The Good Shepherd still cares for his sheep

October 28, 2002

LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for Nov. 10

The Good Shepherd still cares for his sheep
___ John 10
___By Robert Creech
___University Baptist Church-Clearlake, Houston
___Israel considered God the true shepherd of his people since at least the time of David (Psalm 23; 80:1, 100:3; Isaiah 40:11). They also thought of political and religious leaders as shepherds assigned to care for his sheep. These shepherds were notoriously unfaithful, however (Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34). God promised one day he himself would shepherd his people (Ezekiel 34:15- 16). This imagery provides the background music for Jesus' final public discourse in the Gospel of John (10:1-42).
___The theme of Jesus as the true shepherd unifies this discourse. The division between chapter 9 and 10 is arbitrary. Without that division, a reader would assume that 10:1-18 was a continuation of Jesus' speech in 9:41. The temporal and geographical setting has not changed since chapter 7--Jesus is in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. The characteristic themes continue in 10:19-21 of the division among the people (7:12-13, 25-27, 40-43; 9:8-9) and of the accusation of Jesus' demon-possession (7:20; 8:48, 52).
___Jesus compares the religious leaders, Israel's "shepherds," to thieves, robbers and hirelings who want to use the flock for their own purposes (10:1, 5, 8, 10, 12-13). Jesus, on the other hand, is the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14), who regards the life of the sheep as more important than his own and who comes to bring them abundant life (10:10; Psalm 23).
___Jesus' assertions are striking. Israel considered God to be their Shepherd. Jesus emphatically claims that position for himself. Who would be willing to assume the role Jesus claims in John 10? He is the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep (10:14). He knows the Father and is known by him as well (10:15). Eventually, he will lay his life down for the flock (10: 1

5, 17-18). No one will take his life from him. He will freely give it. The Father has given him authority to lay his life down and to take it up again (10:18).
___Jesus' words hit the audience hard. The Pharisees divide over them. Some believe Jesus is a demoniac they must ignore (10:19-20). Others reason a demon-possessed lunatic could not heal a man born blind (10:21). The jury remains divided. They must reach their verdict by comparing Jesus' incredible claims with the testimony of his deeds.
___Two to three months pass between 10:21 and 10:22. Jesus is once more in Jerusalem, but it is now winter, the Feast of Dedication (the Feast of Lights, or Hanukkah). This festival developed following 165 B.C., when during the Jewish War for Independence Judas Maccabeus recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple.
___At the Feast, the Jewish leaders press their question directly: "Are you the Christ?" (10:24). Jesus claims to have answered this question many times by miraculous signs and testimony (10:25-26). These religious leaders are not Jesus' sheep, however, and do not recognize his voice (10:27). They refuse to believe in him (1:11).
___Those who recognize his voice and respond are his sheep (1:12). They receive the eternal life he has come to bring (10:28). They never perish. No one can snatch them from Jesus' strong hand. The Father holds them in his mighty hand as well, and no one can break his grip on them (10:29). Jesus then makes the climactic assertion of this discourse: "I and the Father are one" (10:30).
___His opponents do not miss the import of his claim. They sense in it the stench of blasphemy and begin to look for stones, intending to execute him on the spot (10:31). When Jesus asks for which of his miracles they wish him dead, they reply: "We are not stoning you for any of these, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God" (10:33). The reader, introduced to Jesus as the Logos in the prologue (1:1-18), knows their conclusion is faulty. Jesus is who he claims to be. These Pharisees, however, cannot see the truth.
___Jesus defends himself against the charge of blasphemy by playing with the words of Psalm 82:6, in which God calls earthly kings "gods" who will die like mere men (10:34-35). If such men as these can be called "gods" in Scripture, then why be upset by the claims made by one the Father himself has sent into the world and attested by miraculous signs (10:36-38).
___Once more, Jesus' opponents attempt to seize him, but because his hour still has not arrived, they are unsuccessful (10:39). Jesus then crosses the Jordan to the region where John the Baptist, the first witness on his behalf, had testified in the early days. The Baptist's testimony continues to bear fruit, as many come to believe in him (10:40-41, 42). Once more, John contrasts Jesus with the Baptist, assigning the Baptist an inferior role: "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true" (10:41). Despite the unbelief and opposition Jesus regularly encounters in Jerusalem, here many are ready to believe (10:42).
___Questions for discussion
___ What does the full, abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10 look like when his followers live it out?
___ How does Jesus' statement about his ability to keep those who believe in him (10:27-30) help you understand the security of your life in God?

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