6 - I Am the Good Shepherd
What's In A Name • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsBig Idea: When Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” he is drawing on centuries of Jewish memory and scripture that depict God as a shepherd and his people as the sheep of his pasture. The imagery would have struck a deep chord with his hearers, and further confirmed Jesus’ claim that he is “The Great I Am.”
Notes
Transcript
SLIDE: Scripture John 10:11
John 10:11 (NLT)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
VIDEO: Bumper
SLIDE: Welcome Home
SLIDE: Open Your Bibles to: John 10:11-18
John 10:11–18 (NLT)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. 17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
SLIDE: Title
Introduction:
Introduction:
Today, we continue through our series “What’s In a Name?” in which we are looking at the “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. They each tell us something about Jesus’ understanding of himself. But beginning each statement with the phrase “I Am” tells us even more: it’s an echo of the ancient name of God given to Moses at the burning bush—"Yahweh, I am who I am.” Today we look at Jesus’ claim, “I am the good shepherd.”
This is part of the same conversation we looked at last week, John 10:1-10.
To review, Jesus had healed a man blind from birth. Because it happened on a Sabbath, the Pharisees take offense. We saw that they had positioned themselves as “gatekeepers” of access to God. So Jesus said, “I am the Gate (door).”
Now Jesus switches metaphors, doubles down, and says, “I am the good shepherd.” This was undoubtedly an even more recognizable image to his hearers. And it says more about Jesus as shepherd than about us as sheep. Mostly, I think it was just a very familiar reference in a pastoral economy. It was already deeply woven into the fabric of the Hebrew scriptures.
For example let’s look at some...
SLIDE: OT Imagery
Old Testament references:
Old Testament references:
Psalm 100:3 (NLT)
3 … We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 23:1–4 (NLT)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. 3 He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
Isaiah 40:11 (NLT)
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.
Micah 5:2 (NLT) --- a Messianic prophecy
2 But you, O Bethlehem, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.
Micah 5:4 (NLT)
4 And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world.
- Ezekiel 34
The entire chapter is a contrast between the leaders who were supposed to be Israel’s shepherds (and were doing it poorly), and the Lord, who will do it well. Bad shepherds vs. good shepherd.
1. Ezekiel 34:2 (NLT)
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?
2. Ezekiel 34:11–12 (NLT)
11 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.
Main Teaching
Main Teaching
SLIDE: Jesus Fulfills
Jesus fulfills all these images
Jesus fulfills all these images
Luke 15 - Jesus is the Good Shepherd because
He left the 99, and went looking for the lost one. This speaks of Jesus’ whole reason for being on earth, to seek and save the lost ones.
Why? Because they are pitiful and helpless? No, because they are precious to him!
That’s the message of all three stories in Luke 15; the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Son.
We tend to count who’s here;
99 out of a hundred, that’s pretty good.
But God always counts who’s missing.
How would he even know, except that every single one is precious to him; not just lost, but missed. (see the difference.)
Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he knows his sheep by name.
He knows them, and they know him. They recognize his voice.
SLIDE: Sheep Pen Picture
Illustration: SHEEP PEN, SHEEPFOLD
(Hebrew gedhērâh, Greek aulē).
Is an enclosure intended for the protection of sheep and also to keep them from wandering out and getting lost. These folds were simple walled enclosures, usually without roofs, with the walls covered with thorns to keep out robbers. Several flocks would usually pass the night in one fold under the care of a shepherd who guarded the door. Each shepherd knew his own sheep and was known by them. In the morning each shepherd would call out his sheep, the sheep would recognize the voice of their shepherd and follow him out to feed in the pasture he would guide them to.
There is one important trait that sheep have, but it’s the only one they need.
They recognize the shepherd’s voice and they follow him.
What a beautiful picture of relationship and trust.
SLIDE: We can learn...
Out of all the noise, all the voices shouting for our attention, it is so important to recognize the voice of Jesus. It takes stillness, and ears tuned to listen, and a willingness to follow, but with practice we can learn to do it.
Jesus said he had other sheep “not of this fold,” in John 10:16. This probably refers to non-Jews, which would have been unthinkable to his hearers on this day. It was still unthinkable to his followers even after his resurrection. It took some pretty spectacular revelations for God to break through this tribal, and exclusive mindset;
Paul on the road to Damascus, when God said he was sending him far away to the Gentiles.
Peter with a vision of unclean food and God commanding him to eat, which led to his encounter with the Roman Centurion Cornelius; what has been called the most important moment in history outside of Judaism.
God loves and accepts people who we consider unclean and impure. And he still does…
SLIDE: Lays down His life...
Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for the sheep.
This is what we remember and celebrate during Holy Week…
John 15:13 (NLT)
13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
This is a complete reversal of the bad shepherds described in Ezekiel 34: they expected the sheep to lay down their lives for the shepherds. But here is a shepherd who dies for the sheep. On the cross He is both the Lamb of God who gives his life for the world, and the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
At the end of this chapter there is a wonderful little paragraph, hardly noticeable really.
John 10:40–42 (NLT)
40 He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile. 41 And many followed him. “John [the baptizer] didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.” 42 And many who were there believed in Jesus.
This is a beautiful example of the sheep recognizing the voice of the shepherd. “All that John said about this man was true.” And they could do nothing else but follow. (John 10:41)
As we inch closer to Easter, let’s take some time this week to consider all the ‘voices’ in our lives. Some are encouraging, some are hurtful, some are just adding to the cacophony of noise we live within…
SLIDE: Take time to consider...
Take some time to consider Jesus’ voice…
How do you tune your ear to Him?
Have you spent any time listening to Him or for Him recently?
And if this is a completely foreign concept to you today:
SLIDE: Life Application
Ask in prayer that Jesus would speak to you this week. Ask that you could hear Him.
And again, as we come next week to celebrate Holy Week, let’s prepare our hearts and minds to receive the miracle of Easter the following week.
SLIDE: Prayer
Let’s pray together.
Prayer: “Father God, we open our hearts, ears, and minds today to receive another image of your relationship to us. We are your people, the sheep of your pasture, and you are the shepherd of our souls. Lead us to green pastures beside still waters today.”