John 10:1-10
He Lives— to Be My Good Shepherd!
1“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. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
7Therefore Jesus said again, I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The 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 fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Historically the Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. We love this Sunday because we love to hear about Jesus, our gentle, caring Shepherd. But if Jesus is our Good Shepherd— what does that say about us? It says that we are His (Pointing to the cross) sheep! While that sounds rather warm and fuzzy have you ever thought about what we’re actually admitting about ourselves today? Think about it. How would you finish these phrases: “strong as an….(ox);” “graceful as a… (swan);” “wise as an …(owl);” “ferocious as a … (lion);” “(blank) as a sheep!” What word would you use to fill in that blank? Helpless? Weak? Not-so-smart? And when it comes to lost and wandering sheep like us they usually end up, in one word— dead!
Life for a sheep can be dangerous, difficult and short. There are those who want to lead the sheep astray, steal them and even destroy them. Sheep must be led to pasture, or they will die. But for us— even though we are sheep— life is good! Why? Because as these familiar words of John 10 remind us: He Lives— to Be My Good Shepherd!
I once heard that there are three important things to remember whenever you are studying a portion of Scripture. They are: Context! Context! Context! What is the context in which we find our sermon text for today? When we go back to the beginning of John 9 we see how Jesus restored physical sight to a man who had been born blind “so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3). By the end of John 9 we see that this man’s spiritual sight had also been restored. When Jesus asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” his spiritual sight enabled him to say, “Lord, I believe” (John 9:35, 38).
When the Pharisees learned that Jesus was the One who had healed this man— on a Sabbath day!— they attacked Him by saying, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (John 9:16). Ultimately, the Pharisees insulted the man who had been healed and “threw him out” of the synagogue. When the Pharisees then confronted Jesus by asking Him, “What? Are we blind too?,” Jesus responded, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:40, 41). Jesus was calling these Pharisees to repentance. If they realized just how spiritually blind they actually were then they could be saved. But since they claimed that they could “see” the way to heaven all by themselves, since they claimed that they didn’t need Jesus, well, “their guilt remained.”
That context reveals to us that the words of our text are addressed to Jesus’ entire audience: His disciples, the formerly blind man, the Pharisees, and all the other people who were there. The purpose of Jesus’ parable was to make it clear to everyone — including the Pharisees— that just because someone claims to be a spiritual leader, just because someone claims that they can show you the way to eternal life, that does not make them a “shepherd” who deserves to be followed!
Who is the Shepherd who deserves to be followed? Jesus answers that question in two different yet connected ways. His first answer is found in the opening portion of our text. Look at verses one to five. Jesus used a “figure of speech” that everyone knew to be true! Sheep pens were a part of their everyday life. Everyone knew that a true shepherd enters the sheep pen through the gate. Anyone and everyone who tried to enter the sheep pen “by some other way,” such as climbing over the wall, was nothing more than “a thief and a robber.” Everyone knew that there is such a close personal relationship between a shepherd and his sheep that the sheep “know the voice of their shepherd” and the shepherd “calls his own sheep by name.” Everyone knew that if a “stranger” tried to get the sheep to follow him, the sheep “run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
What “truth” is Jesus emphasizing with these words? It is a “truth” that applies to all of Jesus’ sheep— right down to this very day! That “truth” centers on the fact that there is only one true Shepherd. He is our Good Shepherd. He is our risen Lord and Savior! (Pointing to the cross) How do we know this to be true? We know this to be true because we “recognize” His “voice”! We “recognize” His “voice” every time we hear and read the message of the Gospel! We “recognize” His “voice” every time we hear that the Good News is not about what we do for God, but rather the Good News is about what God has done for us (Pointing to the cross) and what God freely gives to us in the risen Christ, namely, forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation! Our Good Shepherd “goes on ahead” of us and we willingly follow Him because we “recognize” His “voice.” Regardless of where we go in life, regardless of what happens to us as we journey here on this earth, we know that as our Good Shepherd the risen Christ goes ahead of us and will always remain with us. Although the evil of this world surrounds us and infects us as sinners, we know that our Good Shepherd lives to retore us and to cleanse us!
Unfortunately, the Pharisees did not understand what Jesus was trying to teach them. John brings out this sad reality when he goes on to say in the second portion of our text, “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.”
Jesus is the “gate”— the only “gate” to eternal life in heaven. This is the very same truth that the Lord emphasized when He said to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus alone is the Shepherd who has both the love and the ability to bring us to “green pasture” and “quiet waters.” Jesus alone is the Shepherd who has the ability to “restore my soul” and to “guide us in the paths of righteousness.” Jesus alone can lead us “through the valley of the shadow of death” and guarantee to us that death is nothing to “fear” because we will “dwell in the house of the Lord forever”!
At the same time, our Good Shepherd wants us to understand that everyone who came before Him is a “thief” and a “robber.” This would include the Pharisees who claimed that they were the example that everyone needed to follow. This would include the myriad of false teachers who right down to this very day are trying to convince people that salvation and life and success are based upon what we do as individuals. We need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We need to improve our lives all on our own. Jesus has done His part, now it’s up to us to do our part. Do you love Jesus— enough? Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life— really? Have you committed yourself to Him— fully? Have you stopped sinning? Do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that, change this, don’t change that, pray and work hard enough and maybe God will count you worthy of being saved. In essence, what these false shepherds are saying is that in all this “you doing” stuff you are making yourself the “gate” that allows your entrance into heaven.
It sounds strange when you look at it that way, doesn’t it? It sounds— weird. You’d never believe such a false teaching if it were presented in that way, would you. You wouldn’t even listen to it— because you don’t listen to a “stranger’s” voice! You refuse to follow someone who is a spiritual “thief” and “robber” — because you recognize that their goal is to draw you away from the Good Shepherd and destroy your faith!
You are not just anyone’s sheep, my friends. You are His sheep! (Pointing to the cross) Ever since you were adopted by God through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism you have been able to “hear” His voice. (Pointing to the cross) Ever since you were given the gift of saving faith in your heart through the power of the Holy Spirit you willingly follow your Good Shepherd— the Shepherd who loves you deeply, the Shepherd who knows you by name, the Shepherd who lived and died and rose again to that you could “have life and have it to the full.”
The Greek word that the Holy Spirit led John to use here for “full” is once again a very descriptive word. It very literally means, “exceeding the usual number or size; extraordinary, abundant; fullness that overflows the set bounds.” Think about what this means for you! The life that only your Good Shepherd can provide to you is a life that “exceeds the usual number” of forgiveness. No matter how many times you sin against the God of heaven the forgiveness that your Good Shepherd provides “exceeds” that number by far! The life that only your Good Shepherd can provide to you is a life that contains so much grace that it “overflows the set bounds.” In other words, your Good Shepherd showers you with so much grace that it “overflows” however much grace you could ever possibly need! And the life that only your Good Shepherd can provide to you is a life that is “extraordinary,” a life that is “abundant” — especially when you remember that the life that only your Good Shepherd can provide to you is a glorious, perfect life that never ends! It is the life that continues into eternity!
This is the kind of life that the “thieves” and the “robbers” and the false shepherds cannot offer because they do not possess it. So how do you know? How do you know if your “shepherd,” which is what the word “pastor” means, how do you know if the person standing in front of you on Sunday mornings is someone your Good Shepherd wants you to listen to and follow?
There are a number of ways to answer that question. When you are listening to the voice of your “shepherd” are you able to clearly hear the voice of your Good Shepherd? When you strive to follow what your “shepherd” is telling you is he leading you to the cross of your Good Shepherd (Pointing to the cross) or is he luring you away from your Good Shepherd? Is your “shepherd” filling your soul with the nourishing food of God’s holy Word and Sacrament or do you get the impression that he is trying to “fleece” his flock? There are so many “thieves” and so many “robbers” today who are actually “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (See Matthew 7:15ff), that you always need to be alert and aware of how their “voice” lines up with the “voice” of your Good Shepherd as He speaks to you here in His holy Word.
Good Shepherd Sunday is indeed a day that we love to celebrate because we love to hear about Jesus, our gentle caring Shepherd. But Good Shepherd Sunday also reminds us that we are sheep— sheep who need our Shepherd to provide for us and to protect us; sheep who need our Shepherd to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death and into the extraordinary abundant life in heaven above. Praise God, my friends! Praise God that He lives to be our Shepherd! (Pointing to the cross)
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
To God be the glory!
Amen