John 10:11-21
Why the Good Shepherd is so Good (Part 2)
In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes 7 “I am” statements; we have heard 3 of them so far. In chapter 6 Jesus declared, “I am the Bread of Life.” In chapter 8 He said, “I am the Light of the World.” Last week in chapter 10 He said, “I am the Gate.”
Each “I am” is another picture of the identity of Jesus Christ that John wants you to see, and, in each one we see unique aspects of Jesus as the Christ and His work as the Christ. Over and over again John is reinforcing the same point from chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 21 verse 25: Jesus is God. Jesus is God in the flesh. God has come into the world and become a man.
This week we come to the 4th one when Jesus declares in verse 11, “I am the Good Shepherd.” This wonderful title captures the tenderness and the compassion that our Lord has for us. And this is where we want to be through chapter 10 - focusing on the goodness of the Good Shepherd, and, having a better understanding of why the Good Shepherd is so good.
The Word “Good”
In verse 11, the sentence literally reads “I am the Shepherd, the good one”. The word “good” in the Greek is the word “kalos”. It means being excellent; being supreme in beauty and loveliness. In every feature Jesus is good and perfect and that goodness, that kalos of His, is why He’s perfect for the role of Good Shepherd.
You see, there is in this word “good” a necessity that whatever is good is beneficial to others. To be good, to be kalos, is to be of such excellence and of such supreme quality that others benefit from that goodness. In other words, there is a relationship between the good quality of someone and how that good quality is beneficial to others.
For example, if I’m going to be a good dad to Evan, then that would benefit Evan. To be able to say I am a good dad means that the man that I am that I bring to my role as a father is good for Evan – he benefits from my good qualities. Goodness is always expressed in relationships.
So what we’re supposed to see here is that Who Jesus Christ is as the Good Shepherd makes Him the perfect Good Shepherd. His goodness is expressed in His relationship with us. His goodness is good for us. We benefit because the Good Shepherd is in fact good.
What I hope to help us see today is How do we benefit? How is His goodness good for us?
The Good Shepherd is Protective (v11-13)
Sheep are always in danger. And because sheep are always in danger, the shepherd is always protecting the sheep. There are 3 ways that this Good Shepherd protects His sheep.
First, He Sacrificed His life. Verse 11 says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Did you know that shepherds were required to risk their lives to protect the sheep? The flock was in constant danger from wild beasts and from thieves. And it was the job of the shepherd to protect the lives of the sheep at the risk of his own life.
Now, if the shepherd lived then that means he successfully defended the flock from danger. If he died, the flock was in danger. The life of the shepherd was necessary to save the flock.
But, in the case of the good shepherd, it was not his life that would save the sheep, but, his death. It was His death that was necessary to save the flock – and it was at the cross that Jesus was going to lay down His life and it was there that He was going to save the flock.
Isaiah 53 says that “we all like sheep have gone astray, each of us to our own way”. We did not walk in God’s ways. We did not know God’s ways. We were lost in sin every one of us and every one of us were under God’s wrath. We were in danger of the eternal fires of hell and of the just punishment of God. But, Jesus Christ came to rescue us from all of that by dying on the cross. He laid His life down there for our sins. At that cross He became the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, so that He could be raised to life and become our Good Shepherd. He protects us first by sacrificing His own life.
Second, He Stays with the Sheep. Verses 12-13 say, “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 the hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” What you have here is the picture of what the Good Shepherd is not. He is not like the hired hand. The hired hand was someone who was paid to help the shepherd with the sheep. He was in it for the money. He didn’t own the sheep. He did it for the paycheck.
Now you have to understand that while Jesus is saying this, the Pharisees from the end of chapter 9 are still standing there. They were the religious leaders of Israel at the time and Jesus is talking about them! They were in it for the money; for the prestige and the power and the pride. But they cared nothing for the sheep. They cared nothing for God’s fold - chapter 9 is proof enough of that! They didn’t protect the sheep and love them; they used the sheep to get what they wanted. In the first 10 verses Jesus likened them to thieves and strangers; now He is likening them to hired-hands – cowardly and self-serving hired-hands.
They run away when the wolf comes. But, He stays with you and He never abandons you. You know who else was standing there hearing this? The man who was formerly blind. He was born blind and Jesus healed him in the beginning of chapter 9. Then the man’s healing was investigated by the Pharisees and at the end of the chapter they threw him out of the synagogue and Jesus comes to Him. Jesus comes to Him! Jesus comes to Him!! The Good Shepherd sought out that man – that sheep - and brought him into the fold. Now do you think He was going to abandon Him?
Let’s make it personal - do you think that if He sought you out personally and found you and called you by your name into His flock and if He died for you the way that He did that He would then turn and leave you?! No! He meant it when He said, “And surely I am with you always...” The same love that caused Him to search for you and sacrifice Himself for you is the same love that makes Him stay with you…
Third, He Spoils the wolf’s attacks. Verse 12 says, “So when he sees the wolf coming he abandons the sheep and runs away, then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.” He stays and He defends against the wolf. The wolf here is referring to Satan and those who work on behalf of Satan. The Pharisees were considered wolves because as we saw in chapter 8 Jesus said they did the work of their father the devil. False teachers and religious leaders who oppose the gospel are often called wolves in the N.T. They don’t keep the sheep from danger, they are a danger!
But, the Good Shepherd comes between us and danger. Without a shepherd the sheep are in danger. Without a shepherd they are vulnerable to attack. I want to point out two ways they are vulnerable from this verse.
First they are vulnerable to being stolen. The word for attack there is “harpazo”??? and your translation may say “snatches” or “catches”. The word means to sieze with suddenness and force. It means to snatch or to steal away with great eagerness or greed. It has the idea of stealth and quickness.
Think of a purse snatcher – they grab and bolt. Think of a dog that snatches food off the table when no one is looking. Or, better yet, think of our next great hope as Christians: the Rapture. This is the word Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 when he speaks of the Rapture. He says, “After that, we who are still alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The phrase “caught up” is the same word, harpazo. Jesus will return and He will seize with suddenness and with great eagerness from the earth those who are His.
When the wolf comes He comes and with suddenness and excessive greed and he seizes the sheep and steals them away from the flock. Our enemy is always looking to drag us away from the other sheep. Even more so, he’s always looking to drag us away from our Shepherd.
Secondly, the sheep are vulnerable to being separated. Verse 12 says the wolf comes to attack the flock “and scatters it.” The unity of the flock is at stake when the wolf comes to attack. This is in contrast with the work of the Good Shepherd, who unites the flock. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in chapter 17 He prayed, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” The work of the shepherd produces unity while the work of the wolf produces disunity.
***The Good Shepherd spoils the attack of the wolf. He did that first by bringing unity between you and God by dying for your sins. Then, He brings unity between you and other believers (Eph 2).
***Summary statement for protection…So as the Good Shepherd He is good first because He protects us. He does that by Sacrificing His life, by Staying with us, and by Spoiling the attack of the wolf.
The Good Shepherd is Personal (14-16)
The Good Shepherd is good because He protects. Second, He is good because He is Personal. Notice verses 14-15, “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.” He’s personal for two reasons.
First, He knows us personally. “I know my sheep”. Jesus knew Nathanael in chapter 1 (1:47-48). Jesus knew the 7 Churches in Revelation 2-3. Jesus knows all those who are given to Him by the Father (John 6:64-65). He knows those who are saved and He knows and as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:19, “The Lord knows those who are His”
This Greek word for “know” means to know experientially. You can’t read about it in a book or sit around philosophizing about it. You can’t know Jesus in this way simply by hearing a preacher explain what the word “know” means. This kind of knowing is an intimate and loving kind of fellowship that comes by experience.
It’s used in Amos 3:2 when God says “Only Israel have I known.” That doesn’t mean God doesn’t know other nations existed. He is referring to His special love for Israel and the special relationship He had with her out of all the nations. In Matthew 7 Jesus says, “’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; away from me you evil doers.’’ He’s not saying that He doesn’t know who they are – on the contrary He knows exactly who they are – they are evildoers. He is saying they do not know Him by experiencing His special loving fellowship; they don’t have anything to do with Him – they’ve never walked with Him.
When Jesus said I know my sheep He’s not talking about knowing the facts about the sheep – their size, shape, color, etc. He’s referring to His special loving relationship with His sheep that does not exist between Him and any others.
Second, we can know Him personally. “I know my sheep and my sheep know me”. Did you know this is the definition of eternal life? Jesus said in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” We’re not talking about knowing facts because you heard it or read it in a book. This is the true fellowship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the belief of your heart that God sent His Son into the world to die for your sins – your sins – and bring you to God and to have eternal life, and THAT is the only way to heaven. When the conviction of your heart is that you have nothing to offer God for entering heaven except your total dependence on Christ Jesus to get in then you have
There’s a model for our relationship with Jesus. There is a way for us to measure our walk with Him to see if it’s biblical. It’s the relationship Jesus has with His Father. What we see between the Father and Jesus is what should be in our relationship with Him. What is His relationship with the Father like? First of all, Jesus knew the Words of the Father (17:8). Secondly, He knew the Ways of the Father (). He was pre-occupied with the Father’s glory (17:4, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do”). We are to be preoccupied with the Father’s glory (Philippians 1:11, we are to be filled with the fruits of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God”). How do we do that? By remaining in Him according to John 15 and obeying His commands. Verse 10 says “If you obey my commands you will remain in my love, JUST AS I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.”
Now in verse 16 we see the Scope of the Good Shepherd’s flock. The plans of God have always extended beyond the nation of Israel. His purpose is to be known by all men everywhere. “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
Conclusion (v19-21)
I want to conclude with verses 19-21, and I want to title this point “Wasting John’s Gospel”.
We’ve seen this situation many times now through this gospel. People see the miracles Jesus did and they hear the words He preached and they reject Him. They call Him demon-possessed, they call Him a Samaritan, they mock His mother, they call Him a deceiver, they call Him everything that is slanderous but they never call Him what He truly is – Lord and Savior. They did not believe in the One whom the Father sent to them.
Now, they were there, and we weren’t. But, we have the words of a witness who was there. He is a reliable witness. He has written down for us the record of what Jesus did and what Jesus said so that we can have the same opportunity that they had – to believe. John is that witness and this Gospel is His testimony. And he has written this testimony for us today for a very important purpose, which he states in the 20th chapter and 31st verse, “But these are written that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
In other words, after you have put down his Gospel the final response that he wants you to make is to believe in Jesus Christ. If you do that then his Gospel will not have been wasted. But, if you read and hear the words of this book and you go on refusing Jesus Christ and do not believe on the name of God’s One and Only Son, you will have wasted his Gospel. You will do the one thing that he has tried to prevent in your life
…That’s what John wants (John 20:31). Will John’s Gospel be a waste on you? What I mean is will his purpose for writing be accomplished in your life? If you don’t believe in Christ then it will have been. He doesn’t write so you can have a better bank account, or a happier life, or that your problems go away.
…not believing what he’s trying to convince you of.
Why the Good Shepherd is so Good (Part 2)
In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes 7 “I am” statements; we have heard 3 of them so far. In chapter 6 Jesus declared, “I am the Bread of Life.” In chapter 8 He said, “I am the Light of the World.” Last week in chapter 10 He said, “I am the Gate.”
Each “I am” is another picture of the identity of Jesus Christ that John wants you to see, and, in each one we see unique aspects of Jesus as the Christ and His work as the Christ. Over and over again John is reinforcing the same point from chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 21 verse 25: Jesus is God. Jesus is God in the flesh. God has come into the world and become a man.
This week we come to the 4th one when Jesus declares in verse 11, “I am the Good Shepherd.” This wonderful title captures the tenderness and the compassion that our Lord has for us. And this is where we want to be through chapter 10 - focusing on the goodness of the Good Shepherd, and, having a better understanding of why the Good Shepherd is so good.
The Word “Good”
In verse 11, the sentence literally reads “I am the Shepherd, the good one”. The word “good” in the Greek is the word “kalos”. It means being excellent; being supreme in beauty and loveliness. In every feature Jesus is good and perfect and that goodness, that kalos of His, is why He’s perfect for the role of Good Shepherd.
You see, there is in this word “good” a necessity that whatever is good is beneficial to others. To be good, to be kalos, is to be of such excellence and of such supreme quality that others benefit from that goodness. In other words, there is a relationship between the good quality of someone and how that good quality is beneficial to others.
For example, if I’m going to be a good dad to Evan, then that would benefit Evan. To be able to say I am a good dad means that the man that I am that I bring to my role as a father is good for Evan – he benefits from my good qualities. Goodness is always expressed in relationships.
So what we’re supposed to see here is that Who Jesus Christ is as the Good Shepherd makes Him the perfect Good Shepherd. His goodness is expressed in His relationship with us. His goodness is good for us. We benefit because the Good Shepherd is in fact good.
What I hope to help us see today is How do we benefit? How is His goodness good for us?
The Good Shepherd is Protective (v11-13)
Sheep are always in danger. And because sheep are always in danger, the shepherd is always protecting the sheep. There are 3 ways that this Good Shepherd protects His sheep.
First, He Sacrificed His life. Verse 11 says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Did you know that shepherds were required to risk their lives to protect the sheep? The flock was in constant danger from wild beasts and from thieves. And it was the job of the shepherd to protect the lives of the sheep at the risk of his own life.
Now, if the shepherd lived then that means he successfully defended the flock from danger. If he died, the flock was in danger. The life of the shepherd was necessary to save the flock.
But, in the case of the good shepherd, it was not his life that would save the sheep, but, his death. It was His death that was necessary to save the flock – and it was at the cross that Jesus was going to lay down His life and it was there that He was going to save the flock.
Isaiah 53 says that “we all like sheep have gone astray, each of us to our own way”. We did not walk in God’s ways. We did not know God’s ways. We were lost in sin every one of us and every one of us were under God’s wrath. We were in danger of the eternal fires of hell and of the just punishment of God. But, Jesus Christ came to rescue us from all of that by dying on the cross. He laid His life down there for our sins. At that cross He became the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, so that He could be raised to life and become our Good Shepherd. He protects us first by sacrificing His own life.
Second, He Stays with the Sheep. Verses 12-13 say, “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 the hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” What you have here is the picture of what the Good Shepherd is not. He is not like the hired hand. The hired hand was someone who was paid to help the shepherd with the sheep. He was in it for the money. He didn’t own the sheep. He did it for the paycheck.
Now you have to understand that while Jesus is saying this, the Pharisees from the end of chapter 9 are still standing there. They were the religious leaders of Israel at the time and Jesus is talking about them! They were in it for the money; for the prestige and the power and the pride. But they cared nothing for the sheep. They cared nothing for God’s fold - chapter 9 is proof enough of that! They didn’t protect the sheep and love them; they used the sheep to get what they wanted. In the first 10 verses Jesus likened them to thieves and strangers; now He is likening them to hired-hands – cowardly and self-serving hired-hands.
They run away when the wolf comes. But, He stays with you and He never abandons you. You know who else was standing there hearing this? The man who was formerly blind. He was born blind and Jesus healed him in the beginning of chapter 9. Then the man’s healing was investigated by the Pharisees and at the end of the chapter they threw him out of the synagogue and Jesus comes to Him. Jesus comes to Him! Jesus comes to Him!! The Good Shepherd sought out that man – that sheep - and brought him into the fold. Now do you think He was going to abandon Him?
Let’s make it personal - do you think that if He sought you out personally and found you and called you by your name into His flock and if He died for you the way that He did that He would then turn and leave you?! No! He meant it when He said, “And surely I am with you always...” The same love that caused Him to search for you and sacrifice Himself for you is the same love that makes Him stay with you…
Third, He Spoils the wolf’s attacks. Verse 12 says, “So when he sees the wolf coming he abandons the sheep and runs away, then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.” He stays and He defends against the wolf. The wolf here is referring to Satan and those who work on behalf of Satan. The Pharisees were considered wolves because as we saw in chapter 8 Jesus said they did the work of their father the devil. False teachers and religious leaders who oppose the gospel are often called wolves in the N.T. They don’t keep the sheep from danger, they are a danger!
But, the Good Shepherd comes between us and danger. Without a shepherd the sheep are in danger. Without a shepherd they are vulnerable to attack. I want to point out two ways they are vulnerable from this verse.
First they are vulnerable to being stolen. The word for attack there is “harpazo”??? and your translation may say “snatches” or “catches”. The word means to sieze with suddenness and force. It means to snatch or to steal away with great eagerness or greed. It has the idea of stealth and quickness.
Think of a purse snatcher – they grab and bolt. Think of a dog that snatches food off the table when no one is looking. Or, better yet, think of our next great hope as Christians: the Rapture. This is the word Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 when he speaks of the Rapture. He says, “After that, we who are still alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The phrase “caught up” is the same word, harpazo. Jesus will return and He will seize with suddenness and with great eagerness from the earth those who are His.
When the wolf comes He comes and with suddenness and excessive greed and he seizes the sheep and steals them away from the flock. Our enemy is always looking to drag us away from the other sheep. Even more so, he’s always looking to drag us away from our Shepherd.
Secondly, the sheep are vulnerable to being separated. Verse 12 says the wolf comes to attack the flock “and scatters it.” The unity of the flock is at stake when the wolf comes to attack. This is in contrast with the work of the Good Shepherd, who unites the flock. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in chapter 17 He prayed, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” The work of the shepherd produces unity while the work of the wolf produces disunity.
***The Good Shepherd spoils the attack of the wolf. He did that first by bringing unity between you and God by dying for your sins. Then, He brings unity between you and other believers (Eph 2).
***Summary statement for protection…So as the Good Shepherd He is good first because He protects us. He does that by Sacrificing His life, by Staying with us, and by Spoiling the attack of the wolf.
The Good Shepherd is Personal (14-16)
The Good Shepherd is good because He protects. Second, He is good because He is Personal. Notice verses 14-15, “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.” He’s personal for two reasons.
First, He knows us personally. “I know my sheep”. Jesus knew Nathanael in chapter 1 (1:47-48). Jesus knew the 7 Churches in Revelation 2-3. Jesus knows all those who are given to Him by the Father (John 6:64-65). He knows those who are saved and He knows and as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:19, “The Lord knows those who are His”
This Greek word for “know” means to know experientially. You can’t read about it in a book or sit around philosophizing about it. You can’t know Jesus in this way simply by hearing a preacher explain what the word “know” means. This kind of knowing is an intimate and loving kind of fellowship that comes by experience.
It’s used in Amos 3:2 when God says “Only Israel have I known.” That doesn’t mean God doesn’t know other nations existed. He is referring to His special love for Israel and the special relationship He had with her out of all the nations. In Matthew 7 Jesus says, “’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; away from me you evil doers.’’ He’s not saying that He doesn’t know who they are – on the contrary He knows exactly who they are – they are evildoers. He is saying they do not know Him by experiencing His special loving fellowship; they don’t have anything to do with Him – they’ve never walked with Him.
When Jesus said I know my sheep He’s not talking about knowing the facts about the sheep – their size, shape, color, etc. He’s referring to His special loving relationship with His sheep that does not exist between Him and any others.
Second, we can know Him personally. “I know my sheep and my sheep know me”. Did you know this is the definition of eternal life? Jesus said in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” We’re not talking about knowing facts because you heard it or read it in a book. This is the true fellowship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the belief of your heart that God sent His Son into the world to die for your sins – your sins – and bring you to God and to have eternal life, and THAT is the only way to heaven. When the conviction of your heart is that you have nothing to offer God for entering heaven except your total dependence on Christ Jesus to get in then you have
There’s a model for our relationship with Jesus. There is a way for us to measure our walk with Him to see if it’s biblical. It’s the relationship Jesus has with His Father. What we see between the Father and Jesus is what should be in our relationship with Him. What is His relationship with the Father like? First of all, Jesus knew the Words of the Father (17:8). Secondly, He knew the Ways of the Father (). He was pre-occupied with the Father’s glory (17:4, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do”). We are to be preoccupied with the Father’s glory (Philippians 1:11, we are to be filled with the fruits of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God”). How do we do that? By remaining in Him according to John 15 and obeying His commands. Verse 10 says “If you obey my commands you will remain in my love, JUST AS I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.”
Now in verse 16 we see the Scope of the Good Shepherd’s flock. The plans of God have always extended beyond the nation of Israel. His purpose is to be known by all men everywhere. “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
Conclusion (v19-21)
I want to conclude with verses 19-21, and I want to title this point “Wasting John’s Gospel”.
We’ve seen this situation many times now through this gospel. People see the miracles Jesus did and they hear the words He preached and they reject Him. They call Him demon-possessed, they call Him a Samaritan, they mock His mother, they call Him a deceiver, they call Him everything that is slanderous but they never call Him what He truly is – Lord and Savior. They did not believe in the One whom the Father sent to them.
Now, they were there, and we weren’t. But, we have the words of a witness who was there. He is a reliable witness. He has written down for us the record of what Jesus did and what Jesus said so that we can have the same opportunity that they had – to believe. John is that witness and this Gospel is His testimony. And he has written this testimony for us today for a very important purpose, which he states in the 20th chapter and 31st verse, “But these are written that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
In other words, after you have put down his Gospel the final response that he wants you to make is to believe in Jesus Christ. If you do that then his Gospel will not have been wasted. But, if you read and hear the words of this book and you go on refusing Jesus Christ and do not believe on the name of God’s One and Only Son, you will have wasted his Gospel. You will do the one thing that he has tried to prevent in your life
…That’s what John wants (John 20:31). Will John’s Gospel be a waste on you? What I mean is will his purpose for writing be accomplished in your life? If you don’t believe in Christ then it will have been. He doesn’t write so you can have a better bank account, or a happier life, or that your problems go away.
…not believing what he’s trying to convince you of.
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