John 10:1-10
In Jesus’ time and place thieves and robbers were everywhere…
- On roads and in hidden places…
- Waiting for victims (parable of the Good Samaritan…Luke 10…Jericho Road).
- And there were wild animals eager to get one’s sheep.
- And then there were the grifters…
- Those who pretended to be friends and helpers…
- But…were only seeking to steal.
- And so…staying inside at night behind locked doors was all important (persistent friend-Luke 11).
- Predators were everywhere…even in the Temple.
- And if one had sheep…they needed to be carefully watched.
Being a shepherd was the lowest of occupations.
- Tending sheep was minimum wage…
- And unpleasant work…
- But essential to the economy of the ancient middle east.
Clearly…a hired shepherd was not the same as the one who owned the sheep.
- And so…an owner would lay his life on the line to save his sheep from thieves and robbers and predators.
- The owner-shepherd would fight to his death to protect his sheep.
- If he was a false shepherd – a hired hand – he would flee…leaving the sheep behind…
- Leaving the owner-shepherd disgraced and victimized.
In Jesus’ time there also were hired prophets of which we have an abundance today.
- These prophets made big pronouncements…proclaiming their visions and revelations as coming from God.
- But when things got dangerous…they fled.
But Jesus had no vested financial interest here…
- Jesus said: Foxes have holes…the birds of the air have nests…but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
- Jesus had no ulterior motives.
- He was not a hired shepherd of the sheep…
- But the one who would lay down his life for them.
At night the entire town kept their sheep in a large fold without a roof.
- This fold or corral was surrounded by walls to protect the sheep from wolves…bears and thieves…
- And to keep the sheep from straying.
- There was a single entrance to this enclosure through which all the sheep had to pass…going in and out.
The shepherd slept at the entrance so that he could be awakened by the approach of a thief or a wild animal.
- No one…no one…entered…except the owners of the sheep.
- The owner could gather his sheep from all the other sheep simply by calling them…
- Because the sheep knew the voice of their own shepherd.
Each sheep was named and bore the ear mark of its owner.
- A shepherd who took care of a large flock of sheep had to know the marks of all the owners whose sheep were in his care and keeping.
- So…when the owner approached the large flock…he would call his sheep by their names…leading them to pasture.
- Only his own sheep would follow him.
So also then…the good shepherd…Jesus… protects those who belong to him.
- He also affirms the fact that not all the sheep are his…
- Because not all of us are trusting of him…of his voice.
Who has a right to the sheep?
- This was the essential question Jesus was posing.
- His claim is obvious.
- He and he alone has a right to the sheep in the pen.
- He is the Master…and his sheep know his voice…
- And answer his call because he feeds them.
Now here’s the thing: Jesus does not condemn the sheep who belong to other shepherds…
- Who hear other voices…
- Who follow others’ leading.
- That is not the problem…
- The problem is with those who would claim sheep which do not belong to them.
Jesus was concerned about how sheep were being attacked and ravaged by thieves and robbers…or were led away by deception.
- And so…Jesus’ comments were an attack on the religious establishment.
- In short…he was calling the religious leaders fakes and grifters.
Today we find ourselves confronted with the same problem as then…
- Not as shepherds or owners of sheep…
- But as sheep.
- Matthew 9:36-38: When he saw the crowds…he had compassion for them… because they were harassed and helpless…like sheep without a shepherd.
- There are many voices calling us here and there…
- Voices of promise:
- Preachers…politicians…financial wizards…peddlers of stuff.
- Saying: Come and follow me…I am your good shepherd.
- You can trust me…I am honest…
- I have your welfare in mind…
- I have your back.
Our electronic devices are filled with voices crying for money to support multi-million-dollar budgets to build vast empires in the name of the Good Shepherd.
- The voices are telling us that there are many false voices…and that we should beware of them.
- And the sheep become confused.
Nine hundreds of them followed their leader to their deaths in Guyana in 1978.
- And in the 1940’s they followed their leader to the destruction of an entire nation…
- Through the doors of gas chambers and crematoriums.
The most powerful of all the false shepherds…though…
- The one with the most punch…
- Is not all that obvious and visible.
Our most powerful and insidious false shepherd is our own fearful self…
- That…selfish…self…that would lead us to believe…is freedom from pain…trouble and difficulty.
- A life without hurt…without the discomfort of growth and fulfillment.
Our own self…I…ME…
- We are always being plagued with the voice…of our own voice…
- Urging us to get what comes easy…and what seems to be most comfortable.
But most fortunately…in all of us… there also is the desire…
- Hidden as it often is…
- To be with God…
- To follow the Good Shepherd out of the pits of dread and foreboding and fear.
- Saint Augustine of Hippo said: You have made us for yourself andour hearts are restless until they can find rest in you…
When we are free to hear the pure call of the Holy Spirit…
- Jesus is telling us….
- The natural…inborn response for all of us is to recognize that higher power…
- That of truth…and love and God…
- And follow Him…our Good Shepherd.
The sheep know my voice…Jesus said…and they follow me.
- They follow because something inside tells them that this is the Shepherd who will do what is best for them.
Psalm 23…
- No doubt Jesus had this psalm in mind when he told this story.
- Beside the still waters…
- Through the valley of the shadow of death…
- And with the Good Shepherd leading the way we also can say:
- I will fear no evil for thou art with me…
- Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…