The Good Shepherd

[Read John 10:1-21]

There’s a lot of talk about some of the biggest dangers and threats to the Christian faith in our current cultural moment. Many people see some of the shrinking religious freedoms as one of the main threats or dangers. Others see the increasing number of “nones”—those with no religious affiliation. Others see the general apathy that is sweeping across our churches as the primary threat. I see all of those as significant threats to Christianity today. However, I see something else as the most significant threat and danger to the Christian faith—False Teaching and False Shepherds.

This problem has only been amplified by radio, television, and not the internet. There is false teaching everywhere and sadly many people don’t recognize it as false teaching. Many of the preachers I hear on the television—not all but many—are false teachers. I realize that may be hard for some of you to hear, but I truly believe it. Many of the “shepherds” I hear on YouTube or social media are false teachers. They are completely leading people astray—and lots of people.

That’s one of the difficulties I see. You can turn on YouTube or the television and see that many of the preachers have stadiums filled with people who are listening to their preaching and teaching. Then, not only is the stadium listening, but everyone watching the show as well. So, they are spreading their false teachings all over the earth and leading millions of people astray. That’s the biggest danger in the church today, by far.

This has happened throughout history. Paul warned Timothy about this saying, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3–4, ESV). There will be times when people do not want to hear sound teaching—they will hate listening to sound teaching—and will instead flock to people who will tell them what they want to hear. And these false shepherds/teachers will fill stadiums by telling people what they want to hear, and they will completely lead them astray.

This was a problem in the Old Testament too. God rebukes the false shepherds in chapter 34 of Ezekiel (we’ll only read a portion of the chapter, but I encourage you to go home and read the entire chapter). Here’s how it begins, “Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.” (Ezekiel 34:2–6, ESV). Sheep scattered, wandering all over the place, lost and looking for help, looking in all the wrong places, being led astray, and being destroyed and devoured as a result. It’s a sad picture. That’s why John Calvin says, “No plague is more destructive to the Church, than when wolves ravage under the garb of shepherds.” (Calvin, 394).

And guess what? Many of these wolves look like really nice people. They are calm and patient and soft and tender. People love them. They are winsome and kind. They have a great smile. They are funny and make us laugh. They are great speakers. There are many nice wolves. There’s a show I was watching the other day where they tried to make their own word. It was Sweevil—sweet, evil. That’s what we’re talking about. There are really sweet, nice people who are completely leading sheep astray—causing them to be wandering around lost in the world and allowing them to be easily devoured. That’s the primary danger in the church today—it’s actually always been the primary danger.

That’s what Jesus is talking about in this passage. That’s why he begins by pointing out, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1, ESV). Now, don’t forget what we’ve been talking about the last few weeks because it’s all connected. The last few weeks we’ve been talking about true disciples versus false disciples. Last week, we talked about those who were blind but healed and those who thought they could see but would continue to be blind. That story ended with Jesus telling the Pharisees that they were actually blind and that their guilt remained. He goes straight from that into this story—talking about people who pretend to be shepherds but are actually thieves and robbers. He’s talking about the Pharisees and he gives us a few things to pay attention to when determining between a false shepherd and a true shepherd.

He begins by describing how they get access to the sheep. They don’t come through the gate, but they climb in some other way. They haven’t actually been given access to the sheep. They just force their way in. That’s part of this. However, as we see later on in the passage, Jesus says, “I am the gate.” So, there’s also an element in this where Jesus is saying that anybody who is shepherding apart from Christ—refusing to accept him as Messiah, not pointing people to him, making it about themselves—is not a true shepherd. A true shepherd is always pointing people to Jesus Christ. If they are not, they are a thief and robber. If they are trying to force themselves into positions of leadership, they are a thief and a robber. If they are making everything about them, they are a thief and a robber.

Jesus gives us some other characteristics of false shepherds. He gives this example: “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” (John 10:12–13, ESV). They don’t actually care about the sheep. They only care about themselves. They’re only in this to care for themselves, make a name for themselves, and make some money. So, when trouble comes, they take off and run so that they can save themselves. They do it because they don’t actually care about the sheep. They are  fine with the sheep being destroyed and devoured—just as long they are not. So, they run when trouble comes up. Those who run when trouble comes, are not true shepherds. Those who care more about themselves than the sheep are thieves and robbers and hired hands. Those who sit back and watch sheep devoured are thieves and robbers and hired hands. They are not true shepherds. They may even shout at the wolves or the bears, they may even shout good things at them, but if they are not willing to stick their neck out there in order to protect the sheep, they are thieves and robbers. They are false shepherds.

And here’s the really hard part. Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10, ESV). That’s why this is the primary threat to the church. These thieves are stealing from the sheep, not feeding them. These robbers are destroying the sheep rather than protecting them. The sheep are dying and they sit back and find another way to make some more money, bolster their reputation, and find another sheep pen to climb into. They are thieves, robbers, hired hands. They are not shepherds.

And here’s how we should respond: “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”” (John 10:5, ESV). Run away! True sheep will not recognize the voice of these people, they will not listen to them or follow them. They will not be intrigued by them. They will not hang around them. They will run away as fast as they can. They will see danger and get out of Dodge.

I want to pause a second and make sure we are seeing all of these parallels between what Jesus is talking about here and what he’s been talking about for the last few weeks. Remember, that he’s been talking to a group of people. That group included people who claimed to believe in Jesus, people who actually believed in Jesus, and some Jewish leaders who refused to believe in Jesus. And Jesus has been talking about what it looks like to be a true disciple—what it means to truly believe in him. Those who are truly his disciples—who truly believe—keep his word, are set free, and have eternal life. Yet, some are blind to reality because they think they can see. And now, he’s adding to that by saying that some are also deaf to that reality because they are listening to false shepherds and teachers. So, he’s showing the group that there are false sheep and true sheep and there are false shepherds and true shepherds. The false sheep are going to run away from true shepherds to follow the false shepherds. The true sheep will run away from the false shepherds to follow the true shepherds.

To say all of this a different way: True disciples will hear Jesus’ voice, recognize his voice, recognize him as the true shepherd, and they will follow him—they will keep his word. They will ignore the false shepherds, run away from them, and follow the true shepherd. That’s why Jesus says, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 10:3–4, ESV). Those are the true sheep—the true disciples. When Jesus speaks, their ears perk up and they recognize his voice, and they follow him wherever he leads them because they trust him.

They trust him because they know Him. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…” (John 10:14–15, ESV). Notice the way Jesus says this. I know my own and my own know me. Again, he’s insinuating what I’ve been pointing out the past few weeks. He knows his own—he knows those who are truly his disciples and those who are truly his disciples know him. They know who he is and they know how he operates and they know his voice. That’s why they listen to him. That’s why they recognize him. That’s why they trust him and follow him.

They trust and follow Him because they know he’s The Good Shepherd. And because he’s The Good Shepherd, they know that he’s going to lead them to green pastures, beside quiet waters, and will lead them in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Or to sum it up, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, ESV). All of these false shepherds and teachers want to take, take, take, take. They are always wanting something from you. Jesus came to fill us with abundant life. And because we know that, and we know Him, we trust him and follow him and listen to his voice. We will go with him wherever he leads us because we know that he is leading us toward abundant life and away from death and destruction.

We can see this difference clearly in Ezekiel 34. Remember God’s rebuke of the false shepherds of Israel. They only served for their own sake and they took, took, took, took from the sheep. Yet, in the midst of that rebuke, God made a promise: “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.” (Ezekiel 34:23–24, ESV). God promised to send his people a shepherd who would feed his people, not take from them. He would be their shepherd and they would no longer want because he would feed them so well that they would have life and they would have that life abundantly.

Here’s the powerful part of all this. How does Jesus provide us with this abundant life? He tells us in this passage: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11, ESV). This is in stark contrast to the false shepherds who are thieves and robbers and hired hands. They take from the flock to save their lives. They take food from the sheep to feed themselves. In reality, they lay down the life of the flock in order to give themselves abundant life. Yet, the true shepherd lays his life down for the sheep so that they can have life and have it abundantly.

That statement actually gets stronger than that. Jesus goes on to say, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”” (John 10:17–18, ESV). Not only was Jesus willing to lay down his life for the sheep—to sacrifice himself to save the sheep—but it was actually part of the plan. It wasn’t an accident or a fluke. The plan was always that Jesus would lay down his life for the sheep and he did it for the joy that was set before him. He had authority to refuse to lay it down, but he didn’t. He willingly, joyfully, laid down his life so that we could have abundant life through him. That’s what it looks like to be THE Good Shepherd.

And that brings us an important question that comes out of this passage: How do you learn to recognize the shepherd’s voice more clearly? How do you learn how to distinguish between his voice and the voice of the false shepherds in the world? You have to listen to him speak over and over and over again through His Word. That’s where God speaks to us most clearly. So, we have to be reading it every day, over and over again. When we do that, we learn the Shepherd’s voice. We know how he speaks and the things he says. The more we do that, the more we recognize his voice, it means it will be much easier to recognize the false shepherds as well. I used to have a saying, “The more you surround yourself with lies, the harder it is to see the truth. The more you surround yourself with truth, the easier it is to see the lies.” The same applies here: The more you surround yourself with the voices of false shepherds, the harder it is to hear the voice of The Good Shepherd. The more you surround yourself with the voice of The Good Shepherd, the easier it is to determine the voice of a false shepherd.

We’re also faced with the question: Who are you going to follow? OR Who are you following right now? Are you following thieves and robbers and hired hands that can only steal, kill, and destroy? OR are you following The Good Shepherd who will lead you into abundant life?  Are you following false shepherds who are going to run when there’s trouble and difficulty? OR are you following The Good Shepherd who sees the trouble coming and willingly walks into it to give his life as a ransom for his sheep?

I mean, the answer should be obvious. It’s only those who are blind and deaf who struggle with the answer. His true sheep know the answer and long to follow The Good Shepherd. The true sheep know him and know what He’s done for them. That’s why they love him. That’s why they trust him. That’s why they follow him wherever he leads.