#HolySheep
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· 3 viewsContinuing our parable series. This week we'll be in John 10: 1-21
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Today we will be continuing our parable series. I have the honor, nay, privilege of taking us through . As we read through this passage I know it is one that many a Christian is familiar with. Scripture is saturated with shepherd imagery:
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,
11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
Shepherds are mentioned about 93 times in the OT and about 23 times in the NT. Sheep are mentioned over 500 times. One of my jobs over the years of being a pastor (which haven’t been to many— 4 years now) has been to get new and existing believers to read the Bible through a non-American lens. What I mean by this is that I am a big believer in the fact that we need to read Scripture from a Jewish lens. We need to learn to see through their eyes. When we make textual observations in Scripture we need to do so from that lens. The Bible, though applicable to us, was not written for us. Let me say that again, Scripture is a revelation from GOD to his people but we are mistaken when we read ourselves into Scripture and therefore assume things into the text.
A lot of our time today will be spent on understanding the role of Shepherds among sheep. It is my belief and my hope that you learn something today but that more importantly you grow in appreciation of Jesus who is the good shepherd.
The Shepherd’s Equipment
The Shepherd’s Equipment
The shepherds had the following equipment in hand:
A scrip: a bag made of the skin of an animal where he carried his food (bread, dried fruit, olives, cheese)
A sling: This was a weapon used for offense and defense. It was believed [judges] and they didn’t have sheep dogs back then… they could launch a stone right in front of a sheep that was going astray to draw it back in
16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.
A staff: this was a smaller club like weapon with a nail at the end (it was to defend against thieves and animals)
A rod: this is what you think when you think of a Shepherd’s crook. He could catch and pull a sheep the right way
FOLD—an enclosure for flocks to rest together (Isa. 13:20). Sheep-folds are mentioned Num. 32:16, 24, 36; 2 Sam. 7:8; Zeph. 2:6; John 10:1, etc. It was prophesied of the cities of Ammon (Ezek. 25:5), Aroer (Isa. 17:2), and Judaea, that they would be folds or couching-places for flocks. “Among the pots,” of the Authorized Version (Ps. 68:13), is rightly in the Revised Version, “among the sheepfolds.”
The shepherd would hold his rod low to the ground. Each sheep would pass underneath it it would be at this time that the Shepherd would check each sheep for injuries from the day.
37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord.
The Sheep’s Purpose
The Sheep’s Purpose
When you compare the use of sheep over the years you can see that a lot of earlier civilizations used sheep for multiple reasons. Some heavily used them for food. Jews used them as part of the sacrificial system but Shepherds used them for wool (heavily). This means that they kept the sheep for a long time. Because of this the Shepherds named their sheep… they knew them by name (Brown-Leg, Black-ear, etc.). The Shepherd not only calls each sheep by name but they respond only to their Shepherd’s voice. I have a quick video to show you guys (just in case you need a little proof):
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e45dVgWgV64
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
In these verses Jesus is talking about two kinds of sheepfolds. Near larger cities they had enclosed folds with a physical door and only the guard would have the key (v. 2-3)
In verses 7-10 Jesus is talking about the folds that were in hillsides. These were basically an enclosed wall with no door. The Shepherd would lay across the doorway (physically). The Shepherd was the door…no sheep could physically come in or out without getting through the Shepherd. I don’t want to oversimplify whats going on in these verses but Jesus is saying that he is the only way to the Father. Many have come before, in his name, pretending to be coming in his name and they have left destruction in their path. Jesus comes so that we may have life abundantly.
I know for a lot of our seasons this might not feel like truth… when we live life according to our own way it feels dull and dispirited. When we live through Jesus we have new vitality and a superabundance of life. You begin to live.
The Gospel of John, Volume 2 The Door to Life (John 10:7–10)
A Roman soldier came to Julius Caesar with a request for permission to commit suicide. He was a wretched, dispirited creature with no vitality. Caesar looked at him. ‘Man,’ he said, ‘were you ever really alive?’
The final verses that I want us to look at today are verses 11-15
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And I do apologize because I truly could’ve broken these chunked verses into three separate sermons. So I encourage all of you to read through these passages this week slowly and to spend sometime mulling over the imagery going on in these passages.
These passages contrast: the good and the bad, the faithful and the unfaithful shepherd.
Once again, we are removed from this context.
12 Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.
13 If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,
35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
1 Samuel 17:31:4
The natural state of the Shepherd was to risk his own life in defense of his sheep. The natural state of the Shepherd, which was the case of people who were hired to watch sheep that weren’t theirs, was to run when trouble came. There were Shepherds who did this thing for the wrong reason…they saw the money.
To take this closer home: we as Christians…as the sheep, have been sent out amongst wolves ().
The Gospel of John, Volume 2 The True and the False Shepherd (John 10:11–15)
We may note two further points before we leave this passage. Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd. Now in Greek, there are two words for good. There is agathos which simply describes the moral quality of a thing; there is kalos which means that in the goodness there is a certain charm which makes it lovely. When Jesus is described as the good shepherd, the word is kalos. In him, there is more than efficiency and more than fidelity; there is loveliness. Sometimes in a village or town, people speak about the good doctor. They are not thinking only of the doctor’s efficiency and skill as a physician; they are thinking of the sympathy and the kindness and the graciousness which that doctor has brought and which in turn has brought friendship to all. In the picture of Jesus as the good shepherd, there is loveliness as well as strength and power.
I don’t take folks into Greekville frequently but in Greek you have a few words for ‘good’. You have:
agathos which means a moral quality
kalos means a certain charm that makes someone lovely....
They use the word Kalos to describe
A few take aways from this passage alone:
We are the flock (the Church of Christ)…the followers of Jesus
The Flock is liable to dangers from the outside (wolves and robbers)
The Flock is liable to dangers from the inside (False Shepherds)
Ultimately, the Shepherd is Jesus Christ but this serves as a warning to people in Kevin and I’s positions. If this pastor thing is just a career, then we probably won’t take care of the flock when difficulty comes, discouragement comes, etc. BUT if the Shepherd sees this as an all-encompassing position of service then the Shepherd will be faithful.
BUT the Church’s first essential leadership is based on Jesus. Look to Jesus. We often find ourselves in weird funks in our lives when we seek so much counsel or encouragement, etc. and we forget to go back to the source that is Jesus. Go back to the true Shepherd when life separated you from the fold. Know that Jesus has already pursued each of you, knows each of you, and has left the fold repeatedly to go find you when you were lost. Let this serve as an encouragement as you seek to introduce others into the fold.... ultimately they don’t go through you or me…they go through Jesus. Jesus laid his life down for this flock. Jesus is the not only the Good Shepherd but he is THE Shepherd.
Interesting quotes:
The Gospel of John, Volume 2 The Shepherd and His Sheep (John 10:1–6)
The word ‘shepherd’ should paint a picture to us of the unceasing vigilance and patience of the love of God; and it should remind us of our duty towards one another, especially if we hold any kind of office in the Church of Christ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e45dVgWgV64