When Jesus spoke about thieves and robbers breaking into the sheepfold, people start to associate this with false messiahs or the Devil. Dr. Sproul indicates who these people are in context of what the shepherd is to do. In this section, we have another "I am" saying in which He describes Himself as the door and later as the good shepherd. Dr. Sproul explains the emphasis being not only on salvation but on sacrifice.

We will continue with our study of the gospel according to Saint John, and we are going to pick it up today at John 10:22. I ask the congregation to stand for the reading of the Word of God. John 10:22–30:

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

He who has ears to hear the Word of God, let him hear. You may be seated. Let us pray.

Father, as we consider these words from the tenth chapter of John, we pray that You would grant us understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ words and how they relate to and edify His people even now. For we ask it in His name. Amen.

Jesus Accepts Worship

Last week, for the second time, we considered elements of Jesus’ healing of the man born blind. We did not finish chapter 9 last week. At the very end of that chapter, leading up to what I read today, several things took place. Jesus found the man who had been cast out from the presence of the Pharisees because of his testimony to Christ, and we read the following exchange:

He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” (John 9:35–39)

Then some of the Pharisees who were there heard the exchange between Jesus and the man He had healed, and they said to Him, “Are we blind also?” (John 9:40). Then Jesus answered them: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains” (John 9:41).

At the conclusion of Jesus’ encounter with the man born blind and with the Pharisees over His healing of the man, we see the radically different responses of the two. The man who had been healed came first to the conclusion that Jesus was a prophet. Now, he recognizes that He is more than a prophet—He is the Son of God. And he bows in worship before Jesus.

It is significant for our understanding of the person of Christ that Jesus accepts worship from the man, which no one who was merely a prophet or an Apostle would dare do in the economy of the kingdom of God. Remember that when people sought to worship Paul and Barnabas, thinking that they were divine, they were rebuked. The angels who were worshiped by human beings rebuked the people because worship belongs only to God.

When this man, who before had only heard His voice, sees Christ and falls down and worships Him, Jesus accepts that worship and compliments the man. But He has no compliments for the Pharisees and the scribes. This transitions into John 10, where at the beginning of the chapter we see Jesus launching into a lengthy passage known as the Good Shepherd Discourse, of which I read the end.

Thieves and Robbers

Let us look at how Jesus begins this discussion after His conclusion with regard to the man born blind. Chapter 10 opens with these words: “Most assuredly,” or, “Truly, truly.” Jesus says: “I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1–2).

Jesus begins this discourse by making contrasts, and the first contrast He makes is between the one who enters the door of the sheepfold and those who climb over the fences and try to sneak into the sheepfold by some other way. Those who try to sneak into the sheepfold, Jesus identifies as thieves and robbers.

This comes right on the heels of the discussion about the man born blind. Some look at this text and say that Jesus is identifying the thieves and robbers as false messiahs or the devil. I do not think so; it is far more pointed than that. He is addressing those whom God had called to be the shepherds over His flock, the clergy of His day. Jesus is calling those who cast out the man born blind, who was a sheep in the flock of God, thieves and robbers.

Jesus draws this illustration from the sheep industry of the day. The way sheep were taken care of in ancient Israel is different from how we deal with sheep in our culture today. In fact, the way in which the ancients in Israel handled sheep is still carried on in Israel to this day. In those days, people would have their own small flocks in a given community, and there would be one big central pen, or sheepfold, to which the various sheep owners would lead their sheep at the end of the day.

The owners would put their resources together and hire a gatekeeper, and it was the job of the gatekeeper to stay with the sheep during the night. In the morning, he would only open the gate to those who were truly shepherds, who had their own sheep enclosed in that sheepfold. Jesus makes use of that daily activity in the culture.

The Shepherd’s Voice

Continuing with the activity of shepherding, Jesus says: “He who enters by the door”—rather than over the walls, which is what the thief does—“is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:2–3).

During the night, all the sheep would mingle among themselves, and they were all gathered together. In the morning, the shepherd would walk in the gate and begin to call out for his particular sheep. He was so intimately involved with the care and the nurture of his sheep that he had names for them, so he would call them by name. The sheep knew the shepherd’s voice, so when the shepherd called, they came. They followed the shepherd because they knew him.

That particular illustration is one that Jesus uses over and over again in the New Testament to speak about His relationship to those whom the Father gives Him, those who are the believers. The believer is known by Christ, and the believer knows Christ, knows His voice, and will follow Him.

I remind you of that dreadful warning that comes to us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, when our Lord said to those who were assembled that many would come on the last day, saying, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do this in Your name and that in Your name?” Jesus said, “I will say to them, ‘Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity! I never knew you.’”

Jesus was saying, in effect: “They’re not My sheep. They don’t know Me, and I don’t know them. But the Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and His sheep hear His voice.” In terms of this illustration, the gatekeeper, who opens up the sheepfold to the shepherd, represents the Father, who opens the gates of heaven to Christ and lets Him bring His sheep into the safety of the fold.

The Shepherd and the Door

This image of the shepherd is incredibly rich in the New Testament. My friend John Guest once preached on this text, and he said it used to be that one of the church’s strongest hymns was the old hymn “There Were Ninety and Nine,” which described the mission of the Good Shepherd. That hymn went:

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold,
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.

The song celebrates the pursuit of the Good Shepherd, who will go over land and sea to find His one lost sheep, to bring him in.

John Guest then went on to say that the theme song of the contemporary church is not taken from the pages of Scripture, but from “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Our attitude seems to be today, “Leave them alone, and they’ll come home, wagging their tails behind them.” Of course, in our day and age, people do not believe that anyone is lost. But in the biblical view, our Lord is the Shepherd who seeks to save those who are lost. The text continues:

“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. (John 10:4–6)

Here is one other difference between how sheep are tended today in our country and how they are tended in Israel. In our country, sheep are herded. You might have a dog that herds them and keeps them going where you want them to go, whereas in Israel—in antiquity and now—the way the sheep are controlled is that the shepherd goes ahead of them, and where the shepherd goes, the sheep follow.

The sheep were not roaming all over so that the shepherd would send dogs out to herd them in. They followed the shepherd. The shepherd was their leader, and if one began to stray, he would simply call it. They knew his voice, and they would follow him, but they would not follow a stranger.

Then Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7). Now He changes the analogy altogether. First, He is the Good Shepherd to whom the gatekeeper opens the door. Now He says, in essence, “I’m not only the shepherd that leads the sheep in and out of the sheepfold, but I am the door.” He continues:

All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:8–10)

Jesus is not only the shepherd of the sheep, but He is the door to the sheepfold. No one goes into the sheepfold except through Him.

The Good Shepherd Will Not Flee

Finally, Jesus says, beginning in verse 11:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10:11–16)

Jesus now contrasts Himself not with the thief and the robber but with the hireling. Sometimes people took care of their own sheep, but if they were too busy with other things, they would hire someone to look after their sheep.

Jesus is saying, in essence: “The difference is this: If you’re out in the wilderness, and you’re grazing there, and you’re leading your sheep—if you own the sheep, and they’re your possession—when the wolf comes, you stand there in the gap. You use the rod of the shepherd to beat off the attack of the wolf. If necessary, you lay down your life for those sheep. But if you’re just being paid a wage, you don’t own the sheep. You see the wolf coming, and you say: ‘My life is worth more to me than these sheep. Let the wolf have the sheep.’”

Those of you who are in ministry, I have to speak now to myself, the pastors, the elders, and the Sunday school teachers—the people in our congregation are God’s sheep. I do not own you who are hearing me. You do not belong to me; you belong to Jesus. The best you can hope for from me is that I am a good hireling, but I am a hireling. That is why you do not look to me. You look to Christ, the Good Shepherd who, when the wolf comes, will not flee and desert you.

Sheep Not of This Fold

Then Jesus says, “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold” (John 10:16). How this text has been misinterpreted by some! I have heard this text cited again and again to prove that Jesus, after His ministry on planet Earth, went to Mars, Venus, or some other galaxy and continued His mission of redemption, seeking out those sheep somewhere in the cosmos. I do not think that is what He is talking about at all.

I think what Jesus is talking about is that He has sheep who are not members of the household of Israel. He is talking about the mission of the expansion of the gospel going beyond the borders of Israel into the world of the gentiles.

He is going to bring from the gentiles those whom the Father has given Him, and there will be one sheepfold—Jew and Greek, Jew and gentile—in the church that our Lord, the Good Shepherd, will build. “And they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16).

Jesus Lays Down His Life

In conclusion, hear these words: “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17–18).

Jesus warns those whom He knows are already busily engaged in plotting His death. What He is saying is this: “You can’t have it. You can’t take My life from Me. I can give My life for My sheep, but you have no power over Me unless I give it to you.” That He demonstrates. Remember how He was mocked on the cross: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Matt. 27:42). “Why don’t You call upon the legions of angels that are supposedly at Your beck and call to come and save You from the cross?”

Jesus said, “You have no authority over Me except that which I give to you because of My Father’s will.” At any moment, Jesus could have stopped the execution. He could have stopped the crucifixion. He could have called on the angels from heaven. Just as myriads and myriads of angels surrounded Elisha in the Old Testament, so they were there hovering over Calvary. They could have descended at that moment, torn Jesus from the cross, and slain all His enemies—except that the Father had given the Son a cup to drink.

Jesus said, “I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:15). It is very important for us to remember that the death of Christ, His perfect sacrifice for us, was voluntary. Pilate had no power over Him. Caiaphas had no power over Him. Annas had no power over Him. Caesar Augustus had no power over Him. But He laid down His life for His sheep, to save His sheep from something far worse than wolves, thieves, or robbers. He saved them from hell and the judgment of God. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Feed the Flock

Finally, in the Old Testament, in the book of Ezekiel, hear these words of the prophet, who receives the Word of God and is to announce it to Israel. We read in Ezekiel 34:1–5:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd.”’”

When God looked at the corruption of His people Israel, He laid the responsibility at the feet of the priests and clergy of that day who were charged by God to feed the flock. Fast-forward to the end of this gospel, to the discussion between Jesus and Peter.

After Peter has denied Jesus, and Jesus approaches Him after the resurrection, He says to Peter, “Simon, do you love Me?” Simon says, “Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said: “Then feed My lambs. Simon, do you love Me?” He replies, “Lord, I told You, You know that I love You.” Jesus says: “Then feed My sheep. Simon, do you love Me?” Peter says, “Yes, Lord.” Jesus says, “Feed My sheep.”

That is the task that has been given to the church: to care for the flock of God. That is what the people of Israel failed to do in their leadership. That is what the Pharisees failed to do in their leadership. That is what the leaders of the church in our day have failed to do for the people of God. But beloved, let us keep our eyes on the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for us, for we are the sheep of His pasture. Let us pray.

Our Father, we thank You that You have not only given us a shepherd, but You have given us the One who is, supremely, the Good Shepherd. Give us the ability to hear His voice and to follow Him. For we ask it in His name. Amen.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.