We have a problem with the text today, and just take my glasses off.
How many people here own sheep?
Gary just said that. You don't really own sheep, do you?
You do? His wife says no, so there you go.
Nobody here owns sheep.
How many people have ever owned sheep?
Oh, look at that. Three people here have owned sheep.
That's pretty neat, actually.
How many people here know a shepherd?
You know a shepherd. There you go.
Okay, you have one person.
And just as a, you know, I mean, this isn't a big stretch.
Between now and going home, probably none of us will see a sheep as well.
So we have a Bible text about sheep, like what's up with that?
It's a bit of a problem if you think about it, isn't it?
In fact, it sort of struck me all week.
If I had some of my non-Christian friends, if this was to be the Sunday that they were going to come,
I could just imagine them saying, George, what's up with the sheep?
Because it doesn't seem like a very 2018 post-modern urban Ottawa type of analogy.
And there's a really big cultural distance here.
And my family will tell you I am not good with animals.
We have animals because I have a wife who's good with animals and loves animals.
If it was just up to me, and I guess my kids are good at it.
If, you know, if my daughter moved out of the house and my wife died,
all of our animals would die just because of my incompetence.
Not on purpose.
I'm just not good with animals.
And here I'm going to have to talk to us about sheep and shepherds.
So I need your help.
We need to all be a little bit, you have to be a bit patient with me.
And we need a little bit of help to try to bridge this cultural difference.
But just before we get into it, what might seem like a weakness
that Jesus is going to spend a lot of time talking about sheep and shepherds,
what might seem like a bit of a weakness, if we think about it for a second,
is actually a bit of a strength.
Well, how does that work?
Well, it works in this way.
This isn't a George book.
And this isn't just a book written for 2018 people who live in Ottawa.
It's a world book.
And it's a history book.
It's a book that this biography of Jesus has spoken to people for 2,000 years almost
and in many, many, many different cultures.
And because the words of Jesus address not just people in Ottawa right now,
but many, many people throughout the world and throughout time,
it means that sometimes we're going to come to parts of the Bible
that don't resonate with us very well.
There's just a big cultural gap.
But for many other people, they would resonate with this very, very well.
They might have problems with other parts, but this part, they'd really latch on to it.
They'd catch some of the shock of what Jesus says.
And even the analogy, it's funny, he doesn't say, I am the shepherd of the llamas.
I'm not a llama herder.
I looked this up in an encyclopedia, so it must be true.
And in the encyclopedia, it said that sheep are probably the very first four-legged domesticated animal
in the history of human beings.
Very first.
And that basically, wherever the Bible has gone, there's always been sheep.
And there's a billion sheep in the world right now.
Other than a few little islands in the Pacific where it's very, very hot, sheep are very common.
It's the most common four-footed domesticated animal.
And so it's very interesting, isn't it?
Because if you've been following along, if you're a guest here, you might not know,
but if you've been following along with the way Jesus teaches,
he teaches with very, very simple, basic words and concepts and ideas.
He gives them very brand-new meanings, and he touches our hearts with them,
but he talks about a word.
He talks about light.
He talks about life.
He talks about bread.
He talks about water.
And now he talks about sheep.
A bit of a stretch for us, but for many people throughout the world and throughout history,
it would be something to go, oh, I know all about sheep.
I know all about animals like sheep.
What's he going to be saying about it?
So it's a bit of a stretch for us, but let's look at it.
And the first thing we have to understand in this text is that Jesus is critiquing religion.
That's the first thing.
Believe it or not, the very first thing he does is he critiques religion.
So if you turn in your Bibles to John 10, verse 1.
Actually, we're going to start looking a few verses before this,
because it's only if you see what went on before this that you realize that he begins by critiquing religion.
I love telling my skeptical friends this when I finally get a chance,
those who are very, very skeptical about religion.
I saw a great line about religion the other day.
religion is foolish questions, foolish answers to foolish questions.
And I love trying to tell my skeptical friends that actually that Jesus constantly critiques religion.
Like they can't actually surpass Jesus in his critique of religion.
And so if you look at what just goes on right before what we're going to be looking at,
look at verse 35 of chapter 9.
And what's just happened here is Jesus has performed a miracle.
I know for many people in our culture, they have a hard time believing this,
but this is Jesus performs a miracle.
He performs it, and it's investigated by skeptics.
And the religious people just rejected out of court,
even though there's compelling evidence that Jesus has really performed a miracle.
For religious reasons, they just refuse to accept the evidence,
and they react to the evidence by casting abuse on the people who've been giving the evidence.
And so here's how it goes then.
Verse 35 of chapter 9.
Jesus heard that they had cast the man out.
And having found him, he said,
Do you believe in the Son of Man?
And the man answered,
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.
And the man said,
Lord, I believe.
And he worshipped him.
He worshipped Jesus.
Verse 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.
He's really referring to those who believe they see.
They're really blind.
We talked about that last week.
I'm not going to go into it.
But here's the key thing coming up.
Verse 40.
Some of the Pharisees,
those are like experts and very, very religious people,
and just very religious, very knowledgeable, very devout.
And so some of these very devout religious people
heard him say these things,
verse 40,
and said to him,
Are we also blind?
And as I talked about last week,
it's a sneer.
It's not a sincere question.
It's sort of a put-down question.
And Jesus said to them,
If you were blind,
you would have no guilt.
But now that you say we see,
your guilt remains.
And now,
what happens next?
Now,
the way John writes,
it's not clear if this is immediately after that,
or maybe it's a day later,
and he's just talking to his disciples,
or an hour later.
But immediately after that,
what does Jesus say?
Right?
He's just said to these people,
the religious people,
the devout people,
the spiritual people,
the people who are experts and knowledgeable,
they've just been sneering to him.
And what does Jesus say?
Truly,
truly,
verse 1 of chapter 10,
Truly,
truly,
I say to you,
he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door,
but climbs in by another way,
that man,
that man is a thief and a robber.
That man is a thief and a robber.
It's a direct challenge to the religious people.
And,
if they had been there to hear it,
they would have understood that he was directly,
I mean,
he was calling them thieves and robbers,
violent people who steal.
They look like they're really good,
but they're not.
They're not.
So,
but what's up,
George,
with the sheep thing?
You know,
that's very good.
Okay,
so Jesus is critiquing religion.
You know,
my skeptical friends always look a little bit puzzled at me
about how I would say that Jesus is critiquing religion
when they would say that I'm religious.
And sometimes I get a chance to talk about that.
Sometimes I don't.
But they might be saying here,
well,
George,
what's up with that?
I mean,
Jesus is a religious figure.
And,
I mean,
maybe,
George,
the way he's a religious figure is he just says absurd and fantastical things.
He answers foolish questions with foolish things.
And he starts talking about sheep.
And we don't relate to sheep here in Ottawa,
George.
It's just sort of not part of our life.
So what's going on?
Well,
let's look.
Like,
is there something here that Jesus is saying,
which is very pointed,
that helps to understand,
help us to understand our lives?
And why it is that he would critique religious people?
Well,
let's read verse one again.
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's brought out all his own,
he goes before them,
and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice.
A stranger they will not follow,
but they will flee from him,
for they do not know the voice of the sheep.
The voice of strangers.
This is so cool,
then,
what John puts in here.
This figure of speech,
Jesus used with them,
but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
I love that little aside,
because there's lots of times I don't understand the Bible.
In fact,
I puzzled over this whole text of chapter one,
chapter 10,
verses one to 20.
It took me a while to sort of figure it out.
And it was very helpful that John just says,
by the way,
the people who were with Jesus right then,
they didn't understand what he was talking about.
But one thing he says,
you have to understand,
he's talking in figurative language.
He's using something like a parable.
And so,
John mentions this,
and maybe if you'd gone back in the time machine,
Jesus could have just told by the glazed look in the eyes of the disciples
that they weren't getting it.
Maybe one of them asked a question,
and John just doesn't record it.
But Jesus now makes it clear to them what he's talking about.
Look what he says in verses seven to 10.
So Jesus again said to them,
truly,
I say to you,
I am the door of the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters by me,
he will be saved,
and will go in and out,
and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal,
and kill,
and destroy.
I came that they may have life,
and have it abundantly.
And just sort of pause there.
Just before I make my first point,
the way this is written in verse 10,
verse 10 is like a hinge.
It connects the sort of the imagery of the sheepfold in the door
with an other set of images that Jesus is going to give in a moment.
And so in a sense,
verse 10 summarizes those first images,
and verse 10 also helps us to understand the following images.
It's like a hinge.
And it's a very important hinge,
because while Jesus critiques the religious people,
he doesn't critique religious people or spiritual people because he hates them.
He's for you.
He's for me.
He's for us.
His goal and his desire is that we will have abundant life.
And so even when he says things which are a bit offensive to us,
even when he says things which are confusing,
even when he says things that we don't like,
everything he says and everything he does
is motivated by the fact that he's really for you.
He's completely for you,
and he loves you.
Everything.
It's one of the reasons why it's always worth your time
to try to puzzle over what on earth is going on,
because if we puzzle through it,
and pray through it and try to obey it,
it will take us to a place
where Jesus begins to give us more abundant life.
So,
what's up with all this stuff, George?
You said it sort of makes some sense,
but there's sheep flocks and gatekeepers
and all of that type of stuff.
Well,
I'm just going to warn you,
the first thing that we're going to see
when we actually think about this
is that it's going to be very offensive to us,
to Canadians,
but if we just take a moment with it,
because it's all about abundant life,
and think about it for a second,
we'll realize that what begins to offend Canadians
is actually something which is profoundly good news.
It's very, very wonderful, important news.
If you could put up the first point, Andrew,
what is it that Jesus is talking about here?
The first point is this.
There is a great unbridgeable wall
between God and me,
and Jesus is the door
by which I can enter into God's realm,
and his realm can enter into me.
There is a great unbridgeable wall
between God and me,
between God and you,
and Jesus is the door
by which I can enter into God's realm,
or you can enter into God's realm,
and his realm can enter into you
and enter into me.
That's what he means.
Look at it here in verse,
the very first few words of verse 9.
I am the door.
Now,
this is a,
this is a very, very big claim
that Jesus is the door,
and there's no other way
to enter into God's presence
than by him,
and there's no other way
for God's presence
to really enter into us
except by him.
And part of the problem we have,
I mean,
it's offensive to us,
especially in Canada.
We're very, very used to pride
and arrogance.
We're very, very used to favoritism.
We're very, very used to
exclusive claims
that causes all sorts of violence
and all sorts of wars.
And so,
the initial way
that we hear something like this
is actually very frightening.
But once again,
it's very, very interesting
what Jesus says here.
The door is, in fact,
one of the most common things
we can come across, isn't it?
He is the door.
I mean,
the door is the way
we get from outside of the building
into the world outside.
It's the way we entered
into this building.
It's a passageway.
And in movies
and in stories
for centuries and centuries,
not obviously movies
for centuries,
but in stories
and in movies,
it's a very, very common idea,
isn't it?
Like,
just about every fantasy novel,
doesn't just about
every fantasy novel
involve some person
who gets to enter
through a door
and through entering a door
goes into some other type of world?
Maybe there's a person,
a young girl
who's just,
I don't know,
she's having sort of
a miserable life
and someday she goes,
she gets a ring
or she gets a staff
or she gets a diamond
or she has some old keepsake
from her great, great granny
and she comes to something
and she enters through a door
and in that other world,
she's not just a nobody,
but in fact,
she's some very special person,
some very, very powerful person,
absolutely essential
to that world.
How many science fiction movies
involve,
I mean,
right now in Netflix,
you could go to Lost in Space
and watch Lost in Space.
It's a common trope
that there's some terrible tragedy
afflicting Earth
and there's going to be
some way into another place
which is safe,
but once again in that,
it's not that everybody
on Earth gets to go,
but only a special person
or a special few,
only the best,
get to go on the spaceships
to get through it
in a sense a door
into that better world.
And so it's a very,
very familiar idea
that Jesus talks about.
It's something that we are
very, very familiar about
and it's funny
because on one level,
when we see the same idea
in fantasy,
we don't find it problematic,
do we?
When we see the same idea
in science fiction,
we don't find it problematic.
And part of the reason is
is that the way the movies
and the stories are designed
is for me to think,
yes, I'm that unimportant person
that nobody really matters
and I can enter into this world
and I can pretend
that I'm very, very special
and I get to go
into this different world.
But you see,
here's the thing about this story.
Those stories might be all right.
We might think,
oh yeah,
I'm that special person
that goes into that special world,
but after we close the book
and go about our daily life,
we go back to our job
at Starbucks
or we go back to our job
at Tim Hortons
or we go back to cubicle land
and our boss thinks
we're a nobody
and doesn't like us,
like we come back
to real world.
But here's the thing,
Jesus is,
Jesus,
this,
he really lived,
he really existed
and his death upon the cross
and his resurrection
vindicates what he says.
And he doesn't just say,
like,
in this world,
for many of us,
we're often passed over
and maybe if we're blessed
to have a wife
or a husband
or some really good friends
who think we're special,
many, many people
in our world
don't feel very special
and are constantly passed over.
And Jesus says,
he doesn't say,
I'm just the door
for the special people.
I'm the door
for the unique people.
I'm the door
for the exceptional people.
I'm the door
for the beautiful people,
the rich people,
the powerful people.
He is the door.
And the implication is
is that ordinary people
like you and me,
if we respond,
he wants us to come through.
Ordinary people.
And this whole idea,
I mean,
it's,
we would rather hear
Jesus say to us
that we have the spark
of the divine in us
because we're all special
and wonderful,
but that flatters our vanity.
But we know it's not true,
don't we?
Like,
we know it's not true.
And in our culture,
we don't really like the idea
that there's this inseparable,
unbridgeable wall,
a wall that we cannot climb,
that we cannot dig under
to be into God's presence.
But on one hand,
isn't that what we experience?
Like,
Jesus isn't saying something
which goes against our experience.
He speaks to what is our experience.
There is this great divide
between God and human beings.
And the wonderful news here
is that Jesus says,
I am the door.
Yes,
there's this unbridgeable wall,
unscalable wall,
a wall that you cannot batter down
and a wall that you cannot dig under.
And it keeps human beings from God.
But I am the door.
I am the way by which
when you enter through the door,
you enter not just
into God's presence,
but into his realm.
And that God's realm
enters into you
and to me.
Jesus is going to talk more about this
in a couple of chapters.
But it's a very,
very important world.
You see,
it would just be like
a refugee
in a refugee camp.
And maybe they don't speak
any English
or any French,
one of the two official languages
of Canada.
But one day,
they get the good news
that they've got this
means by which
they can come into Canada.
And they come to Canada
to be Canadians.
They come to Canada
and they usually want
very,
very quickly,
as fast as they can,
to start to learn
English or French
and to learn how to drive
on the right-hand side
of the road
and to learn how to fit in
with our culture.
You see,
that's what God does with us
is that Jesus causes us
not to enter through the door
where we enter into God's realm
and we start to learn
his language.
We start to breathe his air.
We start to eat his food.
We start to learn his customs.
We start to learn his character.
We start to learn his habits.
We start to become citizens
of his realm.
And Jesus isn't just a door
by which we enter
into God's realm,
but he is also the means
by which God's realm
enters into me
and into you.
But there's more here than this.
And here,
just before we say
about this other part,
before we move on
to the latter part of the story,
here's a full disclosure.
And for those of you
for this,
this is Church of the Messiah
is your church home.
This isn't a surprising statement,
but if you're a guest,
I have to say this
because of the very next thing.
We are a very imperfect church.
And I am a very imperfect pastor.
And if you're a guest here
and you've come here
because you're looking
for a perfect church
with perfect people,
you're going to be
very, very unhappy with us
because we are an imperfect church
with imperfect people
with an imperfect pastor.
And I mention this
because of the other powerful image
that Jesus uses here
as he gives a description
of the church.
If you could put up
the next point, Andrew,
that would be very good.
Jesus says,
Jesus calls you
to be led by him
and belong to a good local church
as his sheep
in his flock,
in his fold,
with a shepherd
led by him,
the good shepherd.
See, Jesus begins
by critiquing religion.
He begins by critiquing
the spiritual people,
the religious people.
And he does it
because at the end of the day
he wants them to understand
that what they're doing
is endangering their souls
and it's robbing them
of abundant life.
Everything he says
is connected to his desire
that even the religious,
even the spiritual
will have abundant life.
That they'll actually know God.
That they won't just sort of
invent religions
on one side
of an unbridgeable wall,
which is just what
religion and spirituality is.
It's inventing stories
to give themselves power
on one side
of an unbridgeable wall
that doesn't actually
take them to God.
But once we enter
through the door
and enter into his realm,
well, there's this other
very powerful image,
which is the image
in verse 8.
Verse 7,
we'll read it.
Truly,
Jesus said to him,
Truly, truly,
I say to you,
I am the door
of the sheep.
Verse 7,
I am the door
of the sheep.
So Jesus isn't just
the door by which
we enter into God's realm.
He's the door
by which we enter
into the sheepfold.
How we become his sheep
who are part of his flock,
who enter into a sheepfold.
It's an image of the church.
It's an image in a sense
of what the local church
is supposed to be,
that we are to be,
understand that,
well, I'm a sheep.
I'm part of a flock.
I'm both,
the images get a little bit
mixed up here,
but I'm also a shepherd.
In the original language
here,
if you look at verse 2,
he who enters by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep.
In the original language,
there's no the.
And when they write it
into English,
they have to add something there,
otherwise it doesn't
make any sense.
But what it's describing
isn't the good shepherd,
it's just describing
a shepherd.
It's describing a pastor.
The word we get pastor from
is the same word
that we get shepherd from.
And so Jesus says
that we become saved
by entering through him
into the presence of God
and into his realm,
and his realm begins
to enter into us.
And Jesus doesn't call us
just to follow him
all by ourselves,
all by our lonesome.
We're not saved alone,
but that he always leads us
into a good local church.
You see,
being part of a good local church
isn't an option
for Christians.
Sheep don't survive
in the wild by themselves.
Domesticated sheep
don't survive in the wild
by themselves.
They die.
It's a general rule.
They die very quickly.
Sheep have to be part
of a flock,
and they need a shepherd
to care for them,
and they need to have a fold.
And so this is an image
of the church.
Jesus calls us
to know him,
and it's the way
that we enter
into the sheep fold
as sheep,
part of his fold.
And his intent is
that Christians
are in a fold,
a local church,
with other sheep
as part of a flock,
and the shepherd
is to be led by him.
That's why at the beginning
of this I prayed
not that you would want
to hear more of my voice,
but want to hear more
of the voice of Jesus,
because it's the voice
of Jesus that we need
to follow.
And we hear that
by hearing the scriptures.
So,
some of you might say,
well, George,
that's all very,
very interesting,
but there's one thing
I do know about sheep,
George,
is that,
as a general rule,
George,
sheep aren't pets.
And the little I know
about farmers
is that farmers
are very practical people,
and if they have a dog,
it's probably a dog.
I mean,
it might be that they're
affectionate towards the dog,
but the dog has some things
that they want the dog to do,
and if they have chickens,
well, George,
those chickens
will eventually
be on their table.
even if they let the kids
name the chickens,
the chickens will be
beheaded and plucked,
and then eventually
cooked and eaten.
And the cows,
and, well,
George,
sheep are for the,
first they'll be shorn,
and then eventually
they'll do something
that involves eating,
and some aren't even
really for shorn very much.
They're just really,
so we can have
really tasty lamb chops.
So it's a bit of a gruesome image,
George,
isn't it,
to think this?
I mean,
that all sounds
very,
very nice,
and probably when you
city people are all,
we're all,
we city people,
we're all listening
to this image,
and maybe we think
of our pet puppy
or our cat,
which,
of course,
here in Ottawa,
we don't generally,
in fact,
not generally,
I don't think anybody
in Ottawa eats their dog
or eats their cat,
and so,
George,
this is a very,
very,
this is a gruesome image,
really.
It's not very helpful image
to think that I'm a sheep,
and,
in fact,
George,
this just sort of fits
with what often goes
with religion.
Doesn't often religion
involve some people
thinking they're special
and they use all these
religious languages,
but all it's doing
is leading sheep
to the slaughter.
George,
isn't it true
that in much of Indian history
there were these Hindu princes
and religion sort of validated
that they could live
unbelievably rich
and opulent lives
where most of the rest
of the people
just suffered.
George Buddhism,
I mean,
it's very popular here
in North America,
but didn't functionally,
Buddhism,
and in most of the countries
that were Buddhist,
once again,
allow some people
to live very,
very,
very opulent lives
while the rest
of the people
had to just suffer
with what they were doing.
If you've read,
if you've seen that thing
on Netflix yet,
the Wild Wild Country
about the Bogwan,
George the Bogwan
had 94,
I looked it up
just to check,
some debate is
whether it had 93,
94,
or 96 Rolls Royces
while his people
worked 12-hour days
in bunks.
And George,
we don't have to go that,
isn't it?
You know,
George,
haven't you been corrected
about speaking a little bit
about financial giving
in the church
and how for many
French Canadians
it's a hard thing
to hear a priest
talking about giving money
because for so many
generations in Quebec
the priest
kept the people poor
so other people
could continue
to be rich.
And I could add
my own stories.
I've had to counsel
lots of different women
who've talked to me
when they found out
that I was a pastor
because they've come
from very,
very conservative churches
where they were
in an abusive marriage.
The man was abusing them
and the elders
of the church
told the woman
she couldn't leave
her husband
or divorce him
that even though
he was terribly abusive
she had to go back
to him.
And those are often
from people
who are very reformed
and believe the Bible
is God's word.
And George,
you know,
George,
what can you say to that?
George,
the images just don't work.
Well,
that's,
you know,
it's so amazing.
Jesus is just so wise.
And because he begins
with these images
and remember,
I mean,
I say these things
but all of the people
who are there,
they know sheep,
they know that sheep
are for sacrifice
and for eating.
And some of those things
must have been going
through their mind.
They say,
Jesus,
why don't you call,
this is me,
not,
I mean,
I don't know
what they would have said.
Like,
we would be much more
comfortable if he said,
you know,
I am Dr. X
and I'm going to make you
mutant superheroes.
Or,
you know,
I am Steve Job
and I'm going to make you
all Google engineers
cool with lots of money.
You know,
or,
you know,
I am whatever
and I'm going to make you
all supermodels.
Or,
you know,
I am,
I am the Bill Belichick
of the New England Patriots
and I'm going to make you
football stars.
I'm going to make you
all into Tom Brady's.
Like,
that's what we'd like,
not defenseless sheep
that just get eaten.
But listen to how Jesus goes on.
Look at,
look at,
we'll read verse 10 again.
The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly.
He knows that that's what
religious people do
and spiritual people,
and not just religious
and spiritual people.
I mean,
if,
if what I sometimes say
to my,
my secular friends is,
you know,
listen,
I,
I know that Christianity
has a pretty terrible history
but I just have to mention
Mao and Stalin
and Hitler
and Cambodia
and the great carnage
that's going on
in our own country
around life issues as well.
So it's a human problem
and Jesus is very familiar
that there's this problem
powerful human problem
of thieves and robbers
and wolves.
And he says again in verse 10,
the thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly.
Then listen to what he says,
I am the good shepherd.
Verse 11,
the good shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep.
He was 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.
He flees
because he has a hired hand
and cares nothing
for the sheep.
Just pause.
Jesus knows the world
is filled with thieves
and robbers and wolves
and he knows
that there's thieves
and robbers and wolves
and that they're present
in universities
and they're present
in churches
and they're present
in religion,
they're present
in spirituality.
to think that being spiritual
means that you'll never
come across a thief
and a robber
and a wolf.
Jesus says that's foolish.
There are people,
hired hands are people
who are only in it
for themselves.
And thieves and robbers
are people who are only
in it for themselves
and they'll take it from you
in whatever way
they possibly can.
And wolves,
they just seem to like
to wreck things.
And then he says it again
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.
He says it twice.
He lays down his life
for the sheep
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.
For this reason,
the Father loves me
because I lay down my life
that I may take it up again.
No one takes it from me
but I lay it down
of my own accord
four times.
I have authority
to lay it down
five times
and I have authority
to take it up again.
This charge I have received
from my Father
five times.
He says I lay down my life
five times
to make sure we hear it
five times.
Andrew,
could you put up
the point please?
sheep are killed
for the good
of the shepherd.
Jesus knows this.
Sheep are killed
for the good
of the shepherd
but the good shepherd
died
for the good
of the sheep.
See,
that would have been
the shocking thing.
We don't catch
the shock of this
as much
because we don't
have sheep.
This would have been
the shocking thing
to them.
I mean,
for Jesus' hearers
in many cultures
they would want
to have more
and more sheep
because the more
sheep you have
the richer you are.
And for many,
many cultures
you use sheep
for a sacrifice
to appease the gods.
You appease the gods
so that after
you've paid off
the gods
it allows you
to live the life
that you want to live
and to be as rich
and powerful
as you want.
And so the sheep
have this double thing.
On one hand
it pays off the gods
so they don't punish you.
On the other hand
you have the sheep
so you have lots
to eat.
You can get nice
and plump
and you can sell
the extra sheep
for money
and you can have
lots of really,
really good things.
The sheep die
for the good
of the shepherd.
But Jesus says
you have to understand
the whole point
of this analogy,
the whole point
of me being a door
by which you can
bridge this unbridgeable
wall between God
and human beings
by entering through me
and come into his realm
and into his presence
and have his presence
come into you
and the fact
that I am going
to call people
who have come
into my presence
into understanding
that they're sheep
who are to be part
of a flock
who are to be part
of a fold
who are to follow
a shepherd
who is following
the good shepherd
and the good shepherd
will lead his church
and you need to be sheep
who are always
calling out
to know Jesus
to hear his voice
and to hear his voice
and you have to understand
that this is not
an analogy
of me doing anything
so that it's going
to please me
where it's
I am not a hired hand
I am not a thief
I am not a robber
I am not a wolf
how do you know that
I die for the sheep
how is it that
you know
that you can trust
that my words
that even if my words
seem a bit offensive
or a bit hard
or a bit of a stretch
that they're actually
leading me
into abundant life
I die for the sheep
well Jesus
do you know
that I'm a bit
of a failure
do you know that
do you know
that I'm same sex attracted
do you know
that I've had
lots of abortions
do you know
that I'm
not very religious
and not very spiritual
I died for the sheep
I know all that
I died for the sheep
look what he says
again in verse 14
Andrew could you put up
verse 14 and 15
on the screen
that's the fourth point
I am the good shepherd
I know my own
if you come to Jesus
and say
Jesus I've had
I've had five abortions
you can't toss
be possibly talking
about me
Jesus
I've tried so many times
to find somebody
who would just
find me attractive
and nobody finds me
attractive
you know
some of us
we're scarred
by maybe the fact
that we never
could make a sports team
we fail
just about every
Jesus knows us
he also knows
if you're success
he knows you
and he knows you
and he laid down
his life for you
verse 14
I am the good shepherd
I know my own
and my own know me
and just as the father
knows me
and I know the father
and I laid down
my life for the sheep
I have other sheep
that are not of this fold
he's speaking to Jewish people
and he's
when it's such a wonderful thing
when he says here
I have other sheep
that are not of this fold
he's speaking about
you and me
who aren't Jewish
I must bring them also
and they will listen
to my voice
it's one of the reasons
why missionaries
go to Angola
and it's why
we should have missionaries
that go to the gay
and lesbian community
and the transgendered community
and the Rockcliffe community
and the Google community
and the community
maybe in Perth
because there are sheep
there
that Jesus knows
there are sheep
they don't know
that they're going to be a sheep
they don't know
that they've been longing
to hear his voice
but he knows
that they're there
longing to hear his voice
and he wants to take
really imperfect
and impossible people
like you and me
to be the ones
by which his voice
is heard
and it's not your voice
that they hear
it's Jesus' voice
that they hear
it's not my voice
they hear
it's Jesus' voice
and then look at this
still
verse 17
for this reason
the Father loves me
because I lay down my life
that I may take it up again
it's a prophecy
of his resurrection
this isn't just
a fantasy tale
this is something
that actually happened
in history
on a day
in the spring
in either the year
of 30
or the year 33
in the spring
April probably
of 30 or 33
outside a city
in Jerusalem
Jesus was crucified
by Roman soldiers
with charges
written above his head
and he was crucified
in real time
in real history
between two thieves
and because of the
approaching feast
they went
to kill
as an act of mercy
they went to kill
the
the victim
so that
because the crucifixion
could last for days
and they broke the legs
of the two thieves
but they found out
that Jesus was already dead
and they pierced his spear
with a
his side with a spear
and
and the guy
who records that
he doesn't know
what medical science
now knows
that
what he records
is what doctors
now know
showed
helped to show
that his heart
had failed
when he says
that blood and water
ran out
and he really did
get put in a grave
he was embalmed
he was handled
he was embalmed
and
and on the third day
the people
who didn't believe
that
Jesus would rise
from the dead
start going to the tomb
and discovering
that the tomb is empty
and he starts to appear
to them as alive
and Jesus really does
in real time
in the spring of
in April of 30
or 33
he really does rise
from the dead
and when it says
he lays it down
with authority
it means that
it's not just
some random act
but it's an act
of power
that's right
that fits
that's authoritative
and authoritatively
he can give us life
it's this wonderful story
that
we are known
by God
and that we can begin
to get to know him
please stand
Jesus is the good shepherd
and he lays down
his life for the sheep
and we are to hear
his voice
and we are to learn
what it means
to live together
as a flock
hearing his voice
following him
we don't just live
the Christian life
by ourselves
I mean one of the things
that we are going to be
praying for in a moment
not only is that
we would be more courageous
in telling others
about Jesus
and that we would be
more fervent
and regular in prayer
but also that the Lord
would put within our hearts
a desire to connect
with each other
as a flock
to be part of a community
maybe to be part
of a small group
or the men's group
or just in other ways
just in friendships
but those are the things
that we can pray into
let's just bow our heads
and let's pray
Father
thank you for Jesus
thank you that he died
on the cross
thank you that he laid down
his life for the sheep
thank you Father
that the closer we get
to Jesus
the closer we are
to abundant life
thank you Father
that Jesus
will never hurt us
he will never demean us
he will never
Father
frighten us
that he will only
be our shepherd
who guides us
and feeds us
and protects us
Father
we will have many
we know that we will have
very very hard things
to endure in this life
sometimes
but we thank you Father
that we can live
each day with Jesus
as our good shepherd
that he can lead
and guide us
each day
that he will be with us
even when we are
in the valley of the shadow
of death
that we will
we can fear no evil
for he is with
he is with us
he is with me
he is with you
Father
draw us to Jesus
as our good shepherd
who cares for us
and this we ask
in the name of Jesus
your son and our savior
amen
is with
he is with you