Good Shepherd Sunday
May 7, 2017
John 10:1-10
The Good Shepherd Diamond
“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 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. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that there is a “Top Ten” list for just about everything under the sun. It’s true! I Googled it! There is a list of the top ten best animals to have as pets as well as a list of the top ten most dangerous animals. There is a list of the top ten books of all time as well as the top ten greatest authors. There is a list of the top ten reasons kids hate homework as well as the top ten reasons kids should not hate school. There is a list of the top ten movies as well as a list of the ten best songs of all time.
But, did you know that there is a list of the top ten most famous diamonds in the world? It’s true! I Googled that too! There is the Great Star of Africa, which at 530.20 carats is the largest cut diamond in the world. There is the Koh-i-Noor (Mountain of Light) diamond. Its history goes all the way back to 1304. It was presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 and is now a part of the British State Crown. There is the Hope Diamond which is now on display in the Smithsonian. And there is the Taylor-Burton diamond which was purchased by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor. After Richard Burton died she sold the diamond for charity. It was last seen in Saudi Arabia.
The reason I bring this to your attention this morning is because as I was studying our text for today I was once again struck by how beautiful and how precious this familiar portion of Scripture is! For that reason let’s look at this text as though it were: The Good Shepherd Diamond. As we admire this diamond we’ll see two things. First let’s see how the Good Shepherd diamond reminds us of why it is important for us to listen to the voice of our Good Shepherd. Then we’ll see how the Good Shepherd diamond reminds us that our Good Shepherd is the only gateway to eternal life and salvation.
As many of you have heard me say before, there are three main things to remember whenever you are studying a portion of Scripture. They are: Context! Context! Context! Our text for today is a very good example of that truth. Our text begins with Jesus saying, “I tell you the truth….” Very literally this would be translated, “Amen, amen, I say to you….” You may recall that in the King James this is translated, “Verily, verily, I say unto you….” This phrase always always indicates that what follows is not only important— so listen closely!— but it also indicates that what follows has a direct connection with what was just said or just done, i.e., the context. In this case Jesus is making it clear that what He is about to say is directly related to what had just happened. And what had just happened?
In John chapter nine we have the account of how Jesus healed a man who was born blind. Since this miracle was done on a Sabbath day some of this man’s own neighbors (9:8) felt compelled to bring him before the Pharisees. The Pharisees thoroughly investigated this healing, but ended up bitterly divided. Some of the Pharisees said, “This man (Jesus) is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?” (9:16). After interrogating the parents— who were so afraid of the Pharisees that they simply said, “He is of age; ask him”— the Pharisees angrily “threw him out.” Today we would say that they excommunicated the man who had been healed.
The attitude and the actions of the men who claimed to be the religious leaders of God’s Chosen People led Jesus to say, “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 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. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
The people who first heard our Savior speak these words were very familiar with what the Lord was describing here. Sheep pens and shepherds were a regular part of their everyday life. For those of us who may not be so familiar with this, the sheep pen Jesus is talking about in this portion of our text is exactly what it sounds like. It was a walled enclosure that was designed to protect the sheep at night. The wall around it was high enough to both keep the sheep in and to keep predators like wolves out. There was only one gate in this wall and that gate was guarded to make sure no unwelcome individuals entered the sheep pen. Oftentimes a number of shepherds would all keep their sheep in the same pen. Early in the morning each shepherd would come to the gate, the guard would let him into the sheep pen and then the shepherd would call his own sheep. When the sheep recognized the voice of their own shepherd they gladly and willingly followed him wherever he led.
The application of this truth to the lives of God’s people is not difficult to make— especially when we look at the wider context of John’s Gospel, namely, Jesus’ miraculous healing of the man who was born blind. The Pharisees should have been religious leaders among God’s people. The Pharisees should have been an example for the rest of God’s “flock” to follow. The Pharisees should have been there to help the people grow in their relationship with the Lord, the God of Israel. Unfortunately, most of the Pharisees were more concerned about themselves, their own power and their own prestige, than they were about helping the people of God. As a result, these Pharisees were false shepherds who spoke with a “stranger’s” voice.
Does this type of situation ever happen today? Sadly, it does. I’m sure most of us remember men such as Jimmy Jones and David Koresh— false shepherds who literally led their flocks into the jaws of death. There have been television evangelists who have fleeced members of their own flock by constantly asking for more and more money. There have been men who have misused their position of trust to abuse members of their own flock— and here I am not only talking about physical abuse but also emotional abuse. I have had people tell me that their own pastor “bullies” them (their term not mine) until they simply agree to do what he wants. As we look around in our own nation we see that the religious climate of our nation today is one of religious pluralism. More and more people, more and more churches are trying to tell us that it doesn’t make any difference whether someone is Christian or Muslim, it doesn’t make any difference if someone follows Judaism or Buddhism because according to them, “We all worship the same god.” There are more false shepherds out there in the world proclaiming a “stranger’s voice,” my friends, than you and I even know about.
But at the very same time we not only need to be on our guard against the false shepherds that are “out there,” we not only need to be on our guard against the “stranger’s voice” that comes from without, but we also need to be on our guard against the false shepherd and the “stranger’s voice” that can live right here in our own heart and in our own mind. There may be times when we get so comfortable with our favorite pet sin that we actually convince ourselves that it is not a problem to continue living in that sin. God doesn’t care if we break the Third Commandment as long as we keep the Fifth Commandment, right? As long as we don’t so something “really bad” like kill someone we can skip church pretty regularly and still be Okay with God, right? And as long as we don’t actually hit someone we can say whatever we want using whatever words we choose, right? No, my friends, whenever we get “comfortable” with any sin we need to recognize that as the voice of a “stranger”— a false shepherd who can only end up hurting us.
In the midst of all those chaotic strange voices your Good Shepherd quietly and consistently proclaims to you some of the most beautiful comforting truths you could ever possibly hear. Listening to the voice of our Good Shepherd is like admiring a priceless diamond with all of its wonderful facets! When we listen to His voice (Pointing to the cross) we hear the glorious message of free and full salvation. Turn that Good Shepherd diamond just a little bit. When we listen to His voice we hear that eternally important sentence which God’s Son spoke from the cross: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Turn that Good Shepherd diamond a little more. When we listen to His voice we hear the glorious news of Easter: “Peace be with you…Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself!” (Luke 24:36, 39). Turn that Good Shepherd diamond in a different direction. When we listen to His voice we hear those powerful miraculous words, “Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Drink from it all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” (Matthew 26:26-28). Turn that Good Shepherd diamond once more. When we listen to His voice we hear, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew
Now that we have seen why it is important for us to listen to the voice of our Good Shepherd let’s take a moment to address the question of how. How exactly do you and I listen to the voice of our Good Shepherd today? My answer to that question is quite simple: Read your Bible! The more you read your Bible, the better you know the Scriptures, the easier it will be for you to hear and recognize and distinguish the voice of your Good Shepherd. Not long ago I was reminded that the Secret Service is responsible for protecting our nation’s currency from counterfeiters. I was also told that the best agents are able to recognize a counterfeit bill just by looking at it. Little things that the untrained eye overlooks, they immediately identify. And how do they develop an eye for that? They spend hours studying legal currency. Instead of spending their time studying the counterfeits, they get to know the original so well that the fakes stand out. How do we recognize the voice of a “thief” or the “robber”? We strive to spend so much time listening to the voice of the true Shepherd, our Good Shepherd, that we can easily recognize and reject the “voice” of a “stranger”!
In the second half of our text for today Jesus emphasizes the very same truth, but from a slightly different angle. It’s like taking the Good Shepherd diamond and letting the Sonshine hit on a different facet. John tells us, “Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’”
Since the people, and especially the Pharisees, simply did not understand how important it was to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus uses a slightly different picture. In the first part of our text Jesus uses the picture of a communal sheep pen where the sheep from a number of shepherds would spend the night in safety. This sheep pen had a strong door and a guard at the door. The guard only opened the door for the shepherds he recognized. All others were denied entrance. Now, Jesus uses the picture of a sheep pen that was out in the open field. This sheep pen was an open space surrounded by a wall to keep the sheep in and the predators out. There was no gate. There was no guard. There was just an opening for the sheep to go in and out of. At night the shepherd himself lay down across the opening so that no sheep could go out or in except over his body. In the most literal sense, the shepherd was the door. There were only two options: enter through him or stay outside. No one had the right to demand a different way into the sheep pen. This is the picture Jesus had in mind when He says, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
In many ways, what Jesus is teaching us here is exactly what He says to us in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” People can hope and dream and wish all they want about being able to enter into heaven by some way other than through faith in Jesus and what He has done for them. (Pointing the cross). When it comes time for them to stand before the Pearly Gates, they will be denied entrance into the heavenly Father’s Kingdom! Being a “good person” will not be enough. Living a “spiritual life” won’t cut it. Following Allah or Buddha or any other man-made idol will only result in them hearing the Judge of the living and the dead say to them, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). All the “progressive” “politically correct” preachers in the world will never be able to manufacture an “alternate” gate into heaven. Jesus and Jesus alone has the power and the right and the ability to say, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
It certainly is not hard to find a “Top Ten” list for a variety of things— even diamonds! But not even the most precious diamond on the face of the earth can even begin to compare to the priceless Good Shepherd Diamond that we see here in our text. Treasure that diamond my friends! Treasure that diamond by daily listening to the voice of your Good Shepherd as He speaks to you through His holy inspired Word. Treasure that diamond by remembering that your Good Shepherd is the only One who can safely lead you through the valley of the shadow of death into the glory and perfection of heaven!
To God be the glory!
Amen