1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,700 In John 10, Jesus made one of his most famous I Am statements when he said, 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:11,120 I am the Good Shepherd. Then he explained what sets him apart from other shepherds. 3 00:00:11,460 --> 00:00:15,600 The Good Shepherd offers up his life so that his flock may live. 4 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:19,480 That sacrifice will be the focus of today's study. 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,000 Sometimes when you hear about the Good Shepherd, we think, that sounds nice. 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,120 We see Jesus sitting on a hillside saying, come to me. 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,960 And we get this picture X view of what's going on in this text. 8 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,820 But if you read this chapter in light of the chapters around it, 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,360 you'd realize that what's really going on in John 10 is a battle royale. 10 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,020 You see, for chapter after chapter after chapter, Jesus had been talking. 11 00:00:46,140 --> 00:00:48,140 But who had he been talking to? 12 00:00:48,660 --> 00:00:54,300 Well, he'd been talking primarily, principally, if you look in John 8 and John 9, to those who hated him. 13 00:00:54,300 --> 00:00:59,380 He'd been talking to Pharisees and scribes, the religious elite, and he had said things to them 14 00:00:59,380 --> 00:01:04,300 that had shaken their world, and on multiple times, just in several chapters, he had said 15 00:01:04,300 --> 00:01:08,500 things that startled them so greatly that they hated so much that they started to look around 16 00:01:08,500 --> 00:01:15,700 to pick up what? Stones. Why? To kill the one in front of them. This text is not Jesus sitting on 17 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:19,540 a hillside with all these willing people listening to him and all nodding their head and affirming 18 00:01:19,540 --> 00:01:25,080 what he's saying. Rather, these are words he is speaking to those who hate him and who cannot wait 19 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:31,960 for the opportunity to strike him down. So that's the greater context of this passage, and it's 20 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:38,080 helpful to bear it in mind as we dissect it this morning. Now, back in John 8, one of the first 21 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:42,120 things Jesus said that really broke the brains of the religious elite, and it was the main thing 22 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,680 that caused them back then to pick up stones, as Jesus said this statement. It was two words long. 23 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:55,160 he said, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. I am. Why was that two-word statement significant 24 00:01:55,160 --> 00:02:00,620 to his audience? Well, significant, as we talked about a few weeks ago, because back in Exodus 25 00:02:00,620 --> 00:02:06,900 chapter 3, that was the way that God had identified himself to Moses. God answered Moses' question 26 00:02:06,900 --> 00:02:12,680 about, who are you, O Lord? And God just said, I am who I am. I am. Tell them that the great I am 27 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:18,400 has sent me to you. That's what Moses was to tell the people, the Jews there under Pharaoh. So when 28 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:23,420 Jesus was talking to the Pharisees back in chapter eight, and they were having this back and forth, 29 00:02:23,540 --> 00:02:27,840 this argument, this discourse that was going wildly off tracks, at least from their perspective, 30 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,880 Jesus had sealed the deal in their mind that this man had to die when he said, I am. Before Abraham 31 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:39,160 was, I am. At that moment, they picked up stones to throw. That's in chapter eight. Things didn't 32 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,620 to prove in chapter 9. Last week, Pastor Fish preached from chapter 9. In chapter 9, Jesus 33 00:02:43,620 --> 00:02:48,180 says something wonderful and nice. He encounters a blind man, and what does he do? Well, the blind 34 00:02:48,180 --> 00:02:51,380 man calls out to him, and Jesus says, come here, and he heals the blind man. Remember, there's the 35 00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:55,480 mud and the spit and all this different stuff, and he heals a blind man. The blind man is healed, 36 00:02:55,540 --> 00:02:59,560 and he's able to see once again. Now, you would think, you would think that that would be a cause 37 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:03,900 for celebration, right? That the people would be really excited. What a miracle. How amazing. And 38 00:03:03,900 --> 00:03:08,860 we're so happy for Brother Bob over here. He can see now. How wonderful. Well, as we saw last week 39 00:03:08,860 --> 00:03:12,700 in Pastor Fish's sermon. People did not treat it as wonderful, or at least the religious leaders 40 00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:17,860 did not. When they saw a man who was blind previously and now could see, all it did was 41 00:03:17,860 --> 00:03:22,460 infuriate them. It infuriated them for a number of reasons, but not the least of which was the source, 42 00:03:22,580 --> 00:03:28,460 the cause of his healing. It was that Jesus guy. That Jesus guy who keeps doing this stuff we can't 43 00:03:28,460 --> 00:03:31,920 understand. It's got to be demons. Got to be demons. That's all they could ever come up with. 44 00:03:31,940 --> 00:03:35,760 It must be demons. They hated it. He kept doing stuff. They wanted to kill him. He was saying 45 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:41,240 crazy stuff. They wanted him dead. And yet he kept doing things that the people would see and then 46 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,740 run to him with great abandon and try to embrace him. And they couldn't believe it. They couldn't 47 00:03:44,740 --> 00:03:49,860 accept it. They wanted him dead. Now you remember, they tried to accost the blind guy. Poor blind 48 00:03:49,860 --> 00:03:54,300 Bob here. Poor blind guy. What do they do? Well, they chase him down. They want to know. All right, 49 00:03:54,380 --> 00:03:58,320 tell us the truth. Tell us about this one who healed you. And then they go to his parents as 50 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,100 well. And his parents say, don't talk to us. Talk to him. But ultimately, the blind guy just goes, 51 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,500 hey, all I know is this. I was blind, but now I see. Do you guys want to become his disciples too? 52 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:13,260 They really hated that. So what did they do to the poor blind guy? What was the religious elite's 53 00:04:13,260 --> 00:04:20,020 approach to the blind guy? They took him and they cast him out. They wanted his estate now to be 54 00:04:20,020 --> 00:04:25,920 worse than his estate was even when he was blind. Now he was excommunicated, so to speak. Now he was 55 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:31,120 cast out of the synagogue. Now you had this sheep that Jesus had nurtured and Jesus had healed and 56 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:36,560 touched his eyes, and Jesus called close. And what did the religious elite do? They cast him 57 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:43,480 from their presence in chapter 9. Now, as we come to chapter 10, that statement, that two-word 58 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:49,720 statement, I am, Jesus is going to repeat it on a couple of different occasions. Today's text, 59 00:04:49,820 --> 00:04:56,120 he's going to say, I am about two things. He's going to say, I am the door, and I am the good 60 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,140 shepherd. Do they mean the exact same thing? Not really, as we're going to see in today's text, 61 00:05:00,140 --> 00:05:05,720 but just as a side note here, the two times he says it in John chapter 10, he would say I am 62 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:10,840 throughout the entirety of the book. Seven times. Now back in John 6, he says, I am the bread of 63 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:16,040 life. John 8, I am the light of the world. These are very divine statements. The light of the world, 64 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,460 who can say that? I am the bread of life, John 6. I'm the light of the world, John 8. I am the door 65 00:05:20,460 --> 00:05:25,180 here in John 10. I'm the good shepherd, John 10, John 14. I am the resurrection and the life, 66 00:05:25,180 --> 00:05:30,900 John 11. I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14. You ever encounter someone who says, 67 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,220 you know, Jesus never claimed to be God. Dear heavens, what do you think he's saying here? 68 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,820 I am this. I am that. The light of the world. The way, the truth, and life. The resurrection. I am 69 00:05:39,820 --> 00:05:45,300 he. I'm the one who was sent. I'm the fulfillment of Psalm 23. I'm the fulfillment of the entirety 70 00:05:45,300 --> 00:05:51,340 of the Old Testament. Hey guys, it's me. He says this time and time again before the people. 71 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:54,720 Now, one aside before we look at verses 1 through 10 together. 72 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,140 One aside is I'm not a grammarian or the son of a grammarian. 73 00:05:58,220 --> 00:05:59,420 You can tell by the way I'm pronouncing it. 74 00:05:59,620 --> 00:06:00,500 Grammar is not my thing. 75 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:01,600 But I do know this. 76 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:03,980 Definite articles matter. 77 00:06:04,620 --> 00:06:05,540 Now, what's a definite article? 78 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,880 Definite article is if you say, I am the door, then the word that does jump out is the word the. 79 00:06:11,100 --> 00:06:12,380 That's the definite article. 80 00:06:12,860 --> 00:06:20,180 What if Jesus had told the masses, what if he had said, I am a way and a truth, a life? 81 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:25,280 what if he said, I am a door? What would the implication be? There'd be more than one door. 82 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:31,880 If Jesus told the world, hey guys, I'm here, it's me. I am a door. You can enter in and find rest. 83 00:06:32,220 --> 00:06:36,680 One of many. I hope you choose me, but there's other options. I am a door. What if he had said 84 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:42,140 that? Oh, dear heavens, that's blasphemy. And it's also not what he said. He says, I am the door. I 85 00:06:42,140 --> 00:06:49,440 am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. No one comes 86 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:56,600 of the Father, but through me. This is the most hated doctrine in all of Christendom. Why? Because 87 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:03,540 it excludes all those who do not go through Jesus. It says this very straightforwardly. It says that 88 00:07:03,540 --> 00:07:07,320 the singular means, the singular way to reach the apex, whatever that looks like, wherever it is, 89 00:07:07,340 --> 00:07:11,400 the singular way to reach God's golden shores, the singular way to reach that heavenly estate 90 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:18,700 is through what? It's through the door, who is who? What other options are there? None. This is 91 00:07:18,700 --> 00:07:24,260 Christianity 101. And yet, so often in our day, even in Christian circles, even in brick buildings 92 00:07:24,260 --> 00:07:29,520 with crosses on top, they kind of try to hide that. Try to hide that, right? Why? Because it 93 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:34,880 sounds exclusionary. Well, here's the thing. We don't want to exclude any sinner from that promise, 94 00:07:34,940 --> 00:07:39,220 which is why we're constantly evangelizing and trying to share the gospel. But we do know this, 95 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,540 there's but one door, one way, one truth, one life. There's one bread of life, one light of the world, 96 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,940 one resurrection. It is through the personal work of Jesus Christ. And we would be like Judas. We 97 00:07:47,940 --> 00:07:53,420 would be betraying Jesus with a kiss if we failed to point to him and highlight these statements, 98 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:59,100 even if they sound exclusionary to modern ears. All right, let's look at verses 1 through 10 once 99 00:07:59,100 --> 00:08:05,360 again. Verse 1, most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, 100 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:10,760 but climbs in some other way, he is a thief, he's a robber. But he who enters by the door is the 101 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:15,220 shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, the sheep hears voice, and he calls his 102 00:08:15,220 --> 00:08:20,080 own sheep by name, and he leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, 103 00:08:20,420 --> 00:08:25,180 and the sheep, they follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, 104 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,900 but they will flee from the stranger, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Now Jesus used 105 00:08:29,900 --> 00:08:34,740 this illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them. Then Jesus said to 106 00:08:34,740 --> 00:08:41,020 them, most surely I say to you, I am the door. I am the door. Remember, not a door. I am the door of the 107 00:08:41,020 --> 00:08:45,840 sheep. All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not hear them. I am 108 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:52,660 the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. So there's a correlation here. And he will go in 109 00:08:52,660 --> 00:08:57,540 and find pasture. But the thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. And I 110 00:08:57,540 --> 00:09:03,600 have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly. All right, let's say that 111 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:08,420 you've got two guys. You've got two men, and they're standing in the sheep pan, or they're standing out 112 00:09:08,420 --> 00:09:13,140 on that hillside, right? Two men. On the one hand, you got Farmer Jones, right? Shepherd Jones in a 113 00:09:13,140 --> 00:09:17,160 straw hat and like Farmer Jones, the shepherd of the sheep. You got him. And on the other hand, 114 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:22,620 you got Brad Pitt. Now, let's say you release a bunch of sheep, a bunch of sheep that belong to 115 00:09:22,620 --> 00:09:27,220 Farmer Jones, right? They both call the sheep to come to them. One of them is Farmer Jones. The 116 00:09:27,220 --> 00:09:30,760 other one's Brad Pitt. Who are they going to go to? This is one of the odder analogies I've used 117 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,160 in recent days, but let's go with it. I'm going to lean into it here. They're not going to go to 118 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:41,440 Brad Pitt. Why? Because there's nothing about Brad Pitt that's appealing to them. What appeals to 119 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,560 them is nourishment. They look at the farmer and they say, that's our guy. I hear his voice. I 120 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:51,740 recognize that guy. That's the guy who shows up and he feeds me and he takes care of me. Oh, and when 121 00:09:51,740 --> 00:09:58,680 the wolves came, that's the guy who defended us and protected us. Run to him. Brad Pitt will be 122 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:03,680 standing alone. The sheep will not go to him. Why? Because fame and wealth and celebrity does not 123 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:10,640 matter to the sheep, but rather he who nourishes them is what they will desire. In a very weird 124 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:15,100 way, in a roundabout way, that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, I am the shepherd. I'm the 125 00:10:15,100 --> 00:10:19,860 door. I'm the singular means. There's a world of Brad Pitt's, and there's a world of Oprah's, 126 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,660 and there's a world of other means and paths that people think will spiral up to heaven. 127 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:31,540 Nonsense. I am he. And when my sheep hear my voice, what do they do? They respond. They follow 128 00:10:31,540 --> 00:10:36,000 me because they recognized my voice. You know, I've told this story at other intervals. It's one 129 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,720 of my favorites, so I'm going to tell it again. We went to Ireland on a couple different occasions 130 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,900 about, I don't know, seven, eight years ago. I had an opportunity to Bible in an hour across 131 00:10:43,900 --> 00:10:50,040 different counties there in Ireland. Now, our host there, my host, wanted to show me the various 132 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,480 sites of Ireland. It's a very pretty country, very nice. You know, the rolling hillsides, 133 00:10:54,540 --> 00:10:58,560 all the postcard stuff you see, it kind of matched up with what I found in Ireland. Well, 134 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:02,700 went off towards the coast. I don't know if it's County Dongle or what's over there on the west 135 00:11:02,700 --> 00:11:06,280 side, but we went over towards the coast. And as we got towards the coast, it was even more rural 136 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:10,760 than the areas that were more central. And as we went out to the coast, there was a lot of sheep. 137 00:11:11,380 --> 00:11:14,800 And you would think that there'd be like big old fences. Like here in America, we know how to do 138 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:19,040 fences, right? We have tall fences, barbed wire fences, all sorts of fences that keep animals 139 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:23,780 apart. Well, they have fences too. But the thing is, they're all like two feet tall and made of 140 00:11:23,780 --> 00:11:28,780 broken, you know, run down old stones from some different age, right? You see fences, but they're 141 00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:32,160 all small. And you go, well, how does this, how does this even work? They're not tall enough to 142 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,700 keep about anything out. Well, I'm not sure they do keep anything out, but I know this, the sheep, 143 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:41,540 the sheep are all over the place. They run about, they scatter the hillsides with no discernible 144 00:11:41,540 --> 00:11:47,360 way because of these low fences of keeping them in one specific pen, at least not that I saw during 145 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:54,480 my time there. So I commented to my host. I said, boy, how in the world? How does people know who 146 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:59,700 sheep is who's? They're all over the place around here. And he says, look closer. So I did. And 147 00:11:59,700 --> 00:12:03,300 immediately I saw something that was just the oddest thing. Now, this is not on the postcards. 148 00:12:03,580 --> 00:12:07,900 This is not in the movies. This is not something I'd ever seen or even expected to see. He says, 149 00:12:07,940 --> 00:12:11,660 look closer. He says, we've got a very practical solution. We're practical people here. We've got 150 00:12:11,660 --> 00:12:15,540 a practical solution to this problem of how you know which sheep are yours. He says, if you look 151 00:12:15,540 --> 00:12:19,480 at the sheep, look to the side, and you'll see something. And sure enough, I looked. And on the 152 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,360 side of the various sheep, the different shepherds or farmers or what have you, had taken cans of 153 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,120 spray paint. And there was different colors, purple, pink, green, yellow, what have you. 154 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,580 And if you were the farmer with the purple spray paint, what'd you do? Well, you went up to your 155 00:12:32,580 --> 00:12:37,300 sheep and went, and there was a nice purple stripe down the side of your sheep. And I thought, boy, 156 00:12:37,340 --> 00:12:41,300 this doesn't show up in the postcards at all. But yet, you could look out the hillside and see the 157 00:12:41,300 --> 00:12:46,280 different colors now with that said what was even more fascinating was i was like all right so how 158 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,420 does so they're all different sheep with the different colors what about feeding time and i 159 00:12:50,420 --> 00:12:55,260 only had to wait about an hour and a half to find out we had sat in a little kind of a cafe in that 160 00:12:55,260 --> 00:13:00,400 area and a big truck not a big truck like by our standards but by irish standards a big truck went 161 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:05,380 rolling by and it was one of the local farmers agricultural guys and he goes rolling up down 162 00:13:05,380 --> 00:13:09,740 the hillside and his truck makes a lot of noise and the gentleman i was with says now just watch 163 00:13:09,740 --> 00:13:11,440 you look out towards the hillside, what happens? 164 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,320 Well, what happens is that a whole lot of sheep do nothing, 165 00:13:14,860 --> 00:13:19,040 but some sheep hear the sound of this particular truck's approach 166 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:20,080 and run to it. 167 00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:22,480 And when the gentleman gets out, he calls, rings a bell, 168 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:23,700 makes a specific noise, 169 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,700 and then the sheep with the purple or pink or green or what have you, 170 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,900 stripes, go running to the appropriate guy who takes care of them. 171 00:13:30,660 --> 00:13:33,540 Now, I cannot believe that that's the way that this is done, 172 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:35,040 and yet that's what my own eyes saw. 173 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:36,460 This is the way that it's done, 174 00:13:36,460 --> 00:13:38,940 but the singular means by which sheep get nourished 175 00:13:38,940 --> 00:13:44,280 by their own shepherd is that the sheep recognize the voices and sounds and cars and different 176 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:49,560 things attributed to their specific shepherd. And so you don't need 10 foot high fences. You don't 177 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:54,300 need all these different things because the sheep respond to their shepherd's voices. In a sense, 178 00:13:54,340 --> 00:13:59,500 this is what Jesus is saying here. He says, my sheep know me. My sheep know me. They've been 179 00:13:59,500 --> 00:14:04,480 enabled and persuaded by the agency of the Holy Spirit who has changed their hearts to recognize 180 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:09,660 that which they previously rejected. My sheep know me because the Spirit has entered in, has 181 00:14:09,660 --> 00:14:14,680 changed their hearts, and now, now when I speak, they hear, and not only do they hear, but they 182 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:20,960 follow. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. Now who is he saying all this to? Again, principally 183 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:25,460 to people who are not his sheep. Let's see how they respond here as we look to the next verses. 184 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:34,300 Let's look at verses 11 through 16. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his 185 00:14:34,300 --> 00:14:40,600 life for the sheep but a hireling he was not the shepherd one who does not own the sheep he sees 186 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,960 the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them 187 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:50,600 the hireling flees because he is a hireling and he does not care about the sheep i am the good 188 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:56,460 shepherd and i know my sheep and i'm known by my own as the father knows me even so i know the 189 00:14:56,460 --> 00:15:04,340 Father, and I lay down, I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of 190 00:15:04,340 --> 00:15:11,620 this fold. Them also I must bring. They will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one 191 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:18,740 shepherd. All right. So a shepherd has two principal jobs. Those jobs are broken down 192 00:15:18,740 --> 00:15:22,380 into a lot of different responsibilities, but there's two principal jobs. The first one is to 193 00:15:22,380 --> 00:15:27,440 feed the sheep. Remember what Jesus says to Peter? Peter, you love me? Peter says, oh, you know it, 194 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,860 boss. I love you. I love you. I love you. And Jesus says what? If you love me, you will feed 195 00:15:31,860 --> 00:15:37,000 the sheep. He says it three times because it's important. Feeding and nourishing the sheep is 196 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:43,340 an important task given to shepherds, both real shepherds on the hillside, but also those who 197 00:15:43,340 --> 00:15:48,180 occupy the pulpits, those who are the apostles, disciples, those in ministry, Sunday school 198 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:53,920 teachers and the like. We have a responsibility to shepherd by nourishing. Now, the second job 199 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:59,380 that a shepherd has, beyond nourishing, is protection, to protect the sheep, to defend the 200 00:15:59,380 --> 00:16:05,840 sheep. In verses 11 through 16, it's that protection that Jesus is talking about here. 201 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,960 Now, if you go to the Old Testament, the Old Testament priests, they were supposed to be 202 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:16,380 shepherds too. In the Old Testament, the leaders that God had appointed, in our context today, 203 00:16:16,380 --> 00:16:20,300 it would be elders and deacons and the like. But in the Old Testament context, it was generally 204 00:16:20,300 --> 00:16:26,500 speaking the priesthood. The priests were called to shepherd God's people, to shepherd the people. 205 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:33,060 However, routinely they did a bad job. And so there's a number of texts I could cherry pick 206 00:16:33,060 --> 00:16:38,360 from a handful of them. There's a number of texts in which God warns the priesthood and the leaders 207 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,920 of the Old Testament covenant community and says, hey guys, you are not doing good work. 208 00:16:43,540 --> 00:16:49,920 I have given you sheep to take care of, and you are busy getting fat off of them, so to speak. 209 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,540 That was the problem with Eli and Eli's sons when we studied Samuel. 210 00:16:53,900 --> 00:16:56,660 Zechariah 11, verse 17, God says this, 211 00:16:56,860 --> 00:17:00,900 Woe to the worthless shepherd, the one who leaves the flock. 212 00:17:00,900 --> 00:17:03,960 A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye. 213 00:17:04,060 --> 00:17:08,100 His arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded. 214 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,440 Time and time again, the Old Testament was filled with these prompts 215 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:16,680 that the religious leader should shepherd and care for God's own, 216 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:21,040 and yet warnings that they were failing to do just that. 217 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:23,480 Now, who's the greatest shepherd in the Old Testament? 218 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:25,360 Who's the most well-known shepherd in the Old Testament? 219 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:26,600 David, right. 220 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:28,560 He was a shepherd in his youth. 221 00:17:28,660 --> 00:17:31,380 Remember, he used the slingshot that used to protect the sheep 222 00:17:31,380 --> 00:17:32,980 from the wolves and the lions and the bears. 223 00:17:32,980 --> 00:17:35,540 He used the slingshot in order to kill Goliath. 224 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:37,680 He was a shepherd. He knew all about shepherding. 225 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,020 He was a shepherd from Bethlehem, which tells us what? 226 00:17:40,340 --> 00:17:41,820 He was a type of Jesus. 227 00:17:42,260 --> 00:17:46,880 He was an anticipation of Christ himself, the shepherd who would rise from Bethlehem. 228 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:48,500 So, a great shepherd in the Old Testament. 229 00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:52,720 With that said, what if you're a man named Uriah? 230 00:17:53,740 --> 00:17:54,360 Who's Uriah? 231 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:56,380 Who is Uriah married to? 232 00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:57,600 Bathsheba. 233 00:17:57,720 --> 00:17:58,980 Oh, I think we're onto something here. 234 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:03,880 What if you're a man named Uriah, who has a beautiful wife named Bathsheba, 235 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:09,420 and this guy, this king, this David, takes a hankering, a liking to your wife, and says, 236 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,940 I think I'm going to make her mine, and the way I'm going to secure that is I'm going to send Uriah 237 00:18:13,940 --> 00:18:18,240 out to the front lines in order that he would be killed, and if he's killed, then I can take his 238 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:26,340 wife. This is King David, the greatest shepherd of the Old Testament. Ask Uriah how his shepherding 239 00:18:26,340 --> 00:18:32,300 was. The point here is not to run down David. David is a sinner like the rest of us. The point 240 00:18:32,300 --> 00:18:38,260 is this, that the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of one who would be the good shepherd. 241 00:18:38,780 --> 00:18:45,800 All the other shepherds had failed. All modern day shepherds fail. And yet there is one singularly 242 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:54,080 referred to as the good shepherd. The fulfillment of that which all the other shepherds should have 243 00:18:54,080 --> 00:19:00,840 been and should have done. The good shepherd. In verse 11, Jesus says, it's me. Jesus says this, 244 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:09,740 I am the good shepherd I am the one who lays down my life for the sheep verse 11 through 16 he says 245 00:19:09,740 --> 00:19:14,880 he's the good shepherd he looks out for the sheep and the sheep at this time are God's people his 246 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:19,960 covenant community of Israel he says I have come to redeem those that God has given to me and I 247 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:24,720 have come to mine own I have come to my people remember he would cry over them later he would 248 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,180 cry over them as he came and approached the city for the last time and say oh Israel oh Israel oh 249 00:19:29,180 --> 00:19:35,040 Jerusalem. How long I've wanted to hold you to myself, but you would have none of it, right? 250 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,580 But that's who he was sent to. However, notice something really interesting here. 251 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,180 Here in this last verse, it's verse 16, he says something that's astonishing. In the face of this 252 00:19:45,180 --> 00:19:50,020 idea that Israel is his people, he came to his people. In verse 16, he says this. Yes, Israel is 253 00:19:50,020 --> 00:19:56,720 my people, but verse 16, but I have other sheep too. I have other sheep that are not of this fold, 254 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,400 and them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock 255 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:08,460 and one shepherd. Who in the world is he talking about? You know, there's some wild, you want to 256 00:20:08,460 --> 00:20:13,100 read commentaries and get into some weird stuff on that verse? There's some people who have looked 257 00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:17,600 at that and said, okay, so Jesus says, I've come to mine own, this flock, but I have other flocks, 258 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,840 maybe celestial flocks, maybe flocks in other planets, in other galaxies. I have other sheep 259 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:28,440 somewhere, and at a given time, there will be one giant flock made up of people across the whole 260 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:33,340 galaxy. Some have looked at this text and said, I think that's what he's talking about. Is that what 261 00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:40,420 he's talking about? Heavens no. What is he talking about? He's talking about the Gentiles. He's 262 00:20:40,420 --> 00:20:45,620 addressing a Jewish audience in Jerusalem, and he says this. He says, I've come to you as the 263 00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:49,440 fulfillment of that which the Old Testament anticipated. I'm the fulfillment of all these 264 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:56,080 prophecies. It's me. I've come to you just as scripture said that I would. But know this, I have 265 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:04,960 sheep outside this fold, and through me they will be yoked to you. So there'll be one flock 266 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:11,140 and one shepherd. If you and I this morning are Gentiles, we can praise God that this verse is a 267 00:21:11,140 --> 00:21:17,860 reference to us. If this morning you're a Gentile, so to speak, outside of the original ethnic Israel, 268 00:21:17,860 --> 00:21:24,140 this morning, if you are a Gentile, this verse is the promise by which God said, I will take folks 269 00:21:24,140 --> 00:21:29,020 from far fields and from centuries later and the likes, and I will bind them and yoke them to the 270 00:21:29,020 --> 00:21:33,720 covenant community that I will purchase with my own blood. All right, let's look at verses 17 through 271 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:41,880 18 now. Verse 17. Therefore, my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up 272 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,960 again. That's interesting. Verse 18. No one takes it from me. Imagine all the people looking for the 273 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:53,100 stone still. He says, no one, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power 274 00:21:53,100 --> 00:21:58,260 to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This command I've received from my Father. 275 00:21:59,020 --> 00:22:02,780 You know, throughout this book, as you said before, there are people who wanted Jesus dead, 276 00:22:02,820 --> 00:22:07,420 almost on every page. Once he gets past the things like turning water to wine, you know, 277 00:22:07,420 --> 00:22:11,120 that just startled people. But once he starts doing the miracles on the other side of that, 278 00:22:11,180 --> 00:22:16,120 once you get to John 4, 5, 6, it builds. The crescendo of hatred and animosity builds towards 279 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:21,080 Jesus, and they want him dead. The people want him dead. The leaders, excuse me, want him dead. The 280 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:25,180 wolves, the enemies, the bandits, the thieves that he referred to earlier in this passage, they're 281 00:22:25,180 --> 00:22:30,600 already sharpening their knives, hoping to slaughter this particular lamb, this one, this Jesus. 282 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:36,360 But here's the thing. Jesus says, when it happens, and it would happen, he routinely told his disciples, 283 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:41,180 this day is coming, but when it happens, it will not be because someone else does it to me. It will 284 00:22:41,180 --> 00:22:45,740 be for this reason and this reason alone, because I will volitionally, of my own will, my own choice, 285 00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:51,740 I will lay down my life. No one has the power to take it from me. There's no one, no collection of 286 00:22:51,740 --> 00:22:57,780 someones that have the ability, the power to take my life from me, but I lay it down. And not only 287 00:22:57,780 --> 00:23:02,220 do I lay it down, as impressive as that would be, the idea that you could call your own shot along 288 00:23:02,220 --> 00:23:07,000 that front, that's impressive. But he says, not only, not only do I lay my own life down, but I 289 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:15,600 have the power to take it up again. So that's what we see there in verses 17 through 18. A day would 290 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,800 come when the Pharisees would rejoice and they thought they'd finally done it. They finally did 291 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,940 it. They'd finally taken them out. However, it would be in the timing, the way, the fashion, 292 00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:30,380 and for the purposes, not of them, but of Christ himself. In 1 Peter 2, Peter said it this way, 293 00:23:30,900 --> 00:23:34,880 he who bore our sins in his own body on that tree, that we having died to sins might live 294 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:39,120 for righteousness. It's by his stripes you were healed. Remember that's from Isaiah 53 we read 295 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:44,580 this morning. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd 296 00:23:44,580 --> 00:23:51,880 and overseer of your souls. The good shepherd laid down his life, not necessarily to save your 297 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:56,480 physical flesh. You and I, if we live long enough, that life will eventually be extinguished. If 298 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:01,940 Jesus doesn't come back first, we will perish. And yet Jesus here is declared as one who's the 299 00:24:01,940 --> 00:24:06,820 shepherd and overseer of our souls. Our souls are entrusted to him. If you are a child of God right 300 00:24:06,820 --> 00:24:11,560 now, your soul is in his hands. That will never change. It is in this sense that he continues to 301 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:16,900 shepherd. All right, let's look at our last verses, verses 19 through 21. Therefore now there was a 302 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:24,300 division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, he has a demon 303 00:24:24,300 --> 00:24:30,940 and he is mad. Why do you listen to him? Now others said, these are not the words of one who has 304 00:24:30,940 --> 00:24:39,820 a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? All right. In the 1940s, C.S. Lewis popularized 305 00:24:39,820 --> 00:24:45,020 a theological concept. It existed before him, but he popularized it, so I'll refer to him. It's 306 00:24:45,020 --> 00:24:50,660 called the trilemma, the trilemma. He popularized this idea of the trilemma. Now, what in the world 307 00:24:50,660 --> 00:24:55,140 is that? Well, from tricycle, you know, tri applies to three, and in this particular case, 308 00:24:55,280 --> 00:25:00,020 C.S. Lewis said that there's a trilemma that modern man has when it comes to the personal 309 00:25:00,020 --> 00:25:05,060 work of Jesus and who he really is. And the trilemma, you know, tri-dilemma, the trilemma 310 00:25:05,060 --> 00:25:11,560 is this, that this guy, this Jesus, this one in times past who said the most outlandish things, 311 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,940 there's only three things we can believe about him. And this was true for first century Jews, 312 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:21,980 it's true of 21st century people in Gulfport. There's only three options to what Jesus said, 313 00:25:22,180 --> 00:25:26,240 repeatedly what he said and said again and said again. There's only three options. The first is 314 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:32,020 this, that he was a liar. That's one option. It's not the right option, but it's one option 315 00:25:32,020 --> 00:25:36,240 theoretically. So some people, that's what they believe. They say he is full of it. Remember there 316 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:42,320 were Pharisees that said he's full of it. No, no, he's a liar. He's got a demon. The father of lies 317 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:47,800 speaks to him. He's a liar. We've got to take him out. Now there were others who would say that I 318 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:53,960 don't know if he's lying, but he is crazy. He's a lunatic. Liar and lunatic, right? That's what we 319 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,420 hear right here. They said he's mad. He's a madman. He's either a liar. He's either a demon-possessed 320 00:25:58,420 --> 00:26:02,840 liar spouting falsehoods from the pit of hell, that's either the case or he's just mad. He's 321 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:08,280 just crazy. So he's either a liar or he's just a lunatic. Now, is that the case either? Was he a 322 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,280 crazy man? Well, no. And one of the ways you know he wasn't crazy is, dear heavens, he won every 323 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:18,260 argument he gets into. Every debate, every argument, every discourse that we see here, 324 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:24,340 every attempt that the collective brainpower of the Pharisees had to try to take him down, 325 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,500 throwing their best men at the job. 326 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:28,500 Everything they did to try to argue 327 00:26:28,500 --> 00:26:31,660 and to tear him down through words fell flat. 328 00:26:32,380 --> 00:26:35,060 Mad men do not reason the way Jesus Christ reasoned. 329 00:26:35,340 --> 00:26:36,620 He deduced and he concluded 330 00:26:36,620 --> 00:26:38,300 and he spoke in ways that no one did. 331 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:40,580 He's not a mad man and he's not a liar either. 332 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:41,660 So what does that leave? 333 00:26:42,180 --> 00:26:44,340 If he's not a liar and he's not a lunatic, what's left? 334 00:26:44,700 --> 00:26:47,120 The third option in the trilemma is this. 335 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,300 He's either a liar, he's a lunatic, or he's the Lord. 336 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:58,040 He's either lying to us, he's crazy, or maybe, just maybe, he is who he said he is. 337 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,580 Maybe, just maybe, this one who's doing miracle after miracle that boggles our minds that no one can do, 338 00:27:03,660 --> 00:27:07,160 maybe, just maybe, the guy who died, and we all saw he died, and he rose three days later, 339 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:12,180 and we saw he was rose, maybe, just maybe, that guy is who he said he is. 340 00:27:13,580 --> 00:27:19,120 Even during his life, his own disciples had moments of question and doubt and anxiety about what was going on. 341 00:27:19,260 --> 00:27:22,960 But when they saw the risen Jesus come on in and eat some fish and honeycomb with them, 342 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:23,820 they went, ah! 343 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,320 Everything he said is true. 344 00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:29,220 He wasn't lying, and he wasn't crazy. 345 00:27:29,780 --> 00:27:30,960 He is who he said he is. 346 00:27:31,060 --> 00:27:32,680 This is the Lord. 347 00:27:33,220 --> 00:27:37,420 And his disciples responded by acting accordingly every day of the rest of their lives, 348 00:27:37,420 --> 00:27:39,980 even as the overwhelming majority would die as martyrs. 349 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,220 They didn't die as martyrs to defend a liar, 350 00:27:42,580 --> 00:27:44,760 and they didn't die as martyrs to defend a crazy man. 351 00:27:45,220 --> 00:27:49,980 They died as martyrs because they knew, they knew that Jesus Christ is who he said he is. 352 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,120 And they also knew that he who made promises to them, 353 00:27:54,580 --> 00:27:57,580 that if he would go, he would return and take them to where he might be, 354 00:27:57,620 --> 00:28:01,400 that they might be with him, that he had the power and the ability to fulfill those promises. 355 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,820 One of the things that emboldened the saints, as we wrap up this morning, 356 00:28:04,820 --> 00:28:07,980 one of the things that emboldened the apostles and the disciples was this, 357 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,500 that Jesus had said outlandish stuff, amazing stuff. 358 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:13,120 Now, he had backed it up with these miracles. 359 00:28:13,700 --> 00:28:16,020 And yet, there was no miracle greater than this. 360 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,880 Laying down his own life in the way in which the Old Testament anticipated he would, 361 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:24,560 and then taking it up again, three days later, walking in and eating fish and honeycomb with them. 362 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:27,000 There was no greater miracle than the resurrection. 363 00:28:27,260 --> 00:28:28,240 No one had done that. 364 00:28:28,660 --> 00:28:30,400 People just didn't heal blind people either. 365 00:28:30,620 --> 00:28:34,500 But certainly no one died, and then three days later, they arose. 366 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,420 So if you were a disciple, if you're an apostle, and you saw that, and you saw the risen Christ, 367 00:28:38,500 --> 00:28:42,420 and you saw all this happen, he's not a liar, he's not a lunatic, he is the Lord. 368 00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:46,800 But furthermore, not only is the Lord, but if he could fulfill all the things that he said he would do, 369 00:28:46,860 --> 00:28:48,880 that he would lay down his life and take it up three days later, 370 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:54,380 if he could fill all of that, then maybe, just maybe, he could fulfill the promises that he has given to you as well. 371 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:59,620 Maybe, just maybe, when Jesus said, I will die that you might live, maybe, just maybe, that's what he means. 372 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:04,160 When Jesus said, you who believe in him today, even today in 21st century Gulfport, 373 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,540 we were broken and hurting and wounded and looking around the culture around us, 374 00:29:07,620 --> 00:29:12,400 maybe, just maybe, when the shepherd says, I am he, take my hand and live, maybe, just maybe, 375 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:13,560 It's the truth. 376 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,200 Maybe, just maybe, the promises that he's given you 377 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,040 that you're leaning into even now, 378 00:29:18,300 --> 00:29:20,060 maybe, just maybe, in fact, not just maybe, 379 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,600 absolutely, they are true. 380 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,120 And they're cemented in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 381 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,080 If he could fulfill that promise, 382 00:29:28,340 --> 00:29:31,020 then let me ask you, what promise can't he fulfill? 383 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:32,860 You know the answer. 384 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:34,520 Let's pray.