The Goodness of the Good Shepherd – Pt. 2

Take their Bibles once again
and turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10, where we began last Lord’s Day
by looking at the Good Shepherd. We found last week that the context
is really unchanged This comes on the heels of the religious
elite having just removed the blind beggar from their midst.
The blind beggar who so miraculously was healed by Christ and not
just in his physical eyesight but his spiritual eyesight. The
problem for the Pharisees though was that it occurred on a Sunday
rather the Sabbath day and because of that The Pharisees reacted
and ultimately not only excommunicated the man, but excoriated Christ
Himself. We are in that same very tense
context. When Jesus looks, not only His
detractors in the eye, but also those about Him that were already
being drawn to Christ, and He proclaims Himself as the good
shepherd. What a rich and pleasant passage
this is. If God’s people would begin reading
along with me in verse 1. Truly, truly I say to you, he
who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but
climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But
he who enters the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper
opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls out his own
sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his
own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because
they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not
follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the
voice of strangers. This figure of speech, Jesus
spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things
were which he had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them
again, truly, 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 hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters through 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. I am
the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not
a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming
and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and
scatters them. He flees because he is a hired
hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd,
and I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows
me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. I have other sheep which are
not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they
will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one
shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves
me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it again.
No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own
initiative. I have authority to lay it down
and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment
I received from my Father.” And so Jesus gives this account. We looked at it last week and
saw that it’s not a true-to-life story. It’s not even really a
parable. He uses the same metaphor here
that is found in many, many places throughout the Old Testament.
We looked at a number of those last Lord’s Day, not the least
of which is Psalm 23, which pictures God as that faithful and gentle
shepherd who cares for his sheep. Well, Jesus seizes upon this
allegory here and lays out before them a declaration that he himself
is the good shepherd. And he uses this, really this
metaphor of the day in the life of a flock of sheep. And he opens
and he talks about thieves and robbers. He talks about those
who nefariously want to sneak over the wall after dark. Those Jesus will detail in great
detail as the passage unfolds who are those thieves and robbers. But here he’s just pointing to
the picture that would have been common to all of those listening
to him. This idea of thieves that would
come and steal sheep in the night. But he also points to another
kind of shepherd. And he points to the idea of
a shepherd that would come in the morning after the sheep had
been penned up in safety overnight. The shepherd would come to the
door and the doorkeeper would see him and would know who he
is. He had credibility with the doorkeeper.
He had a right to be there. And he enters in, calls, beckons
to his sheep by voice, and the sheep know his voice and they
follow. beautiful image of the shepherd
not driving but leading his sheep out of the pen, out into pasture
where they enjoy the bounties of the fresh grass and the dew. The shepherd cares for them. There in verse 3, the sheep hear
his voice. They know their shepherd. Look at verse 5. In verse 5,
it says, a stranger, they simply will not follow. There were many,
many different anecdotes recorded. Several people came to me at
the end of the message last Lord’s Day and said that they had just
recently read of some various story or they recalled a various
story where someone either dressed up or pretended to be the shepherd. They wouldn’t respond. They wouldn’t
respond even if this stranger were wearing the shepherd’s clothing.
They wouldn’t respond because they listened to his voice, not
even the scent. Verse 6 says that Jesus said
all these things, a very clear story, a story that they had
seen played out hundreds of times. And Jesus uses it as a metaphor,
and they know that He’s using it as a metaphor. They know that
this is a common metaphor in Scripture. And yet it says they
did not understand. They didn’t equate this Good
Shepherd with Christ. And so Jesus reiterates His points. In verses 7 through 9, truly,
truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Beyond just
being the shepherd, I am the way of access. All who came before
me are thieves and robbers. And now he begins to point to
those faithless, false shepherds who did nothing but harm to the
sheep. I am the door. Anyone who enters through me,
he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
And we talked about this last Lord’s Day, the richness of that
image where God provides those who come to Him, everything pertaining
to life and godliness. Paul says that God has given
to us life and breath and all things. And so it’s not only
salvation that is implied in this blessing, but everything
that comes with it, everything that is attendant to it, the
grace that we receive from God. But on top of all that, it’s
the earthly blessings that we enjoy, friends. and family, the blessings of food, the blessings
of aesthetics and being able to enjoy those. He will go in
and out and find pasture. Well, that is a vastly different
approach, isn’t it? From the thieves and the robbers.
And as we began to look at this last Lord’s Day, in looking at
the Lord Jesus Christ here, that He is the Good Shepherd and the
goodness of the Good Shepherd, I suggested to you that there
were three different marks here of goodness. Last week, which
we just reviewed, is this vastly different approach that these
shepherds have. There are the thieves and their
deceitful tactics, sneaking over the wall, careless of the sheep,
wanting only to steal. Those charlatans, fakes, phonies
who would come and suggest that they were coming in the shepherd’s
name, who the sheep would not even respond to. Jesus is completely different
from them. Jesus tactics, Jesus’ techniques,
Jesus’ methods are completely different. He comes as a loving
shepherd, and when he does, his sheep respond. But Jesus uses not only vastly
different approaches with the sheep, he has vastly different
desires than these other so-called shepherds have and we find that
in verses 10 and 11 where we see dramatically different desires
in the hearts of these shepherds. Look first at the thieves evil
intentions. Verse 10 says, the thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy. The thief can have no good purpose.
Even if he makes it into the pen and back over the wall with
a tiny lamb in his grasp, ultimately his purpose is no good. He likely intends only to slaughter
the creature for his own unjust gain. If verse 9, as we were
looking at that, looks back to verse 2, When Jesus says, I am
the door, if anyone enters through me, he will be saved. And we’ll
go in and out and find pasture. If that looks back to verse 2,
and it does, he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the
sheep. So this verse, verse 10, looks all the way back to verse
1. He’s beginning to tell us a little bit more about those
who don’t use the door. It’s the same continued allegory
now just unfolding. But I want you to see this. The
thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but he comes. And
you have to note the certainty of his coming. Paul, when he
gathered the Ephesian elders to himself, remember, he said,
wolves will come. There’s absolute certainty to
it. When Peter was trying to warn
those to whom he was writing in his first epistle, he says,
the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. It’s not maybe. There’s a certainty
to it. There’s a certainty to the coming
of these shepherds. And note that they come with
only one purpose. The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. It’s not like after he jumps
into the pen, he notices, oh, there’s a hole in the fence.
I should fix that while I’m in here. There’s no good purpose
for these individuals. He has one aim, one desire, one
purpose. Regardless of his appearance,
regardless of how he presents himself, whether he comes brandishing
a weapon or not, Regardless whether he shows up at the gate dressed
as a shepherd, pretending to be a shepherd, he’s up to no
good. There’s nothing even neutral
or balanced about his approach. It’s only evil. The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy. And his interest is purely selfish. He comes for the express interest
of harming the flock, of destroying the flock. There is no interest
in the welfare of the sheep. There is no concern or care for
the shepherd. He cares not for who owns the
sheep. And even though his visit is
unplanned and perhaps even somewhat rare, when he comes, it’s for one purpose.
It’s his own purpose. Look at some of these things. The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. He comes in, usually over the
wall at night, under the cover of darkness, to take what isn’t
his. One of the most innocent and
helpless creatures probably even unable to cry out. And you think of, in our own
day and age, the countless charlatans that show up in the name of Christ
and say that they are shepherds and they’re not. They’re there
for one purpose. Jesus warned about those who
would come in and devour widows’ houses. They would take the last
two cents that a widow has to her name. And then they would
take her dwelling place. There are many such false teachers
even in our own day. And they were no different in
Christ’s day. Christ stands there face to face rebuking the Pharisees
who should have rejoiced with the blind man. in the miracle
that he enjoyed, the double miracle, not only healed of his blindness,
but healed of his spiritual deadness, they come to steal. And they
come not only to steal finances, they come to steal dignity. They
heap up laws and they heap up, they play up laws and standards
that they themselves have no interest or ability to live up
to. They’re not going to live up
to them. What they want to do is put the law, the full weight
of the law on the people and keep them wanting, ever wanting,
like the proverbial carrot before the donkey. They come to steal. They come to steal money. They
come to steal dignity. And ultimately, they come to
steal souls. Now, ultimately, this is Satan
that’s doing it. But these are the willing participants. And you think in our day and
age, you look about at what Walter Martin called the kingdom of
the cults, America, where we just seem to invent a new religion
every day, and it’s always the same. It’s a religion of seeking
to earn God’s favor by our works. And people spend entire lifetimes
doing that. Never feeling like they measure
up, but ever on this quest to try to earn their salvation.
Always eschewing this idea of justification by faith. It can’t
be that simple. It can’t be so simple that I
just place my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and I’m saved. We know of one religion, don’t
we? That even says that if you say that you are justified by
faith, you are anathema, you are accursed. These are the so-called shepherds
that steal. They steal not only money, they
steal dignity, and ultimately they steal souls. But not only
that, look at how graphic this becomes. The thief comes only
to steal and kill. It would be one thing if this were just a metaphor.
If it were just an idea of a guy stealing a sheep, he’s hungry,
his family’s hungry, he jumps over the wall, he steals a sheep,
he slaughters the sheep and feeds his family. We could almost justify
that, couldn’t we? But it’s a metaphor. It’s a metaphor
of what we just talked about. This is a metaphor of spiritual
things. And these false teachers, these charlatans, come for their
own purpose. They have no good intentions
whatsoever. They have no capacity to bestow
anything good. Some of you know that I’ll say
we had chickens. I still have the dead spot in
the yard to prove that we had chickens. The interesting thing
about chickens is I never even knew that we had foxes until
we had chickens. We have foxes all up and down
our Greenbelt area. They never even showed themselves
until we had chickens. The interesting thing about the
chickens. They met their demise. Foxes,
we learned, overkill. They don’t just come in and say,
I think I’ll have chicken tonight and take a chicken and go feast
on the chicken. They killed everything in sight.
Everything. That’s what the thief does. He
comes only to steal and kill and ultimately utterly destroy. Steal, kill, and destroy. That’s what false teachers do. That’s what these false shepherds
do. They come in and they steal.
They utterly consume. They overkill. They kill churches. They kill
families. They destroy lives. They destroy all who come in contact with
them. This idea of false religion.
There is only one true approach to God. It’s through His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and it’s only by faith. That is the fruit
of the Reformation. Anything else is a false way. That’s not proud. That’s not
a proud statement. That is the gospel. False religion,
on the other hand, is anything else. Christ plus anything else,
or something instead of Christ. And they come only to deprive
people, to steal their liberty in Christ, to steal their property,
to take all of their earthly joys. One pastor said it this way,
whoever sets up a false ideal and falls short of the completeness
of self-sacrifice. These are not men that are going
to live up to these standards. These are not men that are altruistic
and willing to give and help and serve. Whoever falls short
of the completeness of self-sacrifice abridges the resources of men. He not only steals to satisfy
his own ends, but in doing so, he necessarily kills and destroys. In pursuit of his object, he
wastes life and he wastes the sustenance of life. In other
words, a false teacher, a false shepherd, those of a false religion
come only with the only purpose of sidelining people. Do you
get that? They come with the only purpose
of sidelining and ultimately killing people. One of my dear and most favorite
commentators, J.C. Ryle, said it this way, a thief
does not come, a thief does not come to the fold to do good to
the flock, but harm. For his own selfish advantage,
for the injury of the sheep, just so, the Pharisees only became
teachers of the Jewish church for their own advantage and interest
and taught doctrine which was only calculated to ruin and destroy
souls. scores and thousands of people
following this Jewish system. And when they came to Christ,
oftentimes they would say, what must I do to inherit eternal
life? They were so caught up in works
righteousness. Well, we see the thieves’ evil
intentions and it’s Jesus’ purpose throughout here to contrast the
thieves with His own methods and his own approach. We saw
how different his methods were from these thieves, and now we
see how different his intentions, his desires are. The thief comes
only to steal, kill, and destroy, but not the good shepherd. The good shepherd has divine
intentions. Look at the end of verse 10.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came
that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. I would point out to you, it
is my strong, clear observation here, that that little pronoun,
I, cannot be overlooked. It’s absolute emphasis on Christ’s
part. The thief comes to steal, kill
and destroy. But I, I came, I as opposed to
the sheep, the thief rather, I came that they may have life. These false shepherds come only
taking life. That’s their only purpose. Christ
comes only giving life, bringing life and instead of stealing,
and taking away life, Christ not only gives, but He gives,
as we’ll see in a moment, in abundance. Thieves come to take life. He comes to give life. It’s a
dramatic contrast. Jesus Christ came to give eternal
life, to provide eternal life, that life itself might be experienced. is a life of, as we’ve already
pointed, justification by faith that’s purchased by His blood.
Jesus came to give this life. And it’s not only a life that
is ultimately to be received, but it’s life lived in the here
and now. If you’ve been a Christian for a week, God has begun to
change you and transform you, hasn’t He? He’s begun the work
of sanctification. and you now hate things that
you used to love and you now love things that you used to
hate, namely God. Jesus Christ came to give you
that life, life as it was meant to be lived, a life that was
purchased by what He did on the cross. Jesus Christ came to give
this life, to offer this life to not just a lost world, a dead
world. If Jesus Christ doesn’t come,
the entire mass of humanity perishes and is utterly destroyed for
eternity. Jesus Christ’s one purpose was
totally radically different than these false shepherds. Jesus
Christ’s one purpose was to come so that he might bring and bestow,
give life. What a contrast. What a contrast
with these false teachers. Look at that first sentence,
I came that they may have life. As I said a moment ago, Paul,
when he was talking to the heathen who set up all these false gods,
statues, he finally came to one that said, to the unknown God,
whoever he may be. Just in case they missed one,
they didn’t want to dishonor him and suffer the effects of
an earthquake. And so they set up a statue in His name, and
Paul says, let me tell you about this God. He gave to all life
and breath and all things. And so we say, I came that they
may have life. It’s just life that Jesus came
to give? No. Beyond just the life that
Paul mentions there, That would be physical life, the privilege
that we have to draw our first breath and to keep on breathing
and living, to keep on enjoying the privilege of a heartbeat
and free oxygen for life. It’s eternal life that Jesus
Christ points to. It’s life as it was meant to
be lived. It’s life in the presence of God Almighty. It’s life, quite
simply, is what Jesus points to it. He’s transitioning here in this
very verse from into this next phase of the allegory. Here he
begins to tell us about the good shepherd as opposed to the thieves.
And what he does here is he points to this antithesis that he’s
already given us, that he’s not just a shepherd, but he’s a good
shepherd. He’s the chief shepherd. He is
the one true Good Shepherd. Even if you take all the modern
day pastors in view, not one of us ever measures up to what
Christ is. The Good Shepherd comes to give
life. And it’s not just any kind of
life. It’s not just physical life. It’s everything that goes to
feeding and sustaining spiritual life, it’s eternal life. And
so it becomes not only a life of blessing, a life of walking
in God’s grace, it is as Paul talked about in Romans 6, to
live and walk in newness of life. It’s to live life as God intended
it to be lived in fellowship with God Almighty. Jesus says,
I came that they might have that life. Look at the second statement
made, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
It’s that free, true life. That word there means to have
not just a surplus, but an overabundance that would be overflowing in
the life of the believer. As one said, that they might
see the way of life more clearly and have no uncertainty about
the way of justification before God. that they would actually
see and grasp that God had a purpose in sending the Lord Jesus. So when he compares life here
in abundance, it’s not just better life. I think I’ve told the saints
before that I remember seeing one church’s billboard that said,
life is better with Christ. What a pitiful statement. What
a pitiful statement. It’s not that life is better
with Christ, it’s life. It’s life as it was meant to
be lived. Life is Christ. To live is Christ,
says Paul. So this abundance contrasted
with all the spiritual wants that are left remaining with
these false shepherds, things that are never taken care of,
ultimately death itself comes, eternal death. Yet Jesus comes to give life,
eternal life. One pastor said the life the
believer receives from Jesus Christ is eternal, not merely
an extension of mortal life. I mean, what would that be? I
mean, if I’m achy every day at 58, can you imagine what eternal
life would be in that body? We don’t want an extension of
physical life necessarily. It’s not merely an extension
of mortal life, but a far richer life than has ever been known
before. He begins to experience the moment he puts his faith
in Christ. Access to God in prayer, what
a blessing that is. The fact that we who formerly
were far off, as Paul says, we who formerly hated God, we were
at enmity with God, now have been brought near, and now we
have the full access, we can waltz into God’s presence anytime
we want in prayer. Not only access to God in prayer,
he says, knowledge of full pardon for sin. I don’t know about you. Remember that beautiful image
of the woman breaking the vial of perfume and wiping the Lord’s
feet with her tears. And Jesus’ statement there was,
He who has been forgiven much is much thankful. Well, we have cause to be very
thankful, don’t we? look back over our shoulders
and we consider our life before Christ, our life of sin, to what
do we contribute to our own salvation? Absolutely nothing, even our
best day was utter sinfulness in God’s eyes. To know that we
have been forgiven, absolutely forgiven, for whatever sin and
sins and sinfulness was part of our life, we’ve been absolutely
forgiven. He goes on, not only access to
God in prayer, knowledge of full pardon for sin, possession of
God’s spirit to illuminate God’s word and guide him in daily life.
You know, there are people that would open the scriptures and
they would be absolutely befuddled about the most basic statement,
absolutely clueless and would think that it’s just some man’s
stories. That’s what you hear all the
time, isn’t it? from critics, from those who hate God? Why
is it any different from us? Because God put His Spirit within
you. And now, he says, the Spirit
illumines what you open and read, so that now you can open it and
read it and begin to grasp it and understand it and take it
in. All these and many more, he says,
Christ has given us in the abundance of eternal life It’s God’s grace. It’s God’s day-to-day overwhelming
measure of grace that comes to us. It is as Paul said in Romans
5.20, the law came so that transgression would increase, but where sin
increased, grace abounded all the more. There isn’t anything
that God can’t overwhelm, not only God’s grace for daily living,
but the opportunity to serve Him. The opportunity to live
life as it was meant to be lived in fellowship with God Almighty.
Look at the third statement. I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. I mean, he says it so utterly
clearly. They didn’t understand that the first pass and Jesus
tried it again. And now he says it with absolute
clarity. He declares himself to be the
shepherd that was promised, the good shepherd. And there
simply is no doubt of a pointed contrast here that Jesus Christ
is a shepherd, a good shepherd in direct contrast with those
bad shepherds. Jesus reminds them again that
he is the good shepherd as opposed to the so many bad shepherds
that had preceded him and even were standing before him. All those prophecies about the
Messiah are now standing in front of the Pharisees. That adjective, good, is stressed
here. It’s the shepherd, the good shepherd. Good by nature. Good, inherently
good. One described it, that which
in its own nature is excellent, beautiful and noble. He is the
Shepherd who is ideally good, fulfilling every thought of guidance,
support, self-sacrifice that had ever gathered around the
Shepherd’s name. No image of Christ has so deeply
impressed itself upon the mind of the church as has this. When we think of Christ, doesn’t
that just comfort your soul to know that He is the Shepherd,
the Good Shepherd? Christ is the Good Shepherd.
He fulfilled the idea of what a shepherd is and was supposed
to be. The Good Shepherd is the one
that carefully watches over His flocks and tends it and cares
for each one of the sheep as if it was His only sheep. Christ is not just a Good Shepherd,
He’s the Perfect Shepherd. Christ is the one good shepherd
that God had long since promised. Isaiah 40 spoke of this shepherd,
and the Jews knew it. They would have known of this
prophecy. Like a shepherd, he will tend his flock. In his arm,
he will gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom. He will
gently lead the nursing ewes. What a beautiful image of God
Almighty Himself taking on human flesh and then drawing you and
I to Him to love and care for. Ezekiel spoke of it. My servant David will be a king
over them, he says prophetically, and they will have one shepherd
and they will walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and observe
them. Zechariah spoke of it as well. Zechariah 11.7. pastured the flock, doomed to
slaughter, the afflicted of the flock, I took for myself two
staffs, the one I called favor, the other I called union, so
I pastured the flock.” Those metaphors throughout the Old
Testament, over and over again, they spill out. Ezekiel 34, I
will set over them one shepherd. My servant David, hear Christ
sitting in the throne of David. He will feed them and be their
shepherd. Jesus Christ tells them without
any doubt, He is the good shepherd. But He makes one more statement.
One more profound statement to drive home the point that He
is the good, the truly good. The uniquely good, the overwhelmingly
good shepherd. Look at the verse again if you
would. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. He repeats that phrase twice
more in this passage. It’s a phrase that really only
John is recorded using others probably heard Jesus say this,
but only John recorded it. And he records it here in this
passage, but he also records it in John 13. John 13 says this. Peter’s interacting with Jesus. Peter said to him, Lord, why
can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you.
Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly,
truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny
me three times.” Peter wasn’t prepared to lay down his life
for anybody, let alone the Lord. But Jesus is. Jesus will reiterate this in
John chapter 15, greater love has no one than this, that he
laid down his life for his friends. I can’t tell you how many times
I’ve heard this spoken of soldiers or policemen. This verse is about
Jesus Christ. Exclusively. Now it’s a noble
effort. It’s a noble effort to charge
to the top of the hill and to offer your life for your country.
That is noble indeed. Or to stand in harm’s way for
the protection of society. But this verse, that statement
is about Jesus Christ. Greater love has no one than
this. That one lay down his life For
his friends, Jesus Christ is the only one that’s done that. There are many shepherds, even
in that day, that had paid the ultimate sacrifice of a shepherd.
We hear it put in those terms a lot of times, don’t we? Defending
their flocks, they’re out there. Perhaps a wolf comes and the
shepherd charges to the front and confronts the wolf, and maybe
the wolf gets the best of him and kills him. Or perhaps thieves
and robbers come, in plural this time, perhaps one bearing a weapon,
and a fight ensues over the care and protection of these sheep,
and in the course of this fight, the shepherd is killed. Those
were commonplace. Not weekly events, but it was
well known enough that they would have known what Jesus was talking
about here. But their death, it’s different.
Their death was unintended. The shepherd, when he went out
that morning with the sheep in tow, he didn’t intend to give
his life that evening. He didn’t intend to die. Christ did. Christ came for the
soul and specific purpose of giving His life on behalf of
His sheep. Scripture records an interesting
scene that was common enough that shepherds were in a dangerous
place. Recorded in 1 Samuel 17, David
said to Saul, your servant was tending his father’s sheep. Here’s
what happened. You know, everybody moves forward
on their charity, huh? When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb
from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him. He basically
is giving him his resume of how bold he was. But David got the
best of them. But there were certainly situations
where the thief or the bear or the wolf got the best of the
shepherd. One historian noted a particularly
interesting account. He said, I have witnessed with
intense interest to the graphic descriptions of downright desperate
fights with savage beasts. And when the thief came, the
faithful shepherd often had put his life in his hand to defend
his flock. A poor faithful fellow last spring,
instead of fleeing, actually fought three Bedouin robbers
until he was killed. with their daggers and died among
the sheep he was defending. And so we say, is this just nobility
on the part of Christ? Is this just great boldness that
we should admire on Christ that he was willing to die for his
sheep? Jesus’ death was more than just
willing. and was more than just the offer
of his life as a figure of boldness for us to remember for perpetuity.
Even a good shepherd was willing to potentially sacrifice his
life in the protection of his flock. But Jesus goes much, much
further, doesn’t he? His is not mere courage. His
is an act of self-sacrifice. which goes infinitely beyond
anything called courage of a noble shepherd protecting his sheep.
Jesus came to die in order to save his sheep. What it points to here is the
whole idea of substitutionary atonement where Jesus Christ
took our penalty as sheep and paid it in full. the good shepherd, laid down
his life for the benefit of the sheep. It was for the sheep and
only for the sheep that the good shepherd laid down his life. Spurgeon said it this way, in
one word, the great fact on which the Christian hope rests is substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ
for the sinner, Christ’s suffering for the sinner, Christ’s being
made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Christ offering up true and proper
substitutionary sacrifice in the place of as many as the Father
gave Him, who are recognized by their trusting in Him. This
is the cardinal fact of the Gospel. What Spurgeon says is, what Jesus
declares to us here is at the very core of the gospel that
Jesus Christ came for the purpose of dying for the flock. Not just a willingness, not just
an act of courage, but an act of atonement, an act of payment
for our sin. We can back away from this and
look to Christ, the Good Shepherd. Jesus Christ comes and cares
for His sheep. Those who have placed their faith
in Christ, Jesus Christ gathers them tenderly to Himself, lovingly
cares for them because He’s already bought them. He’s already bought
them with His own life. In that admonition I mentioned
a moment ago where Paul called the Ephesian elders to himself
and admonished them, be on guard for yourselves and for all the
flock which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd
the church of God, which he, that is Christ, purchased with
his own blood. It’s his flock. It’s his flock
as the good shepherd. Let’s pray. Our merciful God, we humble ourselves
before You, the Good Shepherd. Lord, those of us who have placed
our faith in Christ remember well that day. We knew that we
were in peril. We knew that we were wayward
and sinful. Indeed, all we like sheep had
gone astray. And yet we saw you calling us,
beckoning us to yourself. And then we recognized that you
were the one. You were the one that had already.
Laid down your life for the flock. For the sheep. For us. Lord Jesus, if there are any. who would, in their heart of
hearts, look and recognize that this Savior, this Christ, is
indeed the Good Shepherd, who has already paid our sin on the
cross. Lord, we pray, if there are any,
that You would draw them to faith. Grant to them that which they
lack, the ability to look up Receive Christ. We thank you and we praise you.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.