19 Understanding Jesus as the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome back to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Glad to have you along. Today is the 19th talk in my series on the Gospel of John, and we will be studying John chapter 10, verses 1 through 21. If you've been following along, you know that in this study we are looking at the big picture John is painting rather than doing a detailed verse-by-verse exposition. That means we are staying focused on the big themes and overarching story and flow of thought in this gospel, and we are not going into the interpretive details. As we've seen, John has been arguing that eternal life comes to those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, and he has been exploring the issues surrounding belief. So we've been looking at the importance of evidence, the importance of the testimony that Jesus is the Christ, and the dynamics of belief and unbelief. And we've seen that belief is not a simple, straightforward matter of see miracle, believe, but rather it's complicated because we believe what we want to believe. And we saw those two themes played against each other in the healing of the man born blind that we looked at in the last podcast. Jesus encounters a man who has been blind since birth, and he heals him on the Sabbath. Then John spends the rest of the chapter telling us how various people react to this very impressive miracle. The man's neighbors are confused. They look at him and they think, he looks like the man we know who was the blind beggar, but maybe it's somebody else just claiming to be him. The man's parents testify, no, this is our son, he was blind his whole life, but they're afraid to say that Jesus healed their son for fear of the Pharisees. The Pharisees are divided. Some claim, well, Jesus can't be a prophet from God because he breaks our Sabbath rules. And others say, but he's doing miracles no one can do unless God is behind him. So maybe we should investigate his claims. But the ones who reject Jesus win the day. They call the formerly blind man in before them and ask for his testimony. The man testifies that he was blind and now he sees, and Jesus is the one who healed him, therefore Jesus must be a prophet from God. Well the Pharisees don't like that answer, and they end up casting the man out of the synagogue. When Jesus hears what happened, he finds the man, tells the man he is the Messiah, and the man believes. Chapter nine ended with a kind of summary statement. It starts in verse thirty nine goes to forty one. Let me reread that for you. Jesus said, For judgment I came into this world that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind you would have no guilt, but now you say we see, your guilt remains. The conversation we're about to pick up in chapter ten is a continuation of this. There is a chapter break, but there isn't a break in the flow of thought. I think the conversation we're about to look at picks up right from the spot. So let's review what's going on here. Jesus says he came into the world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. He's speaking metaphorically. Instead of talking about physical blindness, he's talking about ignorance and foolishness. And he came to bring the light of truth so that those people who recognize that they are walking around in the darkness of ignorance may see and embrace the truth. And those who think that they already understand the truth and they don't need a teacher, they will become blind. So he's using language in a very rich way. The man born blind was just like the rest of us. He was also spiritually blind. He couldn't solve the problem of his sin. Like all of us, he started out rejecting God, mocking the truth, and he was blind in his ignorance. Jesus brought him sight in both senses. The man can now physically see the world around him, but in this process he has come to understand truth from God. He now recognizes God sent Jesus to bring salvation to the world, and he believes. And this is John's classic theme of a miraculous sign followed by belief. But we also see the Pharisees having the opposite reaction. They think they see, they have their religious system, they have their understanding of the Old Testament, and by their rules, Jesus is a Sabbath breaker, and therefore Jesus cannot be from God. So they think they've got it all figured out, and they don't need Jesus to teach them anything. And this whole story shows how they're convinced that they're right, and they are so convinced that they understand things that they can't see what's right in front of them. And that's the irony Jesus is exploring in his language. If you were blind, you would have no guilt. The blind man was blind in both senses. He couldn't physically see, but neither did he understand the truth. Jesus healed him physically, and that physical healing had the redemptive process of teaching him truth. He didn't claim to understand God better than Jesus did when he was confronted with the truth, he accepted it and believed it. But the Pharisees who could physically see thought that they could also spiritually see, and they were quite stubbornly spiritually blind. They insisted they could see the truth quite well, and that's the difference. All of us are sinners, but some of us are so committed to being sinners that we refuse to see the truth even when we're confronted with it. We reject the truth because we've decided that things are the way we understand them to be, and that's a serious mistake. As Jesus says, your guilt remains. If you recognize that you were blind, if you recognize you are walking around in the darkness of ignorance, you would have no guilt. If you realized you were wrong in your understanding, if you acknowledged your spiritual blindness, then Jesus would forgive you and you would have no guilt. But the Pharisees keep insisting they see. They are standing in spiritual darkness, refusing to come into the light of truth, and therefore their guilt remains. All they have to do to be forgiven is to see and acknowledge Jesus, to see and embrace the truth as truth, but they refuse, so their guilt remains. Now, as I said, we have a chapter break here, but I don't think Jesus is done talking. Chapter ten continues the same conversation. The next verse says, Truly, truly I say to you, and Jesus never introduces a new topic of thought with the words truly, truly. So we are continuing this discussion. This is John ten verses one through six. Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in 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. Now I think the key to understanding this dialogue is to remember that it is tied to everything that just happened in chapter nine. This is a commentary on what just happened with the blind man who was healed, and Jesus is drawing a metaphor, a picture, from their daily life. At that time a community had one large central pen or a sheepfold. At the end of the day, shepherds brought their small individual herds to the big sheepfold for the night. They combined of their resources to pay a gatekeeper who stayed with the sheep overnight. In the morning, the gatekeeper opened the gate to the shepherds of the flock. He knew them, he recognized them, he knew they were the owners, he opened the gate. They had every right to enter through the gate because they owned the sheep. When a shepherd entered the vault, he began calling his sheep. The flocks were all mixed together, but the sheep knew his voice and they came to him, and they would follow him out to the pasture because they knew him and they recognized him. They knew the sound of his voice. They wouldn't follow a strange shepherd with a strange voice. Jesus uses this illustration to describe his relationship to his people, believers, the children of God. Jesus is their true shepherd. He's the shepherd of the sheep. He is speaking truth and wisdom. He has a message from God. Like the gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, God testifies that Jesus is the Messiah through his miracles, and those who can spiritually see recognize Jesus speaks the truth and they follow him. The Pharisees are like the thieves and robbers. They don't understand the truth. Like a thief, they climb over the fence instead of entering by the gate. They claim to be the shepherds of the flock, but they don't understand the truth. They are strangers to the sheep, and the sheep will not follow them. Now the blind man was one of those sheep, and he showed that he was one of them by following Jesus and ignoring the words of the Pharisees. Jesus says elsewhere the elect know his voice. They know the voice of their Savior because the Spirit opens their eyes and teaches them the truth, so that when they hear it they recognize it. They recognize Jesus is teaching them truth from God, and so they flee from the voice of lies and strangers and follow the true shepherd. Now this story provokes the question, well who are you listening to? And this has just been played out in the healing of the blind man. The Pharisees tried to exert their authority. They claimed they were his teachers, his pastors. They ruled the synagogue he grew up in. They claimed to speak for the law, to be the true followers of Moses, and they tell the man who was formerly blind, ignore Jesus, don't listen to him, listen to us instead. Jesus is a sinner and does not represent God, and we know this because he breaks our Sabbath rules. Thankfully the man didn't listen to them. He didn't submit to their authority. He spoke back to them, he told them the truth that he saw and heard and experienced. He pointed out that only God can heal a man who has been blind from birth. Jesus healed him, therefore God must be with him, and he must be a prophet from God. Later, when Jesus told the man I'm the Messiah, the man listened to him and believed him. Like the sheep recognized the voice of their shepherd, the man listened and believed Jesus. Think about the pressure that man was under. The Pharisees were his religious leaders. They were his pastors, his role models. He had probably known them his whole life. They're ready to throw him out of the synagogue if he doesn't knuckle under. His parents are too afraid to even admit that Jesus healed him because they're afraid they're going to get kicked out of the synagogue too. His neighbors think he's lying. They think this is some other man just pretending he used to be the blind beggar. And in the face of all that pressure, the man stands firm. He says, I was blind and now I see. Jesus is a prophet, he healed me, and ultimately he listens to what Jesus has to say. Now Jesus' analogy here shows exactly where everyone stands. We know the blind man was one of Jesus' flock because he responded to his call, he heard his voice, and we know the Pharisees are the false teachers, they're the thieves and robbers that come in over the gate. We know because the blind man turned away from them when they tried to pull him away from Jesus. John tells us the Pharisees didn't understand the point of this little story, so Jesus explains it again, but he changes the analogy a bit. Let's look at six through ten. 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 might have life and have it abundantly. Now in this picture the Pharisees are still the thieves that the sheep refuse to listen to, but now instead of being the shepherd, Jesus is the door. What's going on here is the sheep have to find pasture. They can't stay in the sheepfold, it will get grazed out, there won't be any more food. They need to go out to the pasture, the field where all their needs will be taken care of. So they need to go out and graze. How are they going to get there? Well, Jesus says he is the door through which they can go to find the pasture and where all their needs will be met. The thieves come to steal, and if necessary, they will kill and destroy to accomplish their purposes. The thieves care only for themselves and think only of themselves. By contrast, Jesus comes to give life. They come to steal, Jesus comes to give, they come to kill, Jesus comes to give life, they come to destroy, Jesus comes to build up with overflowing life. Now this is a really harsh criticism of the Pharisees. He's saying their teaching is not going to lead you to life, it's not going to get you into the kingdom of heaven, but it will lead to death and destruction. They don't care for the souls and their flock, they care only for themselves, their power, and their reputation. And we can see that in what just happened with in chapter nine. They were busy trying to pull the man away from Jesus. They were trying to drag him away from the one and only road that leads to eternal life, and if the man had listened to them, he would have ended up with nothing. But by listening to Jesus, the man was healed not only physically of his blindness, he was healed of his spiritual blindness, and one day he will be freed from slavery to sin and find abundant life in the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus is the door to life, but the Pharisees were trying to close that door. But there's more differences between them. Let's look at eleven through fourteen. I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and my own know me. Now here Jesus changes the metaphor again. Instead of a thief or a robber, he is now talking about a hired hand. If someone's estate was large enough, he might hire a shepherd to watch his flocks. When the master of the flock tends his own sheep and a wolf threatens, the master stands in the gap. He uses his rod to beat off the attack, and if necessary, he lays down his life for his sheep because they are his. Not so with the hired hand. When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he flees. He says, I'm not getting paid enough for this. He doesn't own the sheep. Doesn't matter what he's getting paid, he's not going to exchange his life for it. The hired hand thinks only of himself. He thinks my life is worth more to me than these sheep. Let the wolves have them. The wolf snatches and kills some, scattering the rest, and we have this vivid picture of a flock without a shepherd. By contrast, Jesus will die to protect his sheep. He gives his life for his sheep, and in this next section I think this is one of the clearest and most poignant statements that Jesus ever makes about what he came to do for us. This is ten fifteen through eighteen. Just as my Father knows me and I know the Father, I lay down my life for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I receive from my father. Now in ten sixteen I think he's referring to the Gentiles. The fold he's talking to right at the moment are the Jews, but he has sheep among the Gentiles and the pagan nations too. The gospel will eventually expand beyond the borders of Israel. As God promised Abraham, the whole world will be blessed through his seed, and Jesus is that seed. He will bring believers from every tribe and nation, and one day we will all stand together as one flock. But what's really breathtaking here is that Jesus states quite clearly this is his choice. He is choosing to lay down his life for his people. He's a volunteer. He has the authority to make this choice, and he is voluntarily making it. The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament had no choice. A lamb or a goat or a bird was selected from the available flock and was presented as a sacrifice at the temple, but the animal had no choice, no agency. But Jesus has a choice. He is voluntarily choosing to die in our place. He's speaking to the Pharisees here, the very people who are plotting his arrest and execution. He's telling them, You have no power over me, you can't take my life away from me. I willingly give my life for my sheep, but you can't take it from me. On the night of his arrest, when one of his disciples drew his sword to defend Jesus, Jesus said this in Matthew twenty six, fifty two to fifty four. Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think I cannot appeal to my Father and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scripture be fulfilled that it must be so? Think about that. Jesus is saying, At any moment I can stop this. I can stop this execution. I can call out to the Father, and I will immediately be surrounded by a myriad of angels. They could have brought Jesus down from the cross at any moment, and they could have slain every last one of his enemies. But Jesus didn't choose that. He chose to die for us instead in a breathtaking act of self-sacrificing love. And it's important for us to remember that his sacrifice was chosen and voluntary. The Father planned it, and the Son voluntarily obeyed. For those of you who have seen the movie The Hunger Games, you've seen a vivid illustration of this. If they had drawn Katniss's name at first, and then she went off to be the tribute in the Hunger Games, that would have been one story. But the fact that they draw her sister's name and she voluntarily chooses to take her sister's place makes her a hero. It shows a level of sacrifice and love, and that's the kind of thing on a much grander scale that Jesus is talking about here. Now John returns again to one of his favorite themes, and that is how people respond to Jesus. Look at ten nineteen through twenty one. There was a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said he has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? Others said, These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Here again we see Jesus causing division. Belief is not a simple matter of see a miracle, become a believer. Some people think Jesus is insane and he performs miracles because he's possessed by a demon. Others say no, no demon can do that kind of thing. No demon can open the eyes of the blind. And notice that comment ties us back to chapter nine, indicating this is still part of the same discussion. But we see again that belief is a matter of the will. It's not just a question of being presented with all the facts and then we believe them. Sometimes we're presented with all the facts and we refuse to believe them. And as Jesus said in chapter three to Nicodemus, we need the Spirit to open our eyes to help us see the truth, otherwise we won't see it. Now there's a lot more we could talk about here, but since I promised a big picture study, I want to stick to the big themes of John. I just want to highlight one thing about this analogy. First, Jesus was the shepherd, then he was the Door and now he's the shepherd again. As the shepherd, his sheep recognize his voice. He's the real, true shepherd, his sheep will go to him, and they're not going to listen to somebody else. As the door or the gate, he's the way the sheep will find the pasture. The pasture represents the place where they will find what they need to have true life. Everyone who follows Jesus will find eternal life. When he returns to the shepherd analogy, he contrasts the way he treats his sheep with the way others treat his sheep. When the wolf comes, fake shepherds put themselves first and they run. Whereas the real shepherd cares for his sheep, they are his and he gives up his life for them. Now Jesus is pointing ahead to the cross where he is actually literally going to lay down his life to save his flock. And Jesus is foreshadowing that here. He's beginning to speak more boldly about his death, beginning to be a little bit more clear about what's going to happen, and he's just giving them a taste of it here. The blind man faced a choice that all of us must ultimately face. Who are you going to listen to? Who are you going to follow and believe? Who's the true shepherd? In the end, he chose to listen to Jesus, and we would do well to choose likewise. Now let's close by thinking about what this event adds to our understanding of Jesus. As John tells the story, Jesus has been slowly but surely revealing more about his purpose and what he came to do as Messiah. The early chapters of John's Gospel were all about testimony. John the Baptist testified that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. We see the disciples come to believe based on the testimony of John the Baptist, and that testimony is backed up by their own experience. Then Jesus starts performing signs, and we learn the signs are testimony from God Himself that Jesus is the Messiah. After that, John tells us belief is not straightforward. Some people see miracles and hear the testimony and refuse to believe, and others do believe. And Jesus explains this is because we must be born again. He tells Nicodemus, by nature all of us would reject God, but God in his mercy sends his spirit to save some of us. The Spirit opens our eyes and our minds so that when we hear the truth of the gospel we believe it. Then Jesus starts talking about being the living water and claiming to have the authority to forgive sins and grant eternal life. He heals on the Sabbath, which provokes the Jewish leadership. We learn that He came to secure our forgiveness from sins and reconcile us to God. Then Jesus talks about bringing the bread of life and doing the works of his Father. And we learn how we respond to Jesus is important. In fact, it's the most important decision we ever make. Our eternal destiny depends on whether we accept or reject him. And more recently, he's told us he's the light of the world. He came to bring the light of truth to the darkness of our ignorance. He tells us believing in him will set us free from sin. Not only did he come to forgive us and reconcile us to God, he also came to free us from sin, death, decay, corruption, and futility, and only in him will we find that kind of abundant life. Now in John 10, he's contrasting the way he treats us with the way other religious leaders and false teachers treat their flocks. He came to give us life. They seek to destroy us by pulling us away from Jesus. He came to serve his people and to voluntarily lay down his life for them. The false teachers abandon their people and let them be scattered and killed when the going gets tough. And all of this brings us face to face with the choice the blind man made. On one side, the religious leaders, his rabbis and pastors, the Pharisees, are urging the blind man, declare Jesus a sinner, deny Jesus was from God, and follow us. On the other side, the man had his own experience of being healed, and knowing that no one in history has ever healed a man who was born blind. Jesus tells him he's the Messiah. So he faces this choice. Who am I going to believe? Who am I going to listen to? And that's the choice John wants us readers to confront. We have the testimony of John the Baptist. We have the testimony of the apostles. We have the testimony of God Himself. But we also have these conflicting voices that say, well, Jesus was just a good teacher. He was one of many prophets. There are many ways to God. You don't have to follow Jesus. God loves you just the way you are. But Jesus says, that's not true. God loves you in spite of who you are because you're a sinner. But in his mercy, God created a path to forgiveness and reconciliation and abundant life. And that path is through trusting in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word, the podcast that explains not only what a passage means, but also shows you how to figure it out. The blog version of this podcast is on Wednesdayintheword.com slash John 1 9. You can hear all the episodes in this series on my website and find many other series there, wednesdayintheword.com. There's no charge, no spam, and no ads. If you've been blessed by this podcast, please follow it wherever you listen and leave a positive rating or review. But most importantly, tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates. You can find his music on heartfilmusic.org. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta, and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the wood.