The Good Shepherd

John 10:1–21 – That You May Believe
First Sunday in Lent  – March 9, 2025 (am)     

Whose voice do you follow through the day? We all tend to follow some voice, don’t we, even if it’s just that voice inside our heads that seems to range pretty widely between a cruel taskmaster at some points and a lazy friend wanting company at others. Maybe we follow the lingering voice of a disapproving parent or sibling or spouse. Maybe it’s a respected boss or mentor or someone else whose life seems worthy of imitation, so you just fill in their voice yourself with what you imagine it takes to live like them. Or it may be the voice of someone you’ve never met but who has the resources to record and distribute their thoughts/opinions via podcasts or other social media. There are plenty of those!

Whoever it is, we all tend to listen to voices and shape our lives accordingly. We were made to do that, so it’s a pretty hard tendency to avoid. But today we encounter the One Who’s voice we really want inside our head, the One Who’s voice we need inside our head. Let’s study this text under three headings.

I Am the Shepherd

It’s not immediately crystal clear why John records these words of Jesus next. But we can make the connection by recalling the closing of c.9:39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. His point: the Pharisees weren’t who they perceived themselves to be. They thought they saw clearly. But not only was that not true, they were unaware it was not true. Three times in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus called them blind guides (Mat.15:14; 23:16, 24). And He’s identifying the same condition here—9:39 … For judgment I came into this world….

Now in c.10, Jesus begins illustrating what He means, turning His attention toward how it works, toward the impact these guys have on the people they’re called to shepherd: God’s chosen ones, those He’s called His sheep. And as Jesus speaks about these guys, having just called them blind (9:41), He picks up a new description that almost certainly would’ve been familiar to all of them, and not at all flattering. Eze.34:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel… and say to them…, Thus says the Lord God: … 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. … 11 [T]hus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. … 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel…. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down…. 23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them… and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God…. I am the Lord; I have spoken.

There’s God’s heart regarding the shepherds of His people. And He delivered similar warnings elsewhere (Isa.56:9-12; Jer.23:1-4; 25:32-38; Zec.11). Now these Pharisees were interacting with this man born blind in the way we just heard last week—no one even seemed to know him! Now, don’t force the details of this illustration; it’s a figure of speech (6), not a parable (Carson 1991 380). All Jesus is really saying in this opening statement (1-5) is, you can tell a true shepherd by how he approaches the sheep. Everything about his interaction with them is upright, for their good, and everyone can see it. Even the sheep know that to be true—they know his voice and that’s why they follow him (4). And he calls [them] by name (3). Do you hear the intimacy here? The shepherd has names for the sheep, to distinguish between them. Not only can he tell them apart from some other shepherd’s flock, he can tell them apart from one another.

Can you tell two sheep apart? Neither can I. But then, we’ve not studied the sheep like the shepherd does. You’re a curious one, aren’t you? I’m going to call you Sherlock. Or: You just can’t stay with the group, can you—always wandering off to explore something. Your name’s going to be Magellan. Do you hear the sweetness? Everything about the relationship between good shepherds and their sheep is like this. He’s guarding their good and it earns their trust. They know that following him will lead to restful green pastures and refreshing still waters (Psa.23:2). They don’t have any such bond with a stranger; they will flee from him (5).

This makes sense to us; we can see it and get the point. But John records: 5 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So, He went a second round with them (7-18). Not until v.11ff. did He identify Himself as the good shepherd (11, 14). And when He did, He spelled out again what that looks like in contrast to a hired hand who does not own the sheep (12) and so cares nothing for [them] (13). But even more impressive, He compares His relationship with the sheep to His relationship with His Father, which we’ve been hearing about since the start of John’s Gospel. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…. Wow, now that’s intimacy! And the insinuation is that, just as Jesus follows the Father’s voice, His sheep follow His voice. There’s the voice we should listen to!

I Am the Door

But that’s not the only way Jesus talked about Himself here. When they didn’t understand what he was saying, He switched up His figure of speech (6) for a moment and 7 … said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am their security, essentially (cf. 28), their protection. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, speaking most immediately of the Pharisees who interacted with the man born blind (c.9), but also many of Israels appointed shepherds throughout her history, but the sheep did not listen to them. We saw that. No, Jesus said: 9 I am the door, not just for their security and protection at any immediate moment, but to ensure their good across the board in their lives, to facilitate their well-at all times. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

I Lay Down My Life

But how does that happen? How does Jesus, the good shepherd, the door, not just provide good pasture for His sheep but save them and ensure their abundant life? I stopped in the middle of v.15 last time I read it. Let’s read to the end this time. But let me start all the way back in v.11 where we heard it first. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. That’s how He does it, or will do it. This good shepherd lays down his life to save His sheep, then He provides them with the very life they were created to live—abundant life, free of all threats and dangers of every sort. 12 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. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. There’s Israel’s leaders. But, by contrast, Jesus says: 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and, here it is again, I lay down my life for the sheep.

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again, or even in order that I might take it up again, or for the purpose of taking it up again (Carson 1991 388). Resurrection life is the overall aim, not just Jesus’ death in the place of all who believe. But equally important to note here, the love between the Father and the Son does not result from the Son’s death and resurrection as though it weren’t there before, or were somehow hanging in the balance. Rather, the love of the Father for the Son is eternally linked with the unqualified obedience of the Son to the Father, his utter dependence upon [the Father], culminating in this greatest act of obedience now just before him: the Son’s willingness to bear the shame and [disgrace] of [the cross], the isolation and rejection of death, the sin and curse [that was] reserved for the Lamb of God (Carson 1991 388). The Son’s will to endure the wrath of God which broke the power of death that held you and me in inescapable bondage has, throughout all eternity, been central to and seamlessly interwoven with the love between God the Father and God the Son. Jesus said: 18 No one takes [my life] from me, … 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.

And the salvation He provides is not just for this crowd that heard Him speak then divided over what they heard (19-21), nor is it just for Israel, the family-nation through which it was provided. It’s for all of us, and Jesus says so right here: 16 … I have other sheep that are not of this fold. He’s talking about the Gentiles, the vast majority of us who are in this room or listening today. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. We’ll be included with Israel in the salvation Jesus provides and therefore also in the abundant life (10) that produces!

When we trust in Christ, we have a good shepherd Who knows us, knows our name, lead, guides, protects, provides for, responds to, cares about, and so much more, both in time and throughout all eternity! He speaks to us through His Word and listens to us when we pray. He hears and answers with perfect wisdom, perfect love, perfect care. And He does it all willingly, at His own, highest cost.

Conclusion

His is the voice we should be listening to. And the more we listen the more familiar He sounds: the more clear His guidance, the more compelling His thoughts, the more persuasive His reasoning, the more enthralling His wisdom, the more we anticipate His responses!

And His instruction isn’t static; it’s dynamic! His Word isn’t bookish and limited; it’s living and active! (Heb.4:12) If we need particular wisdom in specific circumstances, He promises to provide it generously, to all of us, without [finding fault], if we’ll just ask Him, believing that His promise is true (Jam.1:5-6)

Whose voice do you follow through your day? If there’s any voice out ahead of the good shepherd, your days are nowhere near what they could be, and you’re surely not doing yourself any favors along the way.

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Resources

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Barclay, William. 1975. The Daily Study Bible Series. The Gospel of John, Revised Edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Beale, G. K., & D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. John, by Andreas J. Köstenberger, 415-512. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Bruce, F. F. 1983. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

                  , Gordon D. Fee, & Ned B. Stonehouse, gen. eds. 1995. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Gospel According to John, Revised Edition, by Leon Morris. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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                  , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. John, by Donald Guthrie, 1021-1065. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

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Dever, Mark. 2005. The Message of the New Testament. Ch. 4, The Message of John: Jesus, the Son of God, 101-122. Wheaton: Crossway.

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Martin, Ralph P., & Lynn Allan Losie, NT eds. 1999. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 36, John, Second Edition, by George R. Beasley-Murray. Dallas: Word.

Morris, Leon, gen. ed. 2003. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 4, John, by Colin G. Kruse. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Osborne, Grant, ed. 1993. Life Application Bible Commentary. John, by Bruce B. Barton, Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, & Neil Wilson. Wheaton: Tyndale.

Tasker, R. V. G. 2000. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Vol. 4, John. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

Tenney, Merrill C. 1976. John: The Gospel of Belief. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

NEXT SUNDAY: I Told You, and You Do Not Believe, John 10:22–42