John 10:1-11
Knowing the Shepherd’s Voice
In John’s thematic gospel we see different pictures of who Jesus Christ is to us. John included seven “I am” statements, where Jesus publicly identified himself with the great “I am,” Yahweh, the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who would use Moses to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. So Jesus said things like, “I am the bread of life; I am the light of the world; I am the resurrection and the life; I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the true vine.” And in today’s scripture, Jesus added two more images: “I am the gate” and “I am the good shepherd.”
Here Jesus drew on an image very familiar to his listeners: a shepherd and his sheep. I love the story about the devout shepherd who lost his favorite Bible while he was out in the pastures. Three weeks later, a sheep walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The shepherd couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the sheep's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!" "Not really," said the sheep. "Your name is written inside the cover."
In Jesus’ time, sheep were essential not only for wool and for food but also for temple worship. And the image of the shepherd was engrained into the culture of Israel. Several Bible verses used the image of God as the shepherd and Israel as the sheep (Gen. 48:15; 49:24; Ps. 23:1; 28:9; 78:52; 80:1; Is. 40:11; Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:11–16). So, it should come as no surprise that Jesus drew on the image as well.
Middle East sheep-herders didn’t use sheep dogs to drive the sheep. Rather, the shepherds led the sheep. How? By using their own voice. They taught the sheep to follow them by recognizing the unique sound of their shepherd’s voice.
Out of today’s parable Jesus identified himself with two images: the shepherd and the gate or door. Let’s unpack what each means for us. First,
1. Jesus is our shepherd. That tells me: We can trust his voice and follow him.
Now a sheep is a very nervous creature, easily prone for trouble. It frightens easily. (One of our puppies is scared of its own shadow. Maybe it is a sheep in disguise!) A sheep might get stuck in a briar patch, or fall into a creek while it’s trying to drink. It is notorious for following the herd, so if one sheep walks off a cliff, it’s quite possible the whole herd would follow suit.
The sheep’s salvation is its shepherd, who is there to protect from predators, to guide to green fields for grazing, to pull out the briars from the sheep’s wool, to feed and water. The sheep learns early on that the shepherd is for his sheep; the shepherd can be trusted.
The Apostle Paul reminds us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Paul’s assumption is that God is indeed for us. Just a few verses later he writes, “For I am convinced that [nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
We can trust Jesus because he is our shepherd. He guides us and protects us. He provides for us and watches out over us. Like the shepherd here, he calls us by name. And like the sheep here, we need to learn his voice.
There are a lot of voices in the world clamoring for our attention: the voice of style, the voice of popularity, the voice of prosperity, the voice of success. Some voices are healthier than others. Some are downright bad for us. But the one voice we need to hear most is the voice of Jesus.
How do we hear his voice? We read scripture. We think about scripture. We meditate on scripture. We pray on scripture. We talk about scripture. We let it soak into our lives. Jesus is the living word, and scripture is God’s written word. As we get to know Jesus better, we get to know God better. Later in today’s chapter, Jesus told the Pharisees, “The Father is in me, and I in the Father” (John 10:38).
As we get to know Jesus better, we understand that he is not driving us forward with sheepdogs or sticks, but he is leading us. Jesus tells us to put God first, and the gospels record him rising early in the morning to pray to his Father. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, and the gospels record him loving and forgiving and healing all those around him. Jesus tells us, “You will be persecuted,” and the gospels record his persecution all the way to a cross. Jesus leads us by example.
The other thing that helps us to learn the voice of Jesus is obedience. When scripture or our prayer time prompts us to do something, we need to do it immediately. The more we obey Jesus, the more we learn to recognize his voice. The opposite is also true: the more we disobey, the less likely we are to hear his voice, because we have hardened our hearts to God. Like the pharaoh of Egypt, we sometimes harden our hearts, so that every heavenly effort to gain our attention goes unheeded; the plagues grow more and more severe. Why? Because God wants our attention. Jesus wants our obedience, for our own good, for our own protection, and for God’s glory. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” We need to follow the Nike motto and “just do it.” If the Holy Spirit prompts us to encourage our neighbor, we need to do it right then. Like a sheep following its shepherd, we need to follow our good shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Sometimes, in the Middle East, various flocks of sheep become intermingled. For the night, several shepherds might bring their flocks into a common holding pen. The next morning it is time to go separate ways, to take different flocks to different grazing areas. And to do that, the shepherds come out of the pen and each speak to the herds, perhaps with a little song or chant, and--one-by-one--the sheep fall in with their respective shepherd. It is an amazing sight! The sheep know their shepherd’s voice, and we should know ours as well.
Jesus is our good shepherd. The other image he uses here is,
2. Jesus is our gate. And that tells me, we can rest in his security.
Now maybe you’re thinking, “How did the shepherd in Jesus’ story suddenly become the gate?” Most of these sheep pens consisted of a stone wall or a simple cave with an open entrance. Fancy hinged gates were rare. As the sheep came in at night, the shepherd would tenderly examine each one for injuries, rub oil on wounds, and water those that were thirsty. Then, once all the sheep were settled in for the night, the shepherd would seal the entrance. Sometimes he would fill the gap in the wall or the opening in the cave with foliage. But more often than not, he would use himself. He would simply lie down at the entrance, to keep the sheep in and the predators out. The shepherd became the gate.
That gate, or perhaps your Bible says “door,” that gate or door is our entry point into ultimate security. The gate spiritually represents what the Bible calls eternal life. And notice that Jesus alone is our gate. As he said elsewhere, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is our entry point not only to heaven but to abundant life now, to a relationship with the God who made us and loves us. Yes, Christianity is an exclusive religion, because Jesus himself said, “I am the gate.” We come to the Heavenly Father through him. But Christianity is also inclusive because Jesus welcomes all who will come. God’s will is that no one would perish, but all receive eternal life (2 Peter 3:9).
The gate also represents safety, security. Once we’re in that sheep pen, our Good Shepherd will protect us from the evil one. We can trust him. “In God we trust; all others pay cash.” But do we really trust in God? Or do we trust in our retirement pension? Or in our abilities? Where do we find ultimate security? How do we protect from the evil one who has come to steal, kill, and destroy? There is only one way. We trust in the one who has come to bring us life and life to the full, life more abundantly. We trust in the one who has laid down his life for us, the ultimate proof of his goodness, of his love.
One Memorial Day weekend a Christian dentist from Seattle took his 12-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son on a climb up Mount Rainier. A storm came up suddenly, battering them with hurricane force winds and a blinding “whiteout” blizzard making it impossible to see or move on. James Reddick dug an oblong trench in the snow, then tucked his children into sleeping bags away from the entrance. He covered the opening with a tarp, but it kept blowing away. Reddick found that the only way to keep it in place was to weigh it down with his own body across the opening.
Two days passed before rescuers finally noticed the corner of a backpack protruding from deep snow. They rushed to the site, hoping the snow-covered mound would contain the three missing climbers. Inside, they found Sharon and David Reddick, very much alive. But the stiff body of their father lay against one wall of the snow cave. He had “taken the cold spot,” in the words of one rescuer, by using his own back as the outer wall. [https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/student-bible/4409/06/10?interface=print]
Jesus’ listeners must have envisioned something like that as Jesus described a good shepherd who would lay down his life for his sheep. Nothing—not ravaging cold nor thieves or wolves—would come between the good shepherd and his sheep. He would die if he had to, for their protection.
The Apostle John would later describe in the book of Revelation a scene in heaven, where he said, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17). Let us pray.
Thank you, Jesus, that you are both our Good Shepherd and the gate, the door to our salvation. Help us to trust in you for our ultimate security. Help us to love you more and more as we realize how much you love us, even to lay down your life for us. Help us to learn your voice and to follow you all the days of our lives, amen.
