📖 John Chapter 10 — Jesus the Good Shepherd, the Door, and the Voice We Must Discern

Well, good morning everyone. It's Paul Woodley, and I hope you had a great weekend. Today is Tuesday, and we're going to get into the Bible study once again, and we're going to pick up where we left off in the book of John. If you're in Atlanta, I hope that— uh, welcome back, welcome back to work for all of you guys that are returning to work today. I know yesterday was a digital day, a lot of ice, a lot of people stayed home. But business as usual around here, sunny Atlanta, 18 degrees. So hard to fathom, especially if you come to Georgia expecting some warm weather. All right, so today we're going to be in John chapter 10. This is the passages where Jesus talks about how he is the Good Shepherd. Then he's going to talk about later on how he and the Father are one. And it will end in verse 42. So not a huge chapter, but a very important one as well. Now, if you've been tracking with us so far, Jesus is now at a point in His ministry where the Pharisees are seeking to arrest Him, and they're seeking to kill Him, primarily because He makes Himself out to be like God, calling God His Father. And He also is healing on the Sabbath, which is really bothering them a lot. Now, we came out of John 9, and in John 9, by way of review, this was where Jesus had healed that man who was born blind. And remember, his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" And Jesus answered him, and this is John 9:2, "It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the work of God," might be displayed in him. And then he went on to say, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. So he goes on in John chapter 9. He heals that man. They bring him— they bring that man to the Pharisees, and they're asking him, how did you restore your sight? And they asked this man many, many times. They can't believe that this man who was born blind can now see again. And they bring his parents in there. The parents are afraid of being thrown out of the synagogue. So they said, "Hey, one thing we can tell you, he is our son. How he regained his sight, we do not know. Ask him, he is of age." And then they had this dialogue with the man, and the man said, you know, I find this so interesting that you, you don't see what I see, that this man is of God. You know, how could he, how could he be a sinner if he can heal a man who is born blind? No time in history has that ever been done. And so They had said, picking it up in verse 34, they said, "They answered him, 'You were born in utter sin.'" This is them talking to this man who was born blind who now can see. "And would you teach us?" And they cast him out. And so this amazing miracle, and they just can't give glory to God, give credit to Jesus. And they're going back to their old fallacies, and they just can't— they're accusing this man that he's a sinner and he can't or dare teach them about God. So they cast him out, it says in verse 34. So they cast him out. Jesus circles back to the man. Jesus says to the man in verse 37, In verse 36, I'll pick it up. It says, "Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him, he said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' And the man answered," verse 36, "'And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?' And Jesus said to him, 'You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.'" The man in verse 38 says, "'Lord, I believe,' and he worshiped him." And then Jesus goes on to say, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." And we talked about what spiritual blindness looks like. If a person can't recognize the fact that they're a sinner and they need a Savior, then that person is spiritually blind according to this passage. And all other people who are religious, self-righteous, those are truly the blind. They are blind. So basically he's saying that if you can recognize the condition of your sin, recognize the condition of your situation, you're blind, but you will then see. You will see if you recognize your condition. So the Pharisees are around there, they're overhearing this in verse 40 of John chapter 9. It says, "Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him, 'Are we also blind?' And Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say, we see, your guilt remains.'" So the point is, If you are a sinner and you don't think you need help because you think that you can see things of God, that your salvation is in your religion aside from Jesus, then it says here, your guilt remains. So that takes us into John chapter 10. So John chapter 10, I'm gonna pick it up here. And we're going to hit another truly, truly. So remember, truly, truly, we want to pay attention to these because this is like the for real, for real. This is the pay attention, important subject matter coming up here. So he says, truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Verse 5: A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. Okay, so we'll pin it there since that's the section. This is chapter 10, verses 1 through 6. Let's unpack it. So going back to verse 1, Jesus is, um, he's talking here. It looks like it's a continuation of him just bridging from the previous end of chapter 9 where he's talking about spiritual blindness. Now he's saying, truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in it by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. Okay, so I'm going to borrow from my study notes here just to add flavor. Okay, so I'm going to start unpacking what the sheepfold really is because not all of us grew up on a farm. So it says Jesus spoke in, um, in sections 1 through 30, or verses 1 through 30, using a lengthy illustration drawn from the tending of sheep. The sheep were kept in a pen which had a gate through which the sheep entered and departed. The shepherd engaged a gatekeeper, verse 3, or hired hand, verse 12, as an under-shepherd to guard the gate. But those who wanted to steal or harm the sheep would attempt entrance by another way. The words of Ezekiel 34 most likely form the background to Jesus's teaching since God decried the false shepherds of Israel, example, the spiritual leaders of the nation, for not caring properly for the flock of Israel, example, the nation. The Gospels themselves contain extensive sheep-shepherd imagery. See Matthew 9:36, Mark 6:34, Mark 14:27, and Luke 15:1-7. So the idea here is you have this sheep pen, and there's just one doorway for the sheep to go in and out. And the owner of the sheep, of the farm, of the sheep pen, usually has someone he hires that is the gatekeeper, someone that is there to make sure that the gate is open and closed and that the sheep come in and out accordingly. And as sheep tend to do with shepherds is that they know their shepherd. They know their shepherd's voice. So that's why one single shepherd could command a whole entire slew of sheep, dozens if not hundreds of sheep, because they know who's taking care of them. They know who their shepherd is. So that's why it says they know their shepherd's voice. But here we have, as far as the sheep pen is concerned, you have somebody that's guarding the gate to make sure that only the sheep come in. So he says here in verse 1, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, right? So there's a door there, but climbs in by another way that man is a thief and a robber. So just like in the real sheep, if the wolves or the predators trying to get the sheep, they're most likely not gonna go through the door. They're gonna try to find another way to get inside. And so he is saying here that if a person doesn't come through the door, but climbs in by another way. So another way, he's not saying this particular way, but another way, it could be multiple ways. If someone is trying to come in come inside the sheepfold any other way, that man is a thief and a robber. Okay, so that's the imagery there. And of course, Jesus is talking to them in almost like a parable. He's giving an illustration here, right, for them to understand what he's talking about. He goes on to say in verse 2, 'But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.' So the only person that's going to go through this door of the sheepfold, of the sheep pen, is the shepherd. Only him. Only he has authority. Only he has access. So, 'But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.' So in these first two scenes, what are the subjects? We have a place, that's the sheepfold, right? The container, right? We have a door that is one in and out exit to go inside of the sheepfold, right? We have a third-party person named the man that's trying to climb over the fence, or just a generalization of a person, a thief and a robber, person that doesn't belong is trying to get inside without going through the door, and Jesus is calling that person a thief and a robber. And then we have, of course, the actual shepherd of the sheep, and that shepherd is the one, verse 2, who is at the door itself. Okay, verse 3: To him The gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Okay, so now we have here, going back to 2, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. So the person here identified as the he, 'Who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.' Okay, so now we know who that is, the shepherd. And it says, 'To him the gatekeeper opens.' That the gatekeeper opens, right? So we have the shepherd of the sheep, we have a gatekeeper, the gatekeeper sees the shepherd, and the gatekeeper opens the door. And then it says here, 'The sheep hear his voice.' Okay, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. So the imagery here is you have a sheep pen, all the sheep are inside, it's time to go out, right? It's time to leave the pen, all the sheep have to go out. The shepherd comes to the door, the gatekeeper opens the door, and the shepherd calls them all out by name and they follow out because they know it's okay. It's the shepherd's voice. Verse 4, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." That's verse 4, right? So what we're seeing here is we're seeing here that not all the sheep, really belong to this shepherd because he's calling them by name and only those that belong to him are gonna come. All right, so I'm gonna borrow from my notes here also just to add to this as well. So I'm gonna mention the gatekeeper, what that could mean, all right? So the doorkeeper was a hired undershepherd who recognized the true shepherd of the flock, and he opened the gate for him, assisted the shepherd in caring for the flock, and especially guarded them at night. Okay, so we're tracking so far. So we have the gatekeeper, we have the shepherd. Okay, now the part that talks about the sheep hearing his voice, the notes say near Eastern shepherd stands at different locations outside the sheep pen, sounding out their unique calls, which their sheep recognize. As a result, the sheep gather around the shepherd. In regards to, "He calls out his own sheep by name," Jesus's point is that he comes to the fold of Israel and calls out those who belong to him. In some way, They are already his sheep before he calls them by name. Okay. And that's referencing chapters 25 through 27, or chapter 6, verses 37, 39, 44, 64, 65, or chapter 17, verse 6, verses 9 and 24, or chapter 18:9 in the book of John. Okay. In contrast to Western shepherds who drive their flocks from behind, Near Eastern shepherds lead their sheep using their voice to prompt the sheep to follow. New Testament spiritual leadership is always by example, a call to imitate conduct. Reference 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Peter 5:1-3. So, but going back at the Scripture itself, as we see it face value, we see the scene here: a sheep pen, sheep, shepherd, gatekeeper, door. And we see that the shepherd's coming to the door, the gatekeeper opens the door, the shepherd calls all his sheep to come out, They hear their voices, they hear their names, and they came out because they follow him. They know his voice. So that's what we know. And we also know in verse 5, it goes on to say, a stranger they will not follow. But they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Okay? So, of course, this is an expression of how Christians, even in Israel here, how they know who to follow. How do you know who to follow really is the question of the day. How do I know that this person or that person is from God? How do I know if this person who says they represent God, is truly of God or not? How do I know? And this is where we call spiritual discernment. This is why we read our Bible, to help us get that spiritual discernment so we understand who is who in all of Christendom, in all of this religion, and even within the church. We know in other parts of Scripture that the devil disguises himself and the devils, the demons, disguise themselves as angels of light, for example. Which means that there are many of these type of individuals that actually are in every single church misleading the sheep. Christians kind of called sheep, and it's not bad to be a sheep, don't feel any kind of way, but we have these angels of light, quote unquote, that know some scripture and lead the sheep astray. That's the game, right? The game from the devil is to get someone in your midst that sounds Christian. I say call, they know the speech, they know how to speak Christianese, is how I call it, right? They say the things that sound good, but if you have discernment, you can discern whether this person is for real or not. And that's why another part of the Scripture talks about how Christians need to be like the Bereans, which is a sect back then in the New Testament where this church in Berea, these particular church, they were they were really into their word, and they always sought out through scripture to see if things were true. Which is my admonition for you, is that as you go through your journey, is that whoever you put yourself under, whether that be a teacher, a pastor, an elder, any other person that calls themselves of God Christian, is that you also are Berean-like, where you take what a person says, even what I say, and you go into the Bible and you make sure that that is true, that that lines up. I say that because in the book of Galatians specifically, Paul talks about how so many people follow another gospel, though it's not the true gospel. And he makes a distinction to say that there are many people that come in under the guise of being Christian, for example. They come in and they preach another gospel that is not the real gospel, and it's so similar. False teachers, is what they do is they take half-truths, or they take some of the truth, but then they mix in error. They mix in third-party information. It could be another book. It could be another explainer. It could be their own mind. It could be their own opinion. It could be whatever. And so it is twisted. The gospel is twisted. It is 95, 99% maybe true what they're saying, but it is not fully true. And so that's how they get you. They have you believing in something that is not true. And so you follow them, you follow this doctrine. This false doctrine. That's why it's so important that we always come back to the root, always come back to Jesus, because it's always about Jesus. It's about the very fact that the Son of God came down from heaven to die on a cross for the forgiveness of the world, sacrifice His blood as an atonement, so that whoever would believe in him will never perish and have eternal life. So we have— so it always boils down to that. If Jesus is something other than that, if Jesus is something other than your atonement, then you are probably following a different gospel, because Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection is the core of his mission, and we have to understand that to really call ourselves true disciples of Christ. So this is why I say all that, because we're talking about the Good Shepherd, how to distinguish the voice of Jesus, because there will be many people who says, "I've talked to Jesus, I spoke to Jesus, I've seen Jesus." But Jesus can't lie, and his character is clearly illustrated here in the Word. For a reason. So something might— and you can't even trust your own senses sometimes, your own human faculties, or your whole own heart, because the Bible says that it is wicked since birth and corrupt. So you might be a pretty religious person, maybe pious person, and you might have it for the most part going on, but I implore you not to fully trust yourself. And the Bible says capture every thought to the mind of Christ. So our goal here as Christians is how do we get this mind of Christ? How do I get a mind that whatever comes, whatever information comes to me, it's being filtered by the word of God so that I can distinguish true and false? Because that's really what life is all about. We can clearly see that even on TV with ideologies and politics. This is a— we talk about spiritual war per se. It's an ideological war. It's all about what you and who you believe in ultimately, right? So it's important that we understand how we can hear our shepherd's voice. And that's the point of this passage. That's what Jesus is trying to illustrate here. There's many, many voices trying to call you, trying to take your attention, trying to take you away from the true religion, which is really faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ. Right? So Jesus is saying now, He's kind of talking about, Who's the gatekeeper? Who's the shepherd? Who's the sheep? Naturally, all of these characters in this story here represent somebody, represents what we're dealing with, and we're going to learn who's who in a minute. But at face value, we're setting the scene of what is going on here. Why is Jesus using this illustration here? He's talking about the shepherd, And there are different kinds of shepherds. There's different kinds of sheep. And so he's making the illustration here that anyone who does not come into the sheepfold through the door and comes in any other way, he is calling them a thief and a robber. A thief and a robber, both one and the same. They came to steal. That's what a thief and a robber do. They steal. Some steal secretly, quietly. Some right up in your face like a holdup. Right? So now we go on to— I'm going to pick it up where I left off in verse 5. It says, a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him. He's talking about the sheep. They're talking about the shepherd's sheep that belong to him. They're not going to follow a stranger. They're going to flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Follow? Same thing with us. You will know who to follow and who not to follow. And you should flee from those whose voice is not of Jesus. Right? So what does the Bible say about one of the ways you can know if someone is of Jesus is the Bible says that anyone who does not confess that Jesus came in the flesh is not from God. Like, just that acid test, that litmus test, right? Anyone who does not confess that Jesus has not come in the flesh is not of God. That is one way. That's basically saying that if a person does not believe that Jesus left heaven like he said he did, 'cause he said he was the bread of heaven, the bread that came down from heaven, and now he was with the Father before he came here, right? Anyone who says that Jesus never left the spirit realm, the Godhead, left heaven, to be born a man, to be born and have flesh, is not from God. That's one way. This is what we learn in Scripture. So if I'm talking, if I go to a church, for example, and I'm hearing a message saying, oh, well, you know, Jesus was carnally made, for example, like me and you, you know, we had parents, right, like that. And he didn't come from heaven, I automatically know that doesn't line up with Scripture. I'm being Berean in that. I will go to my Bible. I thought the Bible said that he had no human father. I confirmed that, right? That's what we want to do here. So I won't hear that person's voice and I'll flee, right? So that's the whole idea. You have to, um, Christians, real Christians, born-again Christians, right? Not those that say they are, but truly are. They know, and God knows, but they know the Master's voice and they follow. That's what Jesus is saying. And He's saying that if they hear someone else's voice, they won't. That's the illustration here. All right, we'll pick it up in verse 6. It says, "This figure of speech Jesus used with them but they did not understand what he was saying to them, right? So we unpacked it here. Of course, we're looking backwards, we're looking hindsight, so you now know. But these disciples there, they, they're not tracking. Hopefully you and I are tracking because we have the full canon right here, but they're not tracking. So that's what's going on here in, in this, in this section. So verse 7, it says, so Jesus said to them— here comes another truly, truly— Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Okay, so now he's explaining. So we know so far he talked about there is a shepherd There's a gatekeeper. Jesus is saying to them, "Truly, truly, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." He's the door. Verse 8: "All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them." Right? All that came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. What he's saying is, prior to me being born here, guys, in 4 BC, prior to me arriving here on the scene, you guys have been following, or people, my people, have been hearing other people calling themselves prophets, and saying, "Follow me," and trying to tell you that there are a million ways to heaven and all this stuff— follow this idol, follow this religion, these are the ways to get to heaven, for example. All of the people that have come before me, Jesus is saying, He's saying they are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. And that's interesting because it's kind of illustrating here, showing here that even before Jesus arrived on the scene, there are some sheep that will not hear the voices of the false prophets, per se. They just won't hear it. And so He's saying that there are sheep here, they're mine, but I'm not here yet. But they're not going to follow that voice, those voices, because there's something in them basically that's keeping them away from all those others who came before me. Following? Verse 9, he restates what he said before. He says, I am the door. Before in verse 7, he says, I am the door of the sheep. Now he says in verse 9, Even shorter: I am the door. And then he goes on to say, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Okay. Let's go back to verse 10:1 to just put our minds back to the story. 10:1, where he says— 9, that's what we just read. In verse 9, this is John chapter 10, verse 9, he says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. That's what he said in verse 9. In verse 1, when we got started, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in any other way, that man is a thief and a robber. So he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door— now we know he's the door. He's basically saying anyone who tries to enter the sheepfold fold, other than through Me, because I'm the door, is a thief and a robber. Is a thief and a robber. Now He's saying here in verse 9 that if anyone enters by Me, the proper way, right? If anyone enters by Me, the door, he will be saved. Right there, before we even go over it, he will be saved. He's saying you got to go through the door, the proper door, not any other way. And in this case, the context could be heaven— people trying to crash heaven, trying to get to heaven some other way besides the door. He's saying that If anyone— again, he used the word anyone. He keeps saying this through all the Gospels. If anyone, whoever, if anyone enters by me, the door of the sheepfold, he will be saved. Not only will that person be saved, that person will go in and out of the sheepfold into pasture, and will go in and out and find pasture. Okay. Now, I will go use my notes here too, as well, to add some commentary, third-party commentary and flavor in regards to him saying how he's the door. I am the door. My notes say this is the third of seven "I am" statements of Jesus. The other two were in chapter 6, verse 35, chapter 8, verse 12. Here, he changes the metaphor slightly. While in John chapter 10, verses 1 through 5, he was the shepherd, here he is the gate. While in verses 1 through 5, the shepherd led the sheep out of the sheepfold, here he is the entrance to the fold, verse 9, that leads to proper pasture. This section echoes Jesus's words in 14:6 that he is the only way to the Father. His point is that he serves as the sole means to approach the Father and partake of God's promised salvation. As some Near Eastern shepherds slept in the gateway to guard the sheep, Jesus here pictures himself as the gate, the actual gate. Okay, all right, we'll go into verse 10. Now we're going to talk about the thief. He said, I am the door, right? So he's the door. He says in verse 10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." So now we know the nature of the thief, the nature of those that are trying to go inside the sheep pen without going through Jesus, the door. They're thieves and robbers, and they only come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But Jesus says in verse 10, he continues, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Did it say have it scarcely, barely? No, it didn't. It says abundantly. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. So that is one more promise that Jesus made, is that he came so that his sheep can first have life eternal life, but have it abundantly. It's an abundant life, and abundance means a lot of different things for a lot of different people, but it isn't the opposite— scarcity, right? He didn't come to make you poor per se. He didn't come to make you poor per se, though you might be poor. You might get poor. But he came so that you may have life and have it abundantly. Verse 11: I am the good shepherd. So now he's talking about how he is the good shepherd. So he's going in between. I'm the door, I'm also the shepherd. And I'm not just any old shepherd that doesn't care. I'm not a bad shepherd. He says, I am the good shepherd. And he describes what that means. He says in verse 11, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. Right? You tracking? So the difference between Jesus as a good shepherd and all other shepherds that are not good is that the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He's going to defend his sheep with all he's got, and even if it's going to cost him his life. And that's a depiction of what Jesus did on the cross for us. Okay, he laid down his life for his sheep because that was what was required as the Lamb of God so that the forgiveness of all those— the forgiveness of sins to all those who would believe could occur, right? That transaction that we call it imputation, the imputed righteousness that we get, the righteousness that was on Jesus, that as a divine Son of God, his righteousness is imputed onto us. And even though it doesn't make us sinless, because it's imputed, God sees us as righteous because it's His righteousness on there. He doesn't see our sin because we're covered, spiritually covered, a.k.a. by His blood. That's why we call, we talk about the blood of Jesus. So by His sacrifice on the cross as the Lamb, perfect Lamb of God who was sinless, God imputed Jesus' righteousness on us so that when God looks at us, He doesn't look at us as a filthy sinner anymore, that the wrath of God stays on us and that ultimately carries us to Hell, when God looks at us, he's not seeing our sin because he can't stand sin. He's holy. So we're covered by Jesus' sacrifice for us, for everyone on the cross. But there's only one simple thing a human being needs to do to get that imputation. To get that propitiation the Bible talks about, that substitutionary death, to get that is so easy yet so hard. But to get that involves belief and faith in Jesus Christ. That's what we call the gift. So he is the shepherd that laid down his life. And we see the difference between the good shepherd and the not good shepherd. Both are shepherds. The other shepherd is the hired hand. The other one is the hired hand. And I pause because unfortunately for many churches, at least in the Western Hemisphere, maybe all over, church has become very commercialized. They're hired hands. They're on payroll. And even though there are a lot of true believers working in that operation, and it is true that a pastor should be paid, you know, that is true. There are some that get jobs within Christendom at churches just because it's a job with no real missionary mission spirit per se, right? So only— I'm not judged and I'm not here to judge, but Jesus is making a distinction of two types of shepherds. There is the true shepherd, which is himself, and there's the hired shepherd. My question to you is, which shepherd are you following? Obviously, you know my answer. You should be following the true shepherd, which is Jesus himself. Which means you have to know Jesus. You have to know what he's saying so that hopefully you will believe in the real Jesus. Because since He arrived, there have been many false Jesuses, false Christs, Antichrists, and we're moving into this time frame in the world where there's more Antichrists than ever before, leading up to the singular one and only Antichrist. So even though that is a reality, it's more important that we know which Jesus is the real Jesus and who to follow. The hired hand, Jesus says in verse 12, is not a shepherd. Verse 12: He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd. So what's going on here is the owner has put in charge of the sheep a hired hand, but the hired hand is not really a shepherd. He's just there to do a job. And he goes on to say in verse 12, "Who does not own the sheep." So this hired hand, he has no vested interest in the sheep. It's not his sheep. He can care less what happens to the sheep. He's there to just get paid. So what happens for this kind of shepherd who's a hired hand? Still in verse 12, he sees the wolf coming. And leaves the sheep and flees. Following? He sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees for self-preservation. He's got no vested interest in this deal except for his money. He's only there to get paid. He's not doing what a real shepherd, at least the good shepherd who is willing to lay down his life, would do. For his sheep. This shepherd is scared and runs away. And so what happens when that happens? It says the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He snatches them and scatters them. They're helpless. They can't defend themselves because sheep can't defend themselves, real sheep. They scatter, he snatches them. They're at the wolf's mercy. Verse 13, it says, he flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. That's the nature of this hired hand shepherd. Now Jesus says in verse 14, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I'll read that again because I read that weirdly. Verses 14 and 15. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. Okay, so Jesus knows his own and his own know him, and he's saying that that's very similar to how he and the Father know each other. And then there's a semicolon there. He ends that sentence with, "And I lay down my life for the sheep." I lay down my life for the sheep. He goes on to say in verse 16, "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. All right, that is very good telling as far as I'm concerned. So here we have Jesus in the flesh. He's given this illustration in that time period. So he is doing miracles, teaching, people are following him, people are come believing in him, and He's saying that in verse 16, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. So the fold is the location. The fold in this context could mean— many people do believe he's talking about Israel. He's talking about the Israel nation, the Jews. The other fold of sheep, the other batch, are the non-Jews. We call them Gentiles. So he's saying here that I have other sheep that are not of this fold here in Israel. I have others, but I must bring the others to me. And he says, and they will listen to my voice. The Gentiles will listen to my voice as well. Not just the Abraham, seeds of Abraham, Israel. There are others. They will hear my voice. Why is that important to him? Because Jesus says here in verse 16, so there will be one flock and one shepherd. One flock and one shepherd. So whether you're Jew or Gentile, we're one flock and we have one shepherd. That's the point. So verse 17, he says, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. Why does the Father love Jesus? This is why: because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. Okay, I will just borrow from my notes here as well to, again, some commentary in regards to 'take it up again.' Jesus repeated this phrase twice in these two verses, indicating that his sacrificial death was not the end. His resurrection followed in demonstration of his messiahship and deity. According to Romans 1:4. His death and resurrection resulted in his ultimate glorification, as shown in John 12:23 and John 17:5, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as demonstrated in John 7:37-39 and Acts 2:16-39. So that is why the Father loves him, because he lays down his life so that he can take it up again. He goes on to say in verse 18, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. Okay? So He is giving us an inside look as to His relationship with God, His relationship with the Father. And He's saying that the Father has given Him this charge, like it's an order, to do all of what He did, to lay His life down and to take it up again. So He's saying, first off, He says in verse 18, "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord." Jesus died because He allowed it to happen. He could have clearly prevented that. He could have clearly brought in legions of angels to help Him out if He wanted to. He didn't have to do any of all of this. Going all the way back to Pontius Pilate and their dialogue and him getting whipped and scourged and all that stuff. He could have stopped that anytime. He could have, by his word, nuclearized everybody if he wanted to, because he can. Why do I say that? Because remember when he cursed the fig tree and the fig tree immediately started withering and died? So we know that he is the embodiment of the word of God, which means his actual words have extreme power because he is authority. Everything Jesus said happened. He could command the seas and the winds to obey and be quiet. Everything he said happened, obeyed him, everything at all times. The fig tree died. He cursed the fig tree because it didn't have fruit for him when he was hungry that one time, and the disciples saw that. So Jesus could have literally killed any opposition at any time just by saying it, but he didn't because that wasn't his purpose. He didn't come to try to prove he was God by force. He didn't try to cut, you know, like most leaders and rulers and dictators try to do. He's trying to say that true power— and this is a takeaway for you and me, especially if you're in leadership— true power comes in the ability to forgive. That's where true power— anyone can curse, anyone can whip, anyone can can hurt another with their words or their power or whatever, but true power is having the ability to be merciful. Let's put it that way. Merciful. Mercy. Having the ability to be merciful is more powerful than having the ability to not have mercy, let's say. Because mercy involves forgiveness. There's way more spiritual supernatural power in mercy than there is with a whip, right, or punishment. So if you want to be powerful in life, work on your mercy. Anyone can be a ruler for a season, right? So Jesus has authority, is the point. He has authority over his life, and he has authority to, once he's died, to— he calls it— lift it up again. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. You and me don't have that authority. We don't have— when we die, we can't say to ourselves, rise again. We don't have that authority, but he has that authority, and that's exactly what he did. And we know, and he's telling us how and why, because this charge I have received from my Father, verse 18. So verse 19 goes on, it says, there was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said— again, many of them said, he has a demon and is insane, why listen to him? Others said, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? So that's why there's a division. There's a division because they just obviously are not of his— they're not his sheep, number one. They don't want to believe. They can't believe. They're stuck in their religion. That is a takeaway. They're stuck in their religion that they can't see him for who he is. So others are being a little bit more realistic, and they're saying, well, they're going back to the miracles, and that's partly why he did his miracles. Is they're saying, well, how can— it says others said, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Right. Let's see, 21. Um, I have cross-reference on that. I'm going to look it up here in regards to, um, others said these are not the words of one who is oppressed by demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? So on that, can a demon open the eyes of the blind? There's reference to Exodus 4:11. Let me just pull it up here. Exodus 4:11. Let's see what that says. Exodus 4:11 says, then the Lord said to him— this is to Moses— who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Isn't that I, the Lord? All right, then we see another reference to Psalms 146:8. Psalms 146:8. Psalms is in the middle. Psalms 146:8, and that says The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. So that's a reference to the Lord opening the eyes of the blind. So there's a division amongst the people, right? Some just think he's has a demon and he's insane, and saying, "Why are we listening to him?" And then, if you think about it, he's talking like he's the shepherd, he's the gate, he's talking about the flock, he's talking to them in hidden language, and this is not common everyday vernacular. So they're like, "What is this jibber jabber?" That's why they're concluding that he has a demon, and is insane, right? Others said these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. And then we see how they, and rightfully so, they give us the nature of a demon. For example, the nature of a demon is to oppress a person. Oppress. Okay. Now, side note, we talked about this a little bit before, but we'll hit on it as we go on. We already have concluded just through reading Scripture so far, John chapter 10, that there's another race, the angelic race. And within the angelic race, we have two types of angels, big When I say two, I'm talking about we'll break them into two categories. There are subcategories, but the two big categories are holy and unholy. The holy angels are helping us and are in heaven, and they help. Their purpose is to help us Christians. Then you have the unholy, which we call demons. So when we say demons, we're really talking about unholy angels. They're still angels. The difference is that they're fallen. They're fallen angels. They're spirits, and they fell in the beginning when Lucifer was cast out of heaven. A third of them were cast out with him because they followed Lucifer, the devil. So I like to talk about that from time to time because we have to know who our enemy is, or our enemies, and it's not each other for the most part. It's really the puppeteers, if you will, of the world. We live in a world system that God has allowed the devil, Lucifer, to be the god of the power of the air, right? He's given him power to a degree. He can't do it all, but he could do a lot. And we have these demons that have been around since they were all cast out. They're all cast out of heaven, right? And we'll talk more about that, especially when we get into the demon-possessed people later down the road. But what they do is they oppress a person. They oppress. They can oppress you with illness. Usually it comes in the form of illness, and it always, practically always affects the mind. When a demon goes into a person, their minds go crazy. It's difficult to live life well when a person has a demon, because the demon is a real-life being in a person that is literally driving you crazy, per se. And today, the problem with today is that we're trying to put a clinical term to things when in reality, that's what's really going on. And the only way to really solve that is to be delivered, delivered by God himself. And we learn in the book of Romans that when it comes to willpower, we really don't have willpower. We talk about willpower all the time. You have to have willpower, you have to willpower. But in reality, we learn in the book of Romans that we don't have willpower, that the actual power comes from God. So we need God to help us through these things. So the point is here, they know demons, it's a thing, it's a reality then, it's reality today. Demons oppress a person, and they're saying here, this other part of the Jews that are counter-arguing that he's not crazy, he's not insane. They're saying— they asked the question, can a demon open the eyes of the blind? All right, so we're going to go on to verse 22. So now we change scenes. It says, at that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. All right, so what is the Feast of Dedication? I'm going to borrow from my notes. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, which celebrates the Israelite victory over the Syrian leader Antiochus Epiphanes, who persecuted Israel in 170 BC. He conquered Jerusalem and desecrated the Jewish temple by setting up a pagan altar to displace the altar of God. Under the leadership of an old priest named Matthias, in parentheses, his family name was called the Hasmoneans. The Jews fought guerrilla warfare, in parentheses, known as the Maccabean Revolt in 166 to 142 BC against Syria and freed the temple and the land from Syrian dominance until 63 BC, when Rome—Pompey—took control of the region. It was in 164 BC, on 25 Chislev (December, approximately), that the Jews liberated the Temple and rededicated it. The celebration is also known as the "Feast of Lights" on account of the lamps and candles lit to commemorate the event in Jewish homes. And in regards to him mentioning it was winter in this passage, John indicated by this phrase that the cold weather drove Jesus to walk on the eastern side of the temple in the sheltered area of Solomon's porch, which after the resurrection became the regular gathering place of Christians where they would proclaim the gospel. See Acts 3:11 and Acts 5:12. So verse 22 is where we're at right now. It says, at the time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem, It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said 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 name bear witness about me. But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 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. And then it goes on to say the Jews picked up stones again to stone him. We'll pause right there. How many times does Jesus have to be in this situation? They're picking up stones to stone him. They want to kill him. They don't like this message. They don't like the fact that he is connecting himself directly with the Father God. Right now we see here, there, there, he's talking in, in these stories, the shepherd, the gate, the door, the pen, and all of this. Some are getting it, some are not getting it. He's talking in code per se, and there are people around him that are like He is holding them in suspense because they want to know if He's the Messiah or not, because He's doing all of these amazing works. He's teaching with authority, and they're like, "Just tell us plainly. Just tell us plainly, are you the Christ?" Verse 24. And to that question, Jesus He answers them, "I told you. I told you already, and you do not believe." And then He goes on to say, we're talking verse 25 here, "The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me." The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me. So we pray in Jesus' name, amen. But Jesus is saying that He's doing the works in the Father's name. Okay, and he says that I do those works in the Father's name, and those works, they bear witness about me. The works do. The works are my business card. The works are my proof that I am who I said I am. But he says in verse 26, but you do not believe because you're not among my sheep. And he's connecting that to what he just talked about prior to— you're not my sheep. This is why you do not believe because you're not among my sheep. He goes on to say, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish. My sheep will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. So that's the promise of God. We talk about this, this John 3:16, right? We're going to see how if you're a Christian, how it came to be, how your salvation is, and why you should have assurance. And why if you're not a Christian yet, while there is still hope and the promises that no one can snatch you out of God's hands, right? Just because you're not identifying as a Christian today doesn't mean you're not what we call elect. Which is a whole separate conversation, right? We all were unbelievers at one point in time, even if you're born in a Christian home. So just because, if you're that person, just because you don't believe in Jesus, I always say that's just— always put a "yet," because it could be that you actually are But like that black swan or that ugly swan that looks into the pond, that story, and realizes that it's really a beautiful flamingo or whatever that thing is. It's like you just don't know. You just don't know yet who you belong to. And so hopefully my prayer is that through the scripture here, you will see that and you will be that. If you're listening to me and these words, not my words, but the words of the gospel, is making you feel some kind of way, giving you a desire maybe, that could be you being the sheep hearing his voice and you're compelled, you're drawn to his voice. Even if you call yourself an atheist, even if you call yourself whatever, non-Christian, if the words are keeping you interested, You're feeling drawn to it because it's kind of like a calling of sorts. You're hearing the voice. You're just probably struggling with your identity, your old identity, or the identity someone gave you, or the identity you believe in, right? But the point is, Jesus is saying that the reason why these people can't hear him or believe in him is because they're not his sheep. That's why they can't believe in him, because if they were his sheep, they would hear his voice and follow him. The promises in verse 28 for Jesus' sheep, he says, I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. So this goes on to also for you Christians, who struggle with the doctrine of salvation of, you know, once saved, always saved. This is clearly that. Once saved, always saved. You cannot lose your salvation if you're born again, like if you're a true believer. "I give them eternal life and they will never perish," he says, "and no one will snatch them out of my hand," Jesus says. Verse 29, not only are you covered by me, Jesus is saying, he says in 29, my Father who has given them to me— remember, the Father is involved in your salvation. It's the Father that gave you to the Son. He says, 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. And then he says, I and the Father are one. Me and the Father, we're one. It's not like, Father, I'm going to pick this guy, and the Father says, no, not that guy, and we're having a debate about, you know, who's going to be the sheep. There is no disagreement with God and Jesus. There's no disagreement. Jesus is saying that if you're his sheep, the Father and him agree that you're his sheep, and no one can take you out of their hands. No one. But yet people are afraid of so much things. And if they only knew that no one, nobody, no thing can ever separate you from the love of Christ, other scripture says. Here is a demonstration of what that means. So my prayer for you is that you have that kind of confidence that, hey, I might be on the struggle bus, but no one can take me away from God. And Jesus. So I rest in that, right? So he's saying this to the Jews who say, you know, um, tell us plainly. Verse 31. Now remember when he said in verse 30, I and the Father are one? Do you think he's trying to be PC here? He's trying to be politically correct with the most religious people on earth. He's there and he says, "I and the Father are one. I and God are one." Now they seem to be connecting the word Father with God, Elohim, and Yahweh. So now I think they're connecting for sure. Every time he says Father, they now know he's talking about God. And he says, "I and the Father are one." And in verse 31, the response was, "The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. So Jesus, instead of hiding himself like he did last time— remember, he hid himself and he departed, they couldn't find him— he continues the dialogue in 32. It says, Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of them are you going to stone me? So all these works you just saw, I've shown you, They're from the Father. So which of those works are you going to stone me for? So they said, the Jews, 33, the Jews answered him, it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. Boom! That's the verse that all of the Gospels, the whole story of Jesus and why he was crucified from a man's viewpoint was because of this. From the Jewish nation's viewpoint, The reason why they could not accept him as Messiah, or specifically as the Son of God, is this: "Because you, being a man, make yourself God." That's blasphemous. To them. It's blasphemous today for many people, religions, because how can man be God? That's the theological question, right? That's why he had to do this whole ministry thing and the miracles thing, whatnot, to show them He can. Verse 34: Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said you are gods?'" Okay. Verse 35: If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be broken, Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. And then it says in verse 39, again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. So now he puts on his cloak again, this invisible cloak, right? And he escapes their hands. All right, so I'm going to borrow from my notes again to just add some commentary. Aside from my own opinion. So verse 31, where it says, "The Jews picked up stones again to stone him," commentary says, "For the third time, John records that the Jews attempted to stone Jesus." And that's— the other two was in John 5:18 and John 8:59. Jesus' assertion in John 10:30, which we just read, that he was one with the Father, affirmed his claim to deity and caused the Jews to seek his execution. Although the Old Testament permitted stoning in certain instances, example Leviticus 24:16, the Romans reserved the right of capital punishment for themselves. as illustrated in John 18:31. Nevertheless, out-of-control Jews attempted a mob action in lieu of legal proceedings. So historically speaking, back then, only the Romans could execute a person. They were the occupying force. So that's why they had to bring Jesus to Pontius Pilate, who was the governor of Rome at that time. In that city to try to get him crucified, because they didn't have the legal authority in Israel at that time. But yet in this case, all the times that they're about to stone someone, they're taking it upon themselves to enforce capital punishment, but Jesus saves himself. Now, in regards to Jesus says in verse 34, remember he says, Jesus answered them. Remember, Prior to that 33, they said, "The Jews answered him, 'It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself out to God.'" So that's the setup. Jesus' answer to that was this. He says, "Isn't that written in your law?" And this is the passage in the law. "I said you are gods." And then Jesus explains that sentence, "I said you are gods." He explains it. He says, If he called them gods to whom the word came, and Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said, I am the Son of God? Now he's saying a lot here. They're just not tracking because they don't understand this concept of the Son of God. They don't understand that God has a son. And he's in human flesh. It's hard for them to conceive and believe. That's the whole point, even to this day. But Jesus can't lie. He can't, you know, he's trying to say it the way it is meant to be said, or who he is, right? He's saying in verse 36 that the Father consecrated him and that the Father sent him into the world. So that is, that's true, and they don't understand that, of course. And then he's saying that, how can you say I'm blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God when I am the Son of God, right? In verse 36. But in regards to, um My notes on 34 and 36. Remember, it says Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law this phrase, 'I said you are gods'?" So what is that? Where is that from? Well, that's quoted from Psalm 82:6, where God calls some unjust judges quote-unquote gods and pronounces calamity against them. This is an argument from the lesser to the greater. If mere men could in some sense be referred to as gods, little g, why would anyone object to the Son of God himself being called by that title? So Jesus is saying, you guys go around calling yourself gods. Even today people say that, oh, you're your own god, I'm God, and whatever, which which is dumb. Jesus is saying, well, the real God, the Son of God, why can't I take on that title? Why can't I say what I am, the Son of God? But again, he's just explaining to them, but they're just not tracking. He's confirming or reaffirming what he's always been saying, which is only adding fuel to the fire because he's not backing down from his identity. He's not backing down to his identity that he is the Son of God and that he and the Father are one. He's not backing down on that. And so it says here that they chose to pick up stones and they sought to arrest him, but he escaped their hands. Right now, verse 40, it says, And we're at the end here, just the last section. Verse 40: He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him and they said, John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true. And many believed in him there. And that's how John chapter 10 ends, right? All of that— he goes away, he goes across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the beginning. Says he remained there, verse 41. And many came to him and they said, John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true. And many believed in him there. And that sets us up for an even more fantastic chapter, which we'll, Lord willing, hit tomorrow, John chapter 11, about the death of Lazarus. So we'll end there. Let's pray, and we'll just pick it up tomorrow, Lord willing. Father, we thank you for this time in your word. Here we are in John chapter 10. Here we learn that you are the Good Shepherd. You've made a distinction of who is a good shepherd, that the non-good shepherd only seeks to kill and destroy, and the Good Shepherd would lay his down for his sheep, and his sheep hears his voice, and his sheep follows him. So, Lord, we thank you, and we recognize you as the true living God, the Son of God, the door, the gate, the Good Shepherd. And we pray, Lord, that you would give us discerning hearts and minds so that we could always hear your voice and follow you. And Lord, we know that this world is always trying to grab our attention, distract us, give us false gospels. Um, but we are thankful, Lord, that you've given us this word so that we can be like the Bereans and go back to the word to see if these things are true. And Lord, as always, as oftentimes as I do, should I have ever spoken in error, I pray that you strike it from the minds of the listener so that your holy word would remain in them and do its effect that you have purposed it to do since the beginning of time. I pray all these things in the matchless, mighty name of Jesus. Amen. All right, everyone, you have a great day. See you next time.