John 10:1-10
Why the Good Shepherd is so Good (Part 1)
What is your favorite name for Jesus in the Scriptures? Is it one of the names that convey His power, like “King of kings and Lord of Lords?” Is it one that displays His sacrifice for us like, “Lamb of God”? Or maybe your heart is drawn to names that impress us with hope, like “the Resurrection and the Life” or “the Redeemer”.
Jesus Christ is known by many names throughout Scripture. But, perhaps none convey more tenderness and care as when He is called the Good Shepherd. And for the next several weeks as we go through chapter 10 I want for us to see those qualities that make the Good Shepherd so Good. Our chapter 10 series will be called, “Why the Good Shepherd is so Good”.
The context of chapter 10 is chapter 9. Jesus continues to speak to the Pharisees whom He just said were blind. Now He’s going to shift the conversation into an illustration of sheep and shepherding. Why? Because Jesus was now going to contrast Himself with these Pharisees. Jesus is the true Shepherd of Israel. The Pharisees were false shepherds who lead the people astray.
Shepherding would have been very familiar to the Jews as it was a common part of everyday life. And sheep were well known too. They were helpless, defenseless, straying, and dirty animals. They required constant oversight, leading, rescuing, and cleaning or they would die. It wasn’t a dream job to be a shepherd.
But, even though man had a low opinion of shepherding, God thinks highly of this profession. It seems that the most important leaders in the Bible have shepherding on their resumes. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all shepherds. Moses and David were shepherds before they became the leaders of Israel.
When God promised Israel the Messiah through the prophets, it was not uncommon for Him to call this coming Savior a shepherd. Ezekiel 34:23 says, “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and He will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” My servant David does not mean king David, but, the Messiah, who would be a descendent of king David and be the shepherd over God’s people Israel. Micah 5 speaks of Jesus when it says, “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”
And beyond John 10 the New Testament makes some marvelous declarations of Jesus as shepherd. Peter calls Him the Chief Shepherd in 1 Peter 5. Hebrews 13 calls Him “that great Shepherd of the sheep”. Revelation 7 says about those who will be martyred during the Tribulation that “the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water…”
Shepherds and shepherding is highly valued by God, and, as one author put it, it is good training for leading God’s people. Perhaps that is why that is the kind of language used to describe Church leadership. The Church isn’t called a business or a team in the Bible. It is called a flock and we are likened to sheep throughout Scripture (We all like sheep have gone astray). The Church requires shepherds as leaders – not CEO’s or coaches or charismatic personalities. When tending to God’s flock, spiritual leaders are required to have the same tender, compassionate, shepherding hearts for the flock as the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ Himself has.
This was Paul’s point in Acts 20 when he used shepherding language to instruct the church leaders. He said, “be shepherds of the church of God … watch over the flock…watch out for savage wolves who will come in and not spare the flock.” Peter spoke this way too in 1 Peter 5 when he told church leaders to “Be shepherds of God’s flock which is under your care..” Peter follows instructions well then because years earlier in John 21 Jesus used shepherding terms when He told Peter how to lead the Church.
We are sheep who need a shepherd – we need the Good Shepherd. What can we see about this Shepherd’s heart today in John 10? What makes this Good Shepherd so Good? I want to look at 3 points of the Good Shepherd that make Him so Good.
The Right Credentials (v1-3)
First of all, Jesus came with the Right Credentials. Notice verses 1-3…
Jesus begins chapter 10 with an illustration that was familiar and easy to understand for any Jew. The sheep pen was an enclosure usually made with rocks and had an opening for a door. The watchman was in charge of the sheep while the shepherds were gone and would guard the flocks at night. It was not unusual for several flocks to be sheltered together in the same pen. In the morning the shepherds would come in through the gate, call their sheep, and assemble their own flocks. Each sheep would recognize their master’s voice (Wiersbe 154).
The watchmen would not let anyone but the shepherds in and so anyone else who would want to get at the sheep would have to sneak in by climbing over the wall of the sheep pen. This is what robbers and thieves did. They could not come in through the gate because they did not have a right to the sheep and didn’t have the credentials because they weren’t the shepherds of the sheep.
There have been many leaders who would be considered robbers and thieves in Israel’s history – many false shepherds who have exploited and abused and used the people. God spoke of these wicked leaders many times in the OT. In Jeremiah chapter 50 He says, “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their resting place.”
The shepherds were ruining the sheep! And the Pharisees in John’s gospel were just such shepherds. They were self-appointed leaders whom Jesus called blind guides and a brood of vipers, white-washed tombs and hypocrites. They lorded it over the people of Israel and led them away from God. They were false shepherds.
It’s important to understand that the sheep pen here refers to the nation of Israel. It does not refer to heaven or to the Church. Sheep cannot be stolen out of heaven or the Church. Jesus says later in this chapter that no one can snatch His sheep out of His hand. He also said in verse 16 that He had other sheep in other pens, referring to those whom He would call out of the Gentile nations. Jesus came to the nation of Israel, the sheep pen, the nation that was awaiting their Messiah as foretold in the Scriptures. Jesus came to those sheep who were oppressed by the false shepherds and He met every prophecy concerning who the Messiah was going to be.
But where the Pharisees were false shepherds of Israel, Jesus Christ was the true Shepherd. He has a right to the sheep, and has come to them the right way. He has come with the right credentials because He is the Messiah and He meets all the requirements of who the Messiah was supposed to be. Some of these requirements are that He was born of a virgin (Isa 7:14). He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He was a descendent of King David (2 Sam. 7:12-14). He came at the end of the 69 weeks foretold by Daniel chapter 9. He was brought up out of Egypt (Hos 11:1; Mth. 2:14-15). These and many more prophecies concerning who the Messiah would be were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He had the right credentials and therefore was the real shepherd who could come into the pen and call out His sheep.
He Calls His Own (v3)
Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He has the right credentials, and, because He Calls His Own. “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.”
It was common for a sheep pen to be occupied by several different flocks. And when the shepherds came to get their flock, they would begin to call their own sheep out of the crowded pen. Philip Keller explains this relationship between the sheep and the shepherd’s voice,
“The relationship which rapidly develops between a shepherd and the sheep under his care is to a definite degree dependent upon the use of the shepherd’s voice. Sheep quickly become accustomed to their owner’s particular voice. They are acquainted with its unique tone. They know its peculiar sounds and inflections. They can distinguish it from that of any other person. If a stranger should come among them, they would not recognize nor respond to his voice in the same way they would to that of the shepherd. Even if the visitor should use the same words and phrases as that of their rightful owner they would not react in the same way.”
---I read an anecdote this past week where a man in Australia was arrested and charged with stealing a sheep. But he claimed emphatically that it was one of his own that had been missing for many days. Well the case went to court, and the judge was puzzled, and did not know how to decide the matter.
Finally he asked that the actual sheep be brought into the courtroom. Then he ordered the plaintiff to step outside and call the animal. When he did, the sheep made no response except to raise its head and look frightened.
The judge then instructed the defendant to go to the courtyard and call the sheep. When the accused man began to make his distinctive call, the sheep bounded toward the door. It was obvious that he recognized the familiar voice of his master. "His sheep knows him," said the judge. "Case dismissed!"
***Jesus calls His own. This is so intimate and personal for us. That God calls us individually by name to Himself is humbling. If you remember how Jesus brought the blind man to salvation in chapter 9, you have a perfect picture of this point. Jesus sought this one man out to save Him.
Not all who were in Israel were of God’s true spiritual flock. But some were. Jews like this man who was healed of blindness saw who Jesus was and believed in Him. They recognized the shepherd’s voice and were led out of the sheep pen of Judaism into the true flock of God.
He is the Gate (v7-10)
Since His audience did not understand what He said in verses 1-5, Jesus spoke to them a second time and changes things up a little bit. Where at first He spoke of Himself as the shepherd coming for His sheep, this time He calls Himself the Gate. “I am the Gate” is the 3rd of 7 “I Am” statements Jesus makes about Himself in John’s gospel. He is the gate to the sheep pen.
Sometimes, when the sheep were in the pen, the shepherd would sleep in the opening of the sheep pen to guard the sheep. No one could get in or out except through him. Notice 3 things about Jesus as the Gate.
First, Jesus is the Gate to Salvation. In verse 9 He says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” Jesus uses this metaphor to show that it is through Him that the sheep enter the safety of God’s fold. The Greek word “saved” means “delivered safe and sound.” It was used to describe someone who had recovered from an illness, or, came through a storm (like chapter 6), survived war, or acquitted in court. It is only through Jesus that a man can be saved from his sins. Only Jesus can deliver you safely from the wrath of God that is coming because of sin. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and He is the only way a man can approach the Father. He is the gate to eternal life and you must go through Him by believing in Him.
Second, Jesus is the Gate to Sustenance. “He will go in and come out and find pasture.” It was the responsibility of shepherds to lead the flock out of the pen during the day and find pasture. That’s what Jesus does as our Great Shepherd. He leads us so that we are not in want. He makes us to lie down in green pastures. He leads us besides quiet waters. His rod and staff comfort us. He restores our souls and guides us in the paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake. Christ is our spiritual Nourisher as we come in and go out. This is a common Biblical phrase that simply means the day-to-day living and carrying on of one’s affairs. And it is in this coming in and going out as Christians that we “feed” on His Word. Part of our daily living should include feeding on the living Word of God. We grow spiritually through the Word of Go and we do that by hearing it and acting on it in our lives. Paul told those Ephesian elders in Acts 20:32, “Now I commit you to God and to the WORD of grace, which can build you up…” They were committed to the Word of grace, but, the sheep of God’s flock need to be committed to it as well. Do you commit yourself to the word of grace so that you can be built up? Do you hear it when it is preached and taught? Do you apply yourself to it?
Third, Jesus is the Gate to Surplus. He says in verse 10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Surplus is the abundant life, the life to the full that Jesus came to give. “To the full” is a Greek word describing something that goes far beyond what is necessary. The Greek dictionary actually says “exceedingly and superabundantly and excessively”. That kind of life is the life Jesus came with to give. That is the kind of life being offered by the Good Shepherd and only by the Good Shepherd. Compare Him with the thief in this verse. The thief comes to steal so that you may have less and he has more, but, the Good Shepherd comes to give so that you can have more. The thief comes to take life by killing and destroying whereas the Good Shepherd comes to give life and give it abundantly. Don’t be fooled by thieves.
Conclusion: Knowing the Shepherd
I’ll conclude with a story. Two men were called on, in a large classroom, to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. One was a published orator trained in speech technique and drama. He repeated the psalm in a powerful way. When he finished, the audience cheered and even asked for an encore that they might hear his wonderful voice again. "Then the other man, who was much older, repeated the same words--'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...' But when he finished, no sound came from the large class. Instead, people sat in a deep mood of devotion and prayer.
"Then the first man, the orator, stood to his feet. 'I have a confession to make,' he said. 'The difference between what you have just heard from my old friend, and what you heard from me is this: I know the Psalm, my friend knows the Shepherd.
Many of us know the Psalm, but, do we know the Shepherd? That is the real question. Do you know the goodness of this Good Shepherd? Do you know that He comes to you? Do you know that He calls you by your name because He knows you? Do you know that He not only knows the way to have life but that He is the way?
You can know Him by believing in Him. He promises that all those who come to Him He will never drive away. When you come to Him it’s your sin He takes away, and, it’s you He receives. Come into His fold, make the Good Shepherd your shepherd, and see how good He really is.
Why the Good Shepherd is so Good (Part 1)
What is your favorite name for Jesus in the Scriptures? Is it one of the names that convey His power, like “King of kings and Lord of Lords?” Is it one that displays His sacrifice for us like, “Lamb of God”? Or maybe your heart is drawn to names that impress us with hope, like “the Resurrection and the Life” or “the Redeemer”.
Jesus Christ is known by many names throughout Scripture. But, perhaps none convey more tenderness and care as when He is called the Good Shepherd. And for the next several weeks as we go through chapter 10 I want for us to see those qualities that make the Good Shepherd so Good. Our chapter 10 series will be called, “Why the Good Shepherd is so Good”.
The context of chapter 10 is chapter 9. Jesus continues to speak to the Pharisees whom He just said were blind. Now He’s going to shift the conversation into an illustration of sheep and shepherding. Why? Because Jesus was now going to contrast Himself with these Pharisees. Jesus is the true Shepherd of Israel. The Pharisees were false shepherds who lead the people astray.
Shepherding would have been very familiar to the Jews as it was a common part of everyday life. And sheep were well known too. They were helpless, defenseless, straying, and dirty animals. They required constant oversight, leading, rescuing, and cleaning or they would die. It wasn’t a dream job to be a shepherd.
But, even though man had a low opinion of shepherding, God thinks highly of this profession. It seems that the most important leaders in the Bible have shepherding on their resumes. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all shepherds. Moses and David were shepherds before they became the leaders of Israel.
When God promised Israel the Messiah through the prophets, it was not uncommon for Him to call this coming Savior a shepherd. Ezekiel 34:23 says, “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and He will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.” My servant David does not mean king David, but, the Messiah, who would be a descendent of king David and be the shepherd over God’s people Israel. Micah 5 speaks of Jesus when it says, “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”
And beyond John 10 the New Testament makes some marvelous declarations of Jesus as shepherd. Peter calls Him the Chief Shepherd in 1 Peter 5. Hebrews 13 calls Him “that great Shepherd of the sheep”. Revelation 7 says about those who will be martyred during the Tribulation that “the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water…”
Shepherds and shepherding is highly valued by God, and, as one author put it, it is good training for leading God’s people. Perhaps that is why that is the kind of language used to describe Church leadership. The Church isn’t called a business or a team in the Bible. It is called a flock and we are likened to sheep throughout Scripture (We all like sheep have gone astray). The Church requires shepherds as leaders – not CEO’s or coaches or charismatic personalities. When tending to God’s flock, spiritual leaders are required to have the same tender, compassionate, shepherding hearts for the flock as the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ Himself has.
This was Paul’s point in Acts 20 when he used shepherding language to instruct the church leaders. He said, “be shepherds of the church of God … watch over the flock…watch out for savage wolves who will come in and not spare the flock.” Peter spoke this way too in 1 Peter 5 when he told church leaders to “Be shepherds of God’s flock which is under your care..” Peter follows instructions well then because years earlier in John 21 Jesus used shepherding terms when He told Peter how to lead the Church.
We are sheep who need a shepherd – we need the Good Shepherd. What can we see about this Shepherd’s heart today in John 10? What makes this Good Shepherd so Good? I want to look at 3 points of the Good Shepherd that make Him so Good.
The Right Credentials (v1-3)
First of all, Jesus came with the Right Credentials. Notice verses 1-3…
Jesus begins chapter 10 with an illustration that was familiar and easy to understand for any Jew. The sheep pen was an enclosure usually made with rocks and had an opening for a door. The watchman was in charge of the sheep while the shepherds were gone and would guard the flocks at night. It was not unusual for several flocks to be sheltered together in the same pen. In the morning the shepherds would come in through the gate, call their sheep, and assemble their own flocks. Each sheep would recognize their master’s voice (Wiersbe 154).
The watchmen would not let anyone but the shepherds in and so anyone else who would want to get at the sheep would have to sneak in by climbing over the wall of the sheep pen. This is what robbers and thieves did. They could not come in through the gate because they did not have a right to the sheep and didn’t have the credentials because they weren’t the shepherds of the sheep.
There have been many leaders who would be considered robbers and thieves in Israel’s history – many false shepherds who have exploited and abused and used the people. God spoke of these wicked leaders many times in the OT. In Jeremiah chapter 50 He says, “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their resting place.”
The shepherds were ruining the sheep! And the Pharisees in John’s gospel were just such shepherds. They were self-appointed leaders whom Jesus called blind guides and a brood of vipers, white-washed tombs and hypocrites. They lorded it over the people of Israel and led them away from God. They were false shepherds.
It’s important to understand that the sheep pen here refers to the nation of Israel. It does not refer to heaven or to the Church. Sheep cannot be stolen out of heaven or the Church. Jesus says later in this chapter that no one can snatch His sheep out of His hand. He also said in verse 16 that He had other sheep in other pens, referring to those whom He would call out of the Gentile nations. Jesus came to the nation of Israel, the sheep pen, the nation that was awaiting their Messiah as foretold in the Scriptures. Jesus came to those sheep who were oppressed by the false shepherds and He met every prophecy concerning who the Messiah was going to be.
But where the Pharisees were false shepherds of Israel, Jesus Christ was the true Shepherd. He has a right to the sheep, and has come to them the right way. He has come with the right credentials because He is the Messiah and He meets all the requirements of who the Messiah was supposed to be. Some of these requirements are that He was born of a virgin (Isa 7:14). He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He was a descendent of King David (2 Sam. 7:12-14). He came at the end of the 69 weeks foretold by Daniel chapter 9. He was brought up out of Egypt (Hos 11:1; Mth. 2:14-15). These and many more prophecies concerning who the Messiah would be were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He had the right credentials and therefore was the real shepherd who could come into the pen and call out His sheep.
He Calls His Own (v3)
Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He has the right credentials, and, because He Calls His Own. “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.”
It was common for a sheep pen to be occupied by several different flocks. And when the shepherds came to get their flock, they would begin to call their own sheep out of the crowded pen. Philip Keller explains this relationship between the sheep and the shepherd’s voice,
“The relationship which rapidly develops between a shepherd and the sheep under his care is to a definite degree dependent upon the use of the shepherd’s voice. Sheep quickly become accustomed to their owner’s particular voice. They are acquainted with its unique tone. They know its peculiar sounds and inflections. They can distinguish it from that of any other person. If a stranger should come among them, they would not recognize nor respond to his voice in the same way they would to that of the shepherd. Even if the visitor should use the same words and phrases as that of their rightful owner they would not react in the same way.”
---I read an anecdote this past week where a man in Australia was arrested and charged with stealing a sheep. But he claimed emphatically that it was one of his own that had been missing for many days. Well the case went to court, and the judge was puzzled, and did not know how to decide the matter.
Finally he asked that the actual sheep be brought into the courtroom. Then he ordered the plaintiff to step outside and call the animal. When he did, the sheep made no response except to raise its head and look frightened.
The judge then instructed the defendant to go to the courtyard and call the sheep. When the accused man began to make his distinctive call, the sheep bounded toward the door. It was obvious that he recognized the familiar voice of his master. "His sheep knows him," said the judge. "Case dismissed!"
***Jesus calls His own. This is so intimate and personal for us. That God calls us individually by name to Himself is humbling. If you remember how Jesus brought the blind man to salvation in chapter 9, you have a perfect picture of this point. Jesus sought this one man out to save Him.
Not all who were in Israel were of God’s true spiritual flock. But some were. Jews like this man who was healed of blindness saw who Jesus was and believed in Him. They recognized the shepherd’s voice and were led out of the sheep pen of Judaism into the true flock of God.
He is the Gate (v7-10)
Since His audience did not understand what He said in verses 1-5, Jesus spoke to them a second time and changes things up a little bit. Where at first He spoke of Himself as the shepherd coming for His sheep, this time He calls Himself the Gate. “I am the Gate” is the 3rd of 7 “I Am” statements Jesus makes about Himself in John’s gospel. He is the gate to the sheep pen.
Sometimes, when the sheep were in the pen, the shepherd would sleep in the opening of the sheep pen to guard the sheep. No one could get in or out except through him. Notice 3 things about Jesus as the Gate.
First, Jesus is the Gate to Salvation. In verse 9 He says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” Jesus uses this metaphor to show that it is through Him that the sheep enter the safety of God’s fold. The Greek word “saved” means “delivered safe and sound.” It was used to describe someone who had recovered from an illness, or, came through a storm (like chapter 6), survived war, or acquitted in court. It is only through Jesus that a man can be saved from his sins. Only Jesus can deliver you safely from the wrath of God that is coming because of sin. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and He is the only way a man can approach the Father. He is the gate to eternal life and you must go through Him by believing in Him.
Second, Jesus is the Gate to Sustenance. “He will go in and come out and find pasture.” It was the responsibility of shepherds to lead the flock out of the pen during the day and find pasture. That’s what Jesus does as our Great Shepherd. He leads us so that we are not in want. He makes us to lie down in green pastures. He leads us besides quiet waters. His rod and staff comfort us. He restores our souls and guides us in the paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake. Christ is our spiritual Nourisher as we come in and go out. This is a common Biblical phrase that simply means the day-to-day living and carrying on of one’s affairs. And it is in this coming in and going out as Christians that we “feed” on His Word. Part of our daily living should include feeding on the living Word of God. We grow spiritually through the Word of Go and we do that by hearing it and acting on it in our lives. Paul told those Ephesian elders in Acts 20:32, “Now I commit you to God and to the WORD of grace, which can build you up…” They were committed to the Word of grace, but, the sheep of God’s flock need to be committed to it as well. Do you commit yourself to the word of grace so that you can be built up? Do you hear it when it is preached and taught? Do you apply yourself to it?
Third, Jesus is the Gate to Surplus. He says in verse 10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Surplus is the abundant life, the life to the full that Jesus came to give. “To the full” is a Greek word describing something that goes far beyond what is necessary. The Greek dictionary actually says “exceedingly and superabundantly and excessively”. That kind of life is the life Jesus came with to give. That is the kind of life being offered by the Good Shepherd and only by the Good Shepherd. Compare Him with the thief in this verse. The thief comes to steal so that you may have less and he has more, but, the Good Shepherd comes to give so that you can have more. The thief comes to take life by killing and destroying whereas the Good Shepherd comes to give life and give it abundantly. Don’t be fooled by thieves.
Conclusion: Knowing the Shepherd
I’ll conclude with a story. Two men were called on, in a large classroom, to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. One was a published orator trained in speech technique and drama. He repeated the psalm in a powerful way. When he finished, the audience cheered and even asked for an encore that they might hear his wonderful voice again. "Then the other man, who was much older, repeated the same words--'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...' But when he finished, no sound came from the large class. Instead, people sat in a deep mood of devotion and prayer.
"Then the first man, the orator, stood to his feet. 'I have a confession to make,' he said. 'The difference between what you have just heard from my old friend, and what you heard from me is this: I know the Psalm, my friend knows the Shepherd.
Many of us know the Psalm, but, do we know the Shepherd? That is the real question. Do you know the goodness of this Good Shepherd? Do you know that He comes to you? Do you know that He calls you by your name because He knows you? Do you know that He not only knows the way to have life but that He is the way?
You can know Him by believing in Him. He promises that all those who come to Him He will never drive away. When you come to Him it’s your sin He takes away, and, it’s you He receives. Come into His fold, make the Good Shepherd your shepherd, and see how good He really is.
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