Jesus is the Good Shepherd
Who is Jesus? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 34 viewsJesus is the Good Shepherd who holds affection for his sheep and has authority over his sacrifice.
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Introduction:
Let’s get into the Word in this morning.
Everyone has someone they look up to. No matter the person they have someone they look up to and follow. For me, I look up to a couple different people but the most influential is a professor of mine from OBU named Scott Pace. I look up to him because he is a man who loves the Lord and I know he won’t lead me to a false belief but will point me to the Bible. However, not everyone has a Scott Pace in their life. Some people follow others that they really shouldn’t.
For example, a man by the name of David Koresh convinced people that he was Christ and he actually had about 100 followers. He convinced his followers to allow him to have many wives with some as young as 12. This led to authorities in Waco, TX going to his compound in order to investigate these allegations. When they arrived they were met with resistance by Koresh and his followers which led to the death of 4 of these authorities. After the 51 day siege, Koresh and 85 of his followers died. This man did not love his followers, but used them for selfish gain which led to their destruction.
The good news is that while Koresh claimed to be Christ and ended up abusing and leading his sheep to destruction, the true Jesus the one who is truly the Good Shepherd does not lead his people to destruction, but to prosperity. The reality is though is that many believers would rather follow themselves instead of following Christ because they believe they can lead themselves to prosperity better than Christ can.
The problem with this is that we will never lead ourselves to prosperity because we are not shepherds, but sheep. Sheep on their own will die, but a Good Shepherd leads them to green pasture and still waters. Christ will not forsake us but will leads us to eternal life if we will follow him. We can trust him as the Good Shepherd because of what we see in and the truths contained in them.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn’t care about the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
In this fourth “I am” statement we see two beautiful truths about Christ that leads us to see him as the Good Shepherd who is able to lead his sheep which means we should follow him if we are his.
The Good Shepherd has affection for his Sheep. (v.11-13)
The Good Shepherd has affection for his Sheep. (v.11-13)
Jesus saying he is the Good Shepherd fulfills the idea of and the promise of . states
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have what I need.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even when I go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
God here is called a Shepherd and the idea that he is a loving shepherd leading his people to security is affirmed in Jesus statement that he is the Good Shepherd and that he lays his life down for his sheep. In we see a promise from the Lord which states:
As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and total darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own soil. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will tend them in good pasture, and their grazing place will be on Israel’s lofty mountains. There they will lie down in a good grazing place; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will tend my flock and let them lie down. This is the declaration of the Lord God. I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.
So, God is the Good Shepherd and promises to bring his sheep back into his fold which he fulfills in the person and work of Christ.
Jesus here is contrasting the Good Shepherd with a hired hand. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, but the hired hand flees when he sees a wolf coming. Jesus here is comparing himself to the Religious Leaders of the day. The Religious Leaders didn’t truly care about the people, but cared about themselves. They would perform their duties during the good times, but they did not have any sacrificial love for their followers. Jesus however has affection for his sheep and loves them so much that he lays his life down for them.
This is the essence of the Gospel, look no further than which states:
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
On the basis of love Jesus lays his life down. This idea of a Shepherd laying his life down would have the story of David come in the minds of the listeners. In states:
David answered Saul: “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
David would lay his life down for his sheep and protect them. Jesus is the true and greater shepherd who lays his life down not against lions or bears, but against the true enemies sin and death. All of this is on the basis of Christ love.
This love isn’t conditioned upon our performance because states clearly:
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were sinners Christ died for us, he didn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up but came when we were at our worst and laid his life down to forgive us. Let me put it to you this way, whenever we go on a date with someone we really like we dress ourselves up. We try to look as good as possible in order to impress the person we are going out with. However, in our relationship with Jesus we don’t need to dress up or make ourselves look good because Jesus loves us where we are and who we are, not some fictional version of ourselves we put forward to impress. Jesus has affection for his sheep no matter how dirty or unappealing we might be.
This means for us his sheep, if you are saved, that we are to follow our Shepherd. Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us as the Hired Hand would. Even when we might go astray Jesus doesn’t leave us, but comes after us. In the ancient world whenever a sheep would go astray from the shepherd, the shepherd would break the sheep’s legs, pick it up, put it over his shoulders, and carry it until its legs healed. After this the sheep would never leave the shepherd’s side again. Now I’m not saying that Jesus is going to break our legs, but the Shepherd will tear down or break down anything that causes us to go astray because of his great love for us so let’s follow the Shepherd and cling to him.
We can do so with confidence because of the affection that Jesus has for his sheep. No matter how far you may think you are from Christ, he comes after his sheep because he loves us and we can trust that. Not only does Christ had affection for his sheep, but we also see that…
The Good Shepherd has authority over his Sacrifice. (v.14-18)
The Good Shepherd has authority over his Sacrifice. (v.14-18)
We shift now from the Good Shepherd having affection for his sheep to the Good Shepherd having authority over his sacrifice. Jesus begins to explain again that he lays down his life for the sheep before explaining that he knows his sheep and his sheep know him which once again confirms that Jesus loves his sheep because he genuinely knows them. This is not a mere knowledge of them, but knows them intimately. Jesus knows his sheep which means that if you are a believer Jesus doesn’t just know of you, he knows you.
This is proven also in what Jesus says in verse 15, “Just as the Father knows me I also know my Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.” The love and knowledge Jesus has for his sheep is rooted in the love shared between God the Father and God the Son. As Christians we believe in one God revealed in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. The members of the Trinity have perfect love in themselves and the love we have been shown is rooted in this Trinitarian God. This is another reason that we as his sheep should follow our shepherd.
After this statement Jesus transitions to the statement that he has other sheep that are not from this sheep pen. This is a verse pointing to the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God. We know that the Jews were God’s chosen people in the OT, but now through the sacrifice of the Shepherd God’s people are not defined by ethnicity but defined by those who have faith in Christ. This is good news for us because I’m about 80% positive none of us are ethnically Jewish.
Jesus then gets into the reason that he can do this and it’s because he has all authority. He explains that he lays his life down so that HE can take it up again which points to his death AND resurrection. This is confirmed in the next verse where he says that he has the right to lay his life down and take it up again. This shows us that Jesus was not forced to go to the cross, but went willingly. This is what states:
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
Christ subjected himself to death which means that he went willingly. Nobody forced Jesus to go, even in the story of his arrest in Jesus is very much in control.
After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I am he,” Jesus told them.
Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.
Jesus could have had an army of angels swoop in and end all of that, but he didn’t. He went willingly to the Cross in order to save his sheep. He didn’t remain Dead though because the Good Shepherd has all authority and that includes authority over death because he rose three days later securing salvation for his sheep.
By doing this Jesus placed his righteousness on us because on our own we are sinful, but now Christ clothes us with his righteousness which justifies us before a Holy Father. I heard this story about a Scottish Shepherd this past week that beautifully illustrates what Jesus does for us. This Shepherd faced an unfortunate circumstance, he had a baby lamb die and then had a momma sheep die who had a baby Lamb. Our minds would say well just put the two together and solve the problem. However, it didn’t work that simply. The Shepherd tried that, but the Momma would reject the lamb. When this didn’t work the Shepherd had an idea. He sheered the wool of the dead baby lamb and put it on the orphan lamb. He then proceeded to have this lamb go to the momma who smelled her baby that she lost. After that moment the Momma took that lamb in as her baby. states:
For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
As sheep to the shepherd we are clothed with the fragrance fo Christ and are accepted by the Father because it is not our unrighteousness he sees but his son’s righteousness. If we are believers then we are accepted by the Father truly and perfectly which means we will never be unaccepted.
This is possible solely because Christ had the authority to lay his life down providing forgiveness and had authority to raise it up again which saves us and makes us alive with him. If you are a believer then this is your shepherd who loves you, who died for you, and who saved you. Why would we not want to follow such a Great Shepherd? Why would we not want to worship Christ for who he is? Follow this great shepherd and live forever with him.
Conclusion:
This morning you can choose to follow the Good Shepherd. If you are a believer then it is a choice to cling to him and follow him wherever he leads. If you are lost then it is a choice to follow him into the gate and be saved. He will not reject you if you are his and he will not reject you if you come to him in faith. Which choice will you make this morning? Let’s pray.