Scripture:  John 10:1-21

I. Jesus is a shepherd who knows his own people.

A. The shepherd’s voice and call are distinctive. But Jesus the shepherd goes even further than just having his own call. “He calls his own sheep by name” (vs. 3). In his teaching Jesus is making a clear contrast between him as the good shepherd and bad shepherds. The bad shepherds of Israel disapproved of Jesus’ healing a blind man on the Sabbath in John 9. These bad shepherds are like the ones in Ezekiel 34. Finally, in Ezekiel 34:23-24, God pronounces, “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David.” Jesus is that Son of David.

II. Jesus is a shepherd who nurtures his own people.

A. In verse 7 we learn that Jesus is not just the shepherd of the sheep; he is the door of the sheep. This picture of Jesus the shepherd nurturing his sheep by controlling access to the sheep is the answer to Moses’ prayer for Israel in Numbers 27:16-17: “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”

III. Jesus is a shepherd who dies for his own people.

A. Jesus says in vs. 11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Why would Jesus die for sheep? God the Father had commanded him to do so (vs. 17). The bad shepherds of Israel had sacrificed nothing for the sheep. But Jesus gave it all for the sheep. Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” If you have faith that Jesus died for you, you become his sheep and He becomes your shepherd.

IV. Jesus is a shepherd who transforms his own people.

A. Jesus is a Jewish Messiah who was the good shepherd of His Jewish people. But in vs. 16 we see Jesus announce that a change is coming to his sheepfold. Gentiles will be added to the fold. There is a mixed reaction to Jesus’ teaching. The people are divided about Jesus because of the miracle he performed in healing the blind man on the Sabbath in John 9 (see John 10:21). He transformed his life. Some think Jesus is from God. Others think he is from Satan. We need to choose our shepherd: Jesus or one of the bad shepherds who fleece the flock and nitpick Jesus?

Application:
Make Jesus your shepherd and your door of access to the Father today.
Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by D.A. Carson, Herman Ridderbos, and Edward Klink.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) How do we see in John 10 that Jesus intimately knows his sheep? What kind of shepherds does Jesus contrast Himself with?
2) In what way is Jesus a door to the sheep (vs. 7)? Who does Jesus give access to as the door? What does it mean that Jesus gives abundant life (vs. 10)? 
3) Shepherds are much more valuable than sheep. But Jesus says he will lay down his life for the sheep. Why would he do that?