Verses 1-6 The Shepherd and His Sheep
Verses 7-18 "I AM"
Verses 19-21 Father and Son
This scene continues directly from Scene 4 but it can be viewed as a closeup of Jesus' face with outbreaks to sheep, shepherd(s), criminals and sheep folds. Regardless of the ending of Scene 4 with Jesus articulating ones sinful plight, the camera must now follow the subject of Jesus' articulation that describes sheep and shepherds, and His Father and Him. There is a lowering of volume in His voice. He softens His tone and says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. “T
o him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Notice four relationships in His figure of speech: 1. exclusivity of the legitimate shepherd; 2. uniqueness of the shepherd's voice; 3. knowing each other; and 4. sheep following the shepherd.
- The Exclusive Shepherd. I use the term 'exclusive' for sheep only know the voice of their shepherd. His access to them is bold and without pretense. All others must sneak and trick the sheep. The intruding shepherd 'climbs' while the shepherd enters. Those guarding the sheep fold, not shepherding the sheep know the shepherd and let him in for the sheep are His and His alone. Even the doorkeeper is an under-shepherd.
- They know His voice. This is the essential element of being a sheep. For knowing the Shepherd's voice sets the path for your very sustenance (food, water, protection). You must know the voice of your shepherd. Do you know the voice of God? Do you know the voice of your Shepherd? Who is the shepherd of your soul?
- Knowing each other. Knowing not just His voice, do the sheep know Him, the one who is their shepherd? The Shepherd knows the sheep. He knows their name. He calls each one by name. No, 'Buddy," "Ma'am," "Sir," "Young Man," "Kid," "Hey You," or whistle, whoop, holler or yell. He calls each sheep by name. The naming of sheep was an ancient shepherding practice.
- Following the shepherd. They follow Him. Wherever He leads, they go.
This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.They, like many of us in the 21st Century may not understand
the figure of what was commonplace in the Middle East. For a shepherd tending his sheep was as common then as oil wells in east Texas, as orange groves in Florida, as peach groves in Georgia, as pig farms in eastern North Carolina. They, the original audience, were far removed from the shepherd lifestyle. During the time of the festivals, as we are in the tail end of the Feast of Booths, the Jewish population journeyed to Jerusalem. This journey was not usually made by the shepherds for sheep always need tending. Sheep tending then can be equated to 'garbage collectors' and 'dairy farmers.' Garbage must be picked up. Dairy cows must be milked. For a good treatment of a shepherd's lifestyle and how God often pictures Himself as a Shepherd, read Phillip Keller's book entitled "A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm."
So Jesus said to them again, (very simply, as in a calm, yet purposed voice in order to explain) “Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM (emphasized, εγω ειμι) the door of the sheep. “All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. “I AM (emphasis, εγω ειμι) the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. In this paragraph we have some of the most familiar words of Jesus. Yet, the context of those familiar words are often misunderstood. First, as we flow from the previous paragraph, Jesus is explaining the personal, eternal and practical relevance of the Shepherd and Sheep figure. He contrasts Himself with 'thieves' who come blatantly but under cover to ransack the sheep leaving them dispersed, hurt and killed. He is I AM who distinguishes Him from all the impostors, posers and outright vigilantes that came in His name. He is I AM as it relates to the sheep's access to safe haven, both initially, routinely and perpetually. To the uttermost purpose of the thief (steal, kill and destroy), I AM purposes to provide giving and receiving, create and give birth, and improve, repair and restore. We 'go in and go out and find pasture.'
“I AM (emphasized, εγω ειμι) the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Now, we have a distinguishing characteristic of a true shepherd.“He who is a hire
d hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. Jesus is now contrasting Himself with one who is paid for his services to the sheep: hired hand. The hired hand is not the owner. He scatters with the sheep when danger comes. He is as much concerned for himself than he is for the sheep. A hired hand has the authority to protect the sheep but finds himself acting just like a sheep. The Good Shepherd is not a hired hand. HE owns the sheep. The sheep are HIS. HE does not flee but battles with the predators of HIS sheep. HE is more concerned for the sheep than HE is for HIMSELF. This issue is further developed. "I AM (emphasized, εγω ειμι) the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. As we reflect on the four characteristics of a shepherd from above, the issue of 'knowing' is the most important characteristic. And Him knowing us is only understood when related to the 'knowing' that the Father has of Him and that He has of the Father. The Good Shepherd knows the sheep, not as the world may define the knowledge, but as only God, the Father and the Son, can illustrate. The world, in and of itself, does not and can not comprehend this 'knowing.' Upon this deep relational element between the Father and the Son and with all of its authority, Jesus makes a revolutionary statement: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. Here we have one of the most direct statements of Jesus regarding the inclusion of Gentiles under His mission. This picture would be understood by all hearing it. The issue of foreign sheep being mixed with the original sheep does not seem to challenge most Palestinian shepherds. Once there is a relationship (voice, name, etc.) sheep pay more attention to the shepherd than they do each other. “For this reason the Father loves Me, Jesus not only knows that His Father loves Him, but He knows why! Why? because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. The reason the Father loves Jesus the Son is because He is going to fulfill the primary heart objective of His Father. He is going to reconciled, redeem, ransom, reclaim that which was lost. There is no resurrection without the death of Jesus. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. Be it very clear. The issue of Jesus being betrayed, arrested, tortured, crucified, rejected and killed, is not solely the acts of men. All that happened, future in this Gospel account, supremely by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. This commandment I received from My Father.”Even Jesus is under the authority of His Father. He was given a commandment and has the authority to obey it (or, not) but He will choose to completely obey thereby being our example in so many ways.
A word from the narrator which serves to close the act. The focus pulls away from Jesus speaking to those who are close by. The camera shows while the narrator tells that A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Again, a division. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”Here we have a striking commentary on the mentally of the crowd. They, both 'many of them' and 'others,' were more well versed in the ways of demonology than they were in the ways of God. They knew enough of the powers, purposes and presence of demons to comment both positively and negatively as they attributed the works of Jesus to demons.
APPLICATION
- Do you know His voice? How does He speak to you? He speaks to me most clearly when He speaks 'conviction' (you sinned, you lied) when my being is being bombarded with 'condemnation' (you are a sinner, you are a liar).
- Do you know that God loves you? Do you know 'why' He loves you?
- Fathers, do your children know that you love them? Do they know 'why' you love them?
- Who do you say He is? Liar, Lunatic or Lord?
- In the light of necessity of sheep to know and to be known as it regards the shepherd and regarding the fine tuning of our hearing to ascertain His voice, is there any room to educate and know and mimic and entertain the ways of demons? Woe to the sheep who know the ways of demons, sorcerers, and witchcraft more than, perhaps to the negation of the voice of the Good Shepherd.
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