Who Had a Little Lamb?
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bibles, please turn to John’s Gospel, chapter 10 and I will be reading the first 10 verses. As you are turning there let us open with prayer.
Dear Jesus, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you in the midst of this global pandemic. We know that you are still in control. You are with us in this moment in time. We may be divided by miles right now, but with are united in heart and spirit. Speak a fresh word to us this morning as we look at Jesus as our great shepherd. Amen.
If you have you Bibles opened I will begin reading.
“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. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
This morning we find Jesus beloved disciple, John who has followed him since the beginning of his ministry telling us about Jesus teaching.
Now this teaching does not just come out of the air. Jesus did not just say, oh, here are a few words about shepherds, so you will know which ones are the best. No, this teaching came during the time of Hanukkah. Most of us just see Hanukkah as another Jewish holiday. But for the Jewish people Hanukkah was a time of reflection, and especially reflection on leadership. During this season Israel would recall the failed leadership of the temple during the Maccabean era, which happened between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the new.
Part of Hanukkah was reading
“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? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered;
So Hanukkah for the Jewish people was a season to ask hard questions about leadership. It was a time to ask how the temple leaders lost their way.
During this time of reflection Jesus tells this parable.
To appreciate this story it is important understand it is set in a small Jewish village. Most of the families in the village would owe a few sheep. The homes in the village would have small walled in courtyards. Because each family only had a small number of sheep, a safe well built sheepfold and a shepherd for a small amount of sheep made no sense. So the village would often build one large fold for all the sheep.
The fold with have walls that were six to eight feet high. They would then cover the top of the wall with briers, and throne bushes to discourage would be thieves and robbers. Then one person, a gatekeeper with keep watch over the gate at night to stop anyone from coming in.
In the morning the various family shepherd, of the youngest son, for two daughters from the family would come, and they would call their sheep from the herd and lead them not drive them out to graze in the open country.
The sheep were comfortable with they shepherds, because they know them. In fact, when a sheep is bought and transferred to a new owner’s courtyard, the sheep experiences great trauma for the first few days. It hears a voice but not the one it is accustomed to hearing, so it runs from the new shepherd, ever though it desperate to get out to the countryside to graze.
With this picture in mind, let us look at this parable and see what we can learn.
Jesus begins his parable in a way you would not expect. He does not show a picture of a the good shepherd, but the thief and robber.
He begins by pointing out why they are thieves and robbers.
The Marks of a False Shepherd.
The Marks of a False Shepherd.
“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.
They gain entrance by Deception.
They gain entrance by Deception.
They avoid the door. They know that the gatekeeper would not let them in by the door. The gatekeeper does not know them.
They try to climb over the wall in-spite of the briers and thorns. Their only concern it money.
They have no concern for the sheep. They don’t care they are creating trauma for the sheep, they are only concerned about themselves.
We have leader like that in our country today. There are so leadership who have shown their true colors during this pandemic, they are focus of the question, what can we get out of this crisis.
It is sad that so many leaders in both parties are using deception to get what they want.
But we also have some of those in the church today. Did you hear about the pastor who asked his congregation to sign over the stimulus check to the church, even if they needed it for food. He promised that God would bless them.
That is gaining entrance by deception.
Jesus not only said they use deception.
But look what he called them
They and Thieves and Robbers.
They and Thieves and Robbers.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
First, Jesus called them thieves. The Greek word used there is “kleptas.” It means thief, but it is also used of self-seeking religious leaders. This is people who take what is not theirs.
Second, Jesus called them robbers. Jesus compared them to bandits, and rebels who use force to get what they want. This word for robber also means unscrupulous, greedy, and overambitious for gain.
After giving us the marks of a false shepherd. Jesus gives us
The marks of Good Shepherd.
The marks of Good Shepherd.
He gains enters through the door
He gains enters through the door
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
He can enter the fold by the door, because the gatekeep knows him. And because he is the true and noble shepherd. The shepherd who has spent time with the sheep. The shepherd would often play a flute to comfort the sheep. Unlike the deceivers, the good shepherd knows the sheep. The good shepherd is concerned for the sheep. The good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep.
The Good shepherd loves his sheep. The undershepherds or pastors also love the sheep. Listen to...
“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”
The good shepherd not only enters through the door,
The sheep know the good shepherd.
The sheep know the good shepherd.
To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
The sheep know the voice of their good shepherd. He calls them by name.
Notice how intimate this relationship is. The good shepherds knows them by name.
The Good shepherd would give nicknames to all the sheep. They knew his voice. They could hear his voice over the raging storm, and they knew he would lead them to safety.
Jesus wants to be your good shepherd today. Listen to what he promises you.
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus came that you might have “life and have it abundantly.”
The idea Jesus is trying to get across to us is that we can have life, abundantly, Life that is above and beyond the normal, overflowing.
Remember what Jesus said,
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Conclusion
Unlike the thieves and robbers who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus comes to be our good shepherd to you who loves us, knows us, and gave his life for us.
This morning, will you follow the good shepherd?
Let us pray
This morning Jesus we discovered that you are the good shepherd. You, and only you can enter through the door. In fact you are the door. You love us, you call us by name. You voice comes to us even in the middle of the storms of life. Then the lighting and thunder threaten, you voice comforts us. You have come to give us life, abundant life, overflowing life. Help us to turn our backs of death and destruction, and instead let you save us. Today, to accept you as our Good shepherd and ask you to lead us.
Amen.