Sunday Link – The Good Shepherd is Known – John 10:1-10 | SL20260426

 

TEXT FOR TODAY  

John 10:1-10     

“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 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.”  

John 10:1-6,7-10  

 

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OPENING SONG  

 

 

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SERMON

The Good Shepherd Is Known …

John 10:1–10 (ESV)

¹“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. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  ⁵ A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”  ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to 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 comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”   

Anyone who has grown up around sheep  or has been brave enough to raise the woolly beasties, knows that sheep are not the brightest creatures.  If one runs, even without knowing why, the rest of the flock will begin running.  The slightest loud sound can startle them to the point of heart failure and death.  

Sheep may not be guided by maps or expert plans.  But sheep will follow a voice they trust.  They move toward what sounds familiar, safe, and life-giving.   

That is the image Jesus gives us in John 10.  But this passage is not primarily about how good sheep behave.  It is about who the Good Shepherd is — and what kind of world he brings with him.  

The sheep are not the main characters; Jesus is.  A good way to read the Bible is to ask, “What is God doing here?” because God is always the main character.  

Jesus begins with an image his listeners would recognize immediately.  Sometimes the Bible seems confusing because we do not understand life at the time it was written.  This might be one example because most modern readers have not spent time around flocks of sheep.  But let’s say you live in a big city; you might try to get your point across by making comparisons to riding the metro train.  You would use an example your listeners would easily understand and relate with.  

So, Jesus is making a point by using an example of everyday life.  But it goes deeper than shepherds and sheep, we also learn about God’s kingdom.  We recognize the Good Shepherd not only by his voice, but by the life of his kingdom.  

Jesus announced at the very beginning of his ministry that the kingdom of God is here  or near.  So, “change your heart and mind.”  

That word kingdom does not mean a place in the clouds.  It means rule,  reign,  way of life.  

Today, when we hear the word kingdom, we probably get a different idea than Jesus’ listeners did.  You might think of kingdoms that have colonized other countries,  oppressed people  and extracted their resources.  And when you hear the word “rule,” you might only picture negative actions, like control or dominate.  

But from the creation story in Genesis 1, we get the idea that rule is to exercise power and authority.  God’s kingdom, his reign or rule, is where God’s power and authority are exercised.  And if God is good then his kingdom is good.  God’s rule is good!  God’s kingdom is marked by love, healing, peace, and restoration.  

Another way of asking, “Do you hear the Good Shepherd’s voice?”  is  “Do you recognize his kingdom?”  

 

The Good Shepherd is known by the life he gives.  

So, let’s talk about the Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who comes with a kingdom.

Jesus begins:

“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. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”  John 10:1–2 (ESV) 

Jesus talks about a sheepfold, a protected enclosure where sheep are kept safe.  Someone who tries to climb in without using the door clearly does not belong there.  That person comes with bad intentions — to steal, to harm, to take what is not theirs.  By contrast, the one who enters through the door is the real shepherd.  He belongs with the sheep.  His presence is legitimate, open, and trustworthy.  

Jesus is speaking into a world full of competing voices — religious voices, political voices, violent voices, anxious voices.  Voices promising safety, control, success, or purity.  Voices that rule by fear or force.

That part is the same as our world today.  

Jesus is not speaking in the abstract.  This comes right after a confrontation with religious leaders who had expelled a man Jesus healed.  They believed they were the shepherds of God’s people.  Jesus says, gently but firmly, you are not.  

Thief and robber.  The use of these words reminds us that not every voice that sounds spiritual or claim to speak for God has our good in mind.  Have you been hurt by religious leaders or organizations?  Have you followed a voice that produced distrust and fear?

You will know the true shepherd not just by what he says, but by what his rule produces.  

A thief or a robber sneaks and hides.  They use deception to harm.  They enter unrightfully.  They are imposters.  

But who can use the door, enter the gate?   The rightful owner.  The one with authority to enter.  The true Shepherd comes through the gate — openly and honestly.  

This is the Incarnation.  God became flesh in Jesus.  God — the only One with authority and power to do so — entered our world, our humanity.  Not to steal, but to give himself.  

The Father sends the Son into the world not to dominate it, but to save it.  

The Son comes among us, not as a tyrant, but as a shepherd.  

And the Spirit opens our hearts to recognize this kind of rule.   

 

Recognizing the Good Shepherd’s Voice — and His Kingdom    

Jesus says:

³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ 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)

We often hear this as a very personal image.  And it is.  Jesus knows us by name.  

But there is more here.  The sheep follow him.  

During World War I, some soldiers tried to steal a flock of sheep from a hillside near Jerusalem.  The sleeping shepherd awoke to find his flock being driven off.  He could not recapture them by force, so he called out to his flock with his distinctive call. The sheep listened and returned to their rightful owner.  The soldiers could not stop the sheep from returning to their shepherd’s voice.  

We do not only recognize a voice by sound.  We can recognize it by where it leads.  

A shepherd’s voice always leads somewhere:  

• toward water  or toward cliffs  
• toward safety  or toward danger  
• toward life  or toward death    

So, when Jesus says, “My sheep know my voice,” he is also saying, “My sheep recognize that I will lead them to life.”   

The Good Shepherd is known by the life he gives.    

 

The Kingdom the Good Shepherd Brings   

So where does the Good Shepherd’s voice lead?  We learn a lot about his kingdom in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  You can read it in Matthew chapters 5–7.  Why not meditate on it this week?  Consider how Jesus’ teachings here are more than a moral checklist.  He describes a way of living that only make sense because God’s kingdom has come near.  

The Good Shepherd’s voice leads to fruit like the Beatitudes, found in the Sermon on the Mount.  

• Blessed are the poor in spirit.  
• Blessed are the meek.  
• Blessed are the merciful.  
• Blessed are the peacemakers.  

In other words, the Good Shepherd’s kingdom looks like:

• Life, not death   
• Love, not hate   
• Healing, not harm   
• Restoration, not violence   
• Generosity, not greed  
• Truth, not deception   

These are not ideals we strive to achieve on our own.  They are signs that the Good Shepherd is present and at work.  The Good Shepherd is known by the life he gives.    

Where you see these things active and this fruit growing, you are near the Good Shepherd’s voice.  You are experiencing God’s kingdom.   
Where you see their opposites — fear, exclusion, cruelty, destruction — you are hearing another voice. You are seeing another worldly system.  

 

The Good Shepherd Who Is Also the Gate     

Jesus goes on:

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”  John 10:7–9 (ESV)  

This can sound exclusive or abstract … if we’re not careful.  But Jesus is not talking about keeping people out.  He is talking about keeping life in.  

In Jesus’ time, a shepherd would lie down across the entrance of the sheepfold at night.  He became the gate.  Predators could not reach the sheep without going through him first.  

That image tells us something profound about God.    

The Father does not protect us by distance.   

The Son protects us by self-giving love. 

Jesus places himself between the sheep and the danger.

This is where John 10 points us toward the cross.  The Good Shepherd does not simply guide us.  He lays down his life.  

“I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  (John 10:11)

Jesus takes into himself the violence, the sin, the death of the world — and stops it with his own body.  He took it for us in our place.  This is vicarious grace.  Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  

He absorbs what would destroy us.  
He carries what we cannot carry.  
He goes through death — and comes out alive.  

And because his work is finished,  the life he now lives is shared with us.   

 

“I Came That They May Have Life”   

Jesus says it plainly:

“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)  

This abundance is not about more possessions.  It is about fullness of life.   

• Life where fear does not rule.   
• Life where relationships are healed.   
• Life where peace is stronger than violence.   
• Life where scarcity is replaced with more than enough — enough that we joyfully share.  

The Good Shepherd is known by the life he gives.

The life that the Good Shepherd gives goes deeper than being alive physically.  And deeper than experiencing, during our lifetime, all the good things we just mentioned.  He shares with us the very life he shares with his Father and the Spirit.  

 

Joining the Good Shepherd’s Mission    

So how do we recognize and join God’s mission in the world?   

We can ask, “Where is the Good Shepherd already at work?”  We find it:  

• where life is being protected instead of discarded … 
• where enemies are being reconciled instead of crushed … 
• where the wounded are being healed instead of blamed … 
• where the poor are being lifted instead of ignored …  
• where the different are included instead of scapegoated …  

That is where the Good Shepherd’s voice is sounding.  The Good Shepherd is known by the life he gives.   

The Spirit is the one who opens our ears to hear it.  
The Spirit trains us to recognize the Good Shepherd’s kingdom by its fruit.   

God has established his kingdom.   
We recognize it and join it.   

 

One Flock, One Shepherd     

Later in this chapter, Jesus says:

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  John 10:16 (ESV)  

The Good Shepherd’s kingdom is always larger than we expect.

• It breaks down walls.   
• It crosses boundaries.   
• It gathers people we do not think belong together.   

This is the mission of the Good Shepherd — to seek all.  And he invites us to echo that call.  The same voice that comforts us also sends us, so that others might come to know his care and abundant life.  

• The Father gathers.   
• The Son gives his life.   
• The Spirit sends us out to live as signposts and citizens of this kingdom.   

 

Conclusion:  Learning the Shape of the Good Shepherd’s Rule    

We recognize the Good Shepherd not only by his voice, but by the life of his kingdom — life marked by love, healing, peace, and restoration.  

So how do we know if we are sharing life with a flock of sheep who are following the Good Shepherd?  

Because their communal life takes on the shape of his kingdom:  

• Where there was hatred, love grows.  
• Where there was harm, healing begins.  
• Where there was greed, generosity appears.  
• Where there was death, life breaks in.  

This is not our achievement.  It is the result of being led by the Shepherd who gave his life for us.   

The Good Shepherd’s rule does not kill; it gives life.  
The Good Shepherd’s rule does not steal; it provides redemption.  
The Good Shepherd’s rule does not destroy; it restores and recreates.  
And wherever that restoration is happening, the kingdom of God has come near.  

Thanks be to the Father who sends the Son,   

to the Son who lays down his life,  

and to the Spirit who leads us into life.

The Good Shepherd is known by the life he gives.    

Amen.  

 

SONG OF RESPONSE   

 

 

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DISCUSSION SESSION