Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 17; The Good Shepherd
Transcript
- riverside episode 17 john smithson's stu: Greetings and welcome to another episode of Finding Jesus again. This is episode number seventeen. Today we're going to be looking at John chapter ten. Let's begin verse one. Truly, truly I say to you, the one 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 the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice. And he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he pot puts all his sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which he was saying to them meant. So here Jesus is speaking. When he's speaking to them about this analogy of a shepherd. He speaks a lot in parables, as we're gonna find out. And parables being like stories that give a a visual, but also can mean numerous different things. And and there's what's powerful about stories is because there's so many nuances and pieces and parts that it can mean so much at so many different times, but always has one Very important truth. One of the first things we find out here is that Jesus wants relationship, not merely a religion. John ten three says the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. The religious people of this time that Jesus is speaking are are so bogged down with tradition and religion and law that they don't understand what it means to have a relationship with God. And Jesus is saying here. That the sheep know his voice, that there is a relationship between God and his people. And that's what God wants. Jesus came to establish that relationship. Notice how personal that is. Voice, name, follow. He knows their name. He knows their voice. He calls his own sheep by name. He leads them out. And it brings up a really good question. Have I learned Christianity? Or have I learned the voice of Jesus? Have I learned all the religious stuff? Or have I learned how to follow Jesus, how to hear Jesus? Do I have a relationship with Jesus? And if I have a relationship with someone, I know them. I know who they are. I know what they like. I I'm comfortable with them. The only way to have a relationship with Jesus is through reading the word and through prayer and through spending time with him. That's the only way to have a relationship. You know, if you go to church every Sunday, you're going to hear about Jesus. You're going to know a lot about Jesus. You might read a lot of books and again, you might study and know a lot about Jesus, but do you really have a relationship with him? Do you have an intimate knowledge and understanding of who he is? And that's what this journey is all about. It's trying to find Jesus again and find out who he really is beyond everything that we've heard and been told. He says the shepherd goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him, and that's beautiful. The shepherd isn't standing behind the sheep beating them forward. He isn't saying go, go, go, but he goes first. Jesus doesn't simply tell us where to go, but he demonstrates the life he's calling us into. So when we're trying to figure out what following Jesus looks like, maybe the question becomes more where did Jesus go? And am I willing to follow him there? He's not asking us to go anywhere that he hasn't went himself. And the places that he went was toward hurting people. He went toward outsiders. He went toward mercy. He went toward truth. And he went toward sacrifice. And if these are the places that Jesus went, that's the places that we must follow him. His same life that he lived is the same life that we must also live. Let's read on verse seven. So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All those who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that they would have life and have it abundantly. Jesus says, I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. Jesus doesn't say the religious system is the door. He doesn't say that the church is the door, but he points to himself. He's saying, I am the door. And that's especially interesting coming immediately after John 9, where the healed blind man was thrown out by the religious authorities. They put him out. Then Jesus essentially says, You know, I'm the door. They might have put you out of the church, but I am the door. That connection between chapters nine and ten is powerful. Religious people may decide who's in and who's out, but Jesus presents himself as As the entrance. Jesus is the way to heaven. I am the door to God. I am the door to heaven. There's no other way but through him. You can't climb up the side, like it says up here in the verse. He says, The one who does not enter by the door, but climbs up some other way, he's a thief and he's a robber. There's no other way to get to God except through the door, which is Jesus Christ. And he's plainly telling the Pharisees of that time, and also plainly telling us. That he is the only way to heaven. He goes on to say that the thief comes to steal, kill, and to destroy, but Jesus has come to give life. And that brings another interesting question is are are we experiencing real life? Am I experiencing real life? You know, with with the way that you're living, the the things that's going on in your life, are you experiencing true life? The things that are stealing, killing, and destroying you, those things aren't from God. What are the things that are killing, stealing, and destroying you? What are the things that are killing you? What are the things that are stealing your happiness, stilling your peace? What are the things that are destroying your joy? Those things are not from God, but Jesus said that he has come to give us life. And if you want to find life, if you want to find joy, if you want to find what true life is, that can only be found in Jesus. Let's read verse eleven. Verse eleven says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. I would say that the religious leaders were the hired hands. They didn't really care about the people. They were keepers of the law, and they were keepers of tradition, and they were keepers of the faith, so to speak, but they did not care about the people. They were just hired hands. And as soon as the wolves came, they scattered and they left the people to the wolves. But Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd, and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus gave everything for us. Jesus laid it all down for us because that's how much he loves us. Verse thirteen says, The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd and I know my own, and that my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this food. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay my life, so that I may take it back. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own, I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from my Father. So again he's talking here about how he's going to give his life for his people. And he also talks about there's other sheep that are not of of this foe. And he's talking about the Gentiles, the people who are not Jewish, who will also be brought in. And he's he's talking about how he will lay down his life and then he will take his life back. And he reassures us that no one can take his life from him, but he gives it on his own, that only he has the authority to lay down his own life. And once he lays down his own life, he's going to take it back. Meaning he's going to rise back up from the grave and show who he really is. Verse nineteen says Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying he has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to him? Others were saying, These are not the words of one who is demon possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it? Verse twenty two. At that time the feast of the dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then surrounded him and began saying to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe the works that I do in my Father's names, these testify of me. But you do not believe because you're not of my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. So again he says, My sheep know my voice. I'm going to protect my sheep. They can't be snatched out of my hand. When they're in my hand, they're there to stay. If you're in God's hands, no one can snatch you out. Nothing can snatch you out. No one can nothing could take away your salvation. Nothing could take away the fact that you are one of God's. It doesn't matter what people try to say or or what people try to prove, if you believe and you receive and you know that you're a child of God, no one can take that from you. And also says that we will never perish, that we're gonna live forever in eternity with him. What a promise that is. Let's read verse thirty one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied to them. Jesus replied to them, I showed you many good works from the Father, for which of them are you stoning me? The Jews answered, We're not stoning you for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God. So Jesus said, Out of all the the things that I've done that I've showed you, the works of God that I've showed you, which ones are you stoning me for? And they said, None of those things. We're not stoning you for your works. We're stoning you because you're blaspheming and saying you're God. Jesus answered them. Has it not been written in your law, I said you are gods? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be nullified, are you saying of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into this world, you are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and in the f and I in the Father. Therefore they were seeking again to arrest him, and he eluded their grasp. He said, Look, don't believe what I say, just believe what you see. Don't believe my words, believe the works that you're experiencing, the miracles that are literally taking place. Believe those. And verse forty says, And he went away again beyond a Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and he stayed there. Many came to him and were saying, While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true, and many believed in him. So I have to jump back to verse thirty-four. Most of this podcast I'm trying to do without any prep, but on this one I needed to go do a little bit of prep. And that is verse thirty-four. Jesus answered them, Has it not been written in your law, I said you're gods? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and the scripture cannot be nullified, are you saying of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God? Jesus is referencing Psalms 82. He's saying, wait a minute, your own scripture uses the word gods for others. Psalms 82 says, I said you are gods, and all of you are sons of the most high. That's Psalms 82, verse 6. So Jesus is saying, wait a minute, your own scripture uses the word gods for others, and you accept that scripture as God's word. That's why he adds, and scripture cannot be nullified. Then comes this point. Are you saying of him whom the father sent, you are blaspheming because I said I'm the son of God. In other words, Jesus is saying if scripture itself can use the term gods in a legitimate sense, then you cannot automatically prove blasphemy simply because I called myself the son of God. If that language could legitimately be applied to them, how much more can Jesus use son of God for himself? And so he's saying, Look, your own scriptures call you or call others sons of God. So how come I can't use that reference to call myself son of God? But then Jesus isn't backing down from his his claim. He isn't saying, you misunderstood me, I'm just a God like everybody else. But quite the opposite. He says, If I do not do the works of my father, don't believe me. But if I do them, believe the works, so that may you may know and understand that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father. And that's quite the extraordinary claim. So John 10 really comes down to this Jesus is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep by name, his sheep know his voice, he leads them instead of using them, he protects them instead of abandoning them, he lays down his life for them instead of asking them to lay down their lives for him, and he came so that they could have life and have it abundantly. So maybe the question John 10 leaves us with isn't do I know enough about Jesus? Maybe it's simply Do I recognize his voice and am I following him? Because maybe finding Jesus again is really about learning to hear the voice of the shepherd again. Maybe that's a shift in our learning for this podcast because the whole idea is to find Jesus again. And maybe up to this point our idea has been to find more knowledge of Jesus. But really what we're learning today that we don't need to find more knowledge about him, but we need to learn. to hear his voice because he is the good shepherd. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Finding Jesus Again.