Redeemer Lutheran Church

John 10:1-10

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and His Son our Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ.

Now that it seems like winter is finally coming to end, I have to admit that my thoughts
start to turn toward what I would call “Summer Pursuits.” One of the things I really
love doing early in the summer is to take a drive from Edmonton all the way out to
Westlock. I love going there because when we’re driving on our way there, I get to see
all of the flocks and herds on the farms that border on the highway. Who knows! I
think that although I have lived in the city for many years, I’m still a bit of a farmboy at
heart. And I’m sure that in life, many of you have seen much the same thing. After all,
we are in the center of a farming province. Now, when we look at today’s Scripture
reading, a person who just skims it could very easily mistake it for a discussion being
held by a farmer. Of course, that’s not actually what’s going on. In fact, what is
happening is a type of argument.

So, let’s take a little time and consider the facts regarding the opposing sides in this
argument.

To begin with, in the time of the prophet Ezekiel, the leaders of Israel were not exactly
what I would call “upright” men. In Ezekiel 34, which is titled “Prophecy against the
Shepherds of Israel,” the prophet states that these shepherds, the leaders of Israel,
have been feeding themselves and not the people who they have been given
leadership over. Ezekiel says that they have been eating the fat, and clothing
themselves from the wool. He also says that they slaughter the fat sheep, and that
they have not healed the sick ones. They haven’t bound up the injured or brought
back strays. They have ruled with force and harshness. They were thieves and
robbers that ruled only for their own gain, and with no concern for the people of Israel.
So, what this all adds up to is the fact that they were terrible leaders. They were bad
shepherds for the sheep of God’s flock.

In this morning’s Scripture, we are told about how Christ came as the Good Shepherd.
In contrast to the bad shepherds who led Israel in the past, Jesus came to lead His
flock as a Good Shepherd would do. When he calls us, we know his voice and he
calls us by name. When the Good Shepherd leads us, we follow him because we
know him. These are the facts, and they are really not in dispute.

So, now that we know the facts, let’s look at the actual argument.

The two sides that make up this argument are the bad shepherds (that is, the terrible
leaders of Israel) and the Good Shepherd (Jesus Christ). So how do we know that the
bad shepherds were just that. The prophet Ezekiel made it pretty clear! God
condemned them for their actions. Their leadership of Israel was self-serving in the
extreme. They lived high on the hog without any concern for the people of Israel. They
wore the finest clothes and ate from the best of what Israel could provide for them.
They didn’t care for the sickness or loss that the Jewish people suffered. Really, the
only care that they had was for themselves and their own wants and desires. It
becomes very obvious that they had listened to the wrong voice, been led astray, and
had become the robbers and thieves that they are described as in the tenth chapter
of John. Now, the fact is that this Scripture doesn’t just apply to people 2000 years
ago when Christ walked the Earth. It applies to us in the here and now.

When we don’t listen to the right voice, we allow ourselves to be deceived and led
astray. For example, if we look at all the different cults and fake religious movements
that are out there, each one of them is a “wrong voice” when it comes to anything
spiritual, and I guarantee that they would qualify as Robbers and Thieves because the
goal of their actual leader, the Devil, is to steal, kill, and destroy.

It’s really quite a simple thing in this day and age. There are so many temptations out
there that a person can be literally bombarded by them on a daily basis. Every sin
imaginable, every wrong belief, every false religion that is out there is paraded in front
of us and made to look as shiny and tempting as the enemy can make them, and his
only goal is that we follow the wrong voice and be led away from the truth, the voice
of the Good Shepherd. And there’s another thing that we as Christians have to be
aware of. Sometimes the “wrong voice” isn’t just out there, but it can also be here
with us. Because we are sinful people, we still listen to that little voice that is our
flesh. Some have called it the “Old Adam”, still trying to rise up and draw us away
from what we know to be holy and righteous and sanctified. It may only be a little
voice, but it is still a “wrong voice”.

So, we make a mistake and follow a wrong voice, and it leads us down a path. What
happens when we arrive at the end of this path? We find the truth that the False
Shepherds only come to steal, kill, and destroy! Their purpose all along is quite
simply our death and destruction.

Now that we understand the fact that there are False Shepherds out there in society
today, the only thing left for us is to hear the real truth.

And may God be praised because He has given us the real truth. Jesus came to be
the Good Shepherd to us, and He teaches us the ways in which we will know this. In
the first two verses of our passage today, Jesus warns us of the False Shepherds, and
then he tells us about the Good Shepherd who enters the sheepfold by the gate. In
other words, he describes the first way that we will know Him for who he is. He enters
by the gate which shows us that He is our true Saviour, the Good Shepherd.

The next way in which he proves the truth of his position is that we hear His voice, and
He calls us by name and leads us out. False Shepherds seek to lead us away to death
and destruction, but Jesus Christ leads us to where we can go in and out and find
pasture. What this means is that He takes us to where we can live and be free, instead
of being bound up by the sin and evil of this world.

Another thing that I think we should understand is that a true shepherd will defend
his flock and even lay down his life for them. Think about it! How many of you can
truly say that they know someone who would lay down their life for them. John 15:13
says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his Friends.”
Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, laid down his life for us.

The last, and I think really the most important identifier for him is that He leads us to
everlasting life. In verse 10, Jesus tells us that he came to give us life, and that more
abundantly. Even though we were not worthy in any way, he chose to bring us that
abundant life, a life with him and the Father in heaven. He came to Earth, died on the
Cross, was resurrected from the dead, and ascended into heaven so that we could
have eternal life. The False Shepherds bring death and destruction, but Jesus Christ
brings everlasting life.

So, the simple fact of the matter is that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd.

We’ve heard about how the leaders of Israel were bad shepherds, and how they lived
only for their own benefit. What a contrast when we see what Jesus Christ, the Good
Shepherd, has done for us. He warns us of dangers, he leads us and knows us by
name, he provides for us and our well-being, he gives us freedom and life to live, and
most of all he saves us from our sins and gives us eternal life. Jesus Christ is the Good
Shepherd, our Saviour and Lord!

And now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord.