John 10
John 10:1-42
1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear 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 does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.
20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.
26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
30 I and My Father are one.”
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I SAID, “YOU ARE GODS” ‘?
35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
42 And many believed in Him there.
What Jesus was bringing pretty much upended any established thought about getting close to or pleasing the great I Am. Sacrifices and systems of behavior were things that made sense, things that could be done to somehow earn or merit God’s approval. Jesus, though, was talking about a simple relationship with Him. By simply following His demonstrated behavior and pathway, access was enabled that none of the most intricate and elaborate methods could begin to touch. Rather than actually accomplishing anything they proposed, all of those religious constructs were just evil scheming to access something that has really only ever had one way. They only ended up stealing, killing, and destroying their followers. Even for all those who had come before – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… – what set them apart was not their righteousness, but belief in the person of Jesus, just not yet in human form. Though proclaiming this truth would arouse motivation to slay Him, it was the truth that, for anyone willing to let go of the merit-based approach, would make them right before the Holy One. Following Him personally as Shepherd transforms all of the inept personal trying into effective God-empowered righteousness.
There will always be those personal approaches that are defended as a unique right and privilege. They will only ever be imposters, though, that are really just depriving of what could be in simply following the One who laid down His life in love. Though they are persistent in making it seem that it’s about what is done, Jesus will always be right there, knocking with the Way they can never touch.
When we lived on the ranch, we had a flock of sheep. They had come from a place that had a large pasture and minimal people contact with this group of sheep. They proved wild, challenging and just plain aloof to my existence, which is challenging when they are your flock to care for.
I began to spend extra time with them, always bringing them a bucket of grain and calling as I came, hoping they’d recognize that when they heard my voice, sweet feed was surely to follow. At first, they didn’t come, but as I repeated the process daily, they began to draw closer and closer to me every time I went to their pen.
Finally, it got to the point where they’d hear me call, “SHEEP!” and they’d come running from every far corner to meet me at the gate. We went from no contact and no relationship to one where I now couldn’t walk in the pen to get to the feeder because they were crowding me and pushing me to get to what I had for them.
The correlation between Shepherd and sheep is one that I deeply understand; in fact, probably more than most people who haven’t been around sheep. The depth of what it means for Jesus to be our Shepherd is sooooooo much further than what we picture when we read Psalm 23. There is an established relationship, an in depth trust, a covering of protection, a thoughtful and calculated caring for, a daily check up on condition and so much more. He knows us. Each one of us. Deeply. Personally. Lovingly.
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