WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.920 I'm going to invite you to John Chapter 10 this morning. 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:07.200 John Chapter 10 is where we're going to be together as we continue through our series of the Gospel of John. 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:11.440 And John 10 is sort of a conclusion section for the Gospel of John. 00:00:12.030 --> 00:00:15.420 It's really one of the pinnacle chapters of the Gospel of John. 00:00:15.420 --> 00:00:22.480 If you talk to people about some themes that they may know about, John, most likely, if anyone's familiar with this book, Chapter 10 is one of those 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:29.260 chapters, you may not be able to recall the exact chapter, but you know this is the chapter that Jesus talks about himself being the Good Shepherd. 00:00:29.820 --> 00:00:32.340 This is a very powerful section of scripture. 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:37.940 And this section of scripture comes at a conclusion point in Jesus's ministry. 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:42.660 And the conclusion point is at the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:45.460 We have been at this feast. 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:46.740 This is a week long feast. 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:49.680 We have been at this feast since John Chapter 7. 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:51.860 And John Chapter 10 is the conclusion of this feast. 00:00:52.260 --> 00:00:59.500 And when you read the Gospels, one of the interesting things, if you ever engage in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, any of the Gospels, one of the interesting things you'll see 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:06.880 in those books, is that Jesus's life is really just very quick snapshots described of Christ's life. 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:10.320 You really don't get a whole lot about Jesus's early years of his life. 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:17.160 You get his birth, you get one story in the gospels about him getting lost at the temple when he was a kid. 00:01:17.740 --> 00:01:24.300 But other than that, what's recorded about Jesus is really his public ministry, the last three and a half years of his life. 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:26.640 That's really what the Gospels contain. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:28.890 And John tells you why, at the end of the gospel of John. 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:34.400 He says he writes particular stories about Jesus so that you can believe in Him and have life and life for eternity. 00:01:34.580 --> 00:01:36.580 That's his desire for John. 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:43.920 So John's not just picking out random stories that he thinks about Jesus and kind of telling you these stories as he can recollect 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:46.820 from his old age, some of the things he encountered with Christ. 00:01:47.340 --> 00:01:52.160 John's bringing very intentional types of stories he's sharing with you about Jesus. 00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:58.210 He's not just pulling these out of memory, he's communicating something important about Christ that he wants you to recognize. 00:01:58.940 --> 00:02:06.000 But when you read in the Gospel of John, you kind of go through his life pretty quick through ministry, but then you get to this Feast of Booths or this Feast of 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:11.720 Tabernacles, and it's really, in this section of scripture, it's kind of like John hits the pause button. 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.960 And for several chapters, just records the course of events in Jesus's life. 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:19.740 And this does not happen again, until the end of Jesus's life. 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:26.480 When you get to John Chapter, really 13, John, again, slows down at the end of Christ's life. 00:02:26.780 --> 00:02:33.860 And I think in the life of Jesus, when John is sharing here, the reason John chooses to do this, is because he 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:41.200 sees that these moments related to the Feast of Tabernacles, as really being the defining moment that puts 00:02:41.200 --> 00:02:43.540 the stamp on what's going to happen to Jesus. 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:48.680 And because this is where Jesus has clearly declared for us his identity. 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:53.880 He's demonstrated it to us, and he's even used pictures of Jewish worship for it. 00:02:53.960 --> 00:03:00.320 And what I mean is, Jesus, at the end of John, if you remember John Chapter 8 and Verse 58, Jesus declared himself just plainly. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:02.360 He says, I am the I am. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:03.900 They ask, hey, Jesus... 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:08.910 If you remember at the end of John 8, he's talking about Abraham and they look at Jesus like, how do you know Abraham? 00:03:09.420 --> 00:03:11.100 Abraham died years ago. 00:03:11.100 --> 00:03:12.460 How could you even know Abraham? 00:03:12.660 --> 00:03:15.480 And then Jesus gives that statement, before Abraham was, I am. 00:03:16.100 --> 00:03:18.700 And the phrase, I am, is a declaration of His deity. 00:03:19.540 --> 00:03:21.260 It's the name of God in the Old Testament. 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:26.580 And the response to the Jews, it was to immediately pick up stones to throw at Jesus to kill him. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.840 So Jesus is clearly giving this declaration of who he was, right? 00:03:31.220 --> 00:03:32.600 I am God. 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:37.010 The I am statements really pick up in John Chapter 8, he does it twice. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.120 And then John Chapter 10, he does it twice again. 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:42.250 The I am statements, I am the door, I am the Shepherd. 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:44.880 Or the Good Shepherd, he's going to do that today, we'll see. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.260 So his identity is very clearly portrayed here. 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:53.800 And then he demonstrates that by his healing hand, it's a messianic mark. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:00.110 We talked about this a little bit last week, that he heals the blind man, he heals the man at Bethesda, at the pool of Bethesda. 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:05.030 It's a mark of who the Messiah was, and so he demonstrates that. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:12.900 And then in the same time period, when Jesus is at the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles, he uses the illustrations of 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:18.160 the feast that God commanded his people to do, to say, this is a foreshadowing of me. 00:04:18.180 --> 00:04:25.860 Remember, this is where Jesus called himself the Light of the World, when the Jews are doing the torch dance to light the temple 00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:27.420 during the Feast of Booths. 00:04:27.520 --> 00:04:29.160 Every night, they would light the temple. 00:04:29.380 --> 00:04:35.780 And Jesus is saying this light is a picture of me, I am that light, all of this is intended to point to me. 00:04:35.900 --> 00:04:39.920 Or during the same feast, there was a pouring out of water at the drink offering. 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:45.130 And as the water is being poured out, Jesus comes in and he says, I am the living water. 00:04:46.200 --> 00:04:48.250 All of this is a picture of me. 00:04:48.340 --> 00:04:52.380 So Jesus is very clearly saying, look, the temple worship, it's all about me. 00:04:52.400 --> 00:04:57.180 It's a foreshadowing of everything that I will fulfill in your life. 00:04:57.180 --> 00:05:00.480 And so this declaration of Jesus is being made known. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:05.900 And you see at the end of John Chapter 9, that really, the one person that responds to it is the blind man. 00:05:07.220 --> 00:05:12.320 In the end John 9, that he is the one that worships Jesus. 00:05:14.460 --> 00:05:16.420 This is Jesus's desire for us. 00:05:16.580 --> 00:05:18.300 Jesus doesn't stop him from worship. 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:22.360 But Jesus permits him to worship, because Jesus is God. 00:05:24.380 --> 00:05:31.680 And this section of scripture, very powerful in what it communicates to us about Christ and the significance of who he is, so that we don't miss 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:31.840 it. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:38.640 And this also becomes sort of the death knell for Jesus, because I guess, pun intended there. 00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:44.970 But Jesus, this becomes a place where the Pharisees really decide that, yeah, we've got to put an end to this guy. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:51.060 In fact in John Chapter 7 Verse 25, they start talking about the death of Jesus. 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:52.320 And it continues on. 00:05:52.320 --> 00:05:59.500 They talk about the death of Jesus nine times, really starting in Chapter 5 and then in Chapter 7, then it continues on 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:00.020 from there. 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:01.840 They're just focused on killing Jesus. 00:06:02.260 --> 00:06:05.700 To the point where at the end of Chapter 7, the crowds just walk away from Christ. 00:06:05.700 --> 00:06:11.200 They see him as really a dividing person in their culture. 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:13.460 And to follow Jesus, there's risk to that. 00:06:13.700 --> 00:06:15.940 And so people are distancing themselves from Christ. 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:18.750 You see it again in John 9 with the blind man. 00:06:19.400 --> 00:06:26.820 That this man's claiming Jesus, but even his parents reject their own son, because they don't want to be ostracized from their Jewish synagogue, 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:32.520 their Jewish community to follow Jesus, was to put you on the outskirts of community life. 00:06:32.520 --> 00:06:36.380 And so they rejected Jesus in order to align with their community. 00:06:36.400 --> 00:06:43.420 So this section of scripture, very defining moment for the people of 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:45.280 Israel and where they stand with Jesus. 00:06:47.440 --> 00:06:54.560 And Jesus, in these last moments at the Feast of Tabernacles, chooses this one last illustration, 00:06:55.960 --> 00:06:58.660 to help us understand who he is, really. 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:02.420 Following after him, there's risk. 00:07:03.820 --> 00:07:05.860 As a Christian, that should be true for us. 00:07:06.340 --> 00:07:10.420 As Christians, we should recognize there is a cross to bear before us. 00:07:12.080 --> 00:07:14.380 But also, there is a hope beyond us. 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:20.240 In Christianity, in pursuing Jesus, it can cost you. 00:07:20.260 --> 00:07:21.300 In fact, it should cost you. 00:07:22.280 --> 00:07:26.640 Because you let go of the things of this world to grab hold of the things of God. 00:07:26.880 --> 00:07:29.020 So there is a cross before you, there is a cross to bear. 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:30.440 But there is a hope that endures beyond. 00:07:32.420 --> 00:07:36.520 And Jesus wants us to see the sweetness of that in who he is. 00:07:38.280 --> 00:07:42.000 In John Chapter 10, he chooses this illustration. 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:43.880 John 10 Verse 1, look at it with me. 00:07:44.640 --> 00:07:51.680 This is truly, truly, I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:52.000 way. 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:53.280 He is a thief and a robber. 00:07:54.440 --> 00:07:57.620 But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:04.820 To him, the doorkeeper opens and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheet by name, and he leads them out. 00:08:05.780 --> 00:08:11.880 When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:20.080 However, a stranger, they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of 00:08:20.080 --> 00:08:20.180 strangers. 00:08:23.020 --> 00:08:25.980 So what Jesus is doing in this story is very easy to pick up on. 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:29.320 He's contrasting the leadership that Israel has been under versus his own. 00:08:30.880 --> 00:08:35.480 And he's picturing himself as the shepherd, and the others as imposters. 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:40.500 And if you just think about the last couple of chapters, you see why Jesus is to this point. 00:08:41.220 --> 00:08:47.160 Chapter 8, at the end of Chapter 8, he called himself the I am, the Jews picked up stones to stone him, Jesus flees. 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:48.940 They cast Jesus out. 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:54.320 At the end of Chapter 9, you have one person choosing to follow Jesus, it's the blind man. 00:08:54.540 --> 00:08:56.900 And what do they do to the blind man, they cast him out. 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:03.820 And on the backdrop of that story, Jesus then gives this story, I am the Shepherd. 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:10.490 Everyone else who's tried to lead your life, they've been an imposter, they've not come for you for the right reasons. 00:09:11.160 --> 00:09:15.300 I am the true voice that you need to listen to, I am the one that's called here. 00:09:15.900 --> 00:09:21.420 And Jesus wants to distinguish who he is in our lives versus all other voices. 00:09:24.140 --> 00:09:27.790 Superiority of Christ made known for you. 00:09:29.060 --> 00:09:36.280 So Jesus, in the story, is contrasting all false shepherds, or all other imposers in this moment, in the life of the sheep versus 00:09:36.280 --> 00:09:36.780 himself. 00:09:37.180 --> 00:09:41.800 But then in addition to that, he's comparing you to sheep. 00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:47.020 Jesus is the shepherd and you are sheep. 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:51.060 And I think Jesus, in this story, is very intentional in choosing this illustration. 00:09:51.060 --> 00:09:57.340 I don't think he's just saying, you know what, I guess if I had to just compare you guys to something, maybe we'll just talk about sheep for a minute. 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:01.260 I think Jesus is being very intentional in the way he's illustrating this. 00:10:01.520 --> 00:10:05.980 And you don't have to know a lot about farm animals to know something about sheep. 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:13.310 I mean, sheep are probably not the most important animal, or I mean, impressive animal I should say, in the farm. 00:10:13.640 --> 00:10:20.820 If you think about what a sheep represents, it's typically, there's this gentleness about 00:10:20.820 --> 00:10:21.340 sheep. 00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:26.540 If you want to count something, you don't want to count dinosaurs or bears, or things like that. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:27.330 Those are scary. 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.200 You want to count sheep, because they're sort of this vulnerable type animal. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:31.770 It's very comforting. 00:10:32.040 --> 00:10:36.760 You could just see yourself laying your head down on a sheep, you can't see yourself laying your head down on a bear. 00:10:36.760 --> 00:10:39.710 I mean, sheep are just kind of seen as those gentle animals. 00:10:40.160 --> 00:10:42.280 And the reason is because, well, they're dumb. 00:10:42.400 --> 00:10:44.020 Let's just be honest. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:48.320 They're not real impressive in their trivia. 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.480 Sheep, they're in a class of their own. 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:58.300 They're slow, they're defenseless, they're vulnerable, they're innocent. 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:02.120 They lack the ability to care for themselves. 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:04.700 They can't survive on their own. 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:10.900 In fact, if I just showed you a little picture here, this is a picture of a sheep that came out of... 00:11:10.900 --> 00:11:12.780 maybe, [inaudible 00:11:12] pop-up [inaudible 00:11:13]. 00:11:14.140 --> 00:11:16.160 Well, maybe not. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:20.960 There's a sheep in New Zealand, known as Shrek. 00:11:21.680 --> 00:11:25.180 And Shrek happened to wander away from its fold. 00:11:25.780 --> 00:11:29.280 And Shrek survived for six years on its own. 00:11:29.280 --> 00:11:33.690 Now, anytime a sheep survives more than a day on its own, it's like a miracle. 00:11:33.880 --> 00:11:38.140 But here, this happens to be one sheep that in particular survived on its own. 00:11:38.400 --> 00:11:43.840 And the sheep survived by finding a cave, it just lived in a cave in New Zealand for six years. 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:46.560 And finally, after six years, they located the sheep. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:48.960 And when they located the sheep... 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:49.430 there it is. 00:11:50.180 --> 00:11:51.260 After six years, they located the sheep. 00:11:51.260 --> 00:11:56.640 When they located the sheep, the wool on the sheep weighs 60 pounds. 00:11:57.140 --> 00:11:59.020 60 pounds of wool on the sheep. 00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:04.810 I look at this sheep and I wonder, when you're just a big giant cloud like this, how do you even bend over to eat anything? 00:12:05.300 --> 00:12:10.150 Like about this much of the sheep's nose can maybe touch the ground, how does the sheep even get food? 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:12.600 And how does the sheep even see to get food? 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:14.360 This is miracle sheep. 00:12:14.420 --> 00:12:17.580 And this is like Jesus saying to us, you know what it's like for sheep to go on its own? 00:12:17.820 --> 00:12:19.100 This is what it's like, don't do this. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:24.320 I let one sheep that happened to make it for six years, there's been no sheep on its own that's made it for six years. 00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:29.110 This is the miracle sheep, just to show with us, why Jesus is using such an illustration. 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:32.400 Sheep are not made to live on their own. 00:12:33.280 --> 00:12:37.700 If sheep don't have the right person leading them, sheep die. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:38.660 That's the point, right? 00:12:40.760 --> 00:12:46.740 But if sheep have a shepherd that love them, sheep thrive. 00:12:49.380 --> 00:12:51.780 And this is why Jesus chooses the illustration. 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:58.200 It's not to get to the end of this and say, are you telling me the whole point of what Jesus is saying is just to say to me that sometimes I can be dumb. 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:00.210 That's not the point. 00:13:02.170 --> 00:13:05.850 The point is for us to recognize how good the shepherd is. 00:13:06.380 --> 00:13:12.440 If we read a story like this and we think the point is about us, or we really read the Bible at all and think the main point is about us, we've missed the point. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.280 The point is really about the goodness of who he is. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:23.300 And when sheep that are made for him connect to him, rather than die, we thrive. 00:13:25.420 --> 00:13:29.240 And Jesus is using this illustration for our lives. 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:36.500 In fact, in Verse 3, I want to highlight just a couple things for you that Jesus says, for 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:39.380 us as it relates to his leadership in our lives. 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.660 What it's saying in Verse 3, is Jesus really leads us, he leads us intimately. 00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:48.220 And it says this, to him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice. 00:13:49.160 --> 00:13:51.920 And he calls his own sheep by name. 00:13:54.920 --> 00:14:00.480 That's a special thought and connection to thinking about all other people that have come before the sheep, to try to take the sheep. 00:14:01.900 --> 00:14:06.440 So you look at the thieves or the robbers that are described in Verse 1. 00:14:07.380 --> 00:14:10.340 When they come before the sheep, they really don't give a rip about your name. 00:14:12.900 --> 00:14:14.860 They don't want the best for you. 00:14:15.180 --> 00:14:17.100 They want you for them. 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:20.780 And they're not going to take time to really care about the intimacy of who you are. 00:14:23.740 --> 00:14:24.140 But Jesus does. 00:14:26.860 --> 00:14:33.040 When we read, in terms of the Good Shepherd in this passage of scripture, it's not to say generically, that's just who he is. 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:37.450 But specifically for you, this is who he is. 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:39.100 And how do we know it? 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:42.280 Well, he knows each of his sheep by name. 00:14:44.100 --> 00:14:45.600 Jesus knows you personally. 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:49.460 Jesus cares about you intimately. 00:14:51.460 --> 00:14:55.900 In fact, different than the robber who wouldn't even take time to give you a name, you're just a thing to him. 00:14:57.480 --> 00:14:58.500 Jesus has named you. 00:15:00.940 --> 00:15:08.020 Name in Jesus's day was more than just granting someone something to call them by, it was an identity. 00:15:10.400 --> 00:15:17.400 In fact, in Jesus's day, the mortality rate of children was considered so high, that some families wouldn't name their 00:15:17.400 --> 00:15:22.270 children until they were two years old, because they didn't want to give a name to a child they thought might not make it. 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:27.600 But Jesus gives you a name. 00:15:30.520 --> 00:15:32.290 Because Jesus cares about you. 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.580 He calls his own sheep by name. 00:15:36.760 --> 00:15:41.380 And then it says this about you in the second part of the verse, and leads them out. 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:46.160 And he leads them out. 00:15:48.060 --> 00:15:50.680 Jesus isn't just seeing you as a part of a crowd. 00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:52.940 He sees you. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:55.740 And his desire is to lead you. 00:15:55.760 --> 00:16:02.780 And that's a beautiful thought, because maybe if we just more, contrast a little bit from the way, in Jesus's day, 00:16:02.800 --> 00:16:06.000 they herd sheep versus how people might herd sheep in Australia. 00:16:06.060 --> 00:16:09.580 In Australia, you get a dog, and the dog drive the sheep. 00:16:13.020 --> 00:16:16.840 But in Jesus's day, the shepherd doesn't drive the sheep. 00:16:18.060 --> 00:16:19.740 He gets in front of them, and he leads them. 00:16:21.140 --> 00:16:23.640 He calls them, because they know his voice. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:27.040 Because they've had intimate time with the shepherd. 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:30.980 And they have opportunity to follow him. 00:16:31.400 --> 00:16:34.460 It's the beauty of the way Jesus desires to guide your life. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:41.600 He doesn't just push you out in the front, he already has walked the path before you. 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:49.580 That's the beauty of Jesus, when we trust in him as a sheep, we want to know, how do I know that my tomorrow is secure? 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:51.320 And the answer is because he's already been there. 00:16:53.160 --> 00:16:55.180 God's timeless, he's eternal. 00:16:56.620 --> 00:17:00.530 He already knows what tomorrow holds, because he's already been in tomorrow. 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:07.579 And therefore, when he calls you, he's calling you where he's already been on your behalf. 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.160 And that's the kind of leadership Jesus brings into your life. 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:18.220 It's a beautiful contrasting of what the people of Jesus's day, the leaders of Jesus's day are demanding of them, 00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:20.300 versus what Jesus desires for them. 00:17:21.520 --> 00:17:23.670 But then you look in Verse 6 and Verse 6, it says, but we don't understand. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:26.670 We don't understand. 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:31.160 So Jesus, in the next section of this verse, in Verse 7... 00:17:31.860 --> 00:17:34.560 By the way, if you have notes, there's a couple blanks in your notes. 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:38.700 The first blank was, he calls the sheep by name. 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:40.300 Second blank, he leads them out. 00:17:41.060 --> 00:17:44.300 And then in Verse 7, Jesus starts to reiterate the story again. 00:17:44.300 --> 00:17:46.470 So they say, Verse 1 to 5, Jesus, we don't understand. 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:50.920 And Jesus says, okay, let me just dive a little bit deeper in this. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:54.160 I understand, maybe this is first time you're hearing it, you're not fully grasping it. 00:17:54.180 --> 00:18:01.300 But I really want you understand this, because this moment that I've spent with you at the Feast of Tabernacles, this has become the moment where the 00:18:01.300 --> 00:18:04.500 hatred for me has been so fueled, that it's going to lead to my death. 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:10.020 And knowing this is leading to my death, I want this illustration to be on your mind. 00:18:10.860 --> 00:18:12.860 So Verse 7, this is what he says. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:18.240 Jesus said to them, again, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 00:18:18.260 --> 00:18:19.580 We'll talk about that in just a minute. 00:18:20.600 --> 00:18:24.600 All those who came before me are thieves and robbers. 00:18:25.420 --> 00:18:27.480 But the sheep did not listen to them. 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:28.800 I am the door. 00:18:29.580 --> 00:18:33.480 If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. 00:18:34.540 --> 00:18:36.910 And will go in and out and find pasture. 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:40.460 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:18:41.300 --> 00:18:45.670 I came so that they would have life and have it abundantly. 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:55.180 Jesus, in this illustration, he gives one of those declarations of the I am, which is the ego eimi, the identity of God. 00:18:55.580 --> 00:18:56.200 I am God. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.360 And the way I'm like God is I am a door. 00:18:59.520 --> 00:19:04.000 So Jesus is saying, I'm not just the Shepherd, I am the pen that protects the sheep. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:04.530 I am the door. 00:19:04.820 --> 00:19:07.740 Into this pen, there is only one way in and one way out. 00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:09.380 And this is what Jesus is saying to us. 00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:15.300 He's saying, look, if you belong to me, I am God and nothing's getting to you. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:18.180 I am God and I am going to protect you. 00:19:20.300 --> 00:19:24.520 I am in charge of what goes around your life. 00:19:24.520 --> 00:19:31.200 And because it's me, and because I'm God, what I say about you and what I do for you, it goes. 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:32.500 No one can mess with that. 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:37.200 If someone wants to come to this door and try to steal you, they've got to come through me. 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:40.100 And they're not getting through me because I am who I am. 00:19:40.520 --> 00:19:41.040 I am God. 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:50.700 So when I talk about being your Shepherd, it becomes this place where you can rest comfortably 00:19:50.700 --> 00:19:51.580 in my arms. 00:19:54.260 --> 00:19:55.100 I encompass you. 00:19:57.180 --> 00:20:01.560 And he contrasts this thought to the idea of Satan. 00:20:03.320 --> 00:20:06.060 And Satan's plan, it says, is to kill, steal and destroy. 00:20:06.280 --> 00:20:10.320 He's saying, look, guys, there's really two paths in this world. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.660 You can belong to me, because you were created for me. 00:20:14.860 --> 00:20:17.100 But if you don't belong to me, you belong to the enemy. 00:20:18.120 --> 00:20:21.200 And here's the plan of the enemy, to steal, kill and destroy. 00:20:22.600 --> 00:20:25.020 Now, knowing that about Satan is important. 00:20:26.300 --> 00:20:29.700 But I will say seeing that lived out through Satan doesn't always happen. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:30.800 What I mean is this. 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:33.720 We're not dumb, guys. 00:20:33.730 --> 00:20:37.360 If someone comes to you and says, look, I got a plan for your life. 00:20:38.180 --> 00:20:39.980 It's all about stealing, killing and destroying you. 00:20:41.040 --> 00:20:43.180 You would say, I'm going to choose a different path. 00:20:44.040 --> 00:20:45.960 And if there's only two, I'll go with the Good Shepherd. 00:20:46.740 --> 00:20:47.830 But I'm not going to go with this path. 00:20:48.280 --> 00:20:52.920 And the point is to say this, Satan doesn't make his plan for your life obvious. 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:56.720 But this is his ultimate goal. 00:20:58.760 --> 00:21:04.620 All Satan has to do to get you there, is just twist the truth a little bit. 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:07.500 That's what he did in the Garden of Eden. 00:21:09.080 --> 00:21:10.560 He just questioned what God said. 00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:14.040 Adam and Eve, don't eat the fruit. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:19.750 Serpent shows up, did God really say, did he really? 00:21:21.180 --> 00:21:22.320 Are you so sure? 00:21:25.400 --> 00:21:27.620 The twisting of the truth, just a little lie. 00:21:29.780 --> 00:21:30.320 And what does it lead to? 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:35.020 Steal, kill and destroy. 00:21:38.750 --> 00:21:48.420 But what it says in this passage, at the very end of Verse 10, is, Jesus's desire isn't just to give life, but 00:21:48.420 --> 00:21:49.980 to give abundant life. 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:57.460 God's desire for your life is not just life, but abundant life. 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:02.660 This idea of abundant means, above and beyond. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:11.360 Whatever you can conceive what God desires for you, is really unimaginable for what God can do and will do for your 00:22:11.360 --> 00:22:11.480 life. 00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:14.880 It's abundant life. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:24.080 I will say, in John Chapter 10, I don't think Jesus's closest disciples 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:27.900 completely understood the picture of what this meant. 00:22:29.020 --> 00:22:36.140 I think as you read throughout the New Testament, you see the theology of abundant life articulated a little better and more deeply 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:37.020 along the way. 00:22:38.540 --> 00:22:43.740 But I don't think they fully grasped what abundant meant, because they didn't fully understand what Jesus was saying to this point. 00:22:45.040 --> 00:22:50.160 Jesus wants them to understand, so he just simply describes what he wants to offer them as abundant life. 00:22:51.180 --> 00:22:58.340 But I would say this, probably the best New Testament word to understand what this idea of abundant means, 00:22:59.880 --> 00:23:02.280 is this idea of adoption. 00:23:03.780 --> 00:23:08.300 What the Bible says is, when you belong to God, you're adopted into his kingdom. 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:11.880 You're adopted as a child. 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:16.680 Not everyone can call themselves as a child of God, that's how John 1 starts in Verse 12. 00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:21.520 But as many as received him, to him, he gives the right to become the children of God. 00:23:21.620 --> 00:23:22.720 You're not born a child of God. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:28.800 But you can become a child of God, by your faith and what Jesus has done on your behalf through the cross. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:34.150 And when you embrace Jesus in this way, then what Jesus delivers to you is life abundant. 00:23:34.600 --> 00:23:38.300 And the idea that abundant life is experienced through your adoption. 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:42.410 There's this book written by a man named J.I Packer, he was a theologian. 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.410 I think he actually died this past year. 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:48.520 He was, I think, somewhere in his 90s, when he passed. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.160 But he wrote a book called Knowing God, it's considered a Christian classic. 00:23:52.320 --> 00:23:55.420 It's in the top 50 for Christian books ever written. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:00.060 And in that book, I remember this, because it just seared into my brain. 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:04.440 But I have the 1993 copyright edition, if anyone has that. 00:24:05.020 --> 00:24:11.260 But in that book on page 207, he says something that has just stuck with me. 00:24:13.300 --> 00:24:20.100 He says, in church history, there was a time when justification was the theme of the church. 00:24:20.620 --> 00:24:28.100 And what he means is in church history, about the 11th century to about the 16th century, the 00:24:29.100 --> 00:24:33.040 focus of the church had gone away from justification by faith alone. 00:24:34.120 --> 00:24:37.320 It wasn't emphasized in the body of Christ, in some places, it wasn't even taught. 00:24:38.840 --> 00:24:45.870 And this man named Martin Luther came along and he highlighted that thought, justification by faith alone, and it revolutionized the church. 00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:51.370 It put a passion back into the rear end of God's people, to share the beauty of the gospel. 00:24:51.520 --> 00:24:52.800 Justification by faith alone. 00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:57.300 And what that meant is, it's the idea that we don't earn our salvation, that Jesus paid for it all. 00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:01.780 Because of what Jesus has done, we're justified in him, justified by faith. 00:25:01.840 --> 00:25:03.730 We put our trust in what Jesus has accomplished. 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:09.220 And we're declared right, we're justified because of Jesus, what Jesus has done on our behalf, a beautiful thought. 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:13.200 That I'm saved because of what Christ has done. 00:25:14.300 --> 00:25:15.030 And that's important. 00:25:15.080 --> 00:25:16.280 That's the message of the church. 00:25:16.340 --> 00:25:17.780 That's what evangelism is built on. 00:25:17.840 --> 00:25:18.920 That's the gospel, right? 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:26.240 I get to go in this world and say, I'm loved by God, not because of what I've done, but because God loves me, he set me free, he's pursued me in 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:26.920 my sin. 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:28.890 I have new life in him, I am justified. 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:33.960 Jesus went to the cross while I was a sinner, and he died for me. 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:37.380 And I didn't make myself lovable for him, he loved me despite my sin, and he sets me free. 00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:38.300 That's justified as beautiful. 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:40.560 But it doesn't end there. 00:25:44.220 --> 00:25:47.480 We're also adopted, we're set apart. 00:25:49.280 --> 00:25:55.200 We're declared as children of the King, and therefore given inheritance in the kingdom. 00:25:56.320 --> 00:26:03.220 And now this means for me things like not just that I'm saved from sin, or rescued from hell. 00:26:04.940 --> 00:26:08.400 But also it means I have a position in Jesus for eternity. 00:26:10.260 --> 00:26:14.250 I'm a child of the King, at any moment, I can talk to him. 00:26:15.100 --> 00:26:17.120 I mean, think about what a gift that is. 00:26:17.980 --> 00:26:24.400 In the Old Testament, in the Old Testament, they had to go to a temple to worship and they had to depend on a priest to intercede for them. 00:26:25.580 --> 00:26:29.620 But now in the New Testament, we're called priests because we've been adopted by God. 00:26:30.020 --> 00:26:36.220 And at any moment, anytime, anywhere, I can come before the presence of that King, and just meet with him. 00:26:37.300 --> 00:26:37.860 What a privilege. 00:26:39.080 --> 00:26:44.160 I find some people, when they talk about prayer, typically people ask me questions about prayer. 00:26:44.180 --> 00:26:48.580 And the basis of the question works like this, how can I pray to get God to do what I want? 00:26:48.600 --> 00:26:50.140 How can I make God my puppet? 00:26:50.280 --> 00:26:53.480 Because I know there's this thing called prayer, and I want God to do things for me. 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:56.460 So teach me the secret to praying better, to get God to do what I want. 00:26:57.080 --> 00:26:59.360 These are some of the questions people ask about prayer. 00:26:59.380 --> 00:27:06.730 But I think, before we even begin like that, the best attitude to carry towards prayer is just to stop and think, have you ever considered what a gift it is to even say, 00:27:07.020 --> 00:27:11.600 right now in this moment, you can bow your heads before your King and be in front of him? 00:27:14.140 --> 00:27:21.140 What a privilege, to be known by God. 00:27:21.220 --> 00:27:21.800 He knows your name. 00:27:23.860 --> 00:27:25.080 And you can talk to him. 00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:30.460 Not only that, you can hear from him. 00:27:32.300 --> 00:27:33.380 That's what his word is. 00:27:35.280 --> 00:27:37.480 It's his love letter to you, written in his blood. 00:27:37.520 --> 00:27:39.510 That you can hear from him. 00:27:40.620 --> 00:27:47.740 The King who gave it all, that you can be adopted and belong and have relationship, you can know intimately about him because he's revealed 00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:50.480 himself, John 10, that's why we're looking at this, right? 00:27:50.540 --> 00:27:52.100 How good are you as the Good Shepherd? 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:55.880 You've been adopted to belong. 00:27:58.020 --> 00:27:59.460 And his spirit rest within you. 00:27:59.460 --> 00:28:03.440 In fact, in Romans, look at this, Romans Chapter 8, talking about this idea of adoption. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:08.980 It say this, but you have received a spirit of adoption, meaning God put his spirit in you. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:12.870 In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God dwelled in the temple. 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:15.250 In the New Testament, you have become that temple. 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:16.940 God's presence dwells in you. 00:28:16.940 --> 00:28:19.920 That's what adoption has brought to you, that God's presence dwells in you. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.140 That's why you can meet with God anytime, anywhere. 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:24.800 Because God's presence is with you. 00:28:24.820 --> 00:28:25.160 That's the beauty. 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:32.440 When his church gets together, we're carrying God's presence, as a community for his glory, that we can ignite a passion in each other 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:35.740 and find ourselves joyously lifting up the glory of God. 00:28:35.760 --> 00:28:38.220 That when we walk out of this building, we carry that joy with us. 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:45.380 Like you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry, Abba, Father, this word of intimacy in the shepherd, because 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:47.160 he knows us and we know him. 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:54.300 And having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters, 00:28:54.300 --> 00:28:55.180 the redemption of our bodies. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:57.920 Let me just contrast why I put these two verses here in adoption. 00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:02.000 In Verse 15, he's saying, look, being adopted, you have the Spirit of God right now. 00:29:03.040 --> 00:29:03.560 Right now. 00:29:03.560 --> 00:29:04.520 That's the beauty of his adoption. 00:29:05.020 --> 00:29:06.100 That's the abundant life. 00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:08.560 That the fruit of the Spirit be made known in your life. 00:29:08.560 --> 00:29:14.580 And not only that, Verse 23, we're waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons and daughters in God. 00:29:14.580 --> 00:29:21.040 Meaning, not only do you have a piece of your adoption right now, but in the future, your eternal adoption will continue. 00:29:21.060 --> 00:29:24.400 And you're waiting to experience the rest of what that adoption is all about. 00:29:24.800 --> 00:29:28.720 That is the abundant life, it begins both now in Jesus and for all of eternity. 00:29:29.320 --> 00:29:33.280 That's what Jesus is describing in this passage of scripture. 00:29:33.300 --> 00:29:35.940 That you have abundant life in him. 00:29:38.140 --> 00:29:43.870 The thief is about taking, he doesn't care about your name. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.320 He isn't giving his life for your name. 00:29:47.320 --> 00:29:49.400 He's taking your life for his name. 00:29:51.840 --> 00:29:53.440 But Jesus is about giving. 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:59.460 And Jesus is about giving abundantly. 00:30:02.080 --> 00:30:06.230 We can look at this illustration Jesus gives about Satan himself as being the only two options. 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:11.510 And we can say to ourselves, I mean, that's good, but isn't that a little bit overboard? 00:30:12.060 --> 00:30:15.140 Jiminy Christmas, think about it says Satan and Jesus. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:16.530 Isn't that just a little bit much? 00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:19.700 I'd say, yeah, it is. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:22.120 Unless it's true. 00:30:24.840 --> 00:30:28.980 And if it's true, because I don't think we can emphasize it enough. 00:30:31.900 --> 00:30:34.520 Jesus is putting the stakes pretty high here. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:38.810 Because Jesus understands what's at stake here. 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:45.580 We're talking about your soul, we're talking about the God of everything who has given his life for your soul. 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:50.060 How can you make little of something like that? 00:30:50.100 --> 00:30:51.500 Or why would you want to? 00:30:53.060 --> 00:30:57.100 And this illustration is powerful according to what Jesus is saying. 00:30:57.120 --> 00:30:58.940 But the reality is, we don't like to feel vulnerable. 00:31:00.320 --> 00:31:02.500 Because that's what this passage is saying about you as a sheep. 00:31:04.100 --> 00:31:06.600 There is this place of choosing what to follow. 00:31:08.140 --> 00:31:13.280 Do you want to fall into the hands of Satan or Jesus? 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:23.440 When you think about your soul in the middle of that, yeah, it's a place of vulnerability, but it's also a place where you're called to abundant life. 00:31:23.900 --> 00:31:26.380 And so Jesus then answers this one more time. 00:31:26.460 --> 00:31:28.020 How good is the Good Shepherd, Verse 11. 00:31:28.040 --> 00:31:35.080 He goes on to describe, one more time, how a good shepherd can be seen in his life, in this story, in Verse 11. 00:31:35.100 --> 00:31:38.620 I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:31:39.740 --> 00:31:45.840 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. 00:31:46.100 --> 00:31:48.400 And the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. 00:31:48.580 --> 00:31:52.640 He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. 00:31:55.120 --> 00:31:57.960 We can look at this section, let me just ask it like this. 00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:06.720 If sheep can be so foolish, if sheep might be such a bad animal in this situation, why have sheep at all? 00:32:09.280 --> 00:32:09.940 Why have sheep? 00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:14.320 And Jesus is really answering that question here in these couple of verses. 00:32:14.320 --> 00:32:17.170 Verse 12 and 13, he answers from the higher hands perspective. 00:32:17.760 --> 00:32:20.150 And in Verse 11, he answers it from his perspective. 00:32:20.280 --> 00:32:21.630 Why then have sheep Jesus? 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:28.240 If we're capable of just making decisions that lead to destruction, it's kill, death, destroy, why have sheep? 00:32:29.220 --> 00:32:30.080 Here's the hired hands answer. 00:32:32.520 --> 00:32:39.160 Pound for pound, the most valuable animal you could have in Jesus's day is the sheep. 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:44.010 Its wool is worth something, its meat is worth something. 00:32:44.560 --> 00:32:46.450 There's nothing on a sheep that went to waste. 00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:53.200 Pound for pound, the most valuable animal that you could have was the sheep. 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:56.820 And that's exactly how the hired hand viewed the sheep. 00:32:57.780 --> 00:33:00.680 Not what I have to give, but what I want to get. 00:33:02.540 --> 00:33:06.730 And so the sheep, for the hired hand, was just a tool for their own kingdom and glory. 00:33:07.600 --> 00:33:11.660 But the minute adversity came, the hired hand wasn't sticking around. 00:33:11.660 --> 00:33:14.230 Because the hired hand was only in it for his convenience. 00:33:15.300 --> 00:33:18.040 And so when a wolf would come, the hired hand would flee. 00:33:18.080 --> 00:33:25.500 In fact, in first century, the Mishnah actually had a law written that said, legally, if a wolf comes to attack sheep, 00:33:25.500 --> 00:33:30.560 and you're just a hired hand, if it's just one wolf, the law said you actually had to stay and fight the wolf. 00:33:31.820 --> 00:33:35.420 Because a hired hand could easily deter one wolf. 00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:39.580 But it went on to say, but if it's two wolves, then well, let them have the sheep. 00:33:39.900 --> 00:33:45.940 So for them in that moment, it wasn't about the sheep, it was about them. 00:33:45.960 --> 00:33:47.720 They're only there based on what they could get. 00:33:49.620 --> 00:33:55.200 But now, Jesus, look what it says in this opening verse about Jesus. 00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:57.340 I am the Good Shepherd. 00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:01.110 The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:09.960 Religion will call you to do something, so that God will love you. 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:20.659 In this passage, in Christianity, God is laying down his life because 00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:21.770 he loves you. 00:34:24.100 --> 00:34:31.360 What I'm saying is, it's not about what he gets, it's about what he gives, because it's 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:31.860 his nature. 00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:35.960 A hired hand is only doing it because of what he gets from you. 00:34:36.020 --> 00:34:39.020 But Jesus, I am the Good Shepherd, and you want to know why? 00:34:41.659 --> 00:34:42.760 Because I'm giving my life for the sheep. 00:34:44.139 --> 00:34:45.679 The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:34:45.860 --> 00:34:48.880 It's not about what he gets from you, it's about who he is. 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:53.010 Why do you have sheep, Jesus? 00:34:53.300 --> 00:34:56.880 Well, it's not about who you are, it's about who he is. 00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:00.600 And God is the God of love, and love is about giving itself away. 00:35:02.620 --> 00:35:06.400 That's why when you look at the story, I say the point of the story is not about you, it's really about him. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:10.300 And when you see who he is, then you see the goodness of why we would even want to follow. 00:35:11.740 --> 00:35:16.250 When you think about this idea of love, love, biblically speaking, is not efficient. 00:35:19.080 --> 00:35:19.690 Love is extravagant. 00:35:21.820 --> 00:35:22.560 Love is full of grace. 00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:28.080 And Jesus has given himself for you, not because of you, but because of him. 00:35:28.240 --> 00:35:32.180 I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:35:32.220 --> 00:35:39.040 Let me go on very quickly from here, but in Verse 14, says this, I am the Good Shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me. 00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:42.280 Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father and I lay my life down for him. 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:48.500 So here's what Jesus is saying to you, and this is the last blank in your notes, is I know my own. 00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:51.480 But what Jesus is saying here, is more than he just knows your name. 00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:52.860 Jesus intimately knows you. 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:55.990 Jesus is talking about relationship with you. 00:35:56.540 --> 00:35:59.020 You get relationship with Creator God. 00:36:02.460 --> 00:36:09.640 Not just you know God, not just you know about God, but think about this, God intimately knows 00:36:09.640 --> 00:36:10.100 you. 00:36:12.640 --> 00:36:17.700 God's desire is to be known by you, and to know you. 00:36:19.900 --> 00:36:21.840 It's a beautiful picture of the goodness of Jesus. 00:36:22.520 --> 00:36:29.700 And then Verse 16 it goes on, and says this, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also and they will not listen 00:36:29.700 --> 00:36:30.520 to my voice. 00:36:30.620 --> 00:36:33.640 And they will become one flock with one shepherd. 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:38.540 For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I might take it back. 00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:42.260 No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own. 00:36:42.620 --> 00:36:45.660 I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it back. 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:48.460 This commandment I have received from my Father. 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.700 What Jesus is saying here is this, because I'm the Good Shepherd, I'm going to lay my life down for the sheep. 00:36:53.720 --> 00:36:54.780 That's how you know I'm the Good Shepherd. 00:36:54.920 --> 00:37:02.120 He's given this foreshadowing of what's ultimately going to come for his disciples, so that when the disciples get to a hard moment, they still trust. 00:37:03.620 --> 00:37:07.000 You see in Verse 19 and 20, they start to argue over Jesus in this moment. 00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:11.550 But Jesus wants them to understand, I'm about to die for you, that's going to be a hard moment for you as sheep. 00:37:12.060 --> 00:37:13.780 But just keep trusting, because I'm a good shepherd. 00:37:14.020 --> 00:37:15.320 Keep trusting because I'm a good shepherd. 00:37:15.640 --> 00:37:17.560 Now, I'm going to close up this illustration and say this. 00:37:20.540 --> 00:37:25.280 There was a story in a book called Moody Antidotes of sheep in Scotland. 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:28.940 And there was a doctor writing about sheep in Scotland and he said this about the sheep. 00:37:28.940 --> 00:37:36.360 He said, when the sheep get into the highlands, the sheep love to jump off the cliff, to 00:37:36.360 --> 00:37:38.300 the grass in the rocks. 00:37:38.420 --> 00:37:44.940 They love the grass that grows in the rocks in the highland and they'll even jump off cliffs, in order to get to this grass. 00:37:45.040 --> 00:37:47.490 They'll jump down 10, 12 feet to get to this grass. 00:37:48.020 --> 00:37:50.880 And they'll just eat this grass, because they love the grass. 00:37:51.100 --> 00:37:52.060 It's the sweeter grass. 00:37:52.900 --> 00:37:54.860 But there's one problem that the sheep don't consider. 00:37:56.560 --> 00:37:57.680 And that's, how are they going to get back? 00:37:59.600 --> 00:38:04.580 And the sheep will jump off these cliffs, and they'll eat the grass 10, 12 feet below them. 00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:08.540 And the shepherd has to just allow the sheep to partake of it. 00:38:08.600 --> 00:38:11.780 The shepherd can't go get the sheep, when they jump down this cliff, at least not right away. 00:38:12.640 --> 00:38:19.440 Because the shepherd knows that if he tries to get the sheep right after they've jumped down the cliff, and while they're eating that grass, the sheep have a lot of strength. 00:38:19.900 --> 00:38:26.200 And the sheep are so dumb, that rather than let the shepherd get them, they'll freak out and jump off the cliff to their death. 00:38:27.160 --> 00:38:30.840 So what the shepherd does, is the shepherd has to just sit and watch the sheep. 00:38:33.040 --> 00:38:40.600 And when the sheep have eaten all the grass, and now they've gone days without any more food, the sheep start to deteriorate 00:38:40.600 --> 00:38:40.960 in strength. 00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:49.960 And it's when they're weak, that the shepherd will lower a line down the tie it around the sheep to hoist them back up 00:38:50.040 --> 00:38:50.280 to safety. 00:38:53.140 --> 00:38:59.250 And what I say guys is, or what I mean, I should say, is we're a lot like that, aren't we? 00:39:02.600 --> 00:39:05.640 We see the goodness of God, but we think about the sweetness of the grass. 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:15.400 And sometimes coming to Jesus, we freak out so much, that we would rather jump to our death than trust in the one who's good, the 00:39:15.400 --> 00:39:16.360 one who cares for us. 00:39:19.900 --> 00:39:27.320 Let me just ask you, if you look back over the last week of your life, what 00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:28.440 kind of sheep were you? 00:39:32.020 --> 00:39:35.240 Were you a sheep that understood what it meant to be in the beauty of abundant life in Jesus? 00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:41.080 Did you seek after the one who cares for you? 00:39:43.180 --> 00:39:44.380 Did you know him in his word? 00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:47.820 Did you seek him in prayer? 00:39:50.020 --> 00:39:53.730 Did you trust him, when you felt like you're hanging on the side of the cliff? 00:39:55.640 --> 00:39:56.440 Did you see him as good? 00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:00.920 That's Jesus's desire for you in this passage.