The Good Shepherd

Oh brethren, here we are once again. It's that time of the year we're fast approaching the Holy Days.

And what a wonderful, what an exciting time it is. Our focus, as already as we heard in the announcements, actually we're going all the way to the Feast of Tabernacles and our focus, thinking of, you know, feast sites we'll be attending and where that might be. But also between now and then, we have the announcement pertaining tonight to be much observed and certainly tied in with that season. We have the Passover, we have the Days on the 11 Bread, very quickly approaching. And those days are God's blessing in so many different ways, just over six weeks away. And so in light of that upcoming season, I know personally my focus really begins to tighten. And it starts to tighten on relationships, and specifically the relationship we have with God the Father and the relationship we have with Jesus Christ. And these are multifaceted relationships such as we experience based upon their interactions with us. As we come up to the Holy Days, we're going to walk through and be encouraged to remember God as our loving Father, as the one who created us for an incredible purpose, right? To be His children in His family for eternity, and He has laid out a plan by which to bring that process to pass. And as a loving Father, He's provided the instrument for our salvation, the means by which we fulfill the purpose for which we were created. He gave His only begotten Son that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. So we have the Father who is our loving Father and our God in heaven, and we look to Him in that way. And we also recognize through these days Jesus Christ as our elder brother, as the one who went before us and blazed the trail that we must walk. He showed us in actuality what this life looks like in action, and He did it perfectly. And He set that example that each and every day we strive to live up to. We'll recognize Him as the one who willingly laid His life down for our sins, but He was raised up in glory. Right? The Father did not allow Him to remain in the grave, did not allow Him to see corruption. Three days and three nights later He was raised to glory, sits at the right hand of the Father. We recognize Him as one who is our Rabbi, our Teacher. We are His disciples, and we learn from Him day by day, again by studying these words in the example that He set. And so these relationships are so critical to us, so important to us in our calling from God and what He has created us to be and our walk along the way of that process. And so wherever you are, whatever speaker you're listening to, I'll be in Africa for the Passover and Days of the Lemon Bread, but these will be very instrumental points that will be covered. In light of that, there's one aspect of our relationship with Jesus Christ that I would like to focus on for the sermon today, one that I believe will help us to more fully appreciate the sacrifice that was made for us, as well as the reality of the relationship we live in today with Him. So for today's message, I want to explore the role of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. And as I said, I appreciated Mr. Oliver leading the Lord is my shepherd. I didn't request it coincidental, but let's understand God the Father is our shepherd and Jesus Christ is our shepherd as well.

When Jesus walked the earth, He laid down for us an example of what the Good Shepherd looks like.

So why is Jesus called the Good Shepherd? And again, how does that relationship tie in with us today? Is it just a story in the Bible or is it living and active and active in our spiritual lives today? I want to begin in Matthew chapter 9 as we begin to answer this. Let's get a glimpse into the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel at the time of Jesus' first coming. Let's see their sincere need for a true shepherd and come to understand the sincere need that you and I live with today as well. Matthew chapter 9 and verse 35, He says, Then Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing every sickness, every disease among the people. Verse 36, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep, having no shepherd.

He says they were like sheep to see their condition, to see their needs, their hunger, and their thirst. He says this was like sheep without a shepherd. Understand the role of a shepherd is to watch over the sheep. You know, he's out among the sheep. He's in the field with the sheep, and he watches over them. He protects them. He nurtures them and guides them to green pastures. He cares for their needs. If there's a sick sheep or an injured sheep, he binds up their wound. He cares for them, sets them back onto their feet again. And as the shepherd, he comforts and he keeps the sheep together in the flock. Again, that's the purpose of a good shepherd. And we sang about that. We sang about God as a shepherd who leads us into green pastures and by still waters. And Jesus Christ, the man who was God with God from eternity who came in the flesh, Emmanuel God with us, led in this way as a shepherd, a godly shepherd, and indeed the good shepherd. But that's the purpose of a shepherd, to care for the sheep in that way. The Greek here, in Matthew 9, indicates that these sheep were literally harassed and troubled and cast off.

They were wearied. And they were wearied not because they didn't have a shepherd. That wasn't the point. Christ said they were like sheep without a shepherd because of the deficiencies of those in the nation of Israel at that time who should have been good shepherds to the people of God. And so, when Jesus observed the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them. When he recognized their absolute need for this kind of spiritual leadership. Now, you recall wherever Christ went, as he taught, as the crowds followed him. And there's lots of descriptors in the Bible about the fact that they pressed towards him. Times where he was preaching on the shore. And literally, as I would visualize it, in my mind he's backed up to the water's edge now, as people are pushing in to hear and to listen. And he said, hey, let me in your boat. And then he puts out into the boat to have a little distance from the shore so that he can project and speak. But the masses that followed him were literally touching him and just coming right up to him, pressing towards him in a very close, you know, personal space sort of way. They had needs. And frankly, Jesus Christ came as the fulfillment of what it is they so desperately needed, that which they were hungry and thirsty for, that which they did not have of their own shepherds. So again, we notice that there was a need. People were starving. And Christ came to feed them. Notice Jesus' own words regarding those who should have been caring for God's people in a loving and a compassionate way. We're going to see his rebuke for them, and then you can flip it over in contrast and understand then what the Good Shepherd's responsibility is. Matthew 23, verse 1, says, Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, these who were the religious leaders of the day, charged with teaching the people and directing the people. They said, They sit in Moses' seat. This is a position of authority. Therefore, whatever they tell you to do, observe. Okay, they say, You observe this. He says, You in response observe, that which they tell you to do. But do not do according to their works, for they say, and they do not do. I mean, can you imagine? These are the leaders in Judah at the time, and Jesus Christ says, okay, they have the words, they have the teachings of God, they'll express those things, and what they say to do, you do it, but don't do what they say, because their example, indeed, is not what you ought to be following. Do what they tell you, but don't do as they do. Verse 4, he says, Where they bind heavy burdens hard to bear, they lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. He says, But all their works they do to be seen by men, they make the phylactries broad and large the borders of their garments, they love the best places at the feast and the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi. He says, But you do not be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not be called by anyone on earth your father, or do not call anyone on earth your father. He says, There is one who is your father. He was in heaven.

Father, forgive me, for I have sinned. Christ says, Don't put a man into that place. You have one Father, indeed, who is in heaven. Verse 10, And do not be called teachers, for one is your teacher, the Christ. So he then comes along, and he turns this around, and he turns it into an object lesson for his disciples as well, now on leadership. Verse 11, he says, But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, he who humbles himself will be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, Jesus calls them, for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers, therefore you will receive the greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

So we have these condemnations from Christ, and you know, in verse 13, he even said, you know, you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. So rather than being those who opened the way for the people of God as shepherds, they actually stood in the way, and there were obstacles to the people overcoming. These were blind guides, as Jesus said, greedy shepherds, people who desired to pre-eminence at the expense of the people, and when Christ began his ministry, you understand there was such a hunger and a thirst for the kind of spiritual leadership that pointed to ways of righteousness, not just in words, but in actions, an example, and you understand why he was thronged as he walked the earth. In fact, Jesus came on the scene at a time where he became the prophetic remedy to this problem, at least as it would be at his first coming, because this wasn't a new problem. Let's go back to Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34, again describing the condition of Israel's shepherds that had existed for hundreds of years in the nation of Israel, nation of Judah, all the way up into Christ today. What was the condition of these shepherds? Ezekiel chapter 34 and verse 1. 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. It's like you're here to care and to provide for, and yet you're using them for gain. You're taking, actually, the good things from them. Verse 3, you eat the fat and clothe yourself with wool, you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The week you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, says you haven't left the ninety-nine and gone after the one, right, to bring back. You have not sought what was lost, he says, but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. Verse 5, so they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And the point is not that there was no shepherd, the point was they weren't shepherding, and it was like sheep without a shepherd, just as in Jesus Christ day. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. So again, this is a condition that existed in Israel when they eventually went into captivity to the Assyrians.

It was a condition that existed in Judah when they eventually went into captivity to the Babylonians because so often as go the leaders, so many times go the people trailing right behind.

And it's a very dangerous thing if a shepherd does not yield themselves to the things of God.

And it still had not been remedied when Jesus Christ came on the scene. Those who should have been caring for the people of God, feeding them good food, giving them spiritual teaching, binding up their wounds, going after those that were lost and bringing them back, we're not doing what it is that God had given them to do as their God-given responsibility. But at the first coming, Jesus Christ, he came to feed the flock and he came to strengthen the weak and to heal the sick.

He came to bind up the broken and to seek that which was lost. Remember in one of his parables, he's like, what shepherd among you, and we would be talking about an appropriate shepherd, would not leave the ninety-nine and go after the one and bring the one back into the fold again. Jesus Christ came to do that, to seek that which was lost. And it was that true care for the people of God which defined his ministry, and you know what? It defined his sacrifice as well. And that's what we need to remember as we come up to the Passover this year. Jesus Christ's sacrifice and how we view it in part should be through the eyes of the shepherd who gives his life for the sheep.

And that was so different than the leadership of his day. And indeed, it's a defining factor in our relationship with him today as the Good Shepherd. Let's notice the tone by which Jesus then began his ministry. Let's go to Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. Let's see why he came, and we'll see these elements of care and provision. This wasn't just to, you know, kind of walk through a set of motions, fulfill some prophecies, die and get it over with. You know, this was a nurturing care by which he came. Luke chapter 4 and verse 16. So he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are repressed, and shall proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. He says, when he closed the book, he gave it back to the attendant, sat down in the eyes of all who were in the synagogue, were fixed upon them. And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. So again, this is the emphasis by which Jesus Christ began his ministry. And it was the reason that so many people were drawn to him, because he came to fill a void that existed in Israel long before the time of his arrival.

The quench of hunger and a thirst to be led in the paths of righteousness, to be brought to green pastures and still waters. Quite the opposite of what it was that they lived under. This is why he came. He came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Okay, they weren't lost from the sense of nobody knew where they were. Actually, these were lost sheep from the sense of the fact that they had been scattered and they've been harassed in many ways. And he came to bring back that which is lost.

Let's now go to Jesus' pronouncement of himself as the Good Shepherd. And in doing so, we're going to notice the contrast between, again, the leaders of his day, the leaders of Israel's history, and the example that he came to set. Luke chapter 4 and verse 16.

Luke chapter 4 and verse 16.

Excuse me. John chapter 10. Let's... We're done with Luke 4 for the day. Let's go to John chapter 10.

John chapter 10, verse 1. The Good Shepherd. And understand there's example of that set of how not to be. And Jesus Christ said, I came to do this differently. John chapter 10 and verse 1. Most assuredly I say to you, these are the words of Jesus Christ, He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way the same as a thief and a robber. I don't know how many westerns I've watched, right? There's going to be a heist.

Bank's going to be robbed, but you don't just waltz in the front door in the middle of daylight.

Thief waits till it's dark, and maybe it's an open window through the back. Maybe they blow a hole through the back wall to gain access to the safe, or maybe they drop down through the ceiling, and if they're not the apple dumpling gang, maybe they get away with something.

But you know, the imagery of what of thief, actually, how he comes in by stealth. Verse 2, he says, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hears his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. So the relationship of believers towards Jesus Christ is that of sheep towards their shepherd, and it is a relationship. As we go through these verses, we're going to notice several identifying characteristics of the Good Shepherd, and I won't necessarily point them out like point one, two, three, four, but we'll look at these as we go, and the first one we've already seen is that the Good Shepherd knows his sheep by name.

That's an important distinction. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep by name. To me, this is a very encouraging concept to consider because it emphasizes the intimate nature of the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep, and between Jesus Christ and the flock. Again, he knows the flock. That's the point. He knows them intimately. When he calls for them, he doesn't say, hear sheep, sheep, sheep. Come here, dumb sheep. Come here, sheep. It's by name.

He knows his sheep by name, and they respond to his voice out of familiarity and out of trust.

To be called by name means that we are understood by the shepherd for who we are.

Okay, you're not just another fleece in the flock, another face in the crowd. He calls you by name, so he knows you by your personality. He knows you by your character traits, your strengths, your weaknesses, your needs, your desires. And again, this is intimate. It's individual, and it is direct from the shepherd towards the sheep. If we go forward just a little bit, John chapter 10, verse 14, Jesus states, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known by my own.

And so this is a relationship that goes both ways. He knows us, and we know him, and we know the voice of the shepherd.

You know, Darla and I, we don't raise sheep, but we do raise horses. If you want to talk to people that raise sheep, you can talk to Tom and Lindsay Campbell. They're out on the webcast. They actually were going to be here today. They went out this morning, and one of their youths had birth triplets. So, cute little video of these three little newborn baby lambs. One of them began to have some challenges, and it's cold, and it's weak, and it can't get on to nurse well. So, they're doing what good shepherds do, because the Bible says, look to the state of your flock.

So, they messaged me a while before church, and said, we're not going to make it in today. We need to help this little lamb. So, they're there caring for the sheep of their pasture.

Imagine, probably by the end of the day, the little lamb will have a name, because that's just, you know, how it develops very quickly. But, Darlan and I, we don't raise sheep. We raise horses, but it's always amazing to me to watch her call the herd in from the back hillside.

You know, they'll be out grazing as they've been the last few days, because there's this little fuzz of green grass starting to come up, and they'll go to the top of the back hillside, and she'll go out, and she'll whistle for them, and their heads will just snap up, and they'll look.

But then she'll start calling them by name. You know, hear Elska, hear Lily, hear Bleeqa, hear Soli, and as they hear their name, they start running, and they come down that hill, and across the pasture, and they leap over the creek, and hooves thudding, and they come running up to her, and it's a pretty incredible thing to watch, but they know her voice, and her voice is calling them by name. And so they respond. And they know by responding, well, we're going to get fed, right? Or maybe there's a treat here, an apple or a carrot, or some such reward. But our horses have names, they have distinctive personalities, and we know them. Sheep are very much the same.

Elska, who is Tabitha's horse, Elska is curious beyond any of the other horses, and when I go out and feed in the morning, if there's going to be the smell of skunk, it's going to be on her.

I'm like, Elska, where have you been? You know, and the times that there's been porcupine quills and someone's nose, it's been Elska. You know, she's been out exploring. She has that personality. She also stands guard over the other horses that are sleeping. It's a sunny day, and they're just zonked out on the ground, but she's standing there, and she's watching. That's her nature-specific, and we call her by name. Soli, who's our smallest horse, is our feistiest horse as well, and it's funny because she's the smallest, but she's the boldest. And a couple of springs ago, we had a young bull moose come into our pasture, and I didn't know anything was going on until I looked out, and there's this movement.

Here, streaking across this young, gangly-legged moose, trying to get out as fast as he can across the pasture and right on his heels is Soli, like 10 months pregnant at the time. Short and round, but she's on his heels, and the rest of the herd are sort of tagging behind. She's the bold one. Skoda, who we had until she was over 30 years old, Skoda was our escape artist, and we get out in the morning going, how did you get out? And she could be kind of this contortionist to get through the fence and get out, and if we didn't double latch the gate and put a chain around it and latch it, she'd let the horses out of the pasture.

So, you know, these are personality traits, these are aspects of each of these horses, and you know what you've got to watch out for, what you've got to care for. Lufo, which was another one of Tabitha's horses, figured out how to untie herself. So, Darlin, she was, you know, tied up to the hitching post, so Darlin would have to triple knot the rope just to keep her tied, and if there were other horses tied beside her, well, I can't untie myself, but I'll untie them. So, again, to call them by name, it's an intimate understanding of, in this case, the shepherd to the sheep.

The strengths, the weaknesses, the personalities, what does the sheep need from the shepherd? What should the shepherd watch for in this one, and how shall he care for that one? It's not just one size fit all, and it's not just the face lost in the flock, and for us, I hope that's encouraging to you. Again, our shepherd knows us by name. Carrying on in verse 4, Jesus says, when this good shepherd, 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.

He's laying out the contrast here between himself as the true shepherd of the sheep and imposters. Those would seek to come in with a different voice or a different message and draw the sheep after them. Again, our horses know Darla's voice, but if we have a neighbor or someone from down the road that comes walking along and they come up to the pasture and they start calling to our horses, it's usually, here horsey horsey, and they just kind of look at them like, who are you? I'm gonna stay over here. They don't know that voice. Again, Jesus Christ is different.

He's telling the Pharisees that the sheep hear his voice because he is the true shepherd, and his voice is the voice of calm and peace and safety. And the sheep trust in the true shepherd, and they will follow him because his voice is the voice of true reward, right? Salvation, ultimately. Green pastures and still waters, and it's different than the tactics of those who would be the thief or the vandal who would come in and disquiet the flock. Verse 6, Jesus used the illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All whoever 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. So we're talking about salvation here, ultimately. Salvation that comes through Jesus Christ because he's the door.

And again, that stands in contrast to the leaders of this day that Jesus said, you know what, they shut up the kingdom of heaven to those who would seek to find it. They're actually an obstacle to that relationship with God. But in John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. And it stands in that stark contrast again to those who actually were supposed to be shepherds, but shut up the way for the people. Jesus is the opening that one must walk through in order to have access to the Father to gain eternal life, and there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. And so for him to say, I am the way, the truth, and the life, it rings as absolute. It's through him we can go in and out and find pasture, which means there's freedom in that relationship with our shepherd, right? The bondage, the burden of the penalty of sin, the wages of sin, which is death, has been removed through that relationship. You can go in and out and find pasture and be nourished and be fed by following his lead. So again, some might question at times, what does a relationship with Jesus Christ look like? Well, a big part of it is what he has described himself by his own words, that as the shepherd. He is the shepherd, and we are the sheep. And we actually live our lives in response to his lead, and that relationship is real. John chapter 10 and verse 10, continuing on, he says, 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. He's making the contrast here between the authentic shepherd who gives his life for the sheep and the one who simply, you know, he looks after the sheep for the sake of, well, what's it gonna do for me? And how's it gonna profit me?

Personal gain. When the thief comes in, he's up to no good. He harms the sheep, he upsets the sheep, he enters, injures the sheep, and generally the result is then he scatters the sheep. They don't recognize his voice, but he's got the staff, doesn't he? And maybe he even beats the sheep because he's trying to direct them in the way that he wants them to go. And in that confusion, some sheep are stolen away. Again, because he's a thief, some sheep are lost. Perhaps they wander out into the wilderness and, you know, the confusion, the confusion that existed back at the flock when the thief came in, but the confusion of, I can't go where he's going, and now they're wandering in the wilderness, and it's what we would perhaps term the we ones.

And some, perhaps, even are simply killed because they allowed their eternal life to be snatched away by the thief. Understand, Jesus Christ is drawing this illustration here. The thief is the opposite of all that Jesus Christ stands for as the Good Shepherd. Okay, the thief is the opposite of all that he stands for as the Good Shepherd. So part of this message, part of what Jesus is delivering here, is the message of, beware the thief. Beware his tactics because they don't truly lead to abundant life. He said, I came that they would have life, that they would have it more abundantly. That was what comes with following the Good Shepherd. And again, that's why he came. Verse 11, he says, I am the Good Shepherd. Okay, referring to himself, the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And that's the stamp of authenticity. Unlike those who only sought to merchandise the flock or seek to somehow get a gain off the backs of the sheep. Again, that contrasts with the people of his day. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep, and it's a total sacrifice. Right? Christ gave his life for all. He laid it down for his flock. And brethren, you and I are sheep of that flock. I won't turn there, but I'll quote for you Isaiah 53 verse 6. We read extensive portions of Isaiah 53 at the Passover service. Isaiah 53 verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned each one to his own way, and the Lord has laid upon him, upon Jesus Christ, the iniquity of us all. Okay, he took that to himself. That's the wages of sin is death. He took that to himself in our place, and that is the price that the Good Shepherd was willing to pay for you and me. He died for the flock, for the survival of the flock, and ultimately for the green pastures, and the still waters of salvation that the flock would be led to. Verse 12, he says, but a hireling, he who does is not the shepherd, the one who does not own the sheep, he 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. Okay, so this is a hired hand, one who actually doesn't have any real investment in the flock. These aren't my sheep, you know, so okay, if I'm getting a paycheck, maybe I'll stick around from paycheck to paycheck for a while, but when the wolf comes in or the bear comes in, the lion comes in, right, David said, I grabbed him by the beard and I slew him, and I killed him.

David was a true shepherd, and those were his sheep, actually his father's flock, but they were his as well, but that was the good shepherd that actually stood and fought and defended the sheep at the risk of his own life. He says, the hireling will turn and run. These aren't my sheep, they're just a bunch of dumb sheep anyway. My life, why would I give it for that? Jesus Christ is the good shepherd, and understand the good shepherd does not care for us because of what he can gain from us. Jesus Christ cares for us because we are his, and that's the point of the verse. He's not a hireling. They're not somebody else's sheep. We are his. We're the sheep of his flock. We are the sheep of his father's flock. God put us under his care. We are his sheep, and so he doesn't care for us because, okay, I get a paycheck on a Friday. Jesus Christ cares for us because we are his, and so there's never going to come a time where he says, you know, you're not worth it. I'm just out of here. I'm tired. If this is the sixth time, I've had to leave the 99 and go after the one. No, we are his, and his life is devoted in that way. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I'm known by my own. As the father knows me, even so I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. He says, another 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. So then he's referring to the Gentiles, those outside of Israel, actually, who would eventually, through a sacrifice, be brought into the fold, and he would be their shepherd as well. One flock and one shepherd. Verse 17, 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 up again, this command I have received from my father. So understand, this is a very willing sacrifice. You know, this isn't by compulsion. This isn't that something he's forced into doing, right? He came out of his love for us.

The father sent him out of his great love for us as his children, but this is a very willing sacrifice by the shepherd. Jumping down to verse 24, John 10 verse 24, then the Jews surrounded him, 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 that 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. So to be sheep of Jesus Christ's flock means that we believe him. Right? We believe the words that he said, the gospel that he taught, who it was that he said that he was, and who he is, and to be sheep of his pasture, we believe him. And to exist outside of those parameters, well, it means we're not one of his own. He says, you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. So there's a faith factor, there's a trust factor between the sheep and the shepherd. Verse 27, 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. Okay, he says, the father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. And so this is something that they work in together, and they work in unison, in unity. And Jesus Christ says, no one's going to snatch them out of my hand. He says, my father has given them to me. So we know God does the calling, and He has placed us under Jesus Christ's care. And He says, no one can snatch them out of my hands. No one can snatch them out of my father's hands. Salvation is secure in this relationship, as much as it depends on them. Okay, but the risk to us is actually to willingly remove ourselves from that relationship, to turn aside, to be enticed away, to allow ourselves to be deceived in some way so that we're taken out of the flock. That's the great risk of what we would allow for ourselves, but the power of God and Christ to hold us as sheep of this flock. There's nothing greater than that. And it's the most comfortable place to be, indeed, if you submit yourself to it. Again, verse 29, my father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I am my father, R1. And so we understand how this relationship works. Verse 31, when the Jews, they heard this, right? Here's who's He speaking to? Well, primarily He's speaking to those who should have been good shepherds of their day.

But He said these things, and the Jews, verse 31, took up stones again to stone Him. That was response from the corrupt shepherds towards the good shepherd. They desired to kill Him because of who He was, who He said He was, how He conducted Himself. But again, this was upright. But eventually, they did overcome Him through the crucifixion. But that didn't cause Him to cease being our shepherd. Let's understand, this is not just a snapshot of a place of time where He came to be shepherd to certain people, and He's no longer shepherd today. Jesus Christ actually is the good shepherd. Ultimately, through the crucifixion, He gave His life for each and every one of us as sheep of that pasture, and He continues to be the shepherd today. God raised Him up in glorified Spirit life once again, and Jesus now sits as the shepherd and the overseer of our souls. Hebrews chapter 13. Again, this is a continual relationship. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20. Let's recognize His ongoing life in this role.

Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20, it says, Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, okay, that's who He is, that's who Jesus Christ is in that role, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, right, He shed His blood so that we could be reconciled to the Father in covenant relationship. Okay, He was the sacrifice, and such He is the great, the good shepherd and the great shepherd.

And may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work, to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. So again, He is referred to as the great shepherd, because He laid His life down, shedding His blood for the sake of the everlasting covenant, and it was a total sacrifice for the sake of the sheep. But He didn't remain in the grave.

His Father restored Him to life. He sits at the right hand of God in all glory and all power, and He continues to shepherd us all today. First Peter chapter 2.

First Peter chapter 2 verse 21.

First Peter 2 verse 21. Peter says, For to this you are called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Again, that's always where we stand. It's following His steps, walking as He walked. Verse 22, who had committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth, who when He was reviled did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously, who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed. Verse 25, For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

The word here translated overseer is episcopos, and it's the word that's translated bishop. If you have the original King James, it's bishop. It's overseer. Same word that's used for an overseer of a congregation, humanly, a bishop. Okay, episcopos. This is who He is. It's a spiritual overseer. And as the head of the church, Jesus Christ's role is the shepherd and the overseer for every member of the body of Christ. And the question for us is, do we see Him in that way?

Do we relate to Him in that way? As our shepherd, as our overseer, the apostles did.

Peter did. And they recorded those things for us in multiple places. They saw Jesus Christ as guiding and directing His church in this role as shepherd and overseer. And if we see Him as our shepherd and overseer as well, we will see Him as someone who is in charge of our life, watching out for our spiritual well-being. We'll see Him as one who leads us to good pastors and guides us through the difficult times, as one who comforts us and defends us and binds up our wounds and goes after the lost and brings them into restoration again. Remember the words when He stood up at the beginning of His ministry in the synagogue? He says, this is why I came. And it wasn't just at that moment in the flesh, it is the role the Father gave Him when the Word became flesh then dwelled among us and was raised up in glory. That role continues yet even today. He's one who defends us and comforts us and was willing to die for us so that we could live. And that's a very encouraging relationship to me. As I said, God our Father is our shepherd. Jesus Christ is our shepherd, and they work together in unison in this, but in the way of coming directly to fulfill this role, this is what Jesus did, and it continues yet even today. Now, right alongside that role, He has appointed human shepherds as well under Him to guide and direct the flock in His service.

You recall Peter, Peter who denied Christ three times, and then Christ had a question for Peter three times, do you love me? Right? And what was Christ's response to Peter each time after He said, do you love me? And Peter was like, you know that I love you. In John 21, Jesus said, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep. So there are human shepherds which Jesus has appointed among the flock as well, and their role model is Jesus Christ, the good shepherd.

And they are to follow in His steps, and they are to be the kind of shepherd that He was to the people of God. They're to lead as He leads, care for the flock as He cares for the flock.

So, humanly speaking, I'm a shepherd in this congregation. That's what the word pastor means. Pastor means shepherd. Mike Iams is an elder. Mike Iams is a shepherd and an overseer in this congregation as well, and we have specific responsibilities, and we answer to God the Father and Jesus Christ directly for what it is that we do, how we conduct our ministry.

But understand, He set that example for us, and we follow Him. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1.

1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1. Here Peter is gathered together with elders of the church, and he says, 2 The elders who are among you I exhort, I am who am a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God, which is among you. Okay, this is Jesus Christ's flock, and it's also God the Father's flock. And Jesus is a shepherd, and His Father is a shepherd as well. And Peter says to the elders, you are shepherds, and you have a responsibility. Shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving as overseers. Again, Episcopos. Not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

So we're shepherds under authority, under Jesus Christ's authority, as the shepherd over all of us.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

So the shepherds that are answerable to God the Father and Jesus Christ are those who are to be like Him. Not like what we saw the shepherds that Jesus said the people are scattered, and they're harassed, and they're confused. And not like the shepherds where God said to Israel through Ezekiel, you haven't gone after the lost and brought them in. You haven't bound up their wounds, and you're eating off the fat of their produce. Okay, this is the example that Jesus Christ said.

And He said those who would follow in that then would receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Again, He is the example in the model. Jesus Christ came, laying His life down for the Lord's will, protecting them, defending them, feeding them, and the reward will come at the appearing of the chief shepherd. Ultimately, all shepherds are answerable to Him. Revelation chapter 7. Let's conclude here today. Revelation chapter 7, because I want us to have in our mind, again, the concept of this role that Jesus Christ has been given by the Father to step into, is something that He continues to fulfill in an ongoing manner, even today. Revelation chapter 7 and verse 13. Here, the context is the great innumerable multitude. Revelation chapter 7, verse 13, then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. Speaking of the Father. Verse 16, They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. And notice why. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

This is very clear and vivid imagery of Jesus Christ's ongoing role of shepherd. And, you know, these actually were redeemed from the earth. They're in white. They're before the throne of God. As the portrayal is, they've already received salvation, and the shepherding continues.

Continues on forward. It's a very, very encouraging concept to consider, brethren. As we approach the Passover, as we approach the Holy Days, this year, once again, let's focus on these important relationships that the Bible reveals to us. Let's study into them. We've only covered one sliver, one aspect of a relationship today, but a relationship with the Father and the Son are multifaceted. Let's delve into those aspects as we approach the Holy Days. Let's recognize God as our loving Father, as the one who created us for the incredible purpose of eternal life in His family, as the one who has our best interests at heart, so much so that He gave an incredible sacrifice for us. Let's also recognize our elder brother, Jesus Christ.

As the one who went before us and blazed the trail that we must walk, as the one who willingly laid his life down in sacrifice, so that you and I could live. Recognizing Him as the Good Shepherd, recognizing Him as the one who keeps watch over the sheep, as the one who is there to nurture and to protect them, to guide and to direct them and to bring them to green pastures and still waters, to care for their needs, to bind up their wounds, to go after those who are lost, to comfort them who are hurting, and to keep them together, unified as the sheep of one flock with one shepherd.

Jesus Christ, brethren, is not just a Good Shepherd among the sheep, rather He is the Good Shepherd. And He calls us by name. What an incredible, incredible relationship to be in.

Let's draw comfort from that today, brethren. Let us always be willing to follow the voice of the shepherd and the overseer of our souls, knowing that it is through Him alone that we must go in and out and find pasture. And if we truly love that relationship and we thank God our Father for that relationship, He sent His Son to be this shepherd, the kind that people hungered and thirsted for. Let's thank God for that relationship and let us follow the lead of our elder brother that we may go in and out and find pasture.