NOVEMBER 12 / NOVEMBER 19, 2017
THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP (PART I)
INTRODUCTION:
1. This chapter is closely connected with the preceding one. The parable before us was with direct reference to the blind teachers of the Jewish people. The Scribes and Pharisees are the persons our Lord has in view when He describes the false shepherds. The very men who had just said, “We see.” He denounces with holy boldness as “thieves and robbers.”
2. Jesus is still at Jerusalem. He returned for the Feast of Tabernacles (Ch. 7:10), which was held in the month of October. It is now the Feast of Dedication (Verse 22), which was held in the month of November.
3. Some have thought that Jesus might have been walking past the Sheep Gate as he spoke these three parables.
a) The Sheepfold. (Verses 1-6)
b) The Door. (Verses 7-10)
c) The Good Shepherd. (Verses 11-18)
4. Every Israelite knew the daily routine of the shepherd that is used by our Lord as a means for setting forth great truth.
a) Leading the sheep out of the sheepfold in the morning.
b) Pasturing the sheep in the fields during the day.
c) Bringing the sheep safely home at night.
5. The daily care pictures for us the salvation which Christ provides for His own, and the precious relationship they enjoy with Him.
I. CHRIST AS SHEPHERD HAS LED HIS SHEEP OUT OF THE PLACE OF DESTRUCTION. (VERSES 1-6)
A. THE ENTRANCE OF THE SHEPHERD. (VERSES 1-3a)
1. The meaning of the sheepfold.
a) It is not salvation. No one can gain entrance to it illegally.
b) It is not the church. Christ does not lead us out of it.
c) It is the Jewish Theocracy. The Pharisees had gained an improper dominion over it.
2. The door and its meaning.
a) Different parable and meaning in Verses 7, 9.
b) The Shepherd comes in at the door.
c) Thus the door here is the Messianic Office through which proper entrance was gotten into the sheepfold. Divine right to the sheep.
3. The porter then is John the Baptist, who opened to Christ. (John 1:29)
B. THE CALL OF THE SHEPHERD. (VERSES 3b, 4c, 5)
1. As a shepherd calling his sheep, so Christ was calling His own in Israel; as the blind man in Chapter 9.
2. So, too, He would call sheep from all nations. (Verse 16
3. This call is personal and individual. “…by name.” (Verse 3)
4. This call is effectual. “The sheep hear his voice…” (Verse 3b) (Hear, recognize, obey)
C. THE PURPOSE OF THE SHEPHERD. (VERSES 4, 5)
1. The shepherd wants to separate his sheep from others.
2. The shepherd wants to get the sheep out of the sheepfold. “When he putteth forth his sheep.” (See Ch. 9:34)
3. The shepherd wants to get the sheep to follow him.
4. The shepherd wants the sheep to ignore the voice of strangers. (Verse 5)
II. CHRIST AS SHEPHERD LEADS HIS SHEEP INTO A PLACE OF BOUNTIFUL PROVISION. (VERSES 7-10)
A. HE, HIMSELF, IS THE DOOR TO IT. (VERSES 7, 9a)
1. As the Shepherd daily leads the sheep to their pasture, He is the door to it.
2. As the Shepherd makes a fold in the field, He lies in the opening, Himself, and become the Door.
3. So Christ points the way and is the way of our salvation.
B. THE WONDERS OF THIS PROVISION. (VERSE 9)
1. It is open to any who will be sheep-like. “If any man enter in…” (Verse 9b)
a) Who will hear His voice. (Verse 27)
b) Who will follow His call.
2. It is full salvation. “He shall be saved.” (Verse 9c)
3. It is a provision of security and liberty. “…and shall go in and out…” (Verse 9d)
4. It is a satisfying, all sufficient provision. “…and find pasture…” (Verse 9e)
III. CHRIST AS SHEPHERD INTERPOSES HIS OWN LIFE FOR THE SHEEP. (VERSES 11-18)
A. HIS MOTIVE IS SELFLESS LOVE. (VERSES 11-13, 18)
1. This love springs from a personal care for the sheep themselves. He knows and cares for them personally. (Verses 13-15)
2. This love springs from personal ownership. Contrasted to the hireling, the Shepherd owns the sheep. (Verse 12)
a) His by eternal election.
b) His by creation.
c) His by redemption.
3. Thus the Shepherd faces the wolf and its fury rather than allowing the sheep to suffer.
4. His act of love is most free. Loves drives Him, not necessity. (Verse 18)
B. HIS OBJECT OF SELF-SACRIFICE IS THE SHEEP. “I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR THE SHEEP.”
1. The sacrifice itself. My life or soul.
2. The manner of its sacrifice. “I lay down…” (i.e. put off as a garment)
3. The substitution of the sacrifice. “…for the sheep.” (i.e. on behalf of; in the stead of)
4. Thus the Shepherd dies rather than the sheep, in their very place.
C. HIS REWARD IS CERTAINLY MERITED.
1. He earns the love of the Father as the God-man. (Verse 17)
2. He earns the love of the sheep and His position over them. (Verses 14, 16)
a) Sheep in all nations. “…other sheep I have.”
b) But one fold and one Shepherd.
3. He earns His new resurrection life for Himself and for His sheep. (Verses 17, 18) “I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” (Phil. 2:9-11)
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