Jesus our good shepherd (John 10:1-15)

June 22, 2022 Key verses9: “I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” 11: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."   Every baby needs parents to take care of them. When a baby grown up, he/she requires a wife or a husband. Unfortunately, everyone dies eventually. That is why man cannot be an eternal help to a human. Who then can be an eternal help and our shepherd for us?  The Bible calls God our good, everlasting Shepherd. The Old Testament tells us that David was a good shepherd. David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it." (1 Samuel 17:34+35). He also fought and defeated Goliath, who mocked God and his people. This David confessed in Psalm 23:1, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want."  Jesus says to us in this text: "I am the good shepherd." Today we want to know why Jesus is the good shepherd for us. We want to continue to learn how to behave as His sheep.   First, Jesus is our good shepherd because he knows us well.  Jesus says in verses 1 and 2, “Truly, truly, I say to you, anyone who does not go in through the door of the sheepfold, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”  In Palestine, sheep were kept in a large stall at night to protect them from beasts and thieves. The sheep stall was a square with stone walls about 3 meters high. And thorns were often placed at the top of the walls to protect against beasts and robbers. The stall had a small door. At this door, one shepherd kept watch to protect the sheep. Among the animals, the sheep seem to be the dumbest creatures. They frequently go in the wrong direction, though a good grassland is not far from them. They also are frightened of tiny noise because they are absolutely defenseless against predators or robbers. But the sheep have one strength: they can hear well. Therefore, they can distinguish between the voice of their shepherd and that of a stranger. Therefore they follow their shepherd, but not the stranger. The Bible calls us God's sheep or Jesus' sheep.  There is a small book called The Art of Teaching by Gilbert Highet that I read in the 1970s. The book is written for high school teachers. One reader wrote of this book: "After years of learning and teaching, I can confirm‎ that this is one of the greatest books on teaching ever written. The author correctly assumes that there are timeless values and principles in teaching and learning.”  According to this book, important qualities of a good teacher are: First, he should be knowledgeable about his subject. Second, he should like his students. And third, he should teach with enthusiasm. Then his students will listen to his teaching with enthusiasm. Jesus is such a good teacher. He knows his subject, namely God's word about the kingdom of heaven, very well. He loves us so much that he even sacrifices his life for us. Furthermore, he teaches us God's Word with great enthusiasm.  In verses 3-4 Jesus says that the shepherd goes through the door into the sheepfold, calls each sheep by its name, leads them out and leads them to the green meadow.  Today in Germany you can see that the shepherd dog drives the sheep. But at that time there was no shepherd dog. Jesus is our good shepherd. He carefully guides us. He does not drive us by force. He appreciates our will, even though we sometimes make wrong decisions and act wrongly. But he finally guides us perfectly on the right path and leads us to the green meadow.  Although several flocks of sheep stay in one sheep pen belonging to different shepherds, each flock of sheep know their own shepherd and follow him.  In those days, the shepherd gave each sheep a name. In the morning, the shepherd came to the sheep pen and called each of his sheep by name and led them to the water and to the pasture. And the sheep rejoice at the voice of their shepherd and follow him.  We need to listen to the voice of our shepherd, Jesus Christ. We can hear his voice in two ways:  The first way is that we hear his voice through the words in the Bible. That is why we need to read the Bible daily and always ponder the meaning of his word.  The second way is that we directly hear God's voice. We can hear God's voice during our prayer or in everyday life. Perhaps God can speak to us in a supernatural way or in a natural way. We are to heed his voice and hear his word.   Second, Jesus is our Good Shepherd; he leads us to the green meadow  Jesus explains how he leads us to the green pasture: "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheepfold. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door; whoever enters through me will be saved and will find pasture” (7-9). A shepherd leads his sheep out of the sheepfold in the morning and leads them to fresh water and green pasture.  Jesus is our shepherd. In the morning he leads us to the fresh water of eternal life. In the evening he leads us safely to the kingdom of heaven. He knows each of us well. He calls us by name and leads us to God's pasture where we can eat a delicious dish and enjoy eternal life. He lets us enjoy our life abundantly. If we follow his leading, we can find good pasture of eternal life and live free and happy.  Jesus is the door through which we enter the kingdom of God and richly taste God's blessings and His word. He is our refuge from the storm; he offers us protection and peace. In Jesus all difficulties are turned into blessings. We see in the life of Joseph in Genesis that God turned all his sufferings into blessings. In Jesus even our bodily death is no longer a tragedy but a gateway to eternal bliss.  Jesus is really the best shepherd. That's why we can really rejoice and celebrate about Jesus. We can enjoy Jesus' transformative power in our lives. We are to consciously allow Him to come into our lives and guide us. We are to confess that Jesus is our Shepherd and allow Him to lead our lives according to His best will. We are to refresh often that Jesus is our shepherd and to let him into our lives. This can be called "updating". "Updating" is a computer language. We can update our faith decision to accept Jesus as our Shepherd from time to time, because we need this update so that Jesus leads us to the fresh water and the green meadow.  Years ago, Pastor Ok-Hi Park-Denker and her husband Pastor Denker attended our summer conference, and Pastor Denker led one of our workshops. When Ok-Hi Park-Denker was a girl of about 15, she wanted to go to church. But her parents strictly forbade her to go to church. So she lost her zest for life and did not eat and only drank a little. And she got a lung disease. The parents didn't take care of her at first, partly out of anger and partly because of the expensive treatment costs. Her body became thin from skin and bones. She was so weakened by the disease that her breathing could hardly be heard. The parents finally felt sorry for her and then decided to save their daughter, no matter how expensive the treatment would be. They were willing to sell everything they owned to have her treated. They took her to a hospital in Mokpo. But the doctor refused to treat her, saying she could not survive. A second reason for the refusal was probably that the doctor estimated that the parents would not be able to pay the expensive treatment costs. Her parents eventually took her to another hospital. The doctor again rejected her for the same reasons. A neighbor advised her parents to go to a Christian hospital. Actually, the parents had allergic feelings against any Christian institution. But they followed the advice to save their daughter. When they brought their daughter to the Christian Mary Hospital, there were about 20 patients waiting in the waiting room for treatment. But the nurse in charge, a Catholic nun, saw the dying girl and immediately brought her first to the doctor for the treatment. An American doctor, a nun, said in Korean after the examination: “She is not dying. She'll be fine in 6 months.” The mother couldn't believe her ears. So she asked the doctor: "Excuse me? What did you say?” Then the nun said the same word: “She is not dying. She will be fine in 6 months.” The doctor said that the patient did not need to be hospitalized at all, but that she should only come in once a week and be treated with a penicillin shot.” She also reduced the treatment costs and wanted only a third of the normal cost. Ok-Hi’s mother and father were so touched by the Christians' mercy on their nearly dead daughter. Immediately after their daughter's first treatment, they decided to go to church and become Christians. They also invited pastors and the elders and many to their homes for dinner. This Christian nurse and doctor were merciful because they had come to know the Shepherd Heart of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus is the good shepherd for Ok-Hi Park-Denker and also for each of us.   Third, Jesus is our good shepherd because he sacrifices his life for us (10-15)  Let's look at verses 10 and 11: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Jesus knows us very well. He knows the way to the pasture of life well. Jesus Christ works in us to give us happy and eternal life. For this he sacrificed his life. “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isiah 53:5). He took away all sins of us (John 1:29). And he is arisen from the death and leads us to the heaven of the Father. We are to hear his voice, trust him and follow him.  Today, we hear many confusing voices about which direction to go. We sometimes wonder if Jesus' way is too lonely or too dangerous. There are many confusing voices in the world. But Lord’s voice is unique. He calls each of us by name and guides us to the right road. When we trust and follow Jesus, we experience joy and eternal life because God is with us and His goodness and blessings are with us.  We are to personally accept his invitation: “I am the door; if anyone goes in through me, it will be saved, and going in and out and finding pasture.” With this word he invites us to enter his kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ and to enjoy the rich blessings of God. All who accept Jesus as Christ and God's Son are in the kingdom of God and can experience his gracious rule. He even died on the cross for us so that we may have forgiveness of sins and blessed, eternal life.  He continues to invite us today to trust Him and enter His kingdom and enjoy His blessings. Let's turn off the noise of the unbelieving world and listen carefully to Jesus' voice. Let us open our ears to the voice of the Holy Spirit and listen to the voice of our Lord as he calls us to everlasting blessed life. Jesus tells us: "I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Amen.