seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 10:1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Suppose you knew a guy who had been born with only one arm. Suppose the body had a good shoulder, and a good hand, but no arm. OK... now suppose a another man came along and when the other man saw the guy with only one arm, he stopped and proposed a cure. Suppose the other man then took the guy's hand at the guy's shoulder and pulled an arm out of the guy's shoulder. How would you, as a bystander, deal with that?Back in the days of Jesus, there were no hospitals as we know them. There were no clean well-lit surgical suites. Doctors hadn't studied the eye as they have now. If a child was born blind, he was an outcast.... somehow shunned by God for something.... blind.... a throw away... blemished!!!!
The Pharisees painted Jesus as a liar from Nazareth. No one from Nazareth could be the Messiah. All the scrolls, all the prophets, all the teachings, even the law said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. All the babies born in Bethlehem had been slaughtered. Jesus could not be the Messiah.
Now the Pharisees could really go to town. This man was talking about being a good shepherd. A good shepherd wouldn't be hanging out in town making mud in the dirt and claiming to save others from their sin. They would paint him as a liar who has lost all concept of reality.
But the "sheep" Jesus is here to save are the ones who know He's going to take them to the greener pastures of Psalm 23. There are fakes out there now, that are pretending to be "good shepherds" but all they really want is a good lamb stew! Jesus will let His flock grass in the cool spring in pastures of tender grass, but the fakes want to steal the lives to fill their gullet!
Jesus offers tender grass and perfect sunshine. Jesus trims the wool with a perfectly sharpened blade, so the shave doesn't even irritate the skin. His flock knows Him. He knows His flock. He's got multiple flocks that follow His call. I wonder... are there any black sheep in His flock? What about a sheep that only has one working eye? Would Jesus still keep that sheep in His flock?
They called Him crazy for healing the blind man on the Sabbath. It didn't help that He babbled on about being the Son of God or the Good Shepherd. He just wouldn't follow the rules. He knew they would hang Him on the Cross if He didn't calm it down. But He just could not let that man go one more day without sight. One of His flock needed healing and He was going to get that healing done, even if the wolves were right at the fence.
These verses are known as the "good shepherd" verses. They confuse everyone who stays awake long enough to be confused, on any given Sunday.
The Good Shepherd of Psalm 23!
