Shepherds, Strangers, and Sheep

Introduction

I want to ask you to turn in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. In fact, you can just leave it open there. We’re not going to go anywhere else this morning. We’ll spend all of our time in this passage. And we’ll try to keep things a little bit brief because of the heat this morning. And just read some things together and make a few points from this passage. I want to begin today by reading together the first five verses. Jesus says in John 10 and verse 1, Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. As stranger, they simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.

You know, shepherds and the business of keeping sheep was something that was commonplace in biblical times, but not so commonplace today. It is not likely when you’re out here driving on the Florida Turnpike that you’re going to see a shepherd with a flock of sheep making their way across the hillside. In fact, you’re going to have hard time finding the hillside itself out there. But in biblical times, that would have been a very common sight. And so naturally, the business of shepherding makes its way into the text of Scripture. In fact, some have estimated that there are more than 500 references to sheep in the Bible. Many of those references referring literally to the work of shepherding and the keeping of sheep. But other times, Jesus would draw upon, or Bible writers rather, would draw upon this common occupation, this common sight that people could observe around them and use this, use this scene to illustrate important spiritual truths.

And I say that this morning because that is what Jesus is doing in John chapter 10. He’s drawing on what would have been a common occurrence, something that everybody was familiar with in the culture of that time, and he will use it to draw some spiritual applications regarding Christ and his people. This morning, I’d like for us to spend some time thinking about what Jesus wanted us to know as he uses this illustration of shepherds and their sheep. Before we jump into the text, let me begin by commenting on a few things we’re going to run across in the text, again, that may not be so familiar to us because shepherds aren’t common in our culture, but that are important to understand if we’re going to pick up on what the Lord is trying to say here.

For example, in verse 1, you’ll notice that Jesus mentions the fold of the sheep or a sheepfold. Now, when I first read that, I had somewhat of a vague notion about maybe what that was. But let’s make a few comments about what exactly a sheepfold was that may help us appreciate some of the intricacies of what the Lord says here. A sheepfold was an enclosure that a shepherd would construct when he was out in the field keeping his flocks. An enclosure that he would use to bring in his sheep in the evening and protect them overnight while they were sleeping from dangers. This picture may help illustrate what one of a sheepfold would have looked like. This is a modern reconstruction of an older one. And you can see in this case, the shepherd has used stones to create this enclosure out in the field.

This was located at a particular junctures as shepherds would make their ways across the land. This would be a typical stopping point. And so a more permanent enclosure would be constructed for the shepherd to use. You can see that there is a door up there at one corner of it. That’s where the sheep would be brought in in the evening. And then a doorkeeper, probably one of the shepherds, would stand guard all night at that door. In fact, some have said that what the shepherd would do is literally he would lay down and he would sleep in front of the door. So that none of the enemies of the sheep, not thieves, not wolves, would get access to them. At least if they were to get access, they’d have to go through the shepherd first.

In fact, the only way to get one of the sheep, if a robber wanted to steal one, is he’d have to maybe go to the backside of that wall and crawl over somehow to get to the sheep. And so in John 10, when it talks about a sheepfold, that’s kind of what Jesus has in mind. Bear in mind as well that the sheepfold served as a community facility that might well be used by multiple shepherds at one time. Two or three shepherds in the evening might be in the same area and bring their sheep into this one fold where they would be kept overnight. I found it fascinating that reports are that when morning came, each individual shepherd would come in, the doorkeeper would let them in, and they would call their own sheep.

They might have three or four flocks in there, but each shepherd would come in and he would call his own sheep, and his sheep and only his sheep would hear his voice, and they would come walking out behind him. And the other guy’s sheep, no, they wouldn’t go anywhere. They didn’t recognize the voice of that shepherd. And so he would come in and call his sheep and they would follow. Now I want you to keep those in mind as we look at what the Lord says here in John chapter 10. Keep in mind that as Jesus talks about sheep and shepherds, he’s not trying to make some points about herd management. There were deeper spiritual truths that he was wanting to communicate, and interestingly, even the audience of his day didn’t quite grasp it.

1. A Reality to Celebrate: Jesus Is Our Good Shepherd

Look at verse 6 of John 10. The text says, this figure of speech, Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which he had been saying to them. They didn’t quite get it. And so what follows in John 10 is the Lord’s own explanation. He wants them to understand what it is that he’s trying to say about shepherds and strangers and sheep. And so he gives his own explanation. And I’d just like us to spend some time thinking about what points Jesus tried to make. There are three that I want us to highlight in the lesson this morning. First of all, I want you to notice that in John 10, as Jesus talks about this work of shepherding, first of all, that he would share with us a reality that as God’s people we need to celebrate.

And that reality is that Jesus is our good shepherd. Look down to verse 11, if you will, of John 10. This may well be sort of the defining statement of what Jesus is trying to say in this text. John 10 and verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Now, because the work of shepherding isn’t so commonplace in our culture, I suspect that when the Lord says that, it is not as striking to us. It is not as impressive to us as it would have been to the people of that time. What does Jesus mean when he says, I am your shepherd? What does that say about his relationship to us? I would suggest to you that hidden within that statement are some wonderful realities that we need to pause and appreciate.

In fact, the Lord would allude to at least four of them here in this context, and I’d like for us to note them together. First of all, I want you to know that as our good shepherd, Jesus knows his sheep. I would suggest that it is far too easy to pass over that simple observation without appreciating how significant it is. You know, back in verse 3, Jesus alluded to the shepherd’s knowledge of his sheep. Verse 3 says, To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own by name and leads them out. He knows who his sheep are. He knows their names. In fact, there have actually been studies of shepherds who have been blindfolded and sent in among a bunch of sheep, and he could pick out his, even blindfolded, because he knew his sheep.

Now, thinking about that, look down in verse 14. Because there the Lord says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my own. Think about that. Jesus knows every one of his sheep. He knows my name. And he knows yours too. He knows my name and he knows my nature. Isn’t that an awesome thought? That Jesus Christ knows who I am. I mean, we think it’d be something if the President of the United States knew who we were, wouldn’t we? Listen, folks, don’t worry about him. Jesus knows who we are. In fact, more than just knowing who we are, he is intimately acquainted with us. Jesus knows everything about us. You realize that. As the shepherd constantly keeping watch over his flock, Jesus is able to look down on the lives of every one of his children and know everything about us.

And listen, folks, I don’t just mean that he observes our conduct. Yes, Jesus looks down from heaven and he sees us sitting here this morning. He knows you’re here. And if we weren’t here, he’d know that too. But you know more than that. He knows what the rest of us don’t know. He knows what’s going on in your heart. He knows if you’re thinking about what’s in this text in John 10 this morning, or if you’re wondering why Miami didn’t go for an extra point instead of trying to make that two-point conversion at the end of the game last night. He knows where our minds are. He knows what motives drive us, what our attitudes are. See, we can fake each other out. We can put on a front, appear pious and spiritual this morning.

Our hearts may be a hundred miles away. And none of us may be the wiser, but the Lord knows. There’s a wonderful side to that truth. And that is that Jesus is always in a position to help me and rescue me and give me what I need. He knows just where I’m at and just what I need. And is able to do for me all that I need. He is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep. Let me tell you something else, though. In addition to knowing his sheep, we also see that he leads and guides his sheep. Notice what is said about the shepherd again in verses 3 and 4. To him the doorkeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own by name, and he leads them out.

Verse 4, when he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. And that is really the work of a shepherd, isn’t it? To lead his sheep. His task is to guide them to fertile fields where they can feed, to pure sources of water so they can quench their thirst. And then to guide them away from whatever dangers they might encounter as they’re out in the open fields to protect them.

Brethren, that is exactly what Jesus Christ wants to do for us. He wants to be our shepherd. He wants to lead us. He wants to take our lives in the right direction. To see too that we’re well nourished spiritually and to help us avoid the pitfalls that are out there that are tripping other people up. In fact, brethren, that’s what the Bible’s all about. That’s why God, through all these centuries, has been so careful to be sure that this message was preserved. Because it’s the shepherd’s message. It is the means through which he guides and directs our life. Takes us to those fertile pastures, protects us from harm. And those who are his sheep will hear his voice and follow. Notice something else about this shepherd.

Verse 16 says that he builds a great flock. Verse 16, he says, I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them in also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. I wanted to note that verse specifically in this work of the shepherd, because this passage is often misused by people who want to create different classes of Christians. And you know, that’s just the opposite of what the Lord was trying to say in this passage. He’s not trying to say that Jesus has many different flocks. He’s trying to say just the opposite, that he’s building one flock. In this case, he’s talking about Jews and Gentiles. The Jews have been his flock for a long time.

But now what Jesus is saying, I’ve got other sheep, the Gentiles, and I’m going to bring them in too. And they’ll be part of this great flock. Both Jew and Gentile would be equal partners under this new covenant. But there’s something else about this shepherd I want you to notice. And that is the point that’s emphasized more than any other. He will lay down his life for his sheep. In fact, that’s said over and over again in this passage. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Verse 15 in the latter part of the verse, I lay down my life for the sheep. Verse 17, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life.

You know, a good shepherd would risk his life for the sheep. If he’s out in the field and a wolf attacks, what does the shepherd do? He runs out and he puts himself between the wolf and his flock, and he fights off that wolf or whatever the enemy is that is attacking his sheep. And in so doing puts his own life at risk. Later, this text would talk about the hireling, the man hired by the owner to watch over his sheep. He said, No, the hireling won’t do that. He didn’t care about those sheep. They’re not his. But the shepherd. They’re his sheep. Remember, he knows their name. When danger comes, he protects them, even putting his own life at risk. That, you know, that doesn’t adequately parallel what Jesus did for us.

Because Jesus did not simply put his life at risk for us. The text says that he laid down his life for us. The nature of that sacrifice is emphasized in the context over and over again. Verse 18, no one has taken it away from me, he says.

It was not as though Jesus were simply the tragic victim of bad circumstances and wicked men who plotted together to put him to death. Men did not take the life of Jesus. He laid it down. Bear in mind that the Lord Himself said that at any moment he could have stopped all of that business. Had it been his will to do so, the Jews never could have carried out their plot to kill him. He gave his life. He lays it down, but notice also verse 17 I lay it down so that I may take it up again. He would be killed, but he would also rise from the dead. Death would not be victorious over him. And that is an essential element of all of this.

2. A Danger That We Need to Fear

The death means nothing without the resurrection. Why did he do it? Verse 15. I lay down my life for the sheep. Did it for us, brother. Because of his great love for us and his desire that we would have a sacrifice to rescue us from sin. One of the grand realities here in John chapter 10 is that Jesus is our shepherd. That needs to mean something to us. It’s a reality we need to celebrate. But there’s something else I want you to notice here. Not only does John give us a reality to celebrate, but notice secondly, he gives us a danger that we need to fear. In fact, throughout this context, Jesus would speak repeatedly about the enemies that the sheep confronted. For example, he would talk about robbers and thieves in verse 1 who might steal the sheep.

In verse 5, he talks about strangers who might lead them away. In verses 12 and 13, he talks about that hireling who’s hired by the owner to watch the sheep, but who isn’t concerned for their welfare, who flees at the time of danger and forsakes his duty. All of these enemies well represented the religious establishment of Jesus’ day. The religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, indeed had played the role of thief, trying to steal away sheep from Jesus’ flock. John 9 gives us a great example of that, just one chapter previously. Jesus had performed a great miracle there. He had healed a blind man. And his enemies were fearful, as word about that circulated that his popularity would grow. And so they do everything they can to discredit to discredit the miracle, include calling in the parents of this blind man, interrogating them.

And look, in chapter 9 and verse 22, the text says, his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews has already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. Anyone who went along with Jesus would be ostracized. They were trying to steal his sheep, prevent them from coming to him. Like the hireling, the religious leaders of that day had failed in their responsibility to nourish the nation with truth, to protect them from spiritual danger. They in fact have become a source of spiritual danger. But we need to be aware, brethren, as well. Because there are also enemies that threaten God’s flock today. Just as there were hirelings and strangers and thieves in that day, we face those same dangers today.

Of those who would try to lure us away from God’s flock. And sometimes, brethren, the enemies are men and women who come along and who talk about Jesus. And they talk about the Bible. And they seem very dedicated religiously. But they serve the role of enemy. They’re an enemy to God’s flock because the message they’re preaching is not the message of the shepherd. You know, sometimes false doctrine can be so alluring. I don’t think I’m going to win on this one, you think?

I can wait. You know, folks, sometimes false doctrine can be so alluring and is so popular because it’s telling men what they want to hear. And there are people today who are trying to steal God’s sheep by not preaching the shepherd’s message, but by telling men what they want to hear. You know, increasingly, we’re living in a culture where religion is being forced, or choosing, I should say, rather, choosing to mold itself into the image of the culture to draw people in rather than teaching the truth of Christ so that people will be molded into his image. We saw a graphic example of that over the course of the last eight or nine days with the Episcopal Church. Did you hear in the news about the Episcopal Church appointing in a great heated controversy, appointing a practicing openly homosexual leader to their church?

Let me tell you, folks, why that happened. That did not happen because men sat down and started looking at this book and said, Let’s follow what the shepherd says on this issue. That’s not why it happened. It happened because increasingly in our culture, homosexuality has come to be accepted. And religious groups are facing a challenge. If we want to draw the crowd and make the people happy, then we’ve got to kind of bend and change our position on this. Fitting with the culture. Rather than challenge the culture to be molded into the image of Christ. Increasingly, in mainstream denominationalism, there are fewer and fewer definite stands being taken on tough moral issues. Groups are starting to fold not only on homosexuality, but abortion and divorce and even sex outside of marriage.

The messages being preached on these subjects are increasingly uncertain, but at the same time appealing because it tells men what they want to hear. Listen, it may lure in the crowds, but it does so at the price of pulling them from the fold of God. They are enemies to the cause of Christ. And brethren, we’ve got to be sure in this day and time that we’re not being lured away by a stranger with a message who tells us what we want to hear. But that we are drawn to the shepherd and the message that he has given us. It’s the only way that we can be sure that we’re following him. In fact, that leads us to the last point we want to make this morning.

3. A Challenge to Act Like Sheep

And that is within this context, we will also find a challenge that we are to take up. The context tells us about the character of our shepherd, warns us about the strangers out there who will lead us away, and finally it gives us a challenge as God’s sheep to act like sheep. There’s a lot said about sheep in this context, and it’s meant to say something to us about what our character must be as part of God’s flock. Two brief points I’ll make with you this morning and we’ll be done. First of all, notice in verse 14 that the sheep know their shepherd. Remember, we’re told how well the shepherd knows his sheep, but the opposite is true too. Verse 14 says, I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and my own know me.

Verses 2 through 5 described how he called them out and they followed him, and they recognized his voice. Remember, if somebody else came in and spoke, another shepherd entered the fold, they wouldn’t follow him because they didn’t know his voice. Brethren, we need to be like sheep, able to recognize the voice of our shepherd. Now let me tell you what I don’t mean by that. I don’t mean that we need to go home in the quiet of the evening and to listen for some mysterious voice coming from the heavens speaking to us for God. That’s not how God’s going to make his will known today. It is through a study of the scriptures that we come to know Jesus. It is through a study of the scriptures that we know his will for our life.

It is through a study of the scripture that we hear his voice. And he leads us. And let me add, brethren, that the better we get to know the shepherd’s voice, the more we study and know and understand his will for our lives, the better we will be able to discern error when it comes along. Listen, when you know the shepherd’s voice, when the stranger comes along with error, it just won’t sound right. We may not always be able to immediately pick up on what’s wrong with it. We may need to hear new twists and turns on doctrines and teachings and say, well, I’m not sure what scripturally is wrong with that, but having spent time with the book, it doesn’t sound right. And then we go back and we study and we realize why?

Brother, we need to know the shepherd’s voice like that. We need to be able to quickly pick up on error because we are so immersed in his truth. Are we like that? Do we know our shepherd’s wings? Are we so immersed in the truth that when error comes along, it’s easy to pick up on? We need to know the shepherd, and number two, we need to follow him. That’s what verses 4 and 5 said about the sheep. When he goes forth, the sheep follow him because they know his voice. That’s the way sheep are. Where the shepherd goes, they go. And what a graphic illustration of what the Lord wants us to do. Where he leads, we follow. We sang that. Did we mean it? I know, I know.

This is one of those things that when we hear it, we all say, oh, yes, that’s what we’re supposed to do, really. Will we go wherever he leads? How about if he leads us next door to teach our neighbor the gospel or a co-worker the gospel? You know the Lord leads us there. Are we following? How about when he leads me to give up some evil practice in my life? How about when the Lord’s word leads me to make better choices about my movies or about the way I dress? Do I lead where he do I follow where he leads? What about when his word leads me to learn, leads me to love my enemy or to put his cause before my career? Do I go where he leads?

There’s a lot of trust involved in that. When we are compared to sheep brethren, Jesus is describing a people who have put their life completely into the shepherd’s hand and who rely totally on his wisdom. How about us? Do we follow the shepherd?

Conclusion

You know, those were those were bold claims that the Lord makes. And bold claims would undoubtedly get a reaction from his audience, and it did. Look at verse 19. It says, a division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. His audience was divided. Verse 20 says, many of them were saying he has a demon is insane. Why are you listening to him? Some heard him say this and said, This guy’s a nut. Why do you people even listen to what he said? But others, verse 21 says, others were saying, these are not the sayings of the demon, of one demon possessed. It doesn’t sound like a demon talking to me. And besides, verse 21, a demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can’t he?

Remember that miracle? The evidence was too overwhelming for them. They had to believe. How about us? Take out your songbooks, if you will, and turn to the number selected as the invitation sign. And when you’re done, think about this important truth, and that is that we essentially have to make the same choice the people in this crowd make. Whether we’re going to be in God’s fold or not. Some in the crowd heard what the Lord said on this occasion and they chose to reject him. They said he was crazy. Would you want to be numbered with that group today? Others believed his message and chose to become part of his fold. And all of us this morning will face that same choice. Will we be among those who rejected Jesus who thought he was crazy?

Or will we choose to be among those who believe in him and become part of his fold? Are you in his fold this morning? Are you one of his sheep? Maybe there’s someone here this morning that knows he’s the Son of God. Knows it’s time to stop living for self and start living for him. And this morning you need to be immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins so that you can follow the shepherd’s instruction on that. What choice will you make? Which crowd will you be with? You’ll make that decision right now. Come and be in the fold of Christ. Come right now to the front while we stand and sing together.