I AM

Well, today is the 10th of Abib, as it has been mentioned. We are in an interesting Passover and Unleavened Bread time cycle this year, in a month of Abib time cycle, in that the days of the week correspond exactly to the days that Jesus Christ was alive and going through his last two weeks on earth from the month of Abib up to the 14th when he was arrested and then crucified. And so the 10th of Abib back in that week was a Sabbath day. And you remember the 10th of Abib was the selection day, if you will, of the Passover land back in Old Testament times. You read about that in Exodus 12 verses 1, 2, and 3 there. It was if you read through the scriptures that I gave you earlier in the week in my letter about the timeline of Jesus Christ, you know that he was selected and on the 10th of Abib he was in the temple much as we are in Sabbath services today on the Sabbath day and he was selected as a Passover lamb. In the days leading up to it it became evident who he was and in the time even before that Jesus Christ, you know, if people were listening, if people were paying attention, they knew, they should have known this was a man from God. But just like in the world today, some people would see some of the things that he would do and they would believe but other people would look at the same thing that had no explanation and it would just make them angry. So some of the people believed in him, saw him as a king as he was proceed as he entered into Jerusalem in the procession where they were throwing down, you know, things for him, welcoming him in as the king. Other people just wanted to see him dead. You know, as we're here, as we're about to embark on the days of Unleavened Bread and the Passover on Tuesday evening, you know, there's many things I thought we should talk about and there's many things that you will read through the Gospels and I'm sure as you read through the Old Testament account to the Passover and develop and think about the spiritual applications of what Israel did and as you read through the Gospels and you see what Jesus Christ did and you see the suffering that he did and it touches us and we realize what he went through for us, that he was not only crucified, which we can't even imagine the torture that that is, but he was beaten and he was humiliated.

All for us. All for us and we should read those things and we should be grateful to him for what he has done and he was willing to do for a mankind that has been so ungrateful to him in the course of mankind's history. But I want today to focus on Jesus Christ.

He is the reason for the Passover. He is the reason that we have a hope. He is the reason that we have a future and as we go into these holy days, we should be glorifying him in our mind. God has glorified him and we should be praising him and we should have in our minds a sense of reverence about him, unlike maybe any that we've had before. You know, he is our Savior.

We all know that. We all believe that. As we go through the things that we've been going through in the last few weeks and we see how tentative and how fragile this earth is and how fragile the things of this world that we may have counted in are and how easily they can be toppled and how quickly they can be toppled, I hope our faith is being renewed in Jesus Christ.

That it's even more directed toward him and God the Father as the hope for mankind, as the future, and that without him there is no certain future. It's only with him. So today I want to focus us on Jesus Christ and I want to focus us through some statements that he made in John about himself as he educated, if you will, the world at that time who he was.

Now many of you have probably heard of the I Am statements that Jesus Christ made in the book of John. In the book of John and that Gospel, you know John recounts many miracles that Jesus Christ did and often attached to those miracles is a lesson that we can learn, something that we learn about Jesus Christ. And there are seven of those I Am statements and really eight when you look at it that there are eight times that Jesus Christ said I Am.

Now the people who were alive at that time, the Jews, the religious leaders, when they would hear Jesus Christ say I Am, it agitated them because they knew what he was saying. They knew that he was referring to himself as the I Am that we read about back in Exodus when Moses gave the name of the God that they were following as I Am that I Am.

And so when Jesus Christ would say I Am, they were irritated. But Jesus Christ was showing he is God, the same God that led Israel out of Egypt, the same God that brought the world at that time, Egypt, to its knees. Bring the world to its knees again and usher in a kingdom that will last forever and ever and ever. So let's look at these statements today and let's look at them in an attitude of praising God and Jesus Christ and elevating him even more in our minds to the level that he should be as we embark on the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread season.

I'm not going to take them in chronological order. Let's first turn to John 11 and look at a situation here. And I'm going to do the background because the background and what happened leading up to some of these statements really gives us a picture of what Jesus Christ was saying. So let's look at John 11 and verse 1. Here's a well-known occasion here of Jesus Christ performing a miracle that only God could perform. In chapter 1, it says, that certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Christ saying, Lord, behold he whom you love is sick. When Jesus heard it, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

So the natural thing would be for him to drop what he was doing and going anoint Lazarus and heal him, but he waited because this was of God and this was a time when the Son of God would be glorified by what was going to go on. Let's drop down to verse 11. Pick up with his quote there. It says, as he's telling his disciples, he says, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. His disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get well. But Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought he was speaking about taking rest in sleep. And Jesus said to them, please, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. Now, as we go through these things, the miracles and see what Jesus Christ says, notice that word, believe. It's always there, and it is central to what Jesus Christ would have them do and that what he would have us do. And remember the meaning of the word believe when we see it in the New Testament. It's not just believe like we may use it casually in English today. It means a deep, abiding belief that absolutely changes us to the core, that we become different people because of the belief that we have. So he says to the disciples, I'm going here, and I'm glad I wasn't there. I'm glad I wasn't there to heal them because I want you to believe. I want you to understand more about me.

Verse 17, so when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. And Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house. And Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. You can see her faith. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Well, she didn't think of him rising in the next few minutes. She believed in the resurrection. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Now, the Jews back then, the ones who did believe in the resurrection, some did not, believed in a physical resurrection. So Martha's saying, well, I know that. I know in some future time he will be resurrected. And Jesus said to her, I am. I am the resurrection and the life. When you believe in the resurrection, Jesus Christ made it plain to her, I am the resurrection and the life. It's because of me that that will be possible.

Resurrection and life is encompassed in me, Jesus Christ was saying. Well, Martha didn't understand what he was saying. He who believes, he says to her, he who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die, permanently. Right? Second death won't have power over them. For those who live and believe, live in Christ and believe in Christ, shall never die. And he asks her, do you believe this? Do you believe what I'm saying?

She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. I believe you. She didn't understand at that point what she meant, but she was about to learn. Let's drop down to verse 32. It says, Mary, they went and fetched Mary. Mary, when she came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

We get a picture of the human side, the compassion that Jesus Christ had. He knew he was going to resurrect Lazarus. He knew he was going to live again. He knew that he was going to fulfill those verses in Isaiah 61. He was going to take their mourning and turn it into joy. He was going to take their ashes and it was going to be turned into beauty. This sorrowful occasion was going to be turned into a joyous celebration when he would work the miracle of resurrection.

But he still grieved for what they were going through because of the things that they were feeling and the mourning that they had. In verse 34, Christ says, Where have you laid him? And they said to him, Come and see. And Jesus wept. He wept as he understood what they were going through. And the Jews said, See how he loved him. And some of them said, Well, couldn't this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying? And Jesus, again groaning in himself, came to the womb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. And Jesus said, Take away the stone.

Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days.

Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?

Just do what I say.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was lying. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.

And when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with the cloth. Jesus said to them, Loose him and let him go.

I am the resurrection and life. That day, an impossible miracle, impossible for anyone except God to do through Jesus Christ. A man was resurrected from the dead.

Only to whom God the Father would give power to do that could that be done.

Mary and Martha and many of them who were there believed. How could you not believe? There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Lazarus was dead. He'd been in the tomb for four days. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he came out of that tomb dressed in grave clothes. He was dead and he's alive. How could you not believe? But interestingly, as you read through the rest of the chapter, you see that there were those who simply didn't want to buy it. They ran off and told the Pharisees, what's going on here? Whatever. And you see that there was increasing demand by the Pharisees, kill this man. We don't want to know who he is. We don't want to do. We don't want what he has to offer. But it was undeniable. He is the resurrection and life for us as well.

Any hope we have in resurrection and life is because of Jesus Christ. And as to him we look.

We go back a few chapters in John, John 5, and Jesus Christ has addressed this concept of life and death and what he was sent for back here in just a few chapters before as we have that. But if we look in John 5, verse 21, you know, a few of these verses you'll be familiar with. We have funerals where we read them. But look at some of the verses that precede and come after those verses. John 5, verse 21. Christ's words, as he's speaking, he says, for as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will.

Even though the Father does it, the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into the judgment but has passed from death into life.

When Christ said, when you believe in him, truly believe you've passed from life or from death into life. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of man. Don't marvel at this. Christ says, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

Let's drop down to verse 33. He talks about he can't do anything of God, gives God the Father all the credit, and he talks about witnessing, about how the witness of who he was. And someone went to John and John the Baptist would say he is the Son of God. He says, you have sent to John and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I don't receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do, like resurrecting Lazarus from the dead, like some of the other things that we said that were impossible for man to do, the very works that I do, they bear witness of me that the Father has sent me.

And so that day, that day when Jesus Christ said, I am the resurrection and the life, he who God was, God the Father was bearing witness, look at this work, this is the Son, believe in him. Some there believed.

Many more, well, maybe many more, didn't. They didn't get it. For those of us who believe, let's check our belief and make sure we really, really, really truly believe and understand resurrection and life, the things that make our life possible are wrapped up in Jesus Christ. He is the resurrection and life and the one to whom we look for that and who has made that possible.

As we keep the Passover, as we eat the unleavened bread during the days of unleavened bread, keep him in mind. Glorify him as you take in the things, the unleavened bread of spirit and truth. Let's move on to the next one. I have 1 Corinthians 15 marked down here. You can mark 1 Corinthians 15 down there as well. You can see in the last verses there, it's Jesus Christ who has given us the victory over death. Not us, not our modern medicines. Jesus Christ gives us the victory over death. It's the only way. Let's then go forward a couple chapters to John 8. See another one of these statements that Jesus Christ made. And the event that preceded it that is instructional as well. Chapter 8, let's begin in verse 2.

Now early in the morning, and that's significant, early in the morning. Most of us rise early in the morning. Maybe we get up before even the sun rises. Now early in the morning, probably the sun arose.

They didn't have lamps like we did in those days. Early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Early in the morning, first thing, okay, the law was clear on that, but you know, they were bringing him to Christ. Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say? And of course, they were looking to see, okay, what are you going to say about this? In verse 6, they said this, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and rode on the ground with his finger as though he didn't hear. So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up and said to them, he who was without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.

Now it was crystal clear. The woman was guilty. She deserved death. She had violated the law. No question about that. But Jesus Christ pauses and doesn't just say, killer, stoner, goes down and he comes up with a comment, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first. And again, verse 8, he stooped down and rode on the ground. And those who heard it being convicted by their conscience went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. And Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. Well, with those words, the whole event, the whole incident took on a different flavor. What? I mean, yeah, I'm guilty too of things. I could be stoned. Am I going to judge her when I've got things in my life?

When Jesus raised himself up and saw no one but the woman, he said to her woman, where are these accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? And she said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you. But he tells her, you go and sin no more.

You go and sin no more. He lifted the death sentence off of her. He showed his mercy to her.

He took this incident that was crystal clear, no question of what, if you were looking at it in the letter of the law, what would be this woman deserved death? And yet he showed, he showed mercy to her. It was early in the morning. The woman was living in complete darkness.

To her, by the end of that day, she should be dead and she knew it. She knew it, but he turned that darkness into a future for her. He turned it into light, if you will.

Verse 12, right after he says, you go, go ahead. No, I don't condemn you either. Go and sin no more. Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world.

Now, we could turn back to John. You know the scriptures back in John 1 very well, where it contrasts light and darkness. In Jesus Christ came into a world, he brought light in a world that was in complete darkness. He is the light that illuminates things. We can go back and think of Genesis 1, where the world was in complete darkness, confused, void, tohu and bohu.

And when the Spirit of God came and shone light on the world and it was recreated, refashioned for mankind to live on it, Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

This woman was in complete darkness. As she was brought before the people that were gathered there that day, her world was completely dark and to become literally that dark that day. Her life would have been ended. But Jesus Christ showed his mercy, the same mercy that he shows to you and I, because every single one of us deserves exactly the same faith that that woman deserved.

But because of his mercy, because of his love for mankind, because of his commitment to the future that God the Father and he have for mankind, he takes the darkness that you and I lived in.

Takes the darkness that this woman lived in. And as we come into his light, as we come into his light, there's a new day. This woman was given a new day, a new morning, a new life to go forward, and he told her what to do. I'm giving you this. Go and sin no more. When God opens our eyes and we repent and we're baptized, we come out of darkness and we see that light. When he tells us, I blout out all your sins. I forgive when you have truly repented. Go and sin no more. It's a new day.

It's a new life for us. It's a new beginning just as it was for her. And so Jesus Christ says, I am. I am the light of the world. We can keep your finger there, and John, let's turn back to Isaiah 9 for a moment. In Isaiah 9, of course, we have the well-known scriptures about Jesus Christ prophesying his birth and what his future would be as king of the earth. But in verse 2, in Isaiah 9, it says this, the people who walked in darkness. That was the world back then. That's the world today. That was you and I. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

That's you and me. That was the woman in John 8. A light shone on her. A light has shone on us.

And as the people who were gathered there today heard Jesus Christ say, I am the light of the world. They knew exactly what he was saying. They knew exactly that he was declaring himself to be the I AM and one of the features of who he is and what we have to be so grateful to him that we have eyes that now can see. That we live in light and not the darkness that confuses and doesn't show us anywhere we're going or where the hope is. But we know the light. Back in Revelation 22 in verse 16, one of the last verses of the Bible we have here.

Jesus Christ in his words again in Revelation 22 verse 16 says, I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David. I am the bright and morning star. Jesus Christ is our direction. Jesus Christ gives us the new day. Jesus Christ is the light. He's the resurrection. He's the life. He's the light of the world.

Well, let's go back to John. This time John 9.

John 9. And again we see a miracle that was unheard of at this time. John 9 verse 1.

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.

You're blind from birth. You were that way all of your life. There was no cure for that. He saw a man who was blind from birth. And the disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents? That he was born blind. Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. Remember what the works of God do? The works of God testify. They're a witness to who this man is. He has spent his life blind that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, he says, I am the light of the world.

When he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with a saliva, and he nointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And he said to him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated sent. So he went and washed and came back, singing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously seen that he was blind said, Isn't this he who sat? Isn't this he who sat and begged? Some said, Yeah, that's him. Others said, Well, he's like him. He answered, It's me. I am the one who was sitting there begging. I am the one who was blind from birth. Therefore they said to him, How were your eyes opened? He answered and said, A man called Jesus, made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So I did it, and I received sight. And then, of course, they wanted to know, Well, where is this man? Where is he? Well, there's a whole controversy that occurs again with the Pharisees. They get involved. And here's something that simply can't be done except by God. Some believed, Where is this man who can do these things? That the works testify of him. Others, all they wanted to do was discredit it. This was some kind of a gimmick, some kind of a hoax. You weren't really blind from birth. They call his parents in. They call him in. They do all sorts of things to try to discredit what actually happened there because they didn't want to believe. They didn't want to believe what was clear in their eyes. As we move down through chapter 9 and we come to verse 37, Jesus said to the young man, Well, let's pick it up in verse 35. Jesus heard that they had cast this young man out. And when he had found him, he said to him, Do you believe in the Son of God? Look what I've done to you. I know they've said many things about me. They've tried to discredit me. But do you believe, in the true sense of the word, believe? Do you believe in the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus has said to him, You have both seen him, and it is he who is talking with you. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Pharisees didn't, right? He talks about people being made blind. In verse 40, it says, Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words, and they said to him, Are we blind also? Well, they weren't seeing what was clear before their face. And Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, We see. Therefore your sin remains.

And then he continues talking. Most assuredly I say to you, He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. The people gathered at the end of the day, they were the ones watching over the flock of God. They were the ones watching over the people, the Jews that believed. But Christ is going to say something about that.

He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

And we've talked in the past, but we need to refresh our minds. Sheep are very docile animals.

Sheep are smart animals. When they have a leader and they have a shepherd, they will follow him.

They learn to trust him, they learn his habits, and they will follow him where he goes. And they know when the shepherd comes in, when they're encased in their little fence, for the night the shepherd always comes in by the door. So Christ is saying, you know the sheep. Anyone who doesn't come in by the door, they're not going to pay attention to him. They know who they trust. They sense who it is that has their best interest at heart. The shepherd, he who enters by the door, 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. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. They trust him. They're not going to trust the voice of a stranger, Christ says. They know the voice. They may have known the physical voice by what the physical shepherd had done for them. Of course, he's speaking in a spiritual sense here as well. They know the truth. They know who's leading them by the still waters and by the green pasture.

They know that this shepherd is going to do them right. Jesus used this illustration, but they didn't understand the things which he spoke to them. And he said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the door of the sheep.

It's by me the sheep enter. It's by me that the gate is opened. It's by me that they...

It's by me the only way into the flock. I am the door of the sheep. The sheep can only enter by the door. They're not going to jump fences. They're not going to do those things. They enter by the door. I am the door of the sheep.

We can pause a moment and think what Jesus Christ is saying. There's only one day way into that sheepfold. There's only one door we have to enter in through him. No other way. You can't jump the fence and get into the sheepfold because the sheep know this is not someone that belongs to our flock. It irritates them. It agitates them. They know something's not right. They owe you enter by the door. And so Jesus Christ would say in John 644, no one can come to me except the Father. Unless the Father who sent me, draw him. We enter into life. We enter into the resurrection. We enter into light through the door.

And there's only one door. And that is Jesus Christ. Only one door. Only one way to belief.

Only one way to everything that Jesus Christ came and lived and died for and continues to do for us. He's the only way. Acts 4, 12 tells us there is salvation by no other way than by Jesus Christ. Only one name. Only one door. Not a bunch of different religions. Not a bunch of different ways. One way. One door.

And that door is Jesus Christ.

And there can be some sheep that may be in the flock that, you know, are there, part of it.

When you look at door and where it pertains to Jesus Christ and the Scriptures, well, let's turn to Matthew 25. Matthew 25.

As the bridegroom is gathering his flock in Matthew 25, he compares it to ten virgins. Five were wise and had oil in their lamps. They were sleeping, but at least they had some oil in their lamps. They hadn't fallen completely asleep. The other five had. There was nothing left. They kind of knew the truth. They kind of did things, but they didn't really do what Jesus Christ said, and they didn't embrace what he had done. And as you see, when the bridegroom comes, it says in verse 6, At midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him. All those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for your lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go, go to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. The door was shut. You can only enter through the door.

And there's a time that the door will be shut if we're not ready, if we're not following that shepherd, as we'll see in a minute, that good shepherd that we go on in chapter 10 to see, if we don't recognize his voice, if we're not paying attention, if we're not following the admonition to the woman in John 8, Go and sin no more. If we're not following the admonition to believe, do you believe the words he says, do you believe what it is that he has set for us?

He is the door. He's the resurrection. He's the life. He's the light.

And the light is through that one door. Now, let's continue in John. In John 10.

John 10, we had read down to verse 9, but let's look at verse 11 because we see another I am statement. I am, verse 11 of John 10, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Now we know that in the Bible there are men, several men in the Old Testament, who had their training as shepherds. David is among them. Moses is among them. We read of David. He would be out. He would be out with the sheep. He would fend off lions. He would fend off all the wild animals that would come. He was willing to put himself for those sheep. Just little physical animals at that time, but he was willing to do that. And with faith in God, he was able to kill those lions and protect those sheep. He was a good shepherd. He learned his trade well. Moses is the same for 40 years. He was a shepherd. He learned his trade well. He learned, and he loved those sheep. David loved those sheep. There's no way you would give your life for those animals unless you loved them. And they also felt their responsibility, their responsibility of bringing them and protecting them for their master. So in verse 12, you know, we contrast Jesus Christ the good shepherd. Of course, we see the analogy. He was willing to give his life for his flock, for his sheep. But a higher link, verse 12, he who is not the shepherd, one who doesn't own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and he leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The higher link flees because he's a higher link, and he doesn't care about the sheep. He's doing it just for a living. He's only doing it to get by. He doesn't really have his heart in this. Jesus Christ did. David did. Moses did. Good shepherds do. Verse 14, he repeats it. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known by my own. I know them. They know me. They know my voice. They know to follow me. They know to come in through that door, and only one door. I am the good shepherd. You know, let's turn back to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is a beautiful psalm. Probably most of you even know it by heart. It talks about the good shepherd. The good shepherd. You know, who is Jesus? Who is Jesus Christ? I am the good shepherd. Psalm 23, verse 1. The eternal. The eternal is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He's going to make sure I have what I need. He makes me to be lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He gives me light. He's the bright morning star. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness because that's the only way to the promises that Christ has made us. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

In times when we don't know what's going to happen, we might even compare it to a time that we are in now. You know, who knows where this is going. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Christ is there with us. He's the good shepherd. He knows everything we're going through. He knows who we are, what we are, what our weaknesses are, what our strengths are. He's committed to us. He died for us. And He's committed. He's committed to be with us until the time, until the time that we are together with Him at the end of this age. If we continue to believe, if we continue to do the things that He says, if we continue to allow Him to lead us in the paths of righteousness. He's the good shepherd. He's the good shepherd. In Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel 34, he contrasts the good shepherds of this world with the bad shepherds of this world. And unfortunately, in Israel and in Judah's time in the Old Testament, they had some bad shepherds. They weren't that interested in the flock. They were interested in doing their own things. They weren't leading them by the still waters, by the green grass that gave good pasture. They weren't leading them in the righteousness. They weren't paying attention to that these people were God's people. They were paying attention to what they wanted to do.

In chapter 34, verse 1, it says, The Word of the Eternal came to me, saying, Son, a 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. Shouldn't the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings and 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, and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. You didn't do your job right, shepherds. My sheep are lost because of you, because you didn't do the job I gave you to do. You didn't follow the examples of your good shepherd and of the examples in the Bible.

Your heart wasn't in it. You were simply there for some other reason.

Any cautions? It's a caution to all of us.

Know the good shepherd. Know the good shepherd and pay attention to the shepherds. If we drop down to verse 11, Christ says, you know what? I'm still the good shepherd. You have led them astray. Some of them have been lost. Some of them have been killed by the wild beasts of the field. But in verse 11, what says, for thus says the Lord God, Indeed, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As the shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. Oh, and he finds them. Light will dawn again. Light will shine on them, and I will bring them out from the peoples. I will gather them from their countries, and I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture. Their diet will be what it should be. Not the diet of the world, but the diet of absolute truth. I will feed them the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, I might say. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture. On the mountains of Israel, I will feed my flock, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. It's what He does to us today. We find comfort, we find rest in Him. In times of trouble, we can go to Him, and no matter what the situation is, He's our good shepherd. He protects. He looks out for us. We know His voice. He knows His sheep. He's the door, and the light, and the resurrection, and the life. Well, let's go back to John. John. This time we'll look at John 14. Here are some words we'll be reading on Passover evening. Christ's words, after He instituted the New Testament Passover, and He took His disciples out and began talking to them. He knew what was about to happen to Him. They didn't fully understand it yet, but He is giving them words that they would be reminded of later, words that we have for us as well. In chapter 14 and verse 1, He says, Let not your heart be troubled. Well, He's talking to them about He's going to go away. Something's going on here. So His disciples who have believed in Him, His disciples who are there and see Him. They see the light. They've come to enjoy and want Him around all the time. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it weren't so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.

I'm going. I'm going. He had told them in chapter 13, but don't be troubled. I'm preparing a place for you. We will continue to be together. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas said, Lord, we don't know where you're going. And how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I am the way. You've been walking with me for these years. You know the way. You know truth.

I've shown you truth.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. You've seen the miracle. You've heard me say, I am the resurrection and life. My works, the works which God did through me, testified who I am. You know the way. You know the truth. You know where life lies. And yet, they were troubled. They didn't want to be left alone, understandably so. So he goes on in chapter 14, and in verse 18, he assures them, I won't leave you orphans. Yes, I'm going away, but I won't leave you.

You know, in Hebrews, he tells us, Jesus Christ will never leave or forsake us. He's always there.

They didn't understand that. We understand that today. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you a little while longer, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live, you will live also. He goes up. Let's go back up to verse 15.

Kind of lets him know what the way is. If you love me, if I really meant something to you, if you've been following me, if you love me, keep my commandments. Do what I say to do.

Do them carefully. Do them diligently. Pay attention to them. If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that that Helper may abide with you forever. I'm not going to leave you. I may not be here physically with you walking every day, but there is the Helper coming that God the Father will give you. The Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive because it neither sees the Spirit nor knows it, but you know it, for it dwells with you and will be in you. The Spirit of truth. I am the way. You know the way. The Spirit. I've taught you truth. The Spirit that has been with you, that will be in you. It will lead you into all truth. And you know where life is. And you know where the door is.

That's the way. That's the way to it. Let's drop down to verse 23. Jesus answered, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. I'll be right here with you, just not in the same way as now. He who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. Takes them for granted. Compromises with him. Does him halfway. Thinks it's not that important. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. These things I've spoken to you while being present with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit which the Father will send in my name, it will teach you all things, and it will bring to your remembrance all things I said to you.

It will remind you. It will lead you. It will guide you. It will be with you day and night. I won't leave you alone. You know the way. You know the truth. You know where life is.

And he says in verse 27, peace I leave with you. My peace I give you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Don't let your heart be troubled. Don't worry about it. It's under control. Your good shepherd will still be there with you. The resurrection of the life will still be there. The light will still be shining. The door is still open. It's only that only door that's there.

Just remember the way, the truth, and the life. And remember, as he says in chapter 17 verse 17, God, separate my sheep by truth. Your word is truth. You and I today, we know the way.

We know the truth. We know where life is. We know where resurrection and life is.

We know where the door is. And we know we have to believe. We have to believe, and we have to do what Christ said. And we have to appreciate what Christ did, what He is, who He is, and glorify Him. We can glorify Him through the things that we do, the way we live our lives, the way we commit to Him. Okay, let's look at chapter 15. As he goes on and he speaks to his disciples, he gives them an analogy beginning in chapter 15. He says, I am the true vine. There it is. I am the true vine. Now, the people back in that day would be very familiar with grapevines and vines and how they work. We may not be so familiar with them, but in the vine was life. In the vine was nourishment. In the vine was the way the branches would continue to thrive and be there year after year after year. In the vine was what they needed, those branches, in order to bear the fruit and become a profitable tree or branch for the vine dresser. And so Christ starts it off and says, I am. And they knew what He meant. We said, I am. Think about it. But they knew what the grapevines were. I am the true vine. And my father is the vine dresser. He's the one who's maintaining. He's pruning, as we'll see here in a minute, that vine. I'm the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me, all those branches that come off of the vine, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Things will come. It can be kind of painful to go through a pruning sometimes. But it happens. It happens sometimes that we bear more fruit. We go through a trial. We go through a situation like we've been going through the last few weeks in this country. Maybe it's a little pruning. Maybe we bear more fruit. Maybe we think more clearly about what we're doing and analyze what we're doing and seeing that it's what God wants us to do. That we are following the way, the truth, the life, in the spirit that He would have us do. Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit.

You're already clean, He says, because of the word which I've spoken to you.

Abide in me. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. You simply can't bear the fruit unless you abide in me. I'm with you all the time, the Holy Spirit that He gives us. If anyone doesn't abide in me, He's cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, they live in us as we eat the unleavened bread, that His words live in us, that we're ingesting, digesting, and it becomes part of us. Certainly through the days of unleavened bread, we should think of that, but every day of our lives. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it'll be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. When you bear much fruit, I know you're getting it. If you're doing the things, if we're appreciating Jesus Christ, if we're believing in Jesus Christ, if we're worshiping Him, if we're counting on Him, if we're doing His will, if we're in the way, truth, and life, walking through the door, letting the Good Shepherd lead us day by day, we'll bear fruit. We'll bear fruit. We'll bear fruit. That's how God knows. But you know, as important as it is, as important it is for the branches to stay attached to the One who is the vine, Jesus Christ the vine, that we must stay attached. Life is only in the occasion that we stay attached to that vine. He is life. It's the only way to life. As important as it is, you know, God says something about those branches that don't abide. You know, back in Exodus, we can turn back to Exodus for a few for a moment here. Exodus 12, Mr. Permar was here a little earlier, but if we bring it down to the physical level of unleavened bread here, that the Israel laid ahead, God uses words to fit right in to John 15 and being attached to the vine. In Exodus 12, verse 15, it says, seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall remove leaven from your homes. That doesn't mean the first day on the 15th of Abib. It means before the fifth day. To them, it was the 14th, the day after the night of the Passover. For whoever eats unleavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. You know, if a vine, if a branch is unfruitful on a vine, if you've got those, you may just go out and you may cut it off.

God may cut off branches, right? If they don't bear fruit, He may cut off branches.

We can cut ourselves off if we simply don't do what God says. If we disregard and think that's not that important, whoever eats leavened bread from the first until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. Verse 19, seven days no leaven shall be found in your home, in your houses. Since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off.

That branch will be cut off. They're doing it to themselves.

And once you're cut off, there's no life. There's no light.

You can mark down Romans 11.22. There's the talkings about the vines that are crafted in to the vine of the Gentiles that God calls. They can be cut off just like Israel found themselves cut off. We don't want to be cut off by God, and we don't want to cut ourselves off. If we're cut off, we die. If we stay attached, diligently attached, we live.

Okay, let's go back to John 6 this time.

John 6. Pick it up in verse 25 as you're turning there. Before this chapter, we had the occasion where Jesus Christ miraculously fed 5,000 people who were gathered together with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. And all the people that were gathered there that day, they knew that was an absolute miracle. How do you feed 5,000 people anyway? But how do you feed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish? Or maybe I have that backwards, but they knew what happened. Look what this man did. And so they come back. They come back to him. They find him the next day. They want to find this man through this work. They could see it wasn't of him. Chapter 6 of John, verse 25. And when they found Christ on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? And Christ answered to them and said, Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate to the loaves and were filled. Don't labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. Then they said to him, Well, what will we do that we may work the works of God? And Christ answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe, that you believe in him whom he sent. Therefore they said to him, What sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you? Well, he had just fed five thousand of them. Show us another sign. What work will you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Christ answered and said, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses didn't give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Sounds good to them. They said, Give us this bread always. And Christ said, I am, I am the bread of life. I am that bread. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. I am the bread of life. If you eat of this bread, you will always live. You will never hunger. You will never thirst. But you have to eat of it. You have to eat of it. He goes on, and you can read through the verses yourself in verse 48. He says the same things. I am the bread of life. He is the bread of life.

As we go into the days of unleavened bread, and we eat that physical bread, that unleavened bread, don't forget that what we're picturing and that what needs to be built into our minds and hearts is that we are eating that bread of life and should be eating of that bread of life every day of our life. Every day of our life. Yes, we do the physical. Don't discount that Jesus Christ is the bread of life. You must eat of the unleavened bread. You must look to him. You must glorify him in the things that you do and the things that we say, the things that we think, the way we act, the way we react, that he is preeminent in our lives, and we are following him. We have to know, and we be so grateful, and the way we show our gratitude is by following him, yielding ourselves to him, and doing what he says. Thankful to him that in him is the resurrection in life. Thankful to him that in him is the way, the truth, and the life, and he shows us how to do there, how to go there day by day, week by week, more and more as we read the Bible, and as we work with each other, and as we're there. Very thankful to him that he made us part of his flock. Very thankful that we know the door, the only door, and the only way into it. Very thankful that we're attached to the vine, and that he's with us, and he will never leave us, and that we know how to keep ourselves attached to the vine if we will just do the things that he says. And follow his words. He is the Good Shepherd. He is a Good Shepherd. He wants to see us all in his kingdom. He wants to bring us all to that time, and all of us to be there when he returns to gather his sheep to himself and give the eternal life at that time to those who follow him, hear his voice, and do what he says. As we keep the Passover, as we keep the days of Unleavened Bread, hold Jesus Christ in the highest of esteem. Pay attention to what he did, and as we gather together before him, let us believe and let us glorify him.