“I AM the Good Shepherd” John 10:1-21
Today we look at John 10 as Jesus introduces Himself as the Good Shepherd. Raising and tending sheep was a great part of Old Testament and mid-eastern culture. In the Old Testament the “shepherd” was also a caretaker of God’s people, and God Himself was called the “Shepherd of Israel”, (Ps. 80:1, Ps. 23:1, Isa. 40:10-11, Eze 34:11-16) and now Jesus makes the same claim in John 10.
Remember the setting from last week as we ended with these words from John 9:39-41: "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.”
John 10: "Most assuredly, {this is the absolute truth!} I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper {or watchman} opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
The Allegory of the “Shepherd of the Sheep”
Jesus gives this illustration of the Shepherd of the Sheep following his stunning statements from John 9. It is evident to Jesus that the religious leaders are those who are not entering by the door, but climbing up some other way, like a thief or a robber. They are more interested in “fleecing” the sheep than they are in guarding, nurturing and leading the sheep. There had been many warnings in the Old Testament to those who were leading falsely and a warning was certainly implied in what Jesus said here.
Ezekiel 34 had included a very clear example of this: 1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.”
A good Shepherd would know and call His sheep by name; He would not yelp using a general “sheep call.” Although many times a sheep pen would contain sheep from different owners, as the shepherd called his sheep by name, they would come and attentively follow him because His trusted voice was familiar to the sheep and they knew he would lead them to “green pastures and still waters.” Remember the words of Psalm 23, the most familiar chapter in the entire Bible: Verses 1-3: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.”
Israel’s leaders had been leading God’s people astray from the Good Shepherd of Israel, and so, even as the leaders could not see Jesus as the Light of the World and could not accept their own blindness, in their sinfulness, they did not understand what Jesus taught here because very clearly, they were NOT His sheep. The sheep that belong to the Lord HEAR and FOLLOW His voice because they are His sheep.
I am the Door of the Sheep
Look at verse 7: “Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly,{again, this is the absolute truth!} I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Thieves and robbers would come at night under the cover of darkness, but Jesus comes in the Day and not only in the Light but He comes AS the Light of the World. False teachers and leaders (not the trusted prophets of the OT who called Israel to repentance to God), but the false teachers sought only to deceive and to destroy. They taught a righteousness by works and not by faith. They taught a self-righteousness on the outside, not a clean heart as a work of God from above which loves God entirely from the heart.
When Jesus says “I AM THE DOOR” in verses 7 and 8 He is again using a declaration of Deity, identifying Himself with the “I AM” of Exodus 3:14, the Everlasting Self-Existent God, YAHWEH; It reminds us of His declarations that “I am the Bread of Life” and “I am the light of the World,” and the repetition again in verse 11, “I am the Good Shepherd.” There is an exclusiveness to His statement; There is one particular flock of sheep that is His alone, and Jesus is the only door or gateway into the fold. He is saying that He alone is the way of entrance into salvation. Verse 9 makes that very clear: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”
Salvation is the term for the whole process whereby sinful men are delivered from the consequences of their sin by God and brought into the blessings of God. “Going in and out” and finding pasture” in verse 9 explains the sufficiency of Jesus alone to nourish and care for His sheep. He is the only access to spiritual life and He is the one who will lead His particular sheep to living water and to the spiritual food which will sustain them.
Psalm 23: 4-6 gives us the perfect picture of this sufficiency in the Good Shepherd: 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”
The devil seeks to steal, and to kill, and to destroy but Jesus has come that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly. (vs. 10) The “Abundant Life” from the Lord Jesus means that we receive more than is necessary for LIFE. To focus on the material aspects of life is to miss the point of the passage: The spiritual provision that we receive is a life blessed by God to live to the fullest FOR God. We can now know fellowship with our God and Savior, having been freed from the effects of the thieves and robbers: We have spiritual safety and security in the Lord of Life, the Light of the World, the Bread from Heaven, the Good Shepherd.
I am the Good Shepherd
Look at verses11-15: “I am the good shepherd. “The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.”
Here Jesus identifies Himself as THE Good Shepherd. There is only one who is good and that is God. Hirelings who tend the sheep are in it for the occupation and wages but they would not give their lives to protect the sheep, but the one and only Good Shepherd is prepared to sacrifice his own life for his sheep because He alone is THE noble model of perfection. It is for this reason that THE Good Shepherd is totally committed to the salvation of His particular sheep to the point of death: The death of the Good Shepherd would mean Life for His Sheep.
Jesus affirms again in verse14: “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."
The Good Shepherd intimately knows and loves His sheep in the way He knows the Father and the same way that the Father knows and loves Son. Remember that the Father and Son have known an eternal love for one another and they have that kind of love for those whom God has chosen to be His sheep. Those sheep will hear God’s call and come to the Shepherd for life and protection.
The Good Shepherd’s substitutionary death would be no surprise to Him or His Father but death would not be the end. The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus is not the end but He died in order that He would rise again and complete the work with His ultimate glorification and sending of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ death would be a God-ordained command and charge that His death would result in the resurrection, life being the end result.
The fact that Jesus’ death was only temporary means that His death for sinners was and is effective. It is why His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Still the evidence is never for those whom the Father has not called. In verse19 we get the same reactions as before: “Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" 21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
All praise and glory be given to God the Father and Jesus the Son, that Jesus IS the Messiah and that His absolute relationship with the Father resulted in forgiveness and life for all who would believe and follow Him. At the Lord’s Supper we celebrate and remember who He is and what He has done for sinners. Ezekiel 34:31 had announced: “You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
I. The Allegory of the Shepherd of the Sheep.
A. A warning to false teachers is implied.
B. A Good Shepherd called his sheep by name.
C. His voice was familiar and the sheep could trust him to lead to pastures and water.
II. Jesus explains and expands: “I am the Door”/ I am the entrance into salvation.
A. There is one single flock and one single entrance into salvation.
B. “Going in and out” explains the sufficiency of Jesus alone to nourish and care for His sheep.
C. “Abundant Life” means that we receive more than is necessary for LIFE.
III. “I am THE one and only Good Shepherd”/ I’m prepared to sacrifice my life for my sheep.
A. THE “Good” Shepherd is THE noble model of perfection.
B. THE Good Shepherd is totally committed to the salvation of His particular sheep to the point of death: The death of the Shepherd would mean Life for His Sheep.
C. The Good Shepherd intimately knows and loves His sheep in the way He knows the Father.
D. The Good Shepherd’s substitutionary death would be no surprise to Him or His Father.
E. His death would only be temporary but effective.
