The Good Shepherd
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. – Matthew 9:35,36
Prayer
OKAY TODAY – is the week four in our message series, ‘Name Above All Names.”
A SERIES – where we are unpacking several of the names or titles given to, in an effort to know more fully The One we have chosen to follow.
AND UNDERSTAND – knowing Jesus better I what life is all about, or at least should be what life is all about for those who claim to follow Him.
AND LISTEN – if Paul who had many personal encounters with Jesus, suffered intensely for Jesus, and ultimately gave his life for Jesus… said in Philippians 3:10 “I want to know Christ!”
THEN – I contend that there is a lot more to knowing Jesus than any of us has ever experienced.
AND MGCC – let’s not forget the words that Jesus prayed in John 17…
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. – John 17:3
Eternal life = not just quantity (as in forever) but also quality (as in life in all it’s fullness, you could say a life of shalom)
NOW – the name of Jesus that we are going to unpack this morning is; ‘The Good Shepherd.’ AND – it is actually a title that Jesus attaches to Himself in the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel…
HOWEVER – before we dive into this conversation, I want us to consider the following statement.
One of the greatest needs today among Jesus-followers is for us to 'really' see and 'really' believe the things we already profess to see and believe.
UNDERSTAND – it is essential for us to really see and really believe that…
• Jesus is the Word become flesh
• Jesus is Mighty God, Immanuel
• Jesus is The Prince of Peace
For those truths to have God’s desired impact in our lives.
AGAIN – its in John 10 that we find this title for Jesus…
AND – let’s put that chapter in it’s context as we begin…
BECAUSE – context, is what when it comes to understanding the bible? Context is king.
OKAY – let’s do this… SO – all of John chapter 9 is dedicated to Jesus healing a man who was born blind…
NOW - this guy is just hanging out by the roadside…
AND WHEN – the disciples first see him, they ask Jesus…
“Hey Teacher, is this guy blind because he has done something wrong OR is it because of his parents”
(YOU SEE - they like us wanted to know ‘the why’)
Jesus replies,
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. – John 9:3
QUESTION – do you know what the works of God are?
To display His glory.
To show the world how awesome he is!
AND LISTEN - just like this guy sometimes stuff happens in your life and mine for the exact same reason…
SO THAT - we will have an opportunity to display God’s glory.
AN OPPORTUNITY – to show the world how good, powerful and present our God is, even in the most difficult of times.
YES – displaying God’s glory many times is the ‘why’ in our suffering.
THEN - Jesus stoops down spits on the ground, stirs the dirt, and makes some mud… (now that’s a lot of spit – and still pretty gross even if it is Jesus)…
HE - puts the mud on the guys eyes and tells the guy to go to the pool of Siloam and wash it off…
SO - the guy goes and washes it off and immediately his eyes are opened… Awesome!
NOW – I don’t know about you, but I would call that entire event (spit and all) a good thing (wouldn’t you?)…
I MEAN – who would look at a guy born blind being able to see and call it bad?
I’LL – tell you who, the leaders of God’s people… the Pharisees…
YEAH – (as crazy as it sounds) these ‘relgious leaders believed that a guy born blind going home seeing, was a bad thing… WHY? - because it was done on the Sabbath, went against their rules and how they thought things should be done.
SO INSTEAD – of celebrating this man’s recovery, these guys begin holding hearings…
They bring the guy in and give him the 3rd degree,
They asked him who healed Him…
They don’t like his answer
So they bring in his parents…
BUT – his parents are too afraid to say anything because they don’t want to be thrown out of the synagogue.
So they bring in the blind guy a second time
NOW – I love this guy.
I don’t know who healed me, you guys are killing me, like do you want to be His follower too?
Listen, all I know is that I was blind but now I can see…
WELL EVENTUALLY - things get so heated that they toss the guy out of the synagogue.
JESUS - goes and finds him and makes sure that he is okay and then Jesus turns his attention to the Pharisees.
Calling them out for their ridiculous ungodly behavior, and telling them that though they may not be physically blind, they are spiritually blind.
OKAY – with that context in mind…
WE – are ready for John 10.
UNDERSTAND - right after He calls them blind Jesus gives an allegory playing off of shepherding, one of the three major occupations in Palestine along with fishing and farming.
AND LISTEN – throughout the OT we see God calling on the leaders of the nation to shepherd his people.
WHILE – at the same time declaring that He was their ultimate shepherd.
“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
Thief = stealing by being sneaky
Robber = stealing by being violent
The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate
Question – when you hear the word gate what do you think of? Something made of wood, rope or iron that swings on a hinge? That’s what I picture… but that is not what someone living in the time of Christ would picture…
YOU SEE – the only gate a shepherd knew of in 1st century Palestine was his own body… At night a shepherd would call all the sheep into the fold… Once they were in he would lay across the opening with his staff and rod… That way the only way for a sheep to leave or for someone to come in and harm the sheep was through Him.
I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.
Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
(OKAY 2 PICTURES - rental car power windows won’t go up… your car… big storm any difference in what you would do?)
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me– just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 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 10:1-16 (NLT)
2 times in this passage… Jesus refers to himself as; “the good shepherd…
WHAT DO SAY - we unpack that title and see if God has anything to teach us this morning…
AND - to help us unpack, this title ‘The Good Shepherd…’
I want us to look at 2 statements;
#1 – We Are Sheep
#2 – Sheep Need A Good Shepherd
I. We Are Sheep…
AND UNDERSTAND - sheep are not fearless, rugged creatures whose character inspires us to greatness.
NO - on the contrary; they are passive, dependent blobs of wool...
IN FACT - I don’t know of any sports team that has a sheep as their mascot.
This week I found a web-site for unusual college mascots…
BUT – not one sheep…
NOW - I would prefer to be compared to an eagle, wouldn’t you?
AFTER ALL – eagles are strong, resilient, independent…
YEAH – that’s what I want to be, an eagle that soars above the winds of adversity in power and strength…
HEY – I’d even settle to be compared to a camel, a squirrel or an artichoke…
BUT – the truth is the bible never calls us any of those…
NO – the bible calls us sheep… (and it calls us sheep about 200 times)…
NOW – I have a couple of books in my office about sheep…
“Song Of The Shepherd,” - Mark Todd
“A Shepherd’s Look At Psalm 23,” - Phillip Keller
Mark – is a pastor in Indiana and Phillip is a writer, scientist, speaker and an X- sheep rancher…
IN – these books the writers describe in great detail the characteristics of sheep… HERE – are just a few;
A) Sheep are notorious followers....
If one member of the flock starts running toward the highway, everyone starts running. And none of them knows why they are running.
YOU SEE - the herd instinct takes over and the urge to follow becomes so great that they just have to go…
I MEAN – sheep will mindlessly follow anything that catches their attention…
B) Sheep are helpless...
That’s why wolves and other meat eating animals love sheep.
IN FACT – just the mere sight of a sheep away from the protection of says, “dinner is served - I’ll take that sheep burger combo super sized” -- to a hungry wolf.
Sheep are timid feeble creatures whose only defense is to run....
C) Sheep are almost blind...
They can’t see any farther then 15 yards.
D) Sheep are hardheaded...
AND - the wild ones of the species, the bighorn mountain variety, continually run around banging their heads with one another.
Apparently, it really impresses the lady sheep (I think it would give me a headache)…
BUT - maybe the reason banging heads does not give sheep a headache, is because their cranial cavity has a lot extra space, YOU SEE – sheep are not known for their intelligence, they are (now how can I say it delicately) sheep are stupid, (can you say “air head”?)
NOW - before you accuse me of sheepism, animal prejudice or call p.e.t.a. on me, consider some of the following activities of sheep....
• Sheep will graze the same hill over & over until they turn it into a wasteland
• They will keep walking the same trial until they are in a rut
• They pollute their own ground until it is full of disease and parasites
• They have no homing instincts. A dog, cat or bird can find it’s way home BUT - if a sheep gets lost it is a goner unless someone comes to rescue it.
And here’s my favorite - adult sheep will lie down and roll over on their backs... my dog does that... but sheep are not as agile as a dog....when a sheep rolls over on it’s back, it is physically unable to roll back over.
Shepherds refer to this situation as a “cast sheep.”
AND - unless the shepherd rolls it back over, internal gases will build up in the sheep and it will die. That is correct sheep will die if they roll on their backs YET - they keep on doing it...
YES - sheep are helpless stupid animals --- and throughout the bible God calls us sheep. AND LISTEN – (whether we like it or not) we do bear a strong family resemblance.....
FOR EXAMPLE…
We share their natural tendency to follow....
If you’re not convinced look at the clothes people wear or their hairstyles...
AND - sometimes like sheep, we run off in a direction without really knowing why we are even going that way.
AND LISTEN - if it were just a matter of style the situation wouldn’t be so bad.
BUT – people routinely surrender their will to someone else in order to run after the flock.
Right and wrong depends on the latest poll.
Whatever everyone else thinks or does is what we think or do. We simply fall in line, running along with the rest of the flock wherever our little woolly legs will carry us.
AND - like sheep we can also be very nearsighted at times.
WE – usually live only for what is right in front of us and we fail to see even a mere 15 yards down the road.
AND – like sheep we can be very stubborn, hard-headed and unmovable… I MEAN – we will choose to do something and keep doing it even though we know it is bad for us…
IN - his book Phillip Keller talks about people like that and he writes;
They remind me very much of a bunch of sheep I watched one day which were being led down to a magnificent mountain stream. The snow-fed waters were flowing pure and clear and crystal clean between lovely banks of trees.
But on the way several stubborn ewes and their lambs stopped, instead, to drink from small, dirty, muddy pools beside the trial.
The water was filthy and polluted not only with the churned up mud from the passing sheep but even the manure and urine of previous flocks that had passed that way. Still these stubborn sheep were quite sure it was the best drink obtainable.
“There is a way that seems right to a sheep… but it only end in death,” “YES – I hear you, okay-okay, there is clean fresh water up ahead… BUT – I don’t care I prefer to drink from the dirty & contaminated mud hole of; my addiction, my bitterness… my selfishness…
YES – we are sheep, AND…
II. Sheep Need A Good Shepherd…
AND – the sad truth is that God’s people have not always had one…
IN FACT – we see God through His prophet Ezekiel calling out these shepherds in the 34th chapter of His book;
AND UNDERSTAND – in these verses we see a graphic picture of the Pharisees and of the hired hands that Jesus talked about in John 10…
YOU REMEMBER – the ones…
• who climbed over the fence with their own motives and agendas
• who ran when trouble came to save their own hide
• who did not give life to God’s people BUT INSTEAD – killed and destroyed life.
Then this message came to me from the LORD: …prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD…. – Ezekiel 34:1,2
AND LISTEN – the message was not a pleasant one, God said that Destruction is certain for them, because they cared only for themselves and not for His flock…
You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the broken bones. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd. They are easy prey for any wild animal… - Ezekiel 34:4,5
QUESTION – do you think it was hard for God to watch the people that he loved so much be under the care of such sorry shepherds? YOU – bet it was…
I MEAN IMAGINE – entrusting your kids to someone who said they’d take care of them.. you’re 1000 miles away and all you can do is watched the mistreatment on a webcam.
That’s why God next in Ezekiel 34 says…
THAT - before too long (at the perfect time, when all is ready) in the person of the Son…
He will come and be the shepherd of His people…
"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep… I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in lush mountain pastures.
I myself will tend my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD. 31You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God, says the Sovereign LORD. – Ezekiel 34:11-16, 30,31
That is so awesome!
AND LISTEN – 2,000 years ago…
IN - the person of the Son, the good shepherd put on human, flesh, slipped on a pair of sandals and walked this earth… and here is what He saw.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. – Matthew 9:35,36
BUT – they don’t have to be that way (sick, harassed and helpless) anymore…
BECAUSE - the good shepherd has come…
• He knows their voice
• He calls them by name
• He searches until he finds them
• He leads them
• He rescues them
• He lays down his life for them…
• AND - He gives them life, in ALL it’s fullness…
YES – we are sheep and sheep need a good shepherd…
AND – the awesome thing, the amazing thing is… that God is not only willing but He wants to be our Shepherd.
QUESTION - why would God want the headaches and the heartaches of leading such a stubborn flock?
Why would He extend His hand toward those who have repeatedly slapped Him away in the past?
Why would God want to put up with our moods, our grumbling, our stubbornness and our constant wandering off into sin? Why would He willingly lay down His life in order to be our Shepherd.
TO – be honest I don’t have clue why… BUT – I am so glad he does!
NOW – it would be practically impossible for anyone who knows the bible to talk about Jesus being “the Good Shepherd” and not think about Psalm 23.
SO – I can think of no better way of wrapping up this study of our Good Shepherd than by taking a brief look at that 3,000 year old Psalm of David.
UNDERSTAND – in this Psalm are many incredible truths.
AND – my hunch is that one or more of these truths is exactly what you need to hear this morning.
OKAY – let’s wrap up this morning by looking at what the Good Shepherd Wants To Do For… FIRST
A) Jesus Wants To Your Shepherd
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want...”
NOW - the word translated Lord is the word Yahweh.
AGAIN - it is the word, that God used to describe himself to Moses, “I am is my shepherd”
UNDERSTAND - the all powerful, all knowing, all present, the one (who is and was and is to come) -- the one who spoke this world into existence, hung every the stars in it’s place wants to be your shepherd…wants to do the hard work of taking care of and leading you (thieves and robbers no longer need to apply).
AND - David said that when The Lord is our Shepherd we shall not be in want... NOW - unfortunately the way most people see that last phrase is as a promise of God, to provide for our every need (ok God here is my list)....
BUT UNDERSTAND - David’s words do not come to us in the form of a promise.
In the original text the first 2 lines of psalm 23, have only 4 words. And they stand together; as one sentence, as one statement of faith.
The best translation, one that communicates David’s core idea is “The Lord is my shepherd; I don’t need anything else...”
YOU SEE – David affirms, what we tend to forget in our never-ending maze of wants and desires: That when we have the Lord we have everything we need. We will not be in want because we do not want anything besides him.
AND - we do want Him - all of us do, whether we realize it or not. UNDERSTAND - as human beings, our greatest need is to know the Lord.
NOW - we can deny it, hide it, suppress it, or try to substitute something for it (some of you are working your little wooly self to death – doing just that).. BUT - deep within each of us lies a hunger that only can be satisfied with the Lord Himself, a thirst that only he can quench.
AND UNTIL - we have Him we will never really be content - at least not for any significant period of time.... BUT with Him as our shepherd we need nothing else - we have all we need.
B) Jesus Wants To Provide Your Nourishment
He makes me lie down in green pastures…
QUESTION - what do sheep eat? They eat grass.
UNDERSTAND - our shepherd leads us to a place where we have all the spiritual food (green pastures) we need.
What kind of sheep lies down in a green pasture? Asheep that has eaten its full.
If a sheep was in a green pasture and she’s not full, she’ll be eating not laying down.
Jesus Wants To Give You Peace & Rest
“He leads me beside quiet waters...”
Because they can’t swim well, and get bogged down by their wet wool - Sheep are terrified of fast flowing waters. That’s why shepherds would often build a dam to slow down the water where his sheep were…
UNDERSTAND - the Lord is a Shepherd who will lead you to quit waters, He will even build a dam if necessary…
AND HE - will calm the things, that terrify you in life -- and give you peace and rest;
C) Jesus Wants To Restore Your Soul
“He restores my soul...”
QUESTION - do things like: traffic, kids, spouses, parents, job, COVID 19, finances… life - at times, dry up your soul, deplete your strength and suck the life right out of you…
JESUS – wants to restore you our soul... (could your soul use some restoring?)
NOW – the Hebrew term David used in the phrase “restore my soul” means to cause something to turn.
In other passages the word is translated to convert or repent... The central idea of the word is a complete turnabout... Therefore what David is telling us, is that the Lord restores our souls by causing us to turn back to HIM.
POINT - by turning our hearts away from the world and turning them on Jesus - we get restored...
QUESTION – when and how does Jesus restore our souls? Sometimes He restores us on a Sunday morning through worship and the word…
BUT – I am convinced that Jesus’ favorite place to restore our souls is when we pull away from the world and hang out with Him…
D) Jesus Wants To Give Direction To Your Life
“He leads me on paths that are right for His name sake...”
QUESTION…
Have you ever been lost and needed directions?
Have you ever been on the wrong road and you thought it was the right one?
Have you ever been confused as to what path to take? UNDERSTAND - God leads us on paths and not just any paths, He leads us on right paths. AND He does it for 2 reasons:
FIRST – because His paths are the right path and they will lead you to life in all it’s fullest...
SECOND – He does it for His name sake… What does that mean? It means that when people see God’s people walking right paths and finding life in all it’s fullest (living the life they were created to live) - it reveals to the world the kind of Shepherd our God is… AND – the kind of life He can bring…
E) Jesus Wants To Walk With You In Dark Times
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
INTERSTINGLY - the word death does not appear in the Hebrew text…
BUT RATHER - a word that means a dark valley (a deep, dark and difficult trial of which death is)
THOUGH - the term is much broader than just death.
AND - did you notice, the shift in the pronouns used to describe our shepherd.... In verse 2,3 the word is “he,”
NOW - it is more personal, the pronoun “you.”
David does not write, He is with me, but you are with me. POINT…
God goes before us when the paths are smooth, But He stands beside us when the way is dark and difficult... and therefore we no longer need to be afraid.
IMAGINE…
What that be like. No fear of life, aging or death, disease or hunger, no fear of nay person or creature, not even the loss of your possessions. You can live without fear even in the midst of a world dominated by fear.
F) Jesus Wants To Protect And Correct You
“your rod & your staff they comfort me...”
The rod was a 3 foot club that hung from the shepherds belt, it was used to protect the flock from predators...
(and also to whack a sheep alongside the head when correction was necessary)
The staff was a walking stick…
AND - it had a hook on the end that was used to lift sheep out of dangerous situations.
WE – live in a dangerous world…
BUT – when Jesus is your shepherd, that world has to go through him in order to get to us… Yeah, I like that too…
G) Jesus Wants To Give You Confidence Over Your Enemies
“You prepare a table before me in the presence
of my enemies”
NOW – this table doesn’t refer to a piece of furniture… BUT - rather to a mat or skin spread out on the ground. The term enemy means one who harasses with threats and abuse. AND - the term, in the presence of carries the idea of drawing everyone attention to something - another form of the word means hilltop...
OKAY - here is the picture of confidence that this verse paints... Our enemies are pursuing us (got any?) Seeking to harm us -- and they look up, and not only, are we not running from them… BUT INSTEAD – we are sitting on mat on a hilltop having a picnic lunch… confident of victory… (Stephen in Acts chapter 7, ate at this hilltop as the angry mob stoned him)
H) Jesus Wants To Bless Your Life
“You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness & mercy will follow me all the days of my life”
UNDERSTAND – when God blesses, it overflows!
With God it’s always the best.
The calf is always fattened, the robe is always royal, the joy is always unspeakable, the grace is always amazing…and the peace is always beyond understanding…
NOW – the word translated ‘follow’ means to chase something down, it means to pursue with great determination.
NOT – to hurt or harm us…
BUT – to pour out His blessings, goodness, mercy and grace on top of us.
I) Jesus Wants To Be With You Forever
“and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever…”
LISTEN – when Jesus becomes your shepherd… you have a shepherd for life. Jesus will be with you always, to the very end of the age… AND – you are dwelling in the house of the Lord right now and forever.
WE – are sheep…
AND – we need a good shepherd…
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. – Matthew 9:36
QUESTION – what do you think Jesus sees as He looks at your life and mine this morning…
I don’t know but perhaps He would see people who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd
AND - What would He do?
HE – would look you in the eyes and say,
I am here to rescue you, I will be your shepherd, I will love you, fed you, protect you, led you, take care of you – be with you forever.
Jesus is here. And he does see, and he is reaching out,
So what will you do…?
