INTRODUCTION:
One of Billy Graham’s evangelistic films Is based upon the true story of a Christian man who became a hero. Over one hundred years ago, this young man, whose real name was Nagano Massao, was working with a railroad company in Japan, far away from his fiancee. He worked hard every day and finally the time came to go back to his fiancee and marry her.
On his way back home, just before the peak of a steep hill, the train suddenly shook hard and stopped. When this young man went to the front of the passenger car, he found that it was disconnected from the rest of the train. It then began to roll backward down the steep slope. Since he had worked for the railroad, he knew there was a sharp curve behind them that the passenger car could not handle. It would be thrown off the tracks, killing the passengers. He tried to stop the car with the hand brake, but he failed. Then he remembered his favorite verse in the Bible: “Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” Although this man had everything to live for, he jumped on the train tracks and stopped the passenger car with his body He literally laid down his life to save the lives of many. The film, based upon that true story, is entitled, “Shiokari Pass”.
Nagano Massao (whose name was changed in the movie), voluntarily sacrificed his own life to save the lives of the other passengers on that railroad car. It was the only way, and he chose to follow the example of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the passage of Scripture we are now studying, John 10:11-21, Jesus continues to use the analogy of a shepherd to describe Himself. We are going to see what Jesus meant when He called Himself the good shepherd.
I. ANOTHER COMPARISON (verses 11-13)
Jesus is once again comparing Himself to the Jewish leaders of that day. He says, “I am the good shepherd”. This is the fourth time that the Lord uses the words “I AM”, telling his listeners that He is the One who spoke to Moses saying, “Thus you shall to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). Then Jesus calls Himself the “good shepherd”. There are several words for “good” in the Greek language. The word that is used in verse 11 is “kalos”, which means “beautiful”, “excellent”, “good by nature.” It describes the ideal, the perfect example to follow. We get the word, “calligraphy”, which means “beautiful writing” from the word, “kalos”. Why is that word used? We find the answer to that question in Mark 10:17-18. A man comes to Jesus and calls Him “Good Teacher”. Jesus responds to him by saying, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone.” He is saying to the man, “To call me ‘good’ is to call Me ‘God’.”
In the rest of verse 11, Jesus states His reason for calling Himself the “good shepherd” when He says, “The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” The word “for” means “in place of”. Bear in mind that Jewish shepherds in Palestine did not tend their sheep in order to slaughter them unless the sheep were used as sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of sin. They shepherded the sheep in order that the sheep might give them wool, milk, and lambs. Jesus is saying that He is the good shepherd because He Himself is going to be that slaughtered lamb who will give Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. When He talked about laying down His life for the sheep, His listeners must have thought He was crazy. A shepherd might risk his life for his sheep, but in his mind, he thinks he’s going to win the fight. If he didn’t think he was going to win, he would let the wild animal kill one or two sheep while he protected the others. Soon that animal would be on its way with a full stomach! But Jesus said He was going to intentionally lay down in front of that wild animal and say, “make a meal out of Me instead of My sheep!” That’s ridiculous! He would be killed and His sheep would be without a shepherd! They would all be killed by other wild animals and he would be to blame for it! The Pharisees couldn’t grasp the meaning of His metaphor, so, once again, Jesus brings them back into the picture by way of contrast to Himself.
In verses 1-10, Jesus referred to them as thieves and robbers. Now He has another name for them. In verse 12 He says, “He who is the hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them.” Here, Jesus refers to the Pharisees as “hirelings”. After having called them “thieves and robbers” in verse 8, this new description almost seems like a compliment! However, the context has changed. Not only are they not part of His sheepfold, but they are also not worthy to be called shepherds. They are hirelings and the worst and lowliest of hirelings. They don’t care about the sheep. All they care about is their pay and their own selfish interests. They didn’t receive “hazardous duty pay” or a bonus for protecting the sheep so when danger came, they fled, leaving the sheep alone and defenseless. The Pharisees demonstrated that attitude by the way they treated the blind man and his parents. As you can see, Jesus knew how to rebuke those who needed it. He had a way of bringing people back to reality whether they wanted to see it and acknowledge it or not.
II. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE SHEEP (verses 14-15)
In verses 14 and 15, Jesus talks about His personal knowledge of the sheep. In this computer age, it’s easy to begin to feel like a number instead of a person. We are identified by our social security number rather than our name. We get “junk mail” addressed to “resident” or “occupant”. We get promotional emails from people we don’t know and who don’t know us. Such impersonal methods may cause some people to conclude, “Nobody cares for me.” But that’s not true. Jesus Christ knows who you are. He knows your name. You matter to Him.
Edward VII was the king of England from 1901 to 1910. One day he was visiting a city to lay the foundation for a new hospital. Thousands of school children were present to sing for Him. After the ceremony, the king walked past the excited youngsters. Soon after he had passed by, a teacher saw one of her students crying. She asked her, “Why are you crying? Didn’t you see the king? “Yes”, the little girl sobbed, “but the king didn’t see me.” King Edward couldn’t have taken notice of each child in that crowd. The Lord Jesus, however, knows each one of us. Though we can’t see Him, He sees us, knows our names, and cares for each one of us individually. He not only knows our names, but He also knows our needs and everything about us. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, “The Lord knows those who are His.”
In verse 15, Jesus compares His knowledge of us to the knowledge that He and His Father have of each other. It is complete and perfect knowledge. After making this comparison, Jesus goes on to say again, “I lay down my life for the sheep.” His knowledge of the Father is tied to His obedience to the Father. He knows that it is the Father’s will that He lay down His life. That decision was made by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-7).
For most Jews during that day and age, killing a lamb and offering it as a sacrifice to God for one’s sins was not much of an ordeal. But for a shepherd to kill a sheep from his own flock, a sheep he had known since its birth, a sheep he called by name and cared for daily, it must have been a difficult and tearful experience. With his own hand, he was killing something that he knew and loved.
The following story left a deep impression on the father of a young child. When telling his young daughter the story of Abraham and Isaac, a father related how God had finally told Abraham not to kill Isaac and had provided a sacrificial lamb instead. The little girl looked up with a sad expression and said, “I don’t like killing lambs.” The father was speechless for a moment and then realized what traumatic and memorable events sacrifices were. How serious the killing of an innocent lamb for sacrifice, and how destructive the reason for the sacrifice: sin. If the killing of a pure white lamb seems horrendous, how immeasurably more was the crucifixion of the Lamb of God.
III. THE FOLD AND THE FLOCK (verse 16)
In verse 16, Jesus stretches the imaginations of His listeners even further when He says, “And I have other sheep which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice, and they shall become one flock with one shepherd.” There is a big difference between a fold and a flock. The “fold” is Judaism, as in verse one. The term “fold” refers to the enclosure or structure that contains the sheep, or the people of Judaism in this case. The “flock”, on the other hand, focuses upon the shepherd and all the sheep that belong to him. So, when Jesus refers to other sheep, He is referring to the Gentiles, those who are not Jews. He demonstrated His love for the Gentiles when He witnessed to the Samaritan woman at the well, and then to all the men of the city of Sychar in Samaria. Jesus is going to be drawing people from the sheepfold of Judaism and from the sheepfolds of the Gentiles also. They will come together as one flock (the Church) and Jesus will be the Shepherd of that whole flock. All this will happen as a result of His atoning death for sin and His resurrection from the dead. In Jesus’ flock, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, between races, between sexes, or between social classes. They will all have the same relationship to the shepherd. All who are Christ’s sheep belong to His flock, and what an enormous flock it has become!
IV. HIS VICTORIOUS DEATH (verses 17-18)
In verses 17 and 18, Jesus talks about His death for the third time, saying, “I lay down my life”, and goes on to give further explanation. You would think that they would be catching on to what He is saying. There’s a lesson to be learned from these repetitions: When Jesus repeats Himself, pay attention! Repetition implies importance. There is something that He wants His listeners (and His readers) to understand.
Jesus is telling His listeners, in advance, the answer to the age-old question: “Who killed Jesus?” Was it the Jewish leaders and the Romans? Did they murder Jesus? They had something to do with it, but Jesus laid down His life voluntarily. He wasn’t murdered because a murdered man is a helpless man. Jesus’ life wasn’t taken from Him against His will. He came from heaven to earth in order to die. Then, did Jesus commit suicide? Isn’t a voluntary death suicide? No. Voluntary death is suicide unless it is for the life of another or to save the lives of others. When the Father was satisfied that His Son paid the penalty for our sins, Jesus Christ cried out with a loud voice saying, “It is finished!” He then put His head in a position of rest and voluntarily yielded His spirit to the Father (John 19:30). His death was neither a murder nor a suicide, but it was a sacrifice. Since all of us are sinners, all of us are the cause of the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross (Isaiah 53:6-7; 1 Peter 2:24).
But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus said, “I lay down My life that I may take it up again . . . I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again.” The word “authority” is used in this verse, not only in the sense of absolute power but also in the sense that it was His right and His freedom to accomplish the work for which He was sent. Included in that work was not only His atoning death but also His victorious resurrection from the dead. By repeating these words several times, Jesus is saying, “I’m supreme over life and death.” The Lord Jesus and His Father are one. There is no division between them in this matter of salvation. They worked together in perfect harmony.
V. THE RESPONSE (verses 19-21)
These statements made by Jesus were bound to cause a response from the Jewish leaders. There was an immediate difference of opinion about His words. Verse 19 says, “There arose a division among the Jews because of these words.” The leaders of the Jews were no longer in complete agreement concerning Jesus. The healing of the blind man and the words of Jesus caused a few of them to reconsider His claims. Verse 20 says, “And many of them were saying, ‘He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” They have made that statement before and have no basis for it. I think they are saying those words loudly as a rebuke to those who were listening intently to Jesus’ words. In verse 21, we get the response of the minority. They said, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of a man born blind.” They were looking at the evidence of Jesus’ words and Jesus’ miracles and they could not refute it.
CONCLUSION:
It’s impossible to be neutral about Jesus Christ. His claims, His character, His miracles, His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, His death, resurrection, and appearances, and the changed lives of those who follow Him leave people with no excuse. There are some people who will do almost anything, and say almost anything in order to avoid facing the truth. What we believe about Jesus Christ is a matter of eternal life and death.
In this passage of scripture, John 10:11-21, we have learned how well the Lord Jesus fits His description of the good shepherd. He is present with them (Matthew 28:20), knows them by name, loves and cares for them, and is prepared to lay down His life for them so that they might be with Him for eternity. We also learn, from this passage of scripture, that we are a lot like sheep. Are you a lost sheep, or has Jesus brought you into His fold?
Jesus calls people sheep for good reasons. Like sheep, we are also followers. We are all following something or someone, looking for happiness, contentment, and peace of mind. King Solomon, in the book of Ecclesiastes, tells us about his pursuits of wisdom, pleasure, and work. In each case, he found that it was “meaningless, emptiness, striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). There was no lasting meaning, purpose, or joy in the pursuit of those things. In Ecclesiastes 12:13 Solomon comes to a conclusion. I like the way the New Living Translation puts it: “That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: fear God and obey His commandments for this is everyone’s duty.” In other words, “follow God.” No one and nothing else is worth following.
The Lord Jesus has described Himself as the Good Shepherd, possessing immeasurable goodness and perfect love. He’s the Shepherd who chose to be the sacrificial lamb to pay the price that our sins deserve. I’m closing with the words of Isaiah 53:5-6, and invite you to consider whether this is the person you want to follow with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, for the rest of your life.
“But He was pierced through for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him
and by His scourging, we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
but God has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
CONSTRUCTION SITE: COMPLETED