OPENING COMMENTS
- Today, the fourth Sunday of the Easter season, is referred to as Good Shepherd Sunday.
- The theme for this week is The Good Shepherd.
OPENING SONG
FIRST READING
Psalm 23 NKJV
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
4 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.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
From the PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT …
The Green in Rugged Pastures
Greg Williams
One of the most famously quoted Psalms is Psalm 23, and if you don’t understand the countryside in Israel, you can miss part of the meaning of the Psalm.
You know the Psalm, which begins like this:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
Psalm 26:1-2 (NRSV)
If you go to the countryside in Israel, you can see what the psalmist looked at as he penned the words “green pastures.” Even today there are teenagers from shepherd families out walking their charges on grazing trails carved into the land since the time of Abraham. But the “green pastures” the Psalmist referred to are nothing like the luscious midwestern landscape this may bring to mind for a westerner.
The landscape is rugged semi-desert, not the waist-high grasses that we may think of. The first time one biblical scholar saw the sheep out grazing here, he thought they were eating rocks! But yet this is the place that David calls “green pastures.” Look closer, and there is just enough moisture in the air and scarce rainfall to grow the smallest shoots of vegetation around the rocks.
There’s just enough for a few mouthfuls every few steps, and the sheep have to keep moving, they must keep following the shepherd to find sustenance. There’s no lush green pastures to sit and get fat in, but there’s enough to make it through and keep going, and when the grass runs out, the sheep trust the shepherd will bring them to more.
This changes our understanding of Christ. While the pictures of a very Caucasian Jesus walking his sheep through waving pastures are nice and comforting for many, they are wholly inaccurate. What David saw was the much more true-to-life picture of a rugged landscape in which the sheep’s only chance of survival is the shepherd’s guidance and love.
One of the greatest questions of our Christian life is: Do we trust the shepherd to give us enough?
Most of the time in life, we’re not flooded with spiritual, physical, or relational bounty, but if we keep moving, we find that Jesus guides us. A mouthful here, a mouthful there. A kind word from a stranger, an unexpected gift from a friend, a favorite meal made by your spouse.
This is how our Lord Jesus leads us to green pastures. Our shepherd gives us all we need, and the point is to trust him and keep following.
I’m Greg Williams, Speaking of Life.
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was [b]blind said, “Is not this he who sat and begged?”
9 Some said, “This is he.” Others said, [c]“He is like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
10 Therefore they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
11 He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to [d]the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is He?”
He said, “I do not know.”
13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, because He does not [e]keep the Sabbath.”
Others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
17 They said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not 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 agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, “Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.”
25 He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
26 Then 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 did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”
28 Then they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from.”
30 The man answered and said to them, “Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
34 They answered and said to him, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” And they [f]cast him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of [g]God?”
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
John 10:1-6, 7-10, 11-16, 17-21, 22-24, 25-30, 31-33, 34-39, 40-42
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came [h]before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a [i]hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, “He has a demon and is [j]mad. Why do you listen to Him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in [k]doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, [l]as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and [m]believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.
Footnotes
-
- John 9:4 NU We
- John 9:8 NU a beggar
- John 9:9 NU “No, but he is like him.”
- John 9:11 NU omits the pool of
- John 9:16 observe
- John 9:34 Excommunicated him
- John 9:35 NU Man
- John 10:8 M omits before Me
- John 10:12 hired man
- John 10:20 insane
- John 10:24 Suspense
- John 10:26 NU omits as I said to you
- John 10:38 NU understand
MAIN MESSAGE (Interactive SERMON)
John 10:11-13,14-18 New King James Version
- Who is the good shepherd?
- Who is the shepherd in Psalm 23?
- Given that the LORD is a good shepherd, can there be more than one good shepherd?
- What does that tell you about Jesus Christ?
- Why do you think Jesus felt a need to add the adjective “good” when describing the shepherd?
- Who is the shepherd?
- Who is the owner?
- Who/What is the wolf?
- Who were the sheep then? Who are the sheep now?
- Who were the shepherds then? Who are the shepherds now?
- Why does the hireling flee?
- Who does the hireling represent?
- Again, Jesus uses the word “good” to describe shepherd. Why?
- Throughout the biblical witness, we find many images of shepherds that did not live up to the description of “good.”
- In Isaiah 56:9-12, for example, the rulers of God’s people are described as shepherds who only care for themselves. They prefer getting drunk when they should be watching over the flock.
- In Jeremiah 10:17-20, 21-25, Judah’s leadership is referred to as “stupid” shepherds who allowed the scattering of God’s sheep.
- And in Ezekiel 34:1-6, 7-10, a severe denunciation is given to the shepherds of Israel as they are accused of gorging themselves when they should have been feeding the sheep. They are not concerned for the health and safety of the sheep. In short, they do not love the sheep, rather they love their own power and control over the sheep that gets expressed with harshness and even violence.
Jesus is not saying something new here. Perhaps Jesus knows we need the reminder that not all shepherds are good. Not all those who come proclaiming to protect and save us are trustworthy. Not all claims to “love” are in fact love at all. Perhaps, Jesus knows our tendency to become naïve and then be deceived.
- Ezekiel 34:11-16, 17-24, 25-31 shows God’s concern for His people … and, in a sense, foreshadows Jesus as the Good Shepherd that He is.
- Whom do you think the “other sheep” are?
- What do you understand the “one flock” to be?
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
- Why do you think Jesus spoke about laying down His life so much?
WHAT IS THE MAIN TAKEAWAY FOR YOU?
Notice how interrelated Jesus and his Father are in Jesus’ laying down his life for the sheep. They are both operating out of the same love. Jesus is showing us the love of the Father. We are to see that the Father loves us in the same way he loves his own Son, and the Son is loving us by the “authority” of the Father’s love. There is no difference between the Father’s love for us and the love we see in Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who lays his life down for us. And that love seeks to bring us into an intimate relationship of knowing the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. This is what gives Jesus the distinction of being the “Good” Shepherd. Our greatest good is to be brought into a relationship with the Father, where we know him and where we are known by him. John later will write this as a description of eternal life:
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
We must not end there. Jesus also mentions in this closing verse that he not only lays his life down, but that he also “may take it up again.” And with that statement we are reminded of what we are celebrating during this season of Easter. Our Good Shepherd is a risen Shepherd. He is still shepherding you and me, even in this text, to know him and his Father more. He is continuing to love us with the very love the Father has for him so we too can come to rest in the assurance of knowing what love is.
The Good Shepherd is still warning us and guarding us against the “hired hands” who do not have our best interest in mind but would sell us out to the “wolf” at the first sight of cost to themselves. We have a Good Shepherd indeed. Through his death and resurrection, he has brought us into the one-fold of belonging to the one truly Good Shepherd.
So, what good is a dead shepherd? His goodness lies in the truth of who he is. He is the one who knows us as one of the sheep, all the way from birth to death. When John writes of the crucifixion of Jesus, he portrays Jesus as the Passover Lamb. This “dead” Shepherd however, lives and reigns, as John would later pen in the book of Revelation, as a Lamb, “standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6 ESV). This reigning Shepherd is also our King, risen and reigning in the goodness of who he is as the Son of the Father who knows what love is. And he lives to bring us into a knowing relationship with himself and his Father, to participate in that covenant love that will never leave or forsake us.
As we continue in our celebration of the Risen Lord, may we grow to know him more and more, learning to trust him as our Good Shepherd who leads us to know the Father in the same way he does.
SONG OF RESPONSE
CLOSING PRAYER
BENEDICTION
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
1 John 3:16-24 NKJV
16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we [a]know that we are of the truth, and shall [b]assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave [c]us commandment.
24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.