context for John 10: Jesus heals a man born blind, the man believes and worships, the Pharisees grow more unbelieving
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.
4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
8 The neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?”
9 Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.” He said, “I am he.”
10 They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they asked him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.”
13 They brought him who had been blind to the Pharisees.
14 It was a Sabbath when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and I see.”
16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was division among them.
17 Therefore they asked the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight,
19 and asked them, “Is this your son, whom you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered them, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;
21 but how he now sees, we don’t know; or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. He is of age. Ask him. He will speak for himself.”
22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
24 So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 He therefore answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. One thing I do know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 They said to him again, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 He answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t also want to become his disciples, do you?”
28 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
30 The man answered them, “How amazing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.
31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.
32 Since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind.
33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
34 They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” They threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He answered, “Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you.”
38 He said, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”
40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
the main text of the sermon, the good shepherd passage, read in full from the New Living Translation
1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
6 Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.
13 The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.”
19 Therefore a division arose again among the Jews because of these words.
20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. It isn’t possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Carl preached from John 10:1-21, using the image of Jesus as the good shepherd to show what Jesus is doing, why he is doing it, and how he is able to do it. The surrounding context of John 9, where a man born blind is healed and responds with belief and worship, runs through the whole message. The two chapters together press toward a single question: do you hear his voice, and do you believe him?
What was said
Carl opened by setting John 9 as the backdrop. Jesus heals a man who was blind from birth, and the miracle produces two opposite responses. The healed man believes and worships. The Pharisees, who were certain they could already see, grow more hardened. Jesus closes chapter 9 by telling them that their guilt remains precisely because they insist they can see. That division sets up everything in chapter 10.
In verses 1-6, Jesus describes a sheepfold. Thieves and robbers go over the wall. The real shepherd walks through the gate, and the sheep come to him because they know his voice. He calls them by name, leads them out, and walks ahead of them. Carl drew the line forward to the present, noting that Jesus is still doing exactly this, calling out to anyone who would hear.
Verses 7-10 shift the image slightly. Jesus is now both the shepherd and the gate. As the gate, he saves, protects, and lets the sheep come and go freely. Carl connected this passage directly to Psalm 23, and mentioned that the psalm had been a personal anchor for him that week as his family sent a child off to college and he found himself waking in the night with anxiety, returning again and again to "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Verse 10 is where Carl asked the congregation to stop and mark the page. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus says his own purpose is to give a rich and satisfying life, or in other translations, life abundantly. Carl was careful to say this does not mean the sheep never get into trouble. He read from a recent BBC article about a man who climbed down jagged rocks to rescue a waterlogged ewe clinging to a cliff, and said it was a near-perfect picture of what Jesus does in this chapter.
Verses 11-18 answer the question of how any of this is actually possible. Jesus lays down his life voluntarily and then takes it up again. Carl pressed on the word authority: Jesus does not just die for the sheep, he has the delegated power to pick his life back up. A shepherd who simply dies leaves the sheep helpless. A shepherd who has authority over death continues to lead the flock. Carl pointed to John 11, where Jesus raises Lazarus, and to John 20, where Jesus himself rises, as the evidence the text is building toward.
The final verses note that the crowd was divided. Some said Jesus was demon-possessed. Others said a demon cannot open the eyes of the blind. Carl named that division as the same one that runs through every reading of this passage. He came back to the healed man's words in chapter 9, "Lord, I believe," and his act of worship, and said that is exactly where John 10 is meant to take us. Belief, when it lands, moves outward into worship in every part of life, not only in singing.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Carl walked through John 10 alongside John 9, pointing out that the blind man's healed sight led him to say 'Lord, I believe' and worship Jesus, while the Pharisees saw the same miracle and grew more hardened. What do you think makes the difference between a miracle or answered prayer drawing someone closer to Jesus versus pushing them further away?
Pastor Carl described Jesus as both the shepherd and the gate, saying the sheep 'come and go freely' and are not prisoners. How do you personally experience that tension between the freedom Jesus gives and the trouble that freedom can sometimes lead us into?
is good to see you. Yes. Should we stand together and and worship? Here's an encouraging word from, Lamentations to lead us in worship. It's, yes, you came when I called.
Lord, you told me, do not fear. Let's start by singing evidence. I've seen the evidence of your goodness all over my life, and we all have. Let's sing of it. All throughout my
history all throughout my history your faithfulness walk beside I see your promises in fulfillment over my life, all over my life. Help me remember. Cross, the empty grave. See the cross, the empty grave. Yeah.
That in season, all my sin rolled away because of you, oh Jesus. See the cross, the empty grave, hell, that ends his endness. All my sin because of you, oh life. So why should I fear? So why should I fear?
Amen. You can have a a seat here for a moment, and, Nick is gonna share a few announcements with us.
Okay. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to First Baptist Church. We always have lots going on. It's always posted on the website too.
I don't have the oh, there's the clicker. Here we go. So we're gonna in lieu of doing Monday nights through August, we're up at The Hootenanny playing some music. If you wanna play, come on up, sign up early. It starts at 05:30.
Oh, shoot. It's the Hoot reboot. We just wanna encourage everybody to come and mix and mingle and meet a neighbor, meet a new friend, and share the love of Jesus with him while playing some cool music. I might try to play tomorrow. Let's just see how scared I am.
Don't laugh. I play guitar. That's okay. Awana clubs, we're starting up our Awana kids program. Again, September 11 is the volunteer meeting.
If you're even a little bit interested in working with kids, we can really use your help this year. It's a very vibrant ministry that helps a lot of kids, connects people with the parents and stuff too. Come the eleventh, find out. If you like to do your homework a little bit early, we have an online video we can watch too in addition to starting that. And then September 19 is our first event, so come on by for that.
The first Bee BBQ is August 27 out here on the lawn as long as it's not raining like today. Old Bills giving season is open. If you haven't been here before, we give to the community foundation, and, it gets amplified through donations. And there's a big run day. It's a big event.
We're gonna have a a tent. Speaking of which, if anybody wants to help out with that, we could use help with that as well. And those funds that we use go to help people through our benevolence fund. And almost every day, have somebody coming in here asking for their vehicle to get repaired or emergency housing or anything. And we get to say yes because you all give to old bills through that.
If you have any questions, let me know about them.
What's the actual
The actual run run day is September 9. That's a good question. So September 9 is when that kicks off. If you are school shopping, if you'd pick up a few extra things and keep it at your house for Operation Christmas Child, things are a little bit cheaper right now. And in November, we'll pack those boxes, and you can bring those things in.
Just a reminder, no liquids. Okay? So no paints, no glues, anything like that, but pencils, crayons, those kinds of things, they're great, and they're cheap right now. So now's a good time. The women's fellowship is coming back in, for the fall study, the book of Daniel, Thursday nights from six to 8PM starting August 31.
It's a great time. They there's usually some kind of food over there too and a great way to connect. So if you're looking for a way to get connected, ladies, come to that, please. That'd be excellent. And there's another women's community Bible study happening here Wednesdays, 10AM to twelve, September 6 through October 25, and that's gonna be right here in this room and taking over the whole building.
Another great place to invite people, especially nonbelievers, to come and get connected. And the look up tour too for Will Graham. Will Graham is gonna be over in Idaho Falls in September, September twenty third and twenty fourth. This is an amazing opportunity to reach people, to invite your friends. Please be praying for somebody you can take over there to invite them with you.
Take them out to dinner. There's a clear gospel message with some great music. Crowder's gonna be there. And in the seat pockets, there's a little reminder card. Would you take that home?
Put it on your fridge. Put it in your Bible to to remind you to pray for somebody to take to that. And would you take it? It's not for us. It's not a fun concert just for Christians only.
It's a fun place where you can take somebody who's needs to hear about Jesus and take them and share that with them. It's a great open door opportunity. And be praying for them too. They're really good people doing really good work, and I'd love to be able to support them as much as possible. Connect hour between services after this service, before the 11:00 service.
We have food down the hall. We're always looking for volunteers. Today, we didn't have one, so it fell on me as one of the church workers. And we like to be able to, if we can, get some helpers that we can be able to to share the load a little bit too. That'd be really, really helpful.
And for the church emails too, each week we send out an email blast. I try to send only one if possible, and you can sign up through our website to get that. We don't have a paper bulletin anymore, but that's a great way to find out what's going on. And I believe the next slide is a video. So these are, the Quintero family.
They're, missionaries who used to go to this church, and now they're over in Spain. And they like to share a little bit about, what's going on in Spain with you guys too.
So a little bit international. We have been married for five years. Also, we got married in in in Wyoming, in first b with pastor Ray and and and the church. And and our son, Elijah, has two years and a half.
So as we said previously, we are in Bembibre in the North Of Spain, and the work here is pretty slow. And Spain is sadly known for a country where many missionaries just give up because it's very difficult to share the gospel here in Spain. So we are mainly showing God's love through relationships with people here in Bembibre. It it takes time. Definitely, it takes time because Catholicism is very strong and people are very influenced by it.
And there is no Christian church. So it seems like we are living in an unreached, town. So the challenge is very huge. We would like to start Bible studies in homes. A church building is not an attractive idea.
It's not a good idea here. So, people would rather spend time in a coffee shop, at people's houses. So this is the way we have been doing it, sharing God's love with our neighbors, people we met at the shops and coworkers. So the struggle here is mainly, rejection, opposition, which makes the atmosphere very heavy, And sometimes we feel discouraged. And the other issue is the paperwork.
Paperwork is a big deal here, the school driving license and the lack of jobs. So people are leaving the town and going to other towns where they can find more jobs opportunities.
Well, please keep praying for us. Keep praying for this place for Benvibre. And, also, as my my wife told, we are studying the driver school. So please pray for we can pass the the the test, and we can get the driver license. And in the future, we can get a car to to our necessities here and for the ministry too.
Also, be praying for we are the only people here Christian. Christian people here because there is not Christian church, so we really love this. Then in the future, we can make team with more Christian, more believers, and work together for the kingdom of God. So pray for that too. That would be great and God will.
And, like always, we are asking for wisdom and discern to keep going, make decisions, and God will to keep going in this ministry. So discern and wisdom is something that we're gonna need always. So be praying for that, please. And we want to say thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much, church. For us, your spiritual and financial support is a big a big help for our family. So one more time, thank you. Thank you very much for your support, for your prayers, for being in touch with us, for the, communication.
It's really important for us. And be praying for this town too. I mean, we are here with the purpose. So, yeah, be praying for that. And, well, I think it's it's all for us.
We just want to say hi and talk to you a little bit about what we're doing here. So, church, we love you, and we miss you. And thank you one more time for everything you are doing for us.
Thank you. Blessings.
Could we pray for them while we're thinking of them? Lord, we thank you for the sweet Quintero family, and we ask God your blessing on them. As they are in a a dark spot, they are a bright, bright light. And I would pray, Lord, that you would encourage them and strengthen them, that there would be, Lord, a connection with other Christians in their town, and that your light would shine bright, bright, bright in that place that people could come to know you through them. Lord, would you bless them, encourage them, strengthen them, protect them.
In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand? We'll sing together and continue worship. I know we sing the words, you know, fast sometimes, but aren't those words so good? Just the first line of each of each verse.
Oh, love that will not let me go. Oh, light that followest all my way. Oh, joy that seeks me through pain. Cross. The cross that lifts up our head.
So good. Thank you, Lord.
I love you, Lord. And for your mercy never fails me. All my days, I've been held in your hands. From the moment that I've Your goodness is running after running after me in all my life. And all my life, you have faithful.
And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I'm able,
God, we have sung it, but let let us just say it and proclaim it that really you have been good our whole lives. God, thank you for your faithfulness. I always think of the verse that even when we are faithless, you remain faithful because that's you who you are, and you cannot disown yourself. So, Lord, allow this time that we have in worship that we might look back to see how you have been faithful, to look at the evidence of your goodness, to see how you are the good shepherd leading us. In Jesus' name.
Amen.
I'll be with you and my soul sings out as your word throws out away. I worship you and my heart cries glory is in you, lord, all the day long. I won't be shaken by a drowful stone. A peace that passes understanding is my song. Hope is in you alone, and I will wait on you.
I will wait on you. You are
Amen. You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward and ask Gary to to pray for us. But before before we do, I'd like to sing the song He Is. While we're passing the plates here, it's the Jesus says, he is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Gary, can I ask you to to pray?
And find peace. If you're on down empty and dear, come to Jesus You want freedom, need forgiveness. Just come to Jesus and find his grace. Mending the broken, bearing the burdens, all that you're needing he is and all that you need he is.
Amen. Children, you are invited to go downstairs for children church. I've got a little video here I wanna show you. But I think about that video so often stuck and unstuck and stuck again. Can anyone relate?
Really?
And this is why I love chap John chapter 10 so much because it reminds us that Jesus is our good shepherd. We have been singing about it, but I want to tell of it through the scripture because it reminds us that Jesus is our good shepherd who calls us by name. He gathers us to himself. He leads us along, and he rescues us from trouble. It is so comforting and so full of assurance.
I really do pray that you would that you would walk out of this building encouraged from from what you've heard in John chapter 10. And if you have doubts, if there's any doubts about who Jesus is and and and what he does, really, this is the scripture to go to over and over again. So let me just share how I'd like to approach these 21 verses. So chapters nine and ten really go together. So I'm gonna refer to chapter nine quite a bit because it's the context for chapter 10.
And then I'd like to break down those 21 verses in chapter 10 into four parts. So first, in verses one through six, Jesus is calling a flock. He's calling his sheep by name. He's doing that he was doing that then. He is doing that today.
Make no mistake about it. And then in verse 10, he's explaining why he's gathering this flock, and that is to give them, to give us a rich and satisfying life. That's one to bold, highlight, and underline. Then verses 11 through 18, he's explaining how he's gathering and giving life to this flock, and that is by laying down his life and then taking it up again. And then verses 19 through 21, there's a response.
It says, the people were divided in their opinions about him. So my hope, my hope, as we listen to Jesus and hear his voice is a simple verse in John chapter nine. A man who was healed by Jesus, he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Jesus. Really, it comes down to that.
It does come down to that belief or unbelief. And when we believe, it leads us to worship in all aspects of life, not just singing, like, a life of worship. So to summarize this even more, this is the tell them and then tell them what you told them and then tell them what you told them again method. To summarize it even even more. In in my own words, it's Jesus is gathering the flock to give us a rich and satisfying life by sacrificing his own life and taking it up again so that we might believe, follow, and worship him.
Alright? So I'm gonna start by reading these 21 verses all the way through, and I'm reading from the New Living Translation. And the words will be on the screen here if you'd like to follow along there. So let me just read it. The good shepherd and sheep.
Jesus says, I tell you the truth. Anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber. But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice. And they come to him.
He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. After he's gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won't follow a stranger. They'll run from him because they don't know his voice. Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn't understand what he meant, and so he explained it to them.
I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who come before me were thieves and robbers, but the true sheep didn't listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely, and they'll find good pastures.
The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming.
It will abandon the sheep. They don't belong to him, and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away as he was working only for the money. He doesn't care about the sheep.
Jesus says, I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as my father knows me and I know the father, so I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep too. They're not in the sheepfold.
I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there'll be one flock with one shepherd. Father loves me because I sacrificed my life so I might take it back up again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily, for I have the authority to lay it down when I want to, and then also take it up again.
For this is what my father has commanded. And when he said these things, the people again were divided in their opinions about him. Some said, he's demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that? But others said, this doesn't sound like a man possessed by a demon.
Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? So I'm gonna stop there and let's pray first. Ask God's blessing on on the word here and our ability to take it in and to hear and to receive. Lord, your voice is calling out to us today just as it did then. You are gathering your flock.
You are leading us to abundance and life and life to the full measure. You are showing the full extent of your love by laying down your life and picking it up again so that we might have life. Lord, if there be any skepticism, any doubt of your goodness, I pray that your word would bolster our confidence in you. I pray that your spirit would stir us to believe and worship. In Jesus' name, amen.
Isn't John so good? It is so, so good. Again, chapter nine is the context for chapter 10. In chapter nine, Jesus and his disciples encounter a man that was blind since birth. And so the disciples ask him, well, why Jesus?
Why was why was he born this way? Was was it his sins? Was it his parents' sins? What's what's happening here? And Jesus says, no.
This happened so that the power of God could be seen in him. And then he restores this man's sight. And there's always a response to Jesus' miracles. For the man who had healed, it was belief and worship. He says, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped Jesus.
I believe that's the apex of the scripture right here. It's when we believe, it leads to worship. There's belief and there's unbelief. And Jesus really doesn't offer anything in between for us to be. It's we we believe in him, and it leads to worship, or we do not.
But this man who was healed, he got it, he understood the miracle, validated the message, his vision became clearer and clearer in every sense of the word. It wasn't just his sight, it was his spiritual sight. But for the pharisees, the miracle only made them more angry and jealous and unbelieving saying, well, Jesus couldn't be from God. He's working on the Sabbath. He's not doing things our way.
But they missed it. They thought that they could see. They thought they could see, but really their vision of God and the person and the work of Jesus, it became dimmer and dimmer. So chapter nine ends with Jesus saying to the Pharisees, if you're blind, you wouldn't be guilty, but you remain guilty because you claim you can see. You think you can see.
So that's the context for the illustration of the sheepfold in John chapter 10, and Jesus is giving yet another opportunity here. I mean, one after the other after the other to truly see, to believe, to worship, and this time with a parable. So let's take a look at it again, verses one through six. Jesus is gathering a flock. The in the illustration here, there's a sheepfold, and there's sheep, and a shepherd, and thieves, and robbers, and a stranger, and a gatekeeper.
There's a big cast of characters. The thieves and the robbers are sneaking over the wall. They're not even going in by the gate. But the one who goes through the gate, he's the shepherd of the sheep, and the sheep recognize his voice. And because they know his voice, they come to him because he calls each of them by name.
He knows the sheep. The sheep know him, and then he leads them, and they follow him. He goes ahead of them because they recognize his voice, and they're not gonna follow a stranger because they don't recognize the stranger's voice. It's a word picture about Jesus. Jesus is a shepherd.
He's gathering the flock. He's calling them by name. Beginning with his own people, he's calling the disciples, he's calling the blind men, he's calling anyone who would hear his voice. Every tribe, nation, and tongue. Real life application.
Jesus is doing that today. Jesus is doing that right now. I love that right now Ray is in Shiloh, Georgia, a little town in Shiloh, Georgia preaching in John chapter nine. He did a wedding yesterday, now he's preaching in a small church. And I think about church worldwide where this is happening and Jesus' voice is calling out.
When you hear the words of Jesus, you're hearing the voice of God. Do you know that? He's calling. He's gathering. Anyone who would hear and listen to his voice and believe his message has eternal life.
John is the gospel of belief, to believe in the one that he sent. My prayer is that whether you've heard this your whole life, you go, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Carl, I've heard this, like, so many times, so many times.
My prayer is whether you've heard this your whole life or you're hearing this for the first time today, is that his voice would resonate in your heart. Either affirming the familiarity of his voice that you've known for years and years and years, Or it causes you to lift your head because you're just beginning to hear him speak to you. This is for all of us, friends. It really is. For those who've been walking this out for years and years, and for those who are going, who's the shepherd?
What is this? I've never heard this before. In verse six, it says, those who heard didn't understand what he meant. Sadly, the Pharisees didn't get it. They didn't understand that they were the thieves.
They were the robbers. They were the ones sneaking over the walls. They didn't understand because they had become spiritually blind. So in verses one through six, Jesus is gathering the flock, all who would hear his voice and follow after the good shepherd. Are you with me so far?
Then in verses seven through 10, Jesus explains why he's gathering this flock. In this illustration, he calls himself the gate. So he's the shepherd and he's the gate. As the shepherd, he's calling and he's leading the sheep. And as the gate, he's saving and protecting and providing for these sheep.
This illustration is so powerful. Look at verse nine here. Those who come in through me, they'll be saved, safe. They will come and go freely. They're not prisoners.
They come and go freely, and they find good pastures. There's life there. This is such a beautiful word picture. Jesus is calling the sheep by name. He's protecting the sheep.
He's literally functioning as the gate for the sheepfold, keeping out enemies. He's allowing the sheep to come and go freely. This sounds like a good, good life for the sheep. And it sounds so much like Psalm 23, doesn't it? That the Lord and my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside still waters, and he restores my soul. This week, this psalm has been so helpful to me. We sent one of our oldest kid off to college. I've been so weepy. It is so hard, and I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll feel this this crushing anxiety, and I'll just start to say, the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. There is no doubt about it. Jesus is the life giving shepherd. He's calling the sheep. He's protecting the sheep.
And look at this. Verse 10 explains why, and that is to give them a rich and satisfying life. Like, if there is any doubt if there is any doubt about God's desire for the flock, for first b, for the church, big church, bold highlight and underline this verse. Visit it again and again as much as you need to. His purpose is to give us a rich and satisfying life.
The sheep the shepherd is for his sheep. The thief's purpose? Steal, kill, and destroy. He does not care anything for the sheep. But as the gate for the sheep, as the shepherd for the sheep, Jesus' purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Other translations say have life and have it abundantly. Now it doesn't mean that we don't get stuck every once in a while. There was an article just this week in the BBC News. Did you did anybody see this one? It's man rescues sheep stranded by rising tide.
I'll just read the the part of the headline. Chris Oxlade made headlines across the world after scaling jagged rocks with a ewe slung over his back. The experienced climber spotted the animal at the bottom of a cliff while walking in Devo, England with his wife. Look at this. That's where the sheep was.
We inspected it a bit more and realized it was a sheep, which was quite far out, I'll say. The tide was coming in. It was clinging to a rock, Chris said. She was absolutely soaking wet looking at us if it's to say, help. And I thought, oh my goodness.
What a beautiful illustration of Jesus in John chapter 10. Doing whatever it takes to rescue his sheep. We can come and go freely, and sometimes we get ourselves into trouble because of that. But isn't freedom wonderful? It truly is and terrible all at the same time.
But we can come and go freely. And he's still leading and he's still walking on ahead of us. He still notices where we're at when we're in trouble. It's beautiful. He's there to rescue.
He's there to lead to green pastures and still waters. His voice is calling out. What he simply is asking us is to believe and to trust that he really is the good shepherd, that he really is for us. Circling back to chapter nine, after Jesus heals the blind man, Jesus finds this man again because the man didn't see Jesus right away. He only heard Jesus' voice, and he obeyed his instruction, go wash in the Pool Of Siloam, and then he does, and then he's healed.
He didn't get to see Jesus face to face right away. But Jesus finds him again, and he asks him, do you believe in the son of man? And the man responds by saying, who is he, sir? I want to believe him. Like I've heard his voice.
I obeyed his instructions. He healed me. It led to belief. It led to belief. Whereas the Pharisees, and here's our warning here, they see the miracle, but they deny the miracle worker.
So we understand what Jesus is doing. He's gathering the flock. We understand why he's doing this, to give us a rich and satisfying life. But how is it? K?
How is it that Jesus is gathering and giving life to this flock? What is it about Jesus that makes all of this true? And verse 18 explains, no one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to, and also to take it up again.
Keyword is authority there. It's the right, the privilege, the conferred power, the delegated empowerment. However you wanna say it, that's what Jesus has. That's how he can give us a rich and abundant life. Our shepherd didn't just laid down his life for us.
He had the authority to pick it up again. If the shepherd dies, the sheep are helpless. Right? They're helpless. But this shepherd has the authority to pick it up again and continue to be the shepherd for the sheep, to continue to be our twenty first century shepherd for today.
He's the resurrection and the life. He's the way and the truth and the life. The next chapter is proof when he raises Lazarus from the dead. Chapter 20 is 20 is the greatest proof when Jesus raises from the dead. Underline and mark this one well, that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures.
He was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. I can't wait for Iwana to share this verse right here with our kids because the earlier we hear this and just let it soak and saturate in it, we go, you know, it may not make all the sense in the world right now to them. But later as they grow, they'll go, oh, yeah. Because he lives, we also live. That's a short and profound verse right there.
That's how he can give us an abundant life. He is life. He is life. And that is why John wrote this gospel. So that we would believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
And that by believing in him, we have life by the power his name. So again, a summary, just in my my own words here from the text. Jesus is gathering the flock to give us a rich and satisfying life. He does this by sacrificing his own life and taking it up again so that we might believe and follow and worship him. That is where John 10 is taking us.
And it is as true today as it was then. The voice of Jesus is calling out to give life and life to the full measure. And just as Jesus asked the healed man in chapter nine, do you believe in the son of man? I believe that he is asking us right here and right now. Do you hear his voice?
Do you believe his message? He is not only willing, he is able to give us a rich and abundant life. That's the good news from John chapter 10. So I'm gonna invite our our band back up here. And while they're coming up, I wanna give us a moment to respond in prayer and in song.
Right? Because sometimes we we hear a message and then we we go right away. And and this I I I really I want to allow this a chance to to sink in some some more and just chew on it and and and ruminate on it. The the first, a rope prayer. As I read this this week, it seems so timely, and and I wanna make it our prayer for for our church.
May I do that? You can close your eyes if you'd like. It says this, may God himself, and I'm gonna add, may God, the good shepherd, recover and restore what the enemy has stolen. May he heal family rifts and renew tired relationships and revive weary faith. May he heal your hurts and sturdy your steps.
May he give you the kind of rest that you need so that you can regain perspective. May he give you wisdom and boundaries and humility and love. May he show you what's yours and give you the grace to release what is not. May you entrust your loved ones, your critics, and your future into God's capable sovereign hands. His plans for you are good.
May you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing and no one can separate you from God's love. Walk in humble, hopeful faith today. Amen. Also, I wanna close in two songs, and I hear you go, Carl, we only sing one song at the end. I'd I'd like to I'd like to close in two.
As we sing the the first one, let's be reminded that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is with us to guide and comfort. And then I'd like to sing another song called Always. This is a song about belief and worship. So we're taking what we have learned in scripture and we're going, alright, this is coming out my mouth now in song. Okay?
Would you stand, we'll sing together.
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leads me Besides still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness I will fear no evil. You are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You know my head with oil, of my cup overflowed. I will fear no evil, but you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
They comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for me. They comfort me. They comfort me.
They comfort me.
Thank you, good shepherd, for calling us by name, for leading us out, for going ahead of us. God, for your ability to save and rescue because of your life, and your death and your resurrection, for your power that's at work within us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for being our comforter, our sustainer. In Jesus' name, amen.
Believe every word that you say. I believe there's scars in your hands. That your goodness is good without it, and you'll never change. And I will
tell.
This is the belief in worship.
And I will tell them your wonders, sing on your graves. God of creation knows me by name. The Lord is faithful. You've always will be God. Let's sing that again.
You were, and you are. You've always will be God. Yes. You always will be God. And I will tell all your wonders, sing of your grace.
The God of creation knows me by name. The Lord is faithful yesterday now and always your mercy is mighty age
Amen. And for a closing benediction, I've got I've got one here from Romans fifteen thirteen. If I could use this one instead. It's may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, as you believe in him that leads to worship, so that you may overflow. That's the leading to worship with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
