Sudden Impact Part III – “I AM” Series
Thesis: The "I Am" proclamations of Jesus in John’s gospel reveal that Jesus was the Messiah and that He was the same God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. When Jesus said he was the gate for the sheep and the Good Shepherd it became a sudden Impact moment on the crowd of the day.
Text: John 10
Key Verses: John 10:7 and 9
"Therefore Jesus said again, ’I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep." (7)
John 10:11 and 14
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (11)
Illustration: Put up "The Good Shepherd" painting copy.
To really appreciate the message of this painting and John 10, you need to center in on the Word and then look at the painting and meditate.
The Good Shepherd was painted by the German artist Bernard Plockhorst.
Let’s read the text and meditate on the story/allegory of Jesus and reflect on Jesus’ words against this painting.
READ JOHN 10
Reflect on Painting
Notice the mother sheep of the little lamb that "The Good Shepherd" is carrying in His arm. She may not be able (you will not be able) to see, the thorn in his leg; but she knows he has been hurt and follows close to the shepherd, watching with a mother’s anxious care on her youngen.
Note also the wild rugged beauty of the background of the picture the narrow stony path between rocks, the entangling thorns along the side, the lacy tree leaves, and the brook or pool dim shoreline in the distance.
The face of "The Good Shepherd" as with downcast eyes, he tenderly gently holds the injured lamb and carries the lamb safely back to the fold.
Introduction:
One of the most familiar sights in Eastern countries is to see the shepherd leading his flock either to pasture or to the fold.
In Middle East culture shepherding was a way of life for many. The two "I Am" statements in this chapter are both associated with the common practice of shepherding. When Jesus united the door and good shepherd "I Am" statements the Jews would have understood His terminology. They would know that the shepherd was the door and the door was the shepherd.
If you have studied Christ’s sayings you would observe that He taught His followers by using actual experiences that they could relate to. You could say Jesus was culturally sensitive to where his followers mind sets were.
Chilton notes, "The sheepfold Jesus was thinking about was an open space surrounded by a wall, with but one opening and here the shepherd took up His position as the door. It was this that the sheep literally and actually came in and out through Him. Thus they were watched over, cared for, counted and examined to see if any were hurt. If they were hurt, the Good Shepherd would anoint with a healing oil to help facilitate healing in the sheep. He would know His sheep so well they would be named and the sheep would also know their shepherd’s voice. (pg. 49.)
The sheep never made a mistake when they hear their shepherd’s call.
Illustration: H.V. Morton gives an account of this sort of thing: "Early one morning I saw an extraordinary sight not far from Bethlehem. Two shepherd had evidently spent the night with their flocks in a cave. The sheep were all mixed together and the time had come for the shepherds to go in different directions. One of the shepherds stood some distance from the sheep and began to call. First one, then another, then four or five animals ran towards him; and so on until he had counted his whole flock" (In the Steps of the Master, London 1935, pg. 155). George Adam Smith similarly tells of three or four shepherds separating out their flocks solely by their peculiar calls. (The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, London, 1931, pp. 311f.).
* Personal experience at Converse’s farm with cows.
At night the sheep were in the fold and protected. By day the shepherds would for the most part, let their sheep graze on the pastures. It’s interesting when you read of the Good Shepherd your mind just immediately races back to Ps. 23 (READ TEXT).
Illustration:
A Psalm Enshrined Too Long
As I parked my car in front of a big city hospital in Miami, one of our best-loved physicians came down the steps and started toward his car. It happened that it was very near mine, so, I waited. When he came close, I noticed that his lips were moving as though he were talking. With a grin, I said, "Bascom, you are too young to be talking to yourself."
He smiled, "I wasn’t talking to myself. I was saying the twenty-third Psalm." Maybe the expression of surprise and delight on my face made him continue. "I just came from the room of a little old saint on the fourth floor who can’t live much longer. She asked me if I knew the twenty-third Psalm. When I told her I claimed it as my very own and that I leaned on it every day, she replied, "Let’s say it together."
His voice was a little husky when he asked, "Didn’t Jesus call himself the Good Shepherd" Wasn’t He talking about Himself when He pictured the shepherd’s going into the mountains after that one sheep that didn’t come in?" Then very slowly he quoted the first few verses.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul." thoughtfully he added, "This twenty-third Psalm has been enshrined on a marble pedestal too long. We need to take it down and break it up and use it. It’s something to live with and live by."
-- C. Roy Angell
I believe when Jesus made His two "I Am" proclamations, He wanted the Jews and especially the Pharisees and Sadducees to see what a true Good Shepherd looked like.
I. THE MEANINGS OF ’THE GATE" AND "GOOD SHEPHERD".
A. The Greek Exegesis of terms
1. "I am the gate".
a. Gate or Door - Thura Thoo-rah!
the opening or the closure
b. Old Testament models for the shepherd image, for going in and out, and for door prediction (especially in the messianic context of Ps. 118:19-21: "Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation."
c. The basic lesson here is that Christ alone mediates membership in the messianic community and reception of its blessing of salvation and eternal life.
d. The idea of a solid firmament carries with it the thought of a door into heaven.
e. The idea of door/gate eschatologically denotes the granting of salvation for the symbol of open door or the closed door is defined as the refusal of salvation.
2. Good Shepherd
a. Good - Kalos’ or Agathos valuable, virtuous, pure without spot or defect.
1. Good comes from the root Word, God. God is good - world is not.
2. Good as opposed to bad with defect and blemishes, not as it should be defective in quality, rotten or spoiled.
Illustration: Stuffed Animal
b. Shepherd - poy-mane’ - tends the flock by protecting, ruling, leading, guiding but does it with care and nurturing.
c. The term Agathos Pumen is used in Eph. 4:11 in reference to pastors. The term is used 17 times in the New Testament.
1. The Shepherd is a figure of God Himself, Luke 15:4.
2. Jesus describes His mission by the image of gathering in the flock. Matt. 15:24.
3. Jesus uses the shepherd comparison in anticipation of His death and return with an illusion to Zech. 13:7
"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!" declares the LORD Almighty. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones."
d. Old Testament usage of term.
1. God is clearly called the shepherd of Israel. Ps. 68:7
2. God guides it. Ps. 23:3
3. Good Shepherd leads it to food and water. Ps. 23:2
4. Shepherd (God) protects it. Ps. 23:4
Savior Like a Shepherd Leads Us
One Christmas Eve, Ira D. Sankey was traveling by steamboat up the Delaware River. Asked to sing, Mr. Sankey sang the "Shepherd Song". After the song was ended, a man with a rough, weatherbeaten face came up to Mr. Sankey and said: "Did you ever serve in the Union Army?" "Yes", answered Mr. Sankey, "in the spring of 1860," "Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlight night in 1862?" "Yes", answered Mr. Sankey, very much surprised.
"So did I", said the stranger, "but I was serving in the Confederate army. When I saw you standing at your post I said to myself,: "That fellow will never get away from here alive." I raised my musket and took aim. I was standing in the shadow completely concealed, while the full light of the moon was falling upon you.
"At that instant, just a moment ago, you raised your eyes to heaven and began to sing. Music, especially song, has always had a wonderful power over me, and I took, my finger off the trigger. "Let him sing his song to the end, "I said to myself, "I can shot him afterwards. He’s my victim at all events, and my bullet cannot miss him." But the song you sang then was the song you sang just now. I heard the words perfectly:
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us.
Be the guardian of our way.
"Those words stirred up many memories in my heart. I began to think of my childhood and my God-fearing mother. She had many, many times sung that song to me. But she died all too soon, otherwise much in my life would no doubt have been different. When you had finished your song it was impossible for me to take aim at you again. I thought: "The Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty’ and my arm of its own accord dropped limp at my side."
--Religious Digest
5. God carries its young. (Isa. 40:11)
6. Ezekiel 34: 23-24; 37:22, 24 point the term to Messianic significance.
"I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken."
" I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, they will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 "`My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees."
7. In Jeremiah 3:15; 23:4
" Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding" (15)
"I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the LORD" (23:4).
These verses speak of God appointing new shepherds because the others are corrupt. God also will set up new shepherds, yea one shepherd who will reunite the people Zech. 12:10; 12:1. "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit {[10] Or the Spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on {[10] Or to me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. 13:1 "On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity."
Jeremiah 23:1-8 (READ) develops this prophetic concept even more after the exile bad shepherds bring down judgement, but a shepherd suffers death according to God’s will and in so doing ushers in the time of salvation. (Gerhard)
II. THE RESPONSE OF THE JEWS TO JESUS’ "I AM’ STATEMENTS (John 1:22-42)
A. Historical setting of this section.
1. Feast of Dedication - Hanukkah
a. Historically a minor Jewish festival. Note there is no Old Testament reference to this feast.
1.) It has evolved into one of the most festive since Christ’s death because it falls so close to Christmas.
b. Hanukkah is observed for 8 days.
c. This feast commemorates the victory of the Maccabees 0ver King Antiochus Epiphanes and his Syrian-Greek forces in 165 B.C.
1.) The primary sources for knowledge of the events of Hanukkah are the 1st and 2nd books of Maccabees, which although not canonized as part of the Jewish Bible itself, do constitute part of Jewish apocryphal literature.
2.) Note Eckstein.
"Like the book of Maccabees, both Maimonides and the special liturgical prayer recited on this holiday suggest that the principle miracle celebrated on Hanukkah is that of the military victory that enabled the Jews to rededicate the temple and to worship God freely. Hanukkah marks the victory of the few over the many, of the weak over the mighty, and of those with faith in God and commitment to religious freedom over the pagan tyrants of the world. The Talmud and later tradition maintain that in addition to the miracle of the military victory, another miracle took place. They suggest that as the Jews purified the temple, they were able to find only one remaining flask of pure olive oil, capable of keeping the eternal light burning for only one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days and eight nights, after which time they were able to find new oil." (Pg. 138)
B. The Challenge and their unbelief.
1. Verse 24 could be once again be a reference to a challenge to Christ, tell us plainly your Christ and lets military overthrow - the Romans.
2. Reference back to sheep know His voice.
3. Jesus affirms once again He and the Father are ONE in the same. He is the "I Am" of the Old Testament.
4. Note Miracles always point to Jesus’ divinity and Messiahship.
III. APPLICATION OF CHAPTER 10 AND THE "I AM’ STATEMENTS.
A. Christ is the door.
1. Augustine’s View:
Augustine connects this passage with Ch. 9 by emphasizing that there is one right way of entering, and the Pharisees did not use it. He also says, "there are many who, according to a custom of this life, are called good people, -- good men, good women, innocent, and observers as it were of what is commanded in law; paying respect to their parents, abstaining from adultery, doing no murder, committing no theft, giving no false witness against any one, and observing all else that the law requires -- yet are not Christians -- Pagans may say, then, We live well. If they enter not by the door, what good will that do them, whereof they boast?" (XLV. 2; P. 250)
2. Christ is the only gate into heaven. Religion will not get you into heaven and works will not.
B. Christ is the Good Shepherd
1. We can apply this chapter to us by stressing that Christ is our Good Shepherd who protects us, rules us with love, and guides us with gentleness.
2. He is the Shepherd who does not neglect His sheep but cares for them enough to die for them.
a. The death of the Good Shepherd means life for His sheep.
b. Morris notes that Palestinian Shepherds would not lay down their life for their sheep. They felt it was better to live for the sheep. A shepherd does not characteristically give their life for the sheep. The Good Shepherd does. To Palestinians the death of the Palestinian Shepherd meant disaster for his sheep. (510).
Conclusion:
We can practically apply this chapter to us by stressing that Christ is still today the, "I Am" present tense our gate into heaven and He is our Good Shepherd today. He is a shepherd who does not neglect His sheep (who always need the Shepherd’s care.)
He today cares for His sheep by guiding, comforting and nurturing this sheep. He is the one who should lead us, not Bad Shepherds preaching another way.
Note I Timothy 6:3-10 "If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
The Good Shepherd protects us from the thief and danger in the world. The key is to enter through His door and find rest in the Kingdom and let his staff guides us.
Altar Call:
Have you tonight walked through the gate to gain eternal life? If not, come down to the altar and walk through the door.
Maybe tonight you have walked through but times have been tough. The Good Shepherd "I Am" is here tonight to comfort you, nurture and to anoint you with His healing oil.
