STUDY THEME: WHO IS JESUS? 4-13-03

"THE GOOD SHEPHERD." JOHN 10:11-13, 14-15, 16, 22-27, 28-30.

Today we look at the second of the four "I Am" passages in our series. Last Sunday we heard Jesus say, "I Am the Light of the World."

Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly life when he spoke the words in today’s lesson. It was about our month of December before he would die the following spring. People were demanding to know whether He was in fact the Messiah. The word "Messiah" had political and military connotations associated with it. Jesus wanted them to know that He was the Savior, but he did not want anyone to believe that He was a military deliverer. He loved and cared for people.

Everyone in the Mediterranean world would understand who a shepherd was and what he did. They would also know the difference between a good shepherd and a poor shepherd. Most of us probably are not that well versed in the role of the shepherd in the ancient world. Today’s lesson will name some of the responsibilities of a good shepherd.

The suggested "Biblical Truth for the lesson is that Jesus’ willing self-sacrifice and unending care for His followers show how much he loved them.

The "Life Impact" for this lesson is to help us appreciate and strengthen our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

A real shepherd was born to his task. He was sent out with the flock as soon as he was old enough to go; the sheep became his friends and his companions; and it became second nature to think of them before he thought of himself. But the false shepherd came into the job, not as a calling, but as a means of making money. He was in it simply and solely for the pay he could get. He might even be a man who had taken to the hills because the town was too hot to hold him. He had no sense of the height and the responsibility of his task; he was only a hireling.

As we visited with the missionaries in Kenya, East Africa we stopped to visit with a lad who had quite a flock of sheep. He seemed very happy and constantly kept his eyes on the sheep. We asked about his lunch. He said he would gather it from the roots, berries and insects in the area. He was a true shepherd and loved his sheep. He was not afraid of the animals as he had a stout staff.

When King David said in Psalm 23 "The Lord is my shepherd," he was referring to Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel. His statement was confirmed by Jesus Christ. When He was God incarnate among men, He declared emphatically, "I am the Good Shepherd." But was this Jesus?

Our view of Jesus is often too small---too cramped—too provincial—too human. And because of this we feel unwilling to allow Him to have authority or control---much less outright ownership of our lives. In Col. 1:15-20 we read that it was He who was directly responsible for the creation of all things both natural and supernatural.

If we pause to reflect on the person of Christ---on His power and upon His achievements---suddenly like David we will be glad to state proudly, "The Lord---He is my Shepherd." This implies immediately a working relationship between a human being; and his Maker. It links a lump of common clay to divine destiny—it means a mere mortal becomes the cherished object of divine diligence.

In the O.T. God is often pictured as a shepherd and His people as His flock. In Isa.40:11 the Messiah is also described as a Caring Shepherd.

Ezekiel 34 is one of the important background passages to John 10:1-30. The kings of Judah were supposed to be shepherds to the people. Instead, they thought only of themselves, exploited the people, and left them for the wolves. God promised in Ezek. 34:23 to be a true shepherd, and to send the Messiah to shepherd His people.

Many of Jesus hearers heard His words I am the good shepherd in light of such passages. Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah Shepherd described in the Scriptures. Because Jesus used the "I am" formula, this was also another claim to deity. Jesus added the Suffering Servant idea to the title when He said, "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Giveth, means to "lay down" or "give up" His life. The same word is used in Vs. 17-28 in ways that shed light on its implications. Jesus said that His life was not taken from Him, but He gave up His life on His own. His death was voluntary. He was not a martyr but a volunteer sacrifice.

This thought alone should stir my spirit, quicken my own sense of awareness, and lend enormous dignity to myself as an individual. To think that God in Christ is deeply concerned about me as a particular person immediately gives great purpose and enormous meaning to my short sojourn upon this planet.

And the greater, the wider, the more majestic my concept is of the Christ---the more vital will be my relationship to Him. Obviously, David in the 23^rd Psalm, was speaking not as the shepherd, though he was one, but as a sheep, one of the flock. He spoke with a strong sense of pride and devotion and admiration. It was as though he literally boasted aloud, "Look at who my shepherd is---my owner---my manager!" The Lord is!

After all, he knew from firsthand experience that the lot in life of any particular sheep depended on the type of man who owned it. Some men were gentle, kind, intelligent, brave, and selfless in devotion to their stock. Under another man sheep would struggle, starve, and suffer endless hardship. In yet another’s care they would flourish and thrive contentedly.

So if the Lord is my Shepherd I should know something of His character and understand something of His ability.

The staggering fact remains that Christ the Creator of such an enormous universe of overwhelming magnitude, chooses to call Himself my Shepherd and invites me to consider myself His sheep—His special object of affection and attention. Who better could care for me?

It is in this sense that I am basically bound to admit that His ownership; of me as a human being is legitimate—simply because it is He who brought me into being and no one is better able to understand or care for me. I belong to Him simply because He deliberately chose to create me as an object of His own affection.

Sheep do not "just take care of themselves" as some might suppose. They require more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care. It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep. The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways. Our mass mind (or mob instincts), our fears and timidity, our stubbornness and stupidity, our perverse habits are all parallels of profound importance. Yet despite these adverse characteristics Christ chooses us, buys us, calls us by name, makes us His own and delights in caring for us.

The Good Shepherd has a personal relationship with His sheep. In John 10:3 Jesus said the Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name and leads them. In Vs. 4-5 the sheep know the shepherd and respond to His voice alone. In Vs. 14 Jesus said that He knew His sheep and they knew Him. This knowledge is more than recognition or factual. It implies relationship. It is a relationship of love like the one that exists between Jesus and His Heavenly Father.

It is this last aspect which is really why we are under obligation to recognize His ownership of us. He literally lays Himself out for us continually. He is ever interceding for us. He is ever working on our behalf to ensure that we will benefit from His care. The Good Shepherd spares no pains for the welfare of His sheep. Little wonder, that the poet David took pride in belonging to the Good Shepherd. Why shouldn’t he be?

We have often heard it said that salvation is not simply knowing about Jesus but having a personal relationship with Him. These verses emphasize that truth. We learn factual information about Jesus before we are saved, but we only come to know Him when we personally receive Him as Lord and Savior.

The Christian life is a loving relationship between the Good Shepherd and His followers. Other religions and philosophies can learn about their founders through study. Jesus is the only historic figure hat people today can know personally. He is the living Savior who establishes

an intimate relationship with all who believe in Him.

One of the hardest things in the world to unlearn is exclusiveness. Once a people, or a section of people, gets the idea that they are special, privileged, it is very difficult for them to accept that the privileges which they believed belonged to them and to them only, are in fact open to all men. That is what the Jews never learned.

They believed that they were God’s chosen people and that God had no use for any other nation. They believed that, at the best, other nations were designed to be their slaves, and at the worst, that they were destined for elimination from the scheme of things. But here Jesus is saying that there will come a day when all men will know Him as their shepherd.

Jesus knows us and loves us better than anyone else. The good shepherd has a personal relationship with His sheep. Earlier in John 10:3 Jesus said the Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name and leads them. In Vs. 4-5 the sheep also know the shepherd and responds to His voice alone. In Vs. 14, Jesus said that He knew His sheep and they knew Him. This knowledge is more than recognition or factual, It implies a relationship. It is a relationship of love like the one that exists between Jesus and His Heavenly Father.

In Vs. 16 Jesus spoke of the global scope of His followers when he referred to other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. Jesus spoke prophetically of the inclusion of believing Gentiles and Jews in the future church Jesus emphasized the unity of all believers when He said there would be one flock and one shepherd. Jesus wants believers to accept one another just as He has accepted them. This is a challenge for Christians to overcome racial and ethnic barriers that sometimes keep Christians from the close fellowship that God desires. Those who believe in Jesus are united to Him and to every other believer. Those who love God must also love one another.

Jesus said that He had other sheep that were not of this fold. Jesus used the word must to show His intention and obligation to bring them also. He said, "They shall hear my voice." The long range plan was to have one fold, and one shepherd.

A single sheep fold or sheep pen might hold one flock or several flocks, but not necessarily all the sheep of one flock. Jesus was looking toward God’s future when all His people would be together as one under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Thus the other sheep probably refers to Gentile believers who would be sought and found after Jesus’ death and resurrection and the coming of the Spirit with power at Pentecost.

John begins by giving both the date and the place of this discussion. The date was the Festival of Dedication. The Feast of Dedication was a patriotic and religious celebration for the Jews. The Seleucid king, Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), desecrated the temple in Jerusalem on December 25m 167 BC. In 165 BC an army of Jewish patriots, led by Judas Maccabeus, defeated the Syrians. The Feast of Dedication (also known as Hanukkah or the feast of Lights) commemorated the victory and the cleansing of the temple. Jesus used this opportunity to teach in Solomon’s Colonnade, where many would enter into the temple courts. Whenever Jesus spoke in these public settings in Jerusalem, followers and opponents would be present.

Jesus religious opponents challenged Him to declare that He was the Christ. His enemies hoped He would make a public statement they could use to accuse Him. There is no doubt, that behind that question, were two attitudes of mind. There were those who genuinely wished to know. But there were others who beyond a doubt asked the question as a trap. They wished to inveigle Jesus into a statement which could be twisted either into a charge of blasphemy with which their courts could deal, or a charge of insurrection with which the Roman governor would deal.

Jesus responded by pronouncing them willfully ignorant of His identity. He told them they had sufficient proof to recognize that He was the Christ, but they would not believe. He pointed to the miracles that He performed as evidence that they had rejected. It was clear that these religious leaders did not want to know who Jesus is. No amount of proof will ever convince someone who does not want to believe.

John is really saying that these Jews were predestined not to follow Jesus. Somehow or other the whole N.T. keeps two opposite ideas in balance----the fact that everything happens within the purpose of God and yet in such a way that man’s free-will is responsible.

These verses contain wonderful promises that every believer should know. Every phrase should be savored and cherished for the glorious truths they reveal. Jesus did not want His followers to be afraid or to wonder if they would be saved. He gave them these words to assure them that He will always complete the salvation He begins.

Though most did not accept Jesus, some did; and to them Jesus promised three things.

(1) He promised eternal life. He promised that if they accepted Him as Master and Lord, if they became members of his flock, all the littleness of earthly life would be gone and they would know the splendor and the magnificence of the life of God.

(2) He promised a life that would know no end. Death would not be the end, but the beginning; they would know the glory of indestructible life.

Vs. 29-30 show at one and the same time the tremendous trust and the tremendous claim of Jesus. His trust was something that traced everything back to God. He has just been speaking about His sheep and His flock: He has just been saying that no one will ever snatch His own from His hand, that He is the Shepherd who will keep the sheep for ever safe. At first sight, and if He had stopped there, it would have seemed that Jesus put His trust in His own keeping power. But now we see the other side of it. It is His Father who gave Him His sheep; that both He and His sheep are in His Father’s hands.

Jesus was so sure of Himself because He was so sure of God. His attitude to life was not self-confidence, But God confidence. He was secure, not in His own power, but in God’s. He was so certain of ultimate safety and ultimate victory; not because He arrogated all power to himself, but because he assigned all power to God.

Now we come to the supreme claim. "I and the Father are one," said Jesus. What did he mean? Is it absolute mystery, or can we understand it at least a little?

Jesus is saying with simplicity and a clarity none can mistake that the end of the Christian life is that Christians should be one as He and His Father are one. His oneness includes the God to whom we pray, the Son through whom we pray, and the Holy Spirit who helps us to pray.

NEXT SUNDAY FROM JOHN 11 WE LEARN THAT JESUS IS "THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE." A.V. DAUGHERTY 4-13-03