Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: John 10: 11-33 Dec. 15, 2024

Message: “The Shepherd and His Sheep!” 

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. As most of you know, we have been doing a series of messages on the pre-existence of Christ in preparation for Christmas. Today we are considering this passage about Jesus and His sheep.

2. After this discussion was all over, the unbelieving Jews picked up stones to stone Him. Before they could do this, Jesus asks them why they wanted to do this. 

a. Was it because of all the wonderful miracles He had done?

b. They answered: No, that was not the reason. The reason why they were going to stone Him was because He was blaspheming. It was because He “a mere man, was claiming to be God.”

3. In plain words, they did not believe the Christmas story that God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ just so we might truly get to know who He was and what He was like. 

a. In the passage we are studying today, Jesus claimed to be the good Shepherd who came to help and save His sheep.

b. Let us consider this passage together to discover how the deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ are both equally true, must be equally true, for Jesus to be our Shepherd. 

A. Israel was known for their sheep and their sheep pens. 

1. When a shepherd was not in the fields, he kept his sheep in a fenced in pen. The only way in was through a gate. Any animal or person who tried to climb over the fence was a thief or a robber. 

a. Sometimes the owner would hire someone to care for the sheep. But in times of danger, a hired hand would often run away. But the true shepherd would guard and even give his life to save the sheep.

b. Often, more than one flock might be kept in the same enclosure. When a shepherd came to get his sheep, only his sheep would follow him because they knew his voice.  Not only that, the true shepherd would also know his sheep. 

c. Think of a large nursery at a church or a lot of children at school.  Each child knows his parents and vice versa. So it was with a shepherd and his sheep. When he came for them, they would follow him and he would take good care of them.

2. In our passage, Jesus now applies this spiritually. First He compares Himself to the gate to God’s sheep pen.  He emphatically says in vs. 8-9: “I am the gate; whoever enters by me will be saved.” And whoever follows Him “in and out” will be led to green “pastures.”

a. But He immediately warns us of danger. “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.” Satan and his followers are like thieves. When a person choses to follow a thief instead of the Lord, he will get himself into real trouble. 

b. But Jesus is quick to add: “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly” (vs. 10). Only Jesus can help us find that abundant life. 

B. Secondly, not only is Jesus like the gate to heaven, He is also the good shepherd who willingly paid the price to get us to heaven.

1. Vs. 24 says: “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” 

a. But then He adds an unexpected statement. He continues “just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

b. God the Father and God the Son are in this together. Jesus cared so much for His sheep that He was willing to give His life to save them. 

2. Remember how a hired shepherd often ran away instead of protecting the sheep. Jesus would never run away. When Satan attacked us and led so many astray, Jesus could easily have said: “The price is too high!”  Instead He went all the way to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

a. Jesus was talking to some Jews. But He wanted all of us to know He cared about Gentiles too. That is why He adds in vs.16: “I have other sheep who are not part of this sheep pen. I must bring them too. They will also listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

b. In plain words, Jews or Gentiles, whoever listens to Jesus and follows Jesus will be saved the same way, through His death on the cross for our sins.

C. But Jesus makes sure we know He was not working alone. Our salvation was only possible with the Father’s help too.

1. In vs. 17, Jesus says: “The reason my Father loves me is because I lay down my life only to take it again. No one can take it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the power and authority to lay it down, and I have the power and authority to take it again. This command I received from my Father.”

a. You or I can’t say something like that. None of us know when or how we are going to die. None of us have any say in the matter. 

b. Even after we become Christians, we do not know how we will die or when. Only God knows that. 

2. While Jesus took on human form in order to qualify to die for us and pay for our sins, He at the same time agreed to do all He did long before the world was even created. 

a. Because He pre-existed with the Father from the very beginning of time, He agreed with the Father to do this and was given the power and authority to do it.

b. He wasn’t taken by surprise by Judas when he betrayed Him. He wasn’t powerless to stop the Jews and Romans from crucifying Him. But He knew it was the only way to save us. He voluntarily agreed to do it. Yes, He voluntarily laid it down, knowing He would be raised up. 

In Conclusion: 1. When the Jews heard all of this, they were divided. Some said: “He is demon possessed and raving mad.” Others said: “These are not the words of a man possessed by a devil. Can a demon possessed man open the eyes of the blind?” (See John 9: 1-41 and10:19-21)

2. The world believes Jesus was crazy.  But when God’s Spirit works in a man’s heart, he knows God is real and he knows the Lord Jesus is real. When a person comes to know the Lord is real, he begins to listen to the Lord and to follow the Lord.

a. Because David came to that place in his life where He loved and believed in the Lord, he wrote: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps. 23:1). Can you say that? Do you know and believe in your heart that Jesus is your shepherd? 

b. In John 10:27, Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” Can you honestly says: “I want to listen to and learn from the Lord Jesus. I know and believe He died to save me. I want to follow Him, and know I will go to heaven when my time comes because no one can snatch me out of His hand.”  Do you believe that?

3. That is the privilege of the Christian who knows and believes that Jesus opens the door of the gate to heaven and has the power and authority to lead us into heaven. 

All He asks us to do is to follow Him. Amen!