died trying to protect his sheep wouldn’t be of much good to the sheep after that. And even in the case of Jesus, it is true that His sheep were scattered and ran to find a safe place after His death.
But Jesus not only had the authority to lay down His life, He also had the authority to take it up again. And after He rose from the grave three days later, what is one of the first things Jesus did? He re-gathered His sheep.
So the first reason that Jesus is the good shepherd is that He sacrificed for the good of the sheep. Secondly He is the good shepherd because…
2. He knows the sheep intimately
When Jesus describes how He knows the sheep, He uses the same exact word that He uses to describe His relationship with the Father. The word “know” that He uses describes knowledge that is gained by experience as opposed to knowledge that is gained through academic study.
It is a word that often expresses an intimate love relationship. In fact, it is used in the New Testament to describe the intimate relationship between a man and his wife. We see one example of that use in the account of Jesus’ birth:
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:24-25 (ESV)
In this passage, Matthew uses the same word for “know” that Jesus used when He describes His relationship to both the sheep and to His Heavenly Father. Here in Matthew that word is clearly used to describe sexual intimacy. Obviously Joseph knew Mary quite well in many regards, but he did not experience the full intimacy of that relationship until after the birth of Jesus.
This idea that Jesus knows His sheep intimately is really crucial for us. All we have to do is to think about the nature of sheep. No one ever picks a sheep to be the mascot for their school do they? They may pick a lot of other animals – lions, tigers, bears, panthers, even beavers – but never a sheep. That’s because sheep are basically stupid and helpless.
But because He knows His sheep so well, the good shepherd is able to understand what His sheep need and He is also in a position to provide for those needs.
So Jesus is the good shepherd because He sacrifices for the sheep and because He knows His sheep intimately. But He is also the good shepherd because…
3. He unites the sheep
Last week, we briefly referred to verse 16 where Jesus declares that He has other sheep that are not of this fold. This is another place where many people have taken this verse out of context and developed some really faulty theology.
Some try to claim that this proves that there is life elsewhere in the universe and that Jesus has followers on other planets. Since the Bible doesn’t really address the whole idea of life anywhere else in the universe, that’s a real stretch at best.
The Mormons claim that these “other sheep” are a group known as the Nephites – a remnant from the house of Joseph who had been taken to America six centuries before the birth of Jesus. They teach that Jesus visited this group after His resurrection, teaching the same message He had previously taught to the people of Israel.
But these and other equally inaccurate interpretations ignore the clear context of our passage. As we saw last week, Jesus is speaking here primarily to the Jews. Earlier the chapter, we saw that Jesus stepped through the door of Messianic authority in order to lead His sheep out of the sheepfold that represented Israel. Given that context, the “other sheep” in verse 16 are those non-Israelites who were also going to be brought into the sheepfold where the entire flock would be ruled by the good shepherd.
This understanding, unlike any of the others that have been drawn from this passage, finds confirmation throughout the rest of Scripture. As we touched on briefly two weeks ago, even the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah picture Him as the “light of the world”, not just a light for the Jews.
And certainly the New Testament writers confirmed this idea of one flock consisting of both Israelites and non-Israelites who would be led by one shepherd – Jesus the Messiah. For instance, in Romans 9, 10 and 11, Paul describes how the Jews and Gentiles have become part of the same flock by using the illustration of the Gentiles being grafted into Israel.
But perhaps the clearest confirmation of this truth comes in Ephesians 2 where Paul describes how the Jews and Gentiles have become one in Jesus. We’re going to explore that passage further in “Connections” today, but for now, we’ll just read the beginning part of that passage:
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands - remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:11-13 (ESV)
Through His sacrifice, the good shepherd has united all his sheep – both the sheep from the sheepfold of Israel and the sheep that were not from that fold, the Gentiles – into one flock.
Implications for us:
1. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know
The Jewish leaders that Jesus was addressing were among the most highly educated people in their culture. And they certainly knew more about the Scriptures than the general public. But in spite of their knowledge, they still missed the Messiah when He was standing right in front of Him. When they witnessed Him perform a miracle, they were more concerned with the fact that Jesus had violated their man-made rules concerning the Sabbath than they were with the fact that a man who had been blind all his life could now see again.
Things haven’t changed much at all in the last 2,000 years. For one of my seminary classes one of my assignments was to review an article that had been published in the “Journal for the Study of the Old Testament” by a Biblical “scholar” named Dan E. Burns. Just the title of the article with give you a pretty good idea of my opinion of the author’s findings: “Dream Form in Genesis 2:4b-3:24a: Asleep in the Garden”. This article was a perfect example of someone that is so educated that He completely misses how the Genesis account reveals the need for a savior and even provides us with our first prophecy of the Messiah in Scripture. In fact, here are the concluding words from my paper:
It also seems that we need to be wary of purely academic attempts to analyze the Bible which ignore the message of salvation which undergirds the entire Scripture from beginning to end.
Nearly 16 years later, I understand that truth even more clearly than I did when I wrote those words. I’ve kept that article and my paper as a constant reminder that it is not what you know, but who you know that really matters in life.
As Christ followers, we need to follow the example of Jesus in His relationship with His Heavenly Father. Jesus didn’t just know about His Father – He had an intimate relationship in which He really knew His Father and His Father knew Him. He says that He wants that same kind of relationship with His sheep.
Right before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for His followers. And at the very beginning of His prayer, He reinforced the importance of knowing Him:
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 17:3 (ESV)
The entire essence of eternal life is knowing God the Father and His Son, the good shepherd.
Near the end of his life, the apostle Paul reaffirmed this principle:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…
Philippians 3:8 (ESV)
The good shepherd, Jesus, has given us everything that we need to know Him – His Word and the Holy Spirit. And as we read His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our lives, we discover that…
2. Knowing Jesus as my shepherd requires obedience
If we want Jesus to be our good shepherd, it’s not enough to just listen to His voice. Just as we have seen with the first three “I am” sayings, we also must take action based on what Jesus has revealed to us about Himself. As Jesus continues His discourse in John 10, we find these words:
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27 (ESV)
The ones who are truly Jesus’ sheep not only hear His voice, they also follow Him, which means that they are obedient to the voice of the shepherd. In fact, Jesus gave those who would claim to be His followers one simple test that they can use to determine if Jesus is in fact their good shepherd:
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
John 14:21 (ESV)
Pretty simple isn’t it? We can say that we love Jesus all that we want, but the true test is whether or not we are obeying His commandments. Obviously, none of us can do that perfectly, but if Jesus is truly our shepherd, it must be our heart’s desire to listen to Him and to act based upon His words.
John expanded on this principle a bit more in his first epistle:
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:3-6 (ESV)
I’m convinced that one of the reasons that the Bible often portrays God as a shepherd is that a good shepherd knows that you don’t drive sheep, you lead them. As our good shepherd, Jesus will never drive us; He will never force us to follow Him. Instead He calls out to us and leads us on the path that will lead to an abundant life. It is up to us to follow Him and develop an intimate relationship with Him.
Finally, while it is true that Jesus calls to and cares for each one of His sheep individually…
3. Abundant life can only be experienced fully within the flock
We live in an age where personal independence and autonomy are paramount and unfortunately that same mindset often carries over into the church. But it is instructive for us that Jesus and the early church leaders like Peter and Paul refer to the body of Christ as a flock.
Sheep are vulnerable and helpless animals who live best when they remain in the flock rather than trying to go out on their own. As part of the flock, they are fed and protected in a way that would not be possible if they tried to make it on their own.
The same is true for Christ followers. God has designed us so we function best as part of a flock. By being part of that flock we are fed and receive encouragement and protection in a manner that would never be possible if we were on our own.
And the flock operates best when all of the individual sheep within that flock focus on what is best for the good of the entire flock. When individual sheep demand their own way, it undermines the entire flock and all of the sheep suffer as a result.
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” But the important question all of us must answer this morning is this: Is Jesus my shepherd? And that question requires that we all respond to the invitation of Jesus in some way this morning:
• First, if you’ve been relying on what you know rather than who you know, then today Jesus is inviting you to begin a love relationship with Him where you get to know Him, not just know about Him. That relationship begins with a commitment to put your trust in Jesus alone as the door that allows entry into His flock. And then it continues as you get to know Jesus better through His Word and by yielding to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in your life.
• Second, if you claim that Jesus is your shepherd are you following Him? Are you listening to His voice, which comes primarily from His Word and then acting in obedience based on what you find there?
• Third, are you experiencing the fullness of the abundant life that Jesus offers by being an active member of this local flock that we call Thorndale Family Church? Have you committed to this body by becoming a member and by being actively involved in the body life here?
[Benediction]
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)
