Sheep With a Shepherd

Sermon Summary:

This powerful message takes us deep into John 10, where Jesus declares Himself the Good Shepherd during a pivotal moment in Jewish history. We’re invited to understand this proclamation against the backdrop of the Feast of Dedication, a celebration remembering when God rescued the temple from pagan hands. Just as the Maccabees fought to reclaim the temple for true worship, Jesus confronts the religious leaders of His day who had lost sight of their calling to shepherd God’s people. The contrast is striking: while the Pharisees and Sadducees were consumed with political positioning and religious rules, even failing to celebrate a blind man’s healing, Jesus steps forward with a radical claim. He is the shepherd Israel has been waiting for, the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy. What makes this especially relevant for us today is recognizing our own need for a competent and compassionate shepherd. We see Jesus demonstrating both integrity and skill, knowing exactly where to lead us for clean water and good pasture. He knows each of us by name, walks with us through every season of life, from youth to old age, through valleys and mountaintops. Most remarkably, He doesn’t just guide us, He lays down His life for us willingly, defeats sin and death, and takes up His life again. We are sheep who desperately need a shepherd, and the good news is we have the Good Shepherd who will never abandon us.

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Sermon Points:

CONTEXT: The events of John 10 are connected to both the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication (3 months later) in Jerusalem. The healing of the blind man (John 9) and the response of Israel’s leaders are in the minds of the original hearers of Jesus’ teachings (John 10:21).

CRITIQUE: The Biblical context for the teachings of Jesus seem to be found in passages like:

Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded.  -Zechariah 11:17

Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but do not take care of the flock . . . I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them and be their shepherd.  -Ezekiel 34:2-3. 23

CLAIM: Jesus declares boldly, “I am the Good Shepherd!”

COMPETENT: Jesus is a competent Shepherd!

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. -Psalm 78:70-72

COMPASSION: Jesus is a compassionate Shepherd!

• He knows us!
• He has died for us!

CENTER: He is at the very center of God’s redemptive activity in all of creation!

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus declares Himself the Good Shepherd in the context of failed religious leadership in first-century Israel
• The Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) commemorates the rededication of the temple after it was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes
• Religious leaders during Jesus’ time were more concerned with their positions and authority than caring for God’s people
• Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecies about God sending a true shepherd for His people (Ezekiel 34, Zechariah 11)
• The Good Shepherd is both competent (knows where to lead) and compassionate (cares deeply for the sheep)
• Jesus demonstrates His love by laying down His life sacrificially, not as a martyr but by His own choice
• Jesus walks with His sheep through every season of life, from youth to old age to death
• The Good Shepherd has defeated humanity’s two greatest enemies: sin and death
• Jesus is the shepherd not just for Jews but for all people, creating one flock under one shepherd
• Church leaders are called to shepherd with both integrity of heart and skillful hands, following Jesus’ example

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Scripture References:

• John 10:1-18 (primary passage)
• Psalm 23 (read corporately, thematic foundation)
• John 9 (context: healing of the blind man)
• Ezekiel 34 (prophecy of the coming shepherd)
• Zechariah 11:17 (woe to worthless shepherds)
• Psalm 78:70-72 (David as shepherd with integrity and skill)
• Matthew 9 (Jesus seeing people as sheep without a shepherd)

Stories:

• The historical account of Antiochus Epiphanes desecrating the Jerusalem temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and dedicating it to Zeus (circa 166 BC)
• The Maccabean revolt and the recapture of the temple
• The miracle of the oil lasting eight days during the temple’s rededication, establishing the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)
• The healing of the blind man in John 9 and the Pharisees’ negative response
• Personal anecdote about the pastor’s father being the 13th of 13 children and reflecting on being one of the last survivors of his generation
• The journey through life’s seasons: youth, middle age with children and aging parents, empty nest years, losing parents, and facing one’s own mortality

Sermon Transcript:

Well, I’m grateful for our worship ministry lead us in worship today. And speaking of that, while we were at Ascent, our own Michael Glenn led the Ascent Conference for our times in worship for a number of our sessions. And I’m just grateful for these godly men that the Lord has brought to us and Aaron and Michael, just how they lead us. And they’re so talented but obviously godly as well. I’m grateful for both of them.

So with that said, let’s continue our journey together. You know, our theme for the Lenten season this year is the Good shepherd and we’re reading through the Gospel of John together. And you are in the middle of your readings. We read John some of John 10 this week. And again I appreciate Kurt Grice and his reflections that he is sharing with us and connecting them to flourishing habits.

That is all a part of this journey that we’re on together that is larger than just the Lenten and Easter season. It’s just the journey, this multi year journey we’re on together as a church. And just want you to know that we have been in the process of putting a summary together of what we’ve learned through our flourishing survey. And we’re going to have that available for you very soon to put into your hands so you can look at some of this material yourselves as we begin to digest it all together. But what I’d like to do this morning is continue this conversation about the Good Shepherd.

And you know that we have been in each Sunday morning session, we’ve been reading the 23rd Psalm together. So I’m going to invite you to do that with me. And as I have shared with you already, I learned the 23rd Psalm in the old King James Version. And it just sounds so familiar to my ears. We’ll put that on the screen for you.

And let’s read the 23rd Psalm out loud together. You can follow along as we’ll place a reading for you on the screens this morning.

And there it is. Let’s read out loud together. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

And Amen. As I’ve said before, it’s my hope that that is your testimony that the Lord, indeed your shepherd. So this morning I’d like for us to look at this text in John’s Gospel. If you have your copy of the New Testament, John 10, and I’ve entitled the message sheep with a Shepherd. And we are grateful today, as followers of Jesus, that we have a shepherd and this text, Jesus declares it to be so.

So let’s look at this text together. John 10. You know, it’s our custom to stand whenever the Gospel is read in honor of the Lord Jesus. So if you’re able, we invite you to stand and hear this reading from John 10, verse 1, where Jesus says, very truly. I tell you Pharisees now that very truly.

Sometimes we used to translate that. Verily, verily, it’s that. It’s that Greek phrase, amen, Amen. And it signals that Jesus is about to share something very significant. And that’s usually a preface.

We find that several times in the Gospels. So he says, 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 robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep will listen to his voice.

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger. In fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. Jesus used this figure of speech once again.

Interesting little word in Greek. Because John does not record the parables of Jesus. You know, we get those in Matthew, Mark and Luke. So that word parable is not in John’s Gospel, but this word is. And that word translated into English, the translators have chosen.

Jesus used this figure of speech. So maybe kind of like a parable, if you will. However, notice verse 6. But the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore, Jesus said again, very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

All who’ve come before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. And I’ve come that they might have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. The man runs away because he’s a hired hand and he cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me.

And I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 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 will be, there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. 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.

Thank you. May be seated.

So here’s what I’d like to do this morning. Just to frame our conversation together, if it’s okay with y’. All. Let’s think about the context of this passage, because I think that it helps with the interpretation and the understanding of it. So if it’s okay, I’d like for us to look at it.

Because the events of John 10 that we’re reading and are going to reflect on today, they are connected to both the Feast of the Tabernacles, which we talked about last Sunday morning, and the Feast of Dedication, which took place about three months later, typically in December in Jerusalem. The healing of the blind man, which is the story that’s told in John 9, and the response of Israel’s leaders are in the minds of the original hearers. Jesus teachings like, if you look at verse 21 of John 10, we didn’t go that far in the text, but people are trying to figure out who is Jesus. He calls God his Father. He says that his Father has sent him.

There’s a play on words in John’s Gospel with that word sent. In John 9, when Jesus healed the blind man, y’ all remember he put dirt in his hands. He made mud. He put it on the guy’s eyes. Y’ all remember this story?

And he told him to go wash in the pool of siloam. Well, siloam means sent, and Jesus is the sent one. John actually tells you that in John 9. So there’s this. There’s this play on words in John’s Gospel.

So Jesus claims to be sent by God, and then he makes these statements, I’m going to lay my life down, and then I’ll take my life up again. He’s healing blind people on the Sabbath. Just all kinds of things going on. So people are saying, who. Who is this man?

And so in verse 21 of John 10, people are saying, well, has he been possessed by a demon? And the crowd says, nobody possessed by a demon does good things. You don’t heal a blind person if you’re demon possessed. So we have no idea who he is, and he is continuing to reveal himself. So let me just connect all this for us this morning.

Okay, so remember last Sunday, we talked about the feast of Tabernacles? That is a time when the Jews were in Jerusalem, the ones who could be there in Jerusalem. And they were looking backwards at ancient history. And on the one hand, they were celebrating the harvest of the trees and the vine. It was the second harvest festival, if you will, on the calendar after Pentecost.

But it was also a time where they were looking back into ancient history and being reminded that God delivered them from the Egyptians and he provided for them in the wilderness. And so the imagery that’s woven into the feast of Tabernacles is light and water, and the people are living in these temporary shelters, these booths, or these tabernacles, if you will. Well, this feast, if you look at verse, Just have your Bibles open. Look at verse 22. John says, Then came the festival of dedication.

It’s the only time in the New Testament this festival is mentioned. And you and I know that today by the Hebrew name Hanukkah. So this is the only example in the scripture that we have of the celebration of Hanukkah. Now, Hanukkah is not described in the book of the law. It’s not prescribed by Moses.

Feast of Tabernacles is Passover, Pentecost. All of those are feasts that are mentioned in the Old Testament. Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament because it is connected to events that happened between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And if you know anything about that period of history, it’s a fascinating time of history. In fact, what I would say, this is my personal opinion.

In fact, a lot of things that I say are my personal opinion. You know, I guess that’s just how it goes, right? So we’re all entitled to one. But I would Say this my studied opinion and my assessment of us as Western, particularly American Christians, I think that we have not done enough homework ourselves into the period of the exile when the Jews were taken into captivity, into Babylon and their return to Israel, and then that intervening period between Malachi And Matthew, that 400 years. I think that we have not done enough homework to understand the framework of the first century in which Jesus lived.

So sometimes these conversations are lost on us. The imagery that is just so prevalent in first century Israel, sometimes we don’t get it because we haven’t really done a whole lot of research and study into what happened during that period when Israel came home from the exile and then spent those 400 years or so before Christ. So with that said, let me just try to give you just a brief statement about it. There are all kinds of resources that help us understand that period of history. Obviously, I studied all that in seminary and have continued to study it.

But there is a book called Bridging the Testaments by George at this, and it’s a really good text on this period. But anyway, Israel, when they get back to. When the Jews get back to Israel, they rebuild the temple. They don’t have a king, and so now they’ve got to figure out how to rule themselves, who’s going to lead them, how are they going to worship in the new temple? Lots of questions are on the table for them.

So by the time you get to the New Testament, a lot has happened in the life of Israel. As a matter of fact, about 166 years before Jesus, before Christ, 166 BC, there was a very famous king who took over that part of the world. And his name was Antiochus Epiphanes the. The one who’s appeared. And he decided that Israel, Judea needed to really be a secular entity.

It no longer needed to be connected to its Jewish identity, and it needed to be brought into the Hellenistic world. And so one of the ways he chose to do that was, was to take their temple and remove it from the hands of the Jewish leaders. And the fascinating thing was there were some leaders at the time in Judea who cooperated with Antiochus in that endeavor. And so an alternative altar was set up at the temple. And in order to commemorate that Israel was no longer really tied to its historic faith and that this temple was no longer completely dedicated to this one God that the Jews espoused, Antiochus had a very special ceremony to be performed on that altar in the temple.

And he had a pig sacrifice on the altar in the Temple at Jerusalem. Are y’ all still with me? That’s about as. That’s about as far as you could go to demonstrate that this was no longer a Jewish temple. It was dedicated to Zeus.

Now Antiochus had all kind of statues erected and the worship of idols. And the unfortunate thing was a lot of unfortunate things. But there was so much division among the Jewish leadership. There were some within the leaders of Israel who felt like they needed to cooperate with Antiochus in order to just survive. And so Antiochus actually was able to appoint the high priest who participated in this kind of endeavor.

And so it was a really sad time in Israel’s life. There was a struggle trying to figure out who could actually be priests, who were going to be the religious leaders. They were all caught up in political battles. They were drawn into more governmental, political conversations, and terrible atrocities were taking place. After that pig was sacrificed, many of the Jews decided they needed to leave Jerusalem.

There was a mass Exodus. Some of them were actually massacred. But eventually there was a family who was connected to what was known as the Hasmoneans. And they decided, we have to do something. And so they organized a revolt.

And they were led by one particular family. They were known as the Maccabees. And the Maccabees amassed a guerrilla army, if you will, and they eventually will make their way into Jerusalem. After Antiochus dies, they will capture the temple. And when they capture the temple, they go in and they realize that these priests had been using the holy oil in offering up these pagan sacrifices.

So they began to search for oil that was still pure. They began a search in the temple for anything that hadn’t been desecrated. And according to their story, they found one vial of oil that would last one day when they lit all the candles of the menorah and they looked at what you and I would call the Old Testament. And anytime something was desecrated in the eyes of the Jews, there was a certain process you had to go through to reconsecrate it. It took eight days.

And so they said, we need to establish an eight day purification process and we need to dedicate the temple. The problem was they didn’t have enough pure oil, according to the story. And so they had enough to light the menorah candles for one day. But miraculously, according to the story, those candles stayed lit for eight days consecutively. And so consequently, years later, the Jews decided to set aside an eight day festival of dedication, calling to mind that there was a time when the temple itself was in the hand of pagans but it had been rescued back into the hands of the Jews, it had been rededicated.

And the Jews needed to celebrate the fact that the temple now belonged to them once again and they could worship God appropriately. Jesus is in Jerusalem for that feast. Does that all make sense? So it was a very high time in the life of Israel. On the one hand, you’ve just had the Feast of Tabernacles and God delivered them from the Egyptians.

Now you’ve got the Feast of the Dedication and God has delivered them from the Seleucids, from the pagans. And once again, they are a people, they have a high priest, they can worship God together. But the problem was that the leaders of the people were still caught up in some of the very same controversies that had captured their imagination during the intertestamental period. They were still divided over who really should be the high priest. They were still divided over how they were supposed to relate to Rome.

And some of them put a lot of the burden on the backs of the people rather than having a focus on the needs of the people. They were very concerned about their position in leadership. And so you get to John 9 and Jesus heals a blind man and you would think that the religious leaders would give a standing ovation. Here’s a guy that we’ve not been able to help him. He’s been blind his whole life.

We have not been able to help him. He was born blind and now here comes a rabbi who has healed him. We should be saying awesome. Instead they find out that he was healed on the Sabbath and they just can’t get over themselves. And their focus now is on their position of authority with the people.

Do you know what Jesus will call them in Matthew 9? Jesus will refer to them as blind guides. As a matter of fact, if you go back to if you still got your Bibles open, chapter 9, verse 41. Jesus is talking to the blind man and some of the Pharisees. And the Pharisees say, what are you saying?

You’re saying we’re blind. And Jesus says, you know, you think you can see and that’s why you’re still blind. At least this blind man knows he couldn’t see, now he can. And so Jesus is criticizing these folks, so he’s critiquing them. What is the critique?

I think the critique centers on the Biblical context for Jesus and is found in several passages in the Old Testament. Because Jesus is stepping into this first century religious malaise, his entire ministry is a critique of the religious leaders of Israel. Sometime during that 400 year period before Christ, they had so lost their way. Some of them cooperating with pagans, divided over their theology, struggling with their relationship with, now with the Romans, not sure how to relate to the people. Many of them imposing all kinds of restrictions on the people, so much so that they can’t even celebrate a blind man being healed.

That’s really the state of affairs. And so Jesus critiques them, and his critique is rooted in passages in the Scripture that are connected to his ministry. For example, in Zechariah 11, verse 17, the Bible says this. Woe to the worthless shepherd who deserts the flock. May the sword strike his arm and his right eye, may his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded.

In other words, if you’re not really going to be the shepherd, then you’re going to be removed. You should be. Ezekiel 34. Woe to you shepherds of Israel, who only take care of yourselves. Should not shepherds take care of the flock?

You eat the curds, you clothe yourself with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. And then here’s the promise from God. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant, David. Now this is from Ezekiel. David’s been dead a long time and he will tend them and be their shepherd.

So there’s this expectation in the life of Israel, this hope that one day there’s going to be a real shepherd. Jesus is standing and looking at this group of leaders and saying, you’re supposed to be shepherding these people, but you’re only concerned about yourselves and your position, your connection with the Romans, the Sadducees, your position of authority, the Pharisees. And Jesus is saddened by it when he sees it. So when you get to John 10, it’s a little bit challenging when you read John’s Gospel because John does everything so quickly. But when you get to John 10, we’re in the third year of the ministry of Jesus now, it’s mid December and we got about a half a year left of his life on earth.

And he has been battling the Pharisees and Sadducees. He’s referred to them as blind guides in Matthew’s Gospel. He’s told them here in John 9, you think you can see, but you can’t see. His heart goes out to the people. Matthew tells us in Matthew 9 that he saw the people and they were like a sheep without a shepherd.

They were. It was like the blind were leading the blind. And here’s the bold claim from Jesus Here in the middle of these festivals. Maybe it was at the feast of the dedication, maybe still at the tabernacles, we’re not really sure. But here’s what Jesus declares boldly.

I am the good shepherd. You’re like sheep without one. That’s no longer the case. I’ve been sent by God. I’m the fulfillment of Ezekiel.

I’m the one that’s been sent. And he uses that phrase, I am, which would have been very recognizable to every Jew who heard it. I’m the good shepherd. He stepped into the needs of the people, just like his father in the Old Testament. There’s so much imagery in the Old Testament of God being a shepherd to his people.

And now Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. Well, how do we know that? Is he really a good shepherd? Well, here’s what I would say when I look at the way Jesus carried himself in his earthly ministry and what he has done since. I would say a couple things about Jesus.

He’s a competent shepherd. Say that about him. The 23rd Psalm, certainly it’s in the fabric of the ministry of Jesus. And we’ve talked about the 23rd Psalm and the depiction of the good shepherd in the 23rd Psalm, where the good shepherd uses his head. He knows where the clean water is.

He knows where the good food is. His heart is on display. A good shepherd. As he cares for his people. His hands are touching the sheep.

His hope for the sheep. They’ll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That’s a good shepherd. And that’s who Jesus is. And what I would tell you this morning, I think most of y’ all in this room, and maybe those of you joining us online know this, but whether you know it or not, you need a good shepherd.

You do. You need good. The good shepherd. And the good news is we have one. And he’s a competent shepherd.

He knows what he’s doing. And he will walk with you. He will guide you. He will shepherd you through every season of your life. He’ll be there in those young years when you’re building your life and you’re trying to figure out what life is all about, and you’re trying to understand your career.

You’re trying to make some of those decisions. Those are challenging days. They’re filled with a lot of energy, a lot of anticipation, a lot of questions. Jesus is right there with you. Jesus will take you through those seasons of growth and development.

You’ll get to that point where you reach middle age, and all of a sudden you got Kids, and you got aging parents, and you got a mortgage, and you got debt, and you got a car you got to pay for. You’re wondering if you know what you’re doing. Is this all there is? Is this my life? Is this really my job?

Is this what I’m going to invest myself in? Any of y’ all ever been there? Guess who’s with you? Jesus. And then you get to that point, well, all of a sudden, those kids grow up, and they leave the house, praise God, and then you can.

Did I say that out loud? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. But they grow up, they start having their own kids. If that’s what happens to you, for many of us, that’s life.

You deal with the death of your own parents. In other words, you have to all of a sudden get to that place in your life where you realize that generation that has shepherded you, that has kind of shielded you, that’s this somewhat been a layer of protection for you, well, that’s now gone. And you’re not an orphan. That’s not the right way to put it. My gosh, they were your parents.

But you enter a whole different season of life when you look around one day and you realize, hey, those folks that I knew, that have been a part of my life, they’re all gone now. You know, I’ll never forget, my dad told me one time he was in his mid-80s, and he’s the 13th kid in his family. Okay, no twins for 26 years. Every other year, my grandmother had a baby. So Daddy looks at me one day and he’s in his 80s, and he said, you know, it’s kind of crazy.

My brother and I are the only ones left. I said, Daddy, you’re 85 years old and you’re the 13th kid. How long do you think people are going to live on planet Earth? I mean, I was trying to help him. My point is, that day is coming.

Then all of a sudden, you get to those older years where things do begin to change, and you no longer have that job where you found so much of your identity. And now you’ve got grandchildren. You’ve got great grandchildren. You have a whole different set of worries than you used to have when you were younger. And then all of a sudden, you start to realize that this old body wasn’t created to last forever.

Any of y’ all figured that out yet? That’ll be news to the next crowd. But I’ll go ahead and tell them if y’ all don’t mind, okay? I’ll warn them that that day’s coming. They just don’t know it yet.

But guess what? He’s with you then. And then you start losing people. That husband dies, that wife dies. Maybe it’s a child that dies.

It’s colleagues that are dying, it’s brothers and sisters that are dying. And all of a sudden, you find yourself in that shadow of the valley of death. And guess who’s with you? Jesus. He’s there every step of the way.

And guess what? When it comes time to go home, guess who takes you by the hand and takes you home? Come on, y’. All. Jesus.

He’s the good shepherd. He’s competent. Now, here’s what I would tell y’. All. When I think about my role in your life.

There’s a passage, there’s a lot of scripture that guide me in my sense of calling as your pastor. Let me give you. The one that is highlighted in my Bibles is Psalm 78, verse 70, which says this. He chose David his servant, and took him from the sheep pens, from tending the sheep, he brought him to be the shepherd of his people, Jacob Israel, his inheritance, and then this line. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart and with skillful hands he led them.

You see those two things, Integrity and competence. That’s what you deserve from the leaders of your church. Your shepherd should have integrity and skill. And I tell young ministers all the time, that integrity of heart, that means you’re godly, doesn’t mean you’re perfect, but you’re holy. You take this seriously.

You believe in this because this is sacred work. And you never let that go as a minister. But then you also have skill, things that you have to do in order to carry out your job. I tell young ministers all the time, get fired for being incompetent. Don’t ever get fired for having no integrity.

Okay, I don’t want you to get fired. But do y’ all understand what I’m saying? But here’s the thing. For me, for your staff, our role, we’re supposed to be people of integrity. We’re shepherds and skill.

So you hone your craft. The church expects that from her leaders. Right? You don’t expect me to be perfect. I know that.

But you do expect me to be holy. And you expect me to be good at something. Now pick something. You know, there’s an array of jobs for a pastor. I at least need to be good at one of them.

Wouldn’t y’ all agree? So that’s the charge for me. Well, Guess who’s my model? Jesus. He’s the good shepherd.

He’s competent. I would say this about Jesus. He also has compassion. He is a compassionate shepherd. How do I know that?

Well, come on, y’. All. Because I know him. When I read about him, when I experience him in my own life, what does it. What does he say about himself?

He knows us. He says, my sheep know me. I know them. They know my voice. They’ll respond just to my voice.

He knows us. And not only that, he says, I will lay down my life for the sheep. It’s a very specific phrase in the Greek text. It means to sacrifice himself. That’s what it means.

That’s what that. That little word for in Greek. It’s only used in John’s Gospel to refer to sacrificial deaths. So Jesus says, I’m going to lay down my life. In other words, he knows you.

He cares about you. He’s paying attention to your life. You can trust him. You can follow him, and he will show you how much he loves you as he will lay down his life for you. In other words, your sin, my sin.

While we were yet sinners, what does the Bible say? Christ. Christ died for us, and so he’s offered up his life for us. He’s paid the penalty for our sin. But even that is not the end.

He is at the very center of God’s redemptive activity in all of creation. That’s what the last part of this text teaches us. Jesus says, I’m going to lay my life down. Nobody’s going to take it from me. Jesus is not a martyr.

They didn’t just take Jesus life. Jesus gave his life. That’s why I love this encounter. We’ll read later between Pilate and Jesus in the Gospel of John. And Pilate will say to Jesus, don’t you know I have the power over your life?

And Jesus says, you don’t have any power. All you have is what’s been given to you. And it’s just that. It’s just that. That’s all you got is that.

Don’t you know that Jesus had power. He laid down his life for us, but then he takes it up again. And not only that, he is the shepherd for everybody. He says, I’ve got sheep you don’t even know about. I’ve got sheep that I don’t even know.

This sheepfold. In other words, this is bigger than just a message for the Jews. I’m not just the Jewish Messiah. I am that. I’m the Savior of The whole world.

And so he’s everybody’s shepherd. In other words, there is no limit to what Jesus Christ will do for us because he’s our good shepherd. In his death, in his resurrection, he’s defeated our two greatest enemies, sin and death. He has overcome sin. He’s defeated death.

You know why? Because he is the good shepherd. And so, praise God this morning, I can look at you and say, you’re sheep. That means we need things. Y’ all know how sheep are.

Sheep don’t know where to go. They don’t know when to eat. They don’t know what to eat. They just do whatever feels good to them. Is that my world?

They just. We just do whatever feels good and we get blessed by it. That’s what sheep do. Guess what? The shepherd won’t let you do that.

The shepherd will make sure you’re eating the right thing, you’re drinking the right kind of water, you’re living in the right kind of place. You’re walking into the right pastures. He’s going to guide you and lead you and shepherd you because he loves you. And so here’s the good news, y’. All.

You’re sheep, but you’re not sheep without a shepherd. Hallelujah. Not only that, you and I have the good shepherd. Praise his name. Let’s pray together.

Father, we thank you today for this good news. And, Lord, there may be those within the sound of my voice today who just need to know God, a good shepherd. I ask you to make yourself known to them as a shepherd, the good shepherd. Draw them into that personal relationship, Lord, and walk them through the valleys of their lives in very real ways. I thank you for the testimony of many in this room who I know have that testimony.

We want to thank you for it. But there are others, perhaps today, Lord, who don’t have that, who don’t even know what that is. We pray that this very day they will find their way to the good shepherd. And we pray that in Jesus name.