John 10 Jesus the good shepherd.
Hey Guys im sorry that the lesson is up so late.
This week's lesson is on John Chapter 10, about the story of bobo sheep who like to wander and a very patient and loving Good Shepherd.
We will only be covering from John chapter 10 verse 1 all the way to verse 21 only.
Learning Points:
1) With reference to verse 10, only the good shepherd can not only meet but go beyond our human need of safety. But give us abundance in life.
2) Jesus the good shepherd, not only knows and cares his sheep. He dies for his sheep.
Tuner:
Prepare some blind folds
Back ground info:
The start of chapter ten happens immediately and as a continuation from the story of Chapter nine. This means that Jesus was still talking to the Pharisees from Chapter nine who threw the blind man out of the community.
Jesus was using the imagery of a shepherd because in the Jewish mind a "shepherd" was any kind of leader, especially spiritual leaders. People looked to kings and prophets as shepherds. Jesus used such imagery and descriptions that the Pharisees and the Jews who were around could identify with and understand.
Read John 10:1-6.
Jesus opened his sermon by talking about a sheepfold, a gate, a watchman, sheep, a shepherd.
A sheepfold was usually an enclosure made of rocks with an opening for the door. The true shepherd comes in through the door. Thieves and robbers could never enter the door cause there is a watchman there. So what they would have to do is climb over the wall or some illegal way. Thats not the only problem. Even if they did get into the sheepfold, they could never get the sheep to follow them. For the sheep would follow only the voice of their own shepherd. The false shepherds can never lead the sheep, so they must steal them away.
The listeners could not understand what Jesus was saying or what he meant. So Jesus followed on his symbolic illustration with an application in verses 7 to 10.
Read John 10:7-10
In this context, the sheep pen or sheep fold that Jesus is referring to is the nation of Israel.
We are the sheep.
The false shepherds and robbers are the Pharisees. The thief is Satan.
In these 3 verses Jesus talks about being the door. In verse 9, Jesus says I am the door,whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
This means that because Jesus is the Door of the sheep pen, it makes it possible for the sheep to leave the fold (the religion of Juadaism) and to enter His flock. The Pharisees threw the beggar out of the synagogue but Jesus led him out of Juadism and into the flock of God and you FIND PASTURE.
As the door, Jesus delivers sinners from bondage and leads them into freedom. They have salvation. The word saved in verse 9 means to be delivered safe and sound. In the context of when a person has recovered from severe illness and survived a war being saved from of something of that magnitude.
As such this is kind of my own interpretation, i dont know if it is right. The sheep fold is as good as the law. The law is good. The law protects us. It also kills us if we just stayed inside of it, if we just continue to keep the law/ stay in the sheep fold. Cause we as sheep can never just stay in the sheep pen, we love to wander. We trot along and end up tripping over our own legs and falling into a large cave with a sleep wolf inside it. oh dear me... Yeah and also how even if we stayed inside the law or the sheep pen it will kill us.
BUT thats where the Good Shepherd FULFILLS the requirements of the sheep's need for protection. Not only does he meet the need of protection and have safety. But in like verse 9 says, whoever enters through me will be saved. True safety can only be found by following the Good Shepherd. by being with the Good shepherd. Not in a sheep fold alone. Not only will we be truly safe but we will also find pasture.
Mr John Piper: None of us wants to be merely safe. We were not created merely to be safe. The human heart wants infinitely more than safety. O yes, safety is basic and necessary. We want to be protected from what can destroy us. We want life. Life. But we want more than mere life. We want abundant life. Overflowing life. Deep life. Weighty life. Joyful life. We don't just want to survive. We want to thrive. At every level of our human being. We were made for this.
Application and questions:
1) Are we as sheep do we try to find security in something else other than the good Shepherd? If yes, then we are really not safe at all.
2) Are we enjoying our fellowship with our Good Shepherd. Or do we treat him merely as a safety protection in our times of need? Are we just viewing him as a sheep fold? God wants so much more for you! He wants to fellowship with you and for you to enjoy him.
Ok i shall go and get a root beer ice cream float and then we can go on to the next part. We will be talking about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. Exciting haha.
ahhhh refreshing.... ok back.
ahhhh refreshing.... ok back.
Jesus the Good Shepherd.
Read John 10: 11-13
In these few verses Jesus explains why he is the Good shepherd. Not just any shepherd but the Good Shepherd. Not a Good Shepherd but THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
Jesus began by contrasting Himself to the Phrasiees the false Shepherds who were in charge of the Jewish Religion of the day. He had already called them thieves and robbers and now he is describing them as hirelings.
Hirelings are people who are hired to take care of the sheep. If a wolf or a thief comes and attack the sheep. The hireling would not risk his life to save a sheep. He doesnt own the sheep. He would rather save his own skin and just run. But look at verse 11. Jesus says he is THE GOOD SHEPHERD cause he lays down his life for the sheep.
1) Jesus is the Good Shepherd cause he laid down his life for a sheep.
Now if you were a shepherd would you sacrifice your life for a single sheep? Please note that you have thousands of sheep. Your wool business would still continue if one sheep is eaten up. No right? Its just mind blowing that a shepherd a human would risk his life for one sheep.
This brings the romans 5:7 verse ( "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die." ) to a whole new level.
Very rarely would a human die for another human, so that makes like a human dying for a sheep like what? Impossible? I mean its not even heard of or wouldnt even cross a human's mind. Imagine you read in the papers one day with the head lines. Shepherd dies while saving A sheep. You would think to yourself. What in the world is this Shepherd thinking? Thats just absurd. And that is exactly how absurd Jesus's love is for us. If you really put things in context. Jesus is God. We are mortals. Jesus is like a human. We are like sheep. Hands down this has to got to be the best Shepherd in the world. This is the first reason why Jesus wins the Good Shepherd Title hands down.
This describes our relationship with Jesus as a Shepherd. We are sheep cause we are defenceless and prone to wander and must often be searched for. We are also clean animals unlike pigs and dogs (2nd peter 2:20-22) (i did not know that)
The pharisees are hirelings cause they have no loving concern for sheep. Look at how they treated the blind beggar in chapter 9 and look at how Jesus found him and cared for him.
2) Jesus is the Good Shepherd cause he knows his sheep
Read John 10:14-16 and John 10:3
The word knows speaks of the intimate relationship that you have with God. The Shepherd knows his sheep personally. In Verse 3, we see that Jesus knows our name. He knows every single one of the 10000 billion sheep by name. He also knows the nature of each sheep. He as the Good Shepherd will consider these special needs as he tends the flock. That is why the sheep need not fear, even through valleys. Cause the shepherd is caring for them and meeting their needs.
We as sheep also know him. We recognise his voice. Whether we choose to follow his voice is a different thing although. We get to know Jesus the Good Shepherd better by listening to His voice( The word) and experiencing His daily care. As the sheep follows the Shepherd, they learn to love and trust him.
Sub points to note:
Other Sheep into the flock (Verse 16)
There are other sheep out there who belongs to Jesus the Good Shepherd because the Father gave them to him. He will bring them into the flock as well. The one flock with one Shepherd. Hence the importance of spreading the good news to other sheep. God allows us to be part of his plan to bring others into the flock.
Jesus being the door and the Good Shepherd, would also mean division. A door shuts some people in and others out. He being the Good Shepherd will also separate the sheep from the goats. It is impossible to be neutral about Jesus Christ.
Yup thats the end. Sorry guys that this is so late.
The pharisees are hirelings cause they have no loving concern for sheep. Look at how they treated the blind beggar in chapter 9 and look at how Jesus found him and cared for him.
2) Jesus is the Good Shepherd cause he knows his sheep
Read John 10:14-16 and John 10:3
The word knows speaks of the intimate relationship that you have with God. The Shepherd knows his sheep personally. In Verse 3, we see that Jesus knows our name. He knows every single one of the 10000 billion sheep by name. He also knows the nature of each sheep. He as the Good Shepherd will consider these special needs as he tends the flock. That is why the sheep need not fear, even through valleys. Cause the shepherd is caring for them and meeting their needs.
We as sheep also know him. We recognise his voice. Whether we choose to follow his voice is a different thing although. We get to know Jesus the Good Shepherd better by listening to His voice( The word) and experiencing His daily care. As the sheep follows the Shepherd, they learn to love and trust him.
Sub points to note:
Other Sheep into the flock (Verse 16)
There are other sheep out there who belongs to Jesus the Good Shepherd because the Father gave them to him. He will bring them into the flock as well. The one flock with one Shepherd. Hence the importance of spreading the good news to other sheep. God allows us to be part of his plan to bring others into the flock.
Jesus being the door and the Good Shepherd, would also mean division. A door shuts some people in and others out. He being the Good Shepherd will also separate the sheep from the goats. It is impossible to be neutral about Jesus Christ.
Yup thats the end. Sorry guys that this is so late.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment