Yes, The Good Shepherd - John 10:1-16

I am the Good Shepherd Jn 10:1ff

10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 

At the end of John 9, Jesus was talking to Pharisees, whom he condemns for their spiritual blindness – after they had thrown out the man born blind to whom Jesus had just given his sight. So in John 10:1-6 Jesus continues to teach, in the presence of the Pharisees, in a sort of parable about sheep in a sheepfold and the man entering through the door for his sheep, which he explains in vv7ff in more teaching about himself being the Door of the sheep and the Good Shepherd too, based on Ezekiel ch34. Sheep theft was clearly a well known problem in Israel.

In Ezekiel ch34, Ezekiel complains about the wicked behaviour of the false shepherds who were out to enrich themselves at the expense of the flock – taking the best for themselves and not caring for the lost sheep.

Jesus in John 10:8 makes the astonishing statement that all who had gone before Jesus were thieves and robbers. Even King David, the so-called ‘Shepherd of Israel’, stole Bathsheba the wife of Uriah and committed adultery with her and then murdered Uriah her husband. Even King David was a thief and a robber. God’s response to the prophecy of Ezekiel condemning the wicked shepherds of Israel was to say that he, God himself, would be the Shepherd of Israel: the Good shepherd – and here Jesus comes along and says. “I am the Good Shepherd.” In this context it was a claim to divinity. It is not surprising that the Pharisees said at the end that Jesus was mad and oppressed by a demon.

But why talk this morning about the Good Shepherd? Six reasons:

1.     We are the sheep of the Good Shepherd’s pasture. That’s a good enough reason to talk about the Good Shepherd. Sheep need a shepherd. In Numbers 27:15ff Moses prayed about his successor so that Israel would never be sheep without a shepherd. For the flock of God to be without a shepherd would be a terrible thing for Moses. One reason why Jesus had compassion on the crowds was because they were like sheep without a shepherd, yet Jerusalem was full to overflowing with priests, Levites, scribes, theologians, Pharisees – but clearly, in Jesus’ view, there were no shepherds.

2.     We might become a pastor. Now the English word ‘pastor’ comes from an old French word for a shepherd. In Christ’s church pastors are under-shepherds - under the Good Shepherd. There are plenty of ‘leaders’ in New Zealand churches but personally I don’t see that many shepherds, not many true pastors. One day God may give you a fellowship to care for on the mission field and perhaps later back in New Zealand or your home countries. If you do become a pastor, you will be an under-shepherd of the one true Good Shepherd – that’s the pattern in 1 Peter ch5. I wonder, will you lay down your life for your sheep, pay the price? If you cannot … do not claim the title pastor please. Even putting your name forward to be a pastor makes you suspect in my opinion, you should be recognised by others.

3.     Learn from the errors of false pastors. When I read Ezekiel 34 I recoil, because it is so obviously true even today - the day of televangelists, celebrity pastors, spiritual leaders who abuse the weakest in their congregation spiritually, financially and even sexually in some cases. Your work as an under-shepherd can never rival or contradict the principles of the one Good Shepherd, lest you become a hireling, a false shepherd. The Good Shepherd is the model for the under-shepherd. The church you start on the mission field or work in at home will never be yours, it will always belong to Jesus.

4.     So we can learn from the Good Shepherd himself. v3 Learn to listen to Jesus’ voice so you can teach your flock to listen to Jesus too. Learn to feed yourself so you can feed your flock. Learn to lead your people in and out in the daily life of the believer as the Good Shepherd does. Learn to protect yourself from spiritual attacks so you can protect the flock which the Good shepherd has given you to look after.

5.     So we can be ready for the hard days. Contrary to the popular Western sentimental view, being a shepherd is a badly paid, dirty, dangerous, costly work that goes on day and night. A real shepherd has no reputation. But in God’s economy pastoral care, being a shepherd, is an honourable work. Which is why the angels came to the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth, not to the multitude of priests in nearby Jerusalem.

6.     So we can resist the temptation to run away? Finally, the true under-shepherd does not run away from the flock but sticks with the work, even when the flock is unpromising and difficult and when feeding them is hard in a difficult country. You will be called into ministries which will look as though they have failed. But Christian ministry, pastoral ministry is a spiritual ministry. The prayer and spoken word put into an area, or a people group will never be lost in God’s economy. No-one who is a true, honourable under-shepherd for the Good Shepherd works in vain – and all will be honoured by God on the last day.

Amen. Amen.