I Am The Good Shepherd

Jn 10:11-18

When Jesus talks about being the good shepherd, it doesn’t mean a whole lot to us who have not been raised with sheep. Jesus used and image as familiar to the people of Israel as a farmer and tractor would be to us. It’s a part of our cultural fabric around here. Even if you don’t farm, most are used to seeing farmers driving their tractors all along the country roads and even in town sometimes.

Jesus uses that very familiar image of a shepherd with his sheep and teaches a whole lesson about his divinity and how he cares for man by simply evoking this image to his listeners’ minds.

Keep these thoughts in your mind as we look at the saying “I Am the Good Shepherd.”

PRAYER

I. The Sheep

A. Being referred to as sheep isn’t necessarily a positive thing.

1. Sheep were dumb.

2. Will drown themselves in moving water while drinking.

a) They forget to lift their heads and drink themselves to death.

b) That is why David says the Lord will lead him beside STILL waters.

3. A friend once told D. L. Moody just how the sheep in the Highlands of Scotland are rescued when they wander off and become stranded on a rocky crag. He said, "The vegetation on those mountains is so sweet that the sheep will jump down 10 or 12 feet to get it. Soon their bleating can be heard as they try unsuccessfully to return to higher ground. The shepherd does not rush to the rescue, but leaves them where they are until there's no more grass to be eaten. After several days they become so faint they can't stand up. At that point the herdsman will lower himself to the dangerous ledge below and bring them to the fold." Mr. Moody asked, "Why doesn't he go down as soon as the sheep get into trouble?" "Ah," said his friend, "if he did, those animals are so stupid they would dash right over the edge of the cliff and be killed!"

B. Sheep depend totally on the shepherd for survival

1. Sheep have no defensive capabilities.

a) No claws, fangs, they can’t even run that fast.

b) Without protection, they are at the mercy of any predator.

C. Boy, sounds a lot like us Christians doesn’t it.

1. We have no hope of survival without the great shepherd.

2. Our wisdom is the foolishness of God.

3. We need the good shepherd.

II. The Good Shepherd

A. Good Shepherd

1. The word used for good here means intrinsically good or ideal.

2. Jesus is the ideal shepherd. There is none better than him.

3.

B. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep

1. READ vs 14-15

2. Lynn Anderson tells about being in the Mid East on hot day. As he sat on a high hill he could look out and watch a single path that led down the steep hill and then branched into dozens of other paths on the plains below. While he was there he saw several shepherd talking together and walking down the main path with their sheep following. At the bottom, they shook hands and each headed down a different path. The shepherds all gave their unique call and the sheep sorted themselves out from main group to follow their respective shepherd. He would stand a little ways down his path and count the sheep as the came by. Then call again to get any of his stragglers that were wandering in the brush.

3. It is an amazing metaphor for Jesus and his followers isn’t it?

a) Jesus calls to us and we follow after him.

b) Yet, don’t ever forget that Satan is a shepherd as well and is calling to us to steal us away.

c) Do you know the voice of your shepherd?

4. Shepherd also knew their sheep individually.

a) They could pick out a single sheep by certain characteristics that were unique to each animal.

b) Marvin Rosenthal, writing in Israel My Glory, tells about a mother who was asked by a census taker how many children she had. She responded, "Well, there's Billy and Harry and Martha and--" "Never mind the names," the man interrupted. "Just give me the number!" The mother, becoming indignant, replied, "They haven't got numbers, they've all got names."

c) We aren’t number to Christ.

(1) We aren’t just one in a large group with no meaning to the master.

(2) We are individuals who are important to Him.

(3) He knows each and every one of us better than we know ourselves.

5. "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep.(NIV)

C. Is not a hireling, but lays down his life for the sheep

1. READ vs 11-13

2. When the shepherd owns the sheep. He will protect them with his life.

a) In the ancient times families depended on the sheep as their source of clothing, sometimes meat, protection from the elements.

b) Much of what they had was made from wool.

c) Without their sheep. THEIR existence was jeopardized.

3. A hired hand gets paid.

a) His loyalty is to himself, not the sheep or the sheep’s owner.

b) That’s not a knock on the hired hand, but he isn’t going to put his life on the line for someone else’s livilhood.

4. Sitting majestically atop the highest hill in Toledo, Spain, is the Alcazar, a 16th-century fortress. In the civil war of the 1930s, the Alcazar became a battleground when the Loyalists tried to oust the Nationalists, who held the fortress.

a) During one dramatic episode of the war, the Nationalist leader received a phone call while in his office at the Alcazar. It was from his son, who had been captured by the Loyalists. The ultimatum: If the father didn't surrender the Alcazar to them, they would kill his son. The father weighed his options. After a long pause and with a heavy heart, he said to his son, "Then die like a man."

b) Harsh? Perhaps. Tragic? Yes. But in this commander's view, the life of one person--even his own son-- was worth the sacrifice if it saved the lives of others and kept their cause alive.

5. God loved us so much that he was even willing to sacrifice his own son for our survival.

6. Jesus loved us so much he laid down his life to protect us from Satan.

a) He wasn’t a hired hand.

b) He owned us.

c) We own his heart.

III. Concl.

A. For a while the shepherd became the sheep.

1. We needed a sacrifice of a perfect lamb.

2. None were found that were worthy enough.

3. Then Jesus became our lamb.

a) Our sacrifice.

b) Our sins.

c) Our substitute.

B. At a large banquet, an aged minister was surprised to find himself seated next to a well-known actor. Why the famous man was there the preacher never discovered, but he seized the opportunity to become acquainted. Soon the conversation turned to the matter of faith in God and belief in the Bible. The minister had not yet determined whether the actor had any knowledge of the Lord when the toastmaster noticed the celebrity's presence. After a few flattering remarks, he asked him if he would honor them by giving a brief recitation. The distinguished guest hesitated because he did not feel qualified to deliver anything that would be acceptable to the religious gathering. Handing him his Bible, the preacher said in an undertone, "Here, use the familiar Twenty-Third Psalm." After going to the head table, the man recited those six thrilling verses with such a resonant voice and pleasing manner that at the close a subdued expression of approval rang through the audience. Unexpectedly, the actor then invited the elderly pastor to come and repeat the same selection. When the man of God finished, many eyes were filled with tears, for he had spoken with warmth, tenderness, and deep personal understanding. No one felt the difference more keenly than the entertainer. When he returned to his seat, he whispered, "You did much better than I, and I think I understand why. I know the Psalm, but you know the Shepherd!"

1. Do You Know the Shepherd?