THE GOOD SHEPHERD (John 10:11-21 November 7, 2004)

THE GOOD SHEPHERD (John 10:11-21 November 7, 2004) When I was a young pastor I read many, many books on leadership to gain insight into how to lead a church. My favourite at one time was Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts. The book is filled with what he termed Attilaisms Attila s wisdom on how to lead your huns. It became a New York Times bestseller. And amazingly enough it does have some reasonable counsel about leadership in the world. But as I read the book I found myself asking one question Would I like to be a hun with Atilla as my leader? And the answer kept coming back as No way! Why? Because Atilla was such a human leader. Selfish and self-oriented and selfabsorbed. It was all about him. The very first Attilaism in the book is this: Above all other traits, one who desires to lead must possess an intrinsic desire to achieve substantial personal recognition. Leadership is all about me! In contrast, if you took the Bible and used it to come with Leadership Secrets of Jesus the Christ you would not find one selfish or self-oriented or self-absorbed statement. Instead it is all about us. In the Scriptures, you find Jesus, the One who humbles Himself to wash the feet of others and die on a cross. He gives everything that we might live. And if you want to encapsulate the leadership secrets of Jesus it is this: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Every time I read that verse there is a peace and assurance that settles over me. Jesus, God Himself, is my good shepherd; my good shepherd lays down His life for Me. Shepherds were sacrificial watching their sheep by day and night, leading them to pasture. But Jesus is not just a shepherd, He is the good shepherd His love and concern for His sheep extends to laying down His life for us. 1

Jesus paints this picture of His love for us in John 10. And these verses make me grateful beyond words that Jesus is My good shepherd the lover of my soul. When we began this chapter, we saw that in verses 1-5 Jesus told a simple story about a shepherd and His sheep. Then from this story Jesus picked three elements the door to the sheepfold, the Shepherd and the Shepherd s sheep and He used these images to make spiritual points. In verses 7-10 we saw Jesus pick up on the theme of the door and declare I am the door. I am the only way for any sheep to get into the sheepfold. I am the only way for anyone to enter heaven. But then in verses 11 to 18 he picks two facets I am the good shepherd and My sheep know Me. I am the One who loves My sheep enough to die so that they may enter heaven. And the ones who have such faith are my sheep. In other words Jesus uses this one story to make three points. I am the door focuses on the truth that Jesus is the only way gain access to heaven. I am the good shepherd focuses on how Jesus is able to grant access to heaven by laying down His life. My sheep know Me focuses on why only some trust Christ and gain access to heaven. So look with me as we continue in this incredible section of Scripture. John 10:11. Jesus said this: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. When Jesus describes Himself as the good shepherd for any biblically literate Jew and for you and me there many Old Testament passages that should spring to mind. We should of course think of Psalm 23 the Shepherd s Psalm. We should think of David the shepherd of Israel. We should think of Numbers 27 where we are told that God will send a great shepherd to lead His people so they will not be like sheep without a shepherd. But, perhaps the foremost passage that should spring to mind is Ezekiel 34. In that chapter God described the leaders of Israel as false shepherds. Instead of caring for the flock the people of Israel they cared only for themselves. They grew fat by exploiting the people. They refused to care for the disadvantaged. They 2

failed to lead the people in righteousness. And the flock of Israel were preyed on by beasts inside and outside Israel. The reality is that even the best of men have a stubborn wilful stripe of sin. Even David the shepherd of Israel a man after God s own heart sinned. His sin of adultery brought strife among his family that sent the nation into a brutal civil war. His sin of numbering the people meant the death of 70,000 Israelites due to pestilence. But the truth is that most human leaders are far worse than David. So, after highlighting all the failures of human shepherds, at the end of Ezekiel 34, God promised that in the fullness of time He Himself would come to shepherd His flock. He would come as the perfect shepherd of the sheep. Listen to the promises the Lord made: Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. I will feed them in a good pasture There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest. I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick And then, after all the promises saying I Myself will come, I will care, I will feed, I will seek then we find this: Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. God promises again and again that He Himself would come. Then He tells us how He would come. He would come as David s greater Son the promised shepherd of the sheep. So understand this. When Jesus said I am the good shepherd He was very clearly claiming to be God Himself come to this world as the greater Son of David to shepherd His flock. He was claiming to be the fulfilment of Numbers 27 and Ezekiel 34 the true shepherd of Israel God Himself. So for Jesus to say I am the good shepherd is a claim to be God. But, it is far more than that. It describes the way God will lead His people. It brings in the type of leader Jesus is. Jesus could have looked the Pharisees in the eye and said: 3

I am the mighty pillar of fire; the mighty pillar of fire guides His people into the Promised Land. Or, He could have declared: I am the captain of the Lord s host; the captain of the Lord s host fights to win the victory for His soldiers. Or, He could have said: I am the angel of the Lord; the angel of the Lord will overcome every obstacle barring His people s way to heaven. All of these statements would be completely true wouldn t they? But instead of an image of power and might and strength, Jesus chose the image of a shepherd who lays down His life to show us the type of loving leadership He embodies. His leadership in this life is leadership by love and example not power and command. I am the good shepherd. This is a statement of love and care and protection. God Himself cares for us like a shepherd cares for his sheep. This is the image of Jesus we need burned into our minds. But before, I move on I need to point out one thing. In his commentary on John, Don Carson points out that of every nationality, Australians are the least likely to understand the concept of Christ as the good shepherd. Why? Because in this country we don t have shepherds. Go to Palestine, Scotland, Canada, even South Africa almost anywhere and you will still find a shepherd with a crook watching his sheep graze near a stream. Guiding them, protecting them, caring for them. In some of those countries the number of shepherds has become quite few but there are still some. But, we have never had this type of shepherd. We have never had small flocks with a devoted personal shepherd. What we have are sheep farmers where the average flock is many thousands of sheep. The farmer doesn t know the sheep the sheep don t know the farmer. But in the days of Christ the lot of a shepherd was different. William Barclay in his Gospel of John describes the life of a shepherd: His life was very hard. No flock ever grazed without a shepherd, and he was never off duty. There being little grass, the sheep were bound to wander, and since there were no protecting walls, the sheep had constantly to be watched. On either side of the narrow plateau the ground dipped sharply down to the 4

craggy deserts and the sheep were always liable to stray away and get lost. The shepherd s task was not only constant but dangerous, for, in addition, he had to guard the flock against wild animals, especially against wolves, and there were always thieves and robbers ready to steal the sheep. Constant vigilance, fearless courage, patient love for his flock, were the necessary characteristics of the shepherd. The average flock of sheep in those days was very small twenty or thirty was an average flock one hundred sheep would be considered a very large flock. These shepherds knew every sheep by name. And sheep are a great picture of Christians. I have had very little to do with sheep. I have gone to the Wool Shed in Samford and patted a sheep. I ve seen them mustered and sheared. Yet even these brief contacts have impressed upon me the fact that domestic sheep are one of the most careless and helpless animals the good Lord has seen fit to create. Sheep are incredibly vulnerable. It is not just that they are in danger from any stray dog, any thief or any cliff they are such foolish animals they can break a leg just walking from pasture to pasture. And if they are attacked, they poorly equipped to deal with the dangers of this world. They don t have talons, or claws or fangs. We are like sheep. We go astray so easily. We find ourselves in danger so often. We are so vulnerable. We succumb to sin. We toy with paths that lead us to danger and away from pasture. We are vulnerable to the world, the flesh and the devil. But the one incredible blessing that sheep do have is that they have shepherds. Shepherds guide them to pasture and water. Shepherds carry them if they break a leg. Shepherds fight off the wolf and the bear and the thief. Shepherds are the protectors, providers and carers for the sheep. A shepherd who knows his sheep and cares for them. A shepherd who leads the sheep to green pastures. A shepherd who would be loathe to lose even one sheep. A shepherd who will spend nights in the wilderness protecting the sheep. A shepherd who is up all night helping a ewe give birth. A shepherd who sacrifices for his sheep. And for the Christian Jesus is our good shepherd. He fights for us, He protects us, He guides us, He carries us, He binds us up, He loves us. So the image of Jesus as the great shepherd of the sheep is a powerful one. But Jesus went on. Look at the end of verse 11 through to verse 13: 5

The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. Last time I told you that in the days of Christ many families owned sheep. This was their livelihood. During the day, the shepherd would lead the sheep to pasture and water. But night was different. Wolves roamed the hills. Thieves were waiting to snaffle a stray sheep. So by night, the sheep had to be protected. If they were near home, there was usually a pen or enclosure where the shepherd could leave the sheep for the night. But if they had to travel some distance from home to find pasture, the sheep needed to be protected day and by night. Usually this was the task of the shepherd, but sometimes a hired hand was employed to share this duty. Most days being a hired hand was totally boring. It was not an everyday occurrence to run into thieves. And while there were wild animals lions, bears, wolves and the like again you didn t meet them every day. But, you did meet them. Remember David telling how lions and bears attacked his flock and he had to fight them off. These undershepherds or hired hands were not the owners of the sheep, they were just paid few denarii to stand guard over the sheep. And because they were paid, they had responsibilities. The shepherds paid them to do a job. But what were the limits? The Jews were one of the most amazing people when it came to spelling out a man s explicit responsibilities in the most incredible areas of life. In the Mishnah it spelled out what a hired hand s responsibilities were if a wolf appeared. Basically, it said that since he is paid, he has a duty to protect the sheep. The rabbis of the day argued that it was reasonable for him to stay put and fight off one lone wolf. But, in their wisdom they drew the line at two wolves. If two wolves appear, he is allowed to flee. That is the theory, the reality was far different. One man will often be able to fight off a lone wolf. But, he might get injured and at times lone wolves killed men. Wolves are incredibly vicious animals, especially when they have the blood lust up. What usually happened was this. The wolf appeared and the hired hand decided that the few denarii he was paid weren t enough to risk his neck. He doesn t own any of the sheep. If they live or die, it makes no difference to him. So the almost universal reaction of the hired hands was to flee. The wolf comes in and attacks the sheep, maims them, kills them and scatters the rest. 6

The hired hand can then relate how bravely he stood toe to toe with a whole pack of marauding wolves but there were just too many. Some got past me despite my best efforts and wreaked havoc. Now switch the scene a little. Most nights it isn t the hired hand guarding the sheep it is the shepherd. The shepherd sees the wolf and his reaction is far different from the hired hand. He knows the sheep. He has a relationship with them. They belong to him. When you have a flock of twenty or thirty, to even lose one sheep is a disaster. He will stand his ground against the wolf. But, let s be realistic here. As important as sheep are there are limits to how far a shepherd will go in protecting his sheep. I was trying to find some analogy in my life. The closest I could come to was a fire. If I came home and my house was ablaze if I thought my wife or one of my children were in there I would go in after them no matter what. But what if they were all out? Well, I have some possessions that are important to me. My books, my library has taken a lot of blood, sweat and toil to accumulate. Photographs, the drawings my kids have done, personal mementos things that I would be devastated to lose. If the fire was bad but not ablaze I think I would try and save the things that I could not replace. But I wouldn t take undue risks with my life. Similarly, it would be economically devastating to lose a sheep or a few sheep but you can replace sheep but you can t replace a human life. A shepherd will take a degree of risk. He will probably challenge one wolf knowing the most likely outcome is he wards him off. If a pack of wolves descends he won t suicide by taking them on. Jesus said that He is the good shepherd. He willingly choses to lay down His life for His sheep for us. Put this into perspective. We are sheep. We have gone astray. Even the best man or woman has sinned constantly against God. We have spat in His face and spurned His love. We don t deserve to be led to green pastures. We deserve nothing but being taken to the butcher s and turned into lamb chops. But, Romans 5:8: 7

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus is God. He owes us nothing. We deserve nothing. But His love for us even though we are sinners meant He willingly laid down His life for His sheep. Jewish reasoning constantly argues from the lesser to the greater. A shepherd might put his life at risk for his sheep. It would affect him economically to lose a sheep. Jesus is God. If we are lost it costs Him nothing economically. We have consistently and consciously spurned His love. Yet He chose to save us. He chose to lay down His life for us. Why? Because He loved us. The depth of this love shows that He is the good shepherd. A chapter I have returned to again and again is Romans 8. And the verse that catches me every time I read it is this. Romans 8:32: He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? God who could give us the very universe chose to give us the greatest gift of all the life of His Son. That is the extent of His love for us. He is our good shepherd. To become His sheep He had to lay down His life for us. So that makes us precious. When the wolves come when the thieves come when the dangers rise up how could we ever think He will not protect us? If He died for us He will protect us. He will provide our needs. He will lead us to pasture. He will protect us from the wolves. He will fill our lives with goodness and mercy. He loves us! The question then arises why doesn t every man woman and child claim Jesus as their shepherd? Who wouldn t want to experience the full love of God? The answer comes in verses 14 and 15: I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. Only those who are called and have their blinded eyes opened know Jesus. Sometime read again the passages like Numbers 27 and Ezekiel 34. It was clear God would come as a shepherd to lead His sheep. He would come as a new David. To the Jews this meant the One coming would look and act like a King. Kings were regal. Kings commanded men. 8

In the game of chess the only piece that is not expendable is the king. Any other piece can be sacrificed. Men lay down their life for their king. Kings did not lay their life for anyone. Jesus did not look like a king and did not act like a king. How could He be the One in the line of David who would lead this people? Only those who were His heard His words and followed Him. But when they turn to the shepherd they know they are His and He is theirs. We belong. We have turned to Christ and He will never let us go. Look down to verse 29: My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father s hand. We belong. He will never let us go. He will guide us. He will protect us. And there is a peace that comes from knowing we are His. I love the way Thomas Goodwin described this when speaking on Ephesians 1:13: There is a light that cometh, and overpowereth a man s soul and assureth him that God is his, and he is God s, and that God loved him from everlasting It is a light beyond the light of ordinary faith the next thing to heaven: you have no more, you can have no more until you come hither It is faith elevated and raised up above its ordinary rate, it is electing love of God brought home to the soul. 1 There is a light that cometh, and overpowereth a man s soul and assureth him that God is his, and he is God s. When God allows us to see the glory of Christ. Our love for Him and His love for us bind us together for all eternity. The sheep belong to Christ. We are loved by Christ as intimately as the Father loves the Son. Dads and mums, think of those precious little ones that came in this morning to say I love you and give you a hug. They are going to let you down and cause heartache and wander down some wrong paths. But nothing could ever stop you loving them and doing what is right for them. So it is with Christ and us. 1 Quoted in Tony Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, (Wheaton, Crossway Books, 1994), p. 45. 9

When Christ looks at you He sees one of His sheep. A child for whom He willingly laid down His life. A child He loves more than life itself. A child He will love and care for and cherish unto eternity. Christ is the good shepherd. But that leads us to the great question of this section is this who are Jesus sheep? Verse 16: I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. Remember last time that I told you that this whole section chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 dealt with the question of salvation. At the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus declared: Unless you believe that I am unless you believe that I am God you will die in your sins you will die eternally. The only way to salvation is through faith in Me. The Jews responded by saying hang on a minute! We are Abraham s descendants. Later in John 9:28 the Pharisees proudly announced we are disciples of Moses. The clash is over salvation. Jesus made it perfectly clear to be saved you have to believe that He is God there is no other path to heaven. But the Pharisees were the latest in a long line of teachers who held to a different view of salvation. They had misunderstood the Old Testament and taught that salvation came to the heirs of Abraham who were disciples of Moses. The ones who got to heaven were Jews who kept the Law well enough. The Pharisees argued the door was labelled Jews who adequately kept the Law of Moses. But, Jesus said the door to salvation was labelled faith in Him. The picture here is this. Both Jesus and the Pharisees would have agreed that all the people in the world are sheep and that the true flock of God comprises only a small number of the sheep. The Pharisees would have said this. The Jews who adequately kept the Law of Moses were the true flock and they, the Pharisees, were the undershepherds guarding that flock. 10

Jesus said no! You are in fact thieves and robbers who end up stealing, killing and destroying the flock. The Pharisees were wrong to think that the true flock of God could only come from Jews who kept the Law. When Jesus said I have other sheep, which are not of this fold it was a clear reference to the Gentiles. Gentiles who had faith in Him would join His flock and follow Him as the true shepherd. Jews who rejected Him would be killed and destroyed. Verses 17-18: For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken [My life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father. If a wolf kills a shepherd. That is the end. The shepherd stays dead and the sheep are shepherdless. But when the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep that is not the end. Christ s death was not a terrible accident. It was an act of love. There was no other way to save His sheep to save us. But, death is not the end the love of the Father means the Son will rise again. He has authority over life and death. Hebrews 13:20: Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, Jesus did not die a martyr s death. He willingly laid down His life for the sheep. Here then is the great difference between Christ and every other shepherd pretender. Who else could love the world enough to lay down his life for us? Buddha just taught. Joseph Smith was a mouthpiece. Lenin taught redemption through the barrel of a gun. Attila said achieve substantial personal recognition. But, Christ laid down His life for those He loved. Christ loved us enough to die for us. He died to redeem us and make us His flock. How do we respond to such love? The Jews who listened were torn in their reaction. Verses 19-20: 11

A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him? Jesus claimed to be God and the true leader of the Jews but a sacrificial leader one willing to lay down His life for His flock. To the world this seemed insanity. But verse 20: Others were saying, These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he? Surely sacrificial leadership is not insanity it is love. And Jesus backed up His claims by miracles that demonstrated He is the Son of God. So what does this picture of Jesus as the good shepherd teach us? First, remember that all true leadership is Christlike leadership. When Christ established His church He called those He appointed as leaders overseers, undershepherds and commanded them to pastor the flock. They were to shepherd as Christ shepherded. Listen to these words of Peter in 1 Peter 5:2-3: Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. All leadership in the church, in the home, in the world is Christlike. We are to love selflessly, and sacrificially even when it is so hard to do so. I openly confess that I struggle to lead as a sacrificial shepherd. I love my family more than I love my life but all too often I lead them selfishly. As an elder there are many in this church I find easy to love. But some, humanly speaking I struggle to love the way Christ loves. But it makes no difference Christ didn t love me because of how wonderful I am He loved me while I was yet a sinner opposed to Him. We have to chose to love like Christ loved. We have to lead like Christ led. In our homes, with our children, in the church, with those around us chose to love sacrificially like Christ. 12

But the greater picture here for us is the love of Christ. The picture of the good shepherd tending us His beloved sheep is meant to sustain us throughout this life. In closing I want you to realise that there are two ways and only two ways you can life this life. First, you can reject Christ as your shepherd. Listen to how your life will be: The Lord is not my shepherd, I am forever in terrible want. He is not there to make me lie me down in green pastures, he is not there to lead me beside quiet waters, He doesn t restore my soul. He doesn t guide me in the paths of righteousness for his name s sake. While I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear evil constantly, for He is not with me; His rod and His staff are not there to comfort me. My table is barren in the presence of my enemies. He does not anoint my head with oil; my cup is empty. Surely evil and hatred will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell outside the house of the Lord forever. Or you can rejoice that Christ is your shepherd: The Lord is our shepherd, Just let that wash over you. We shall not want. He loved us enough to die for us. He who owns the cattle on a thousand hills will provide our needs. He will give us what we need. He makes us lie down in green pastures; He leads us beside quiet waters. He gives us the very best that this world has to offer. Green pastures, quiet waters. He restores our soul; He gives us spiritual well-being. He forgives us. He makes the sinner whole. He guides us in the paths of righteousness For His name s sake. He shows us how to live in this world. He gently leads us in His ways. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, We fear no evil, for He is with us; 13

He overcomes the trials and obstacles of this world. And death has lost its sting. There is nothing left for us to fear in this world. His rod and His staff, they comfort us. He fights the battles for us. He directs us. He comforts us. He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies; He has anointed our head with oil; Our cup overflows. He has given us every blessing in this life. We are overcomers because of Him. And the result is that: And finally, Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow us all the days of our life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. John Howard and George Bush and Attila the hun are human leaders with human frailties. Dave and Gary and Dudley and I are human shepherds with human frailties. But Jesus is God. He is the good shepherd. He loves us enough to die for us. He is powerful enough to ensure that goodness and lovingkindness will follow us all the days of our life. And we can thank God for sending Jesus our good shepherd. 14