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SOUNDING OUT:
The Shepherd and Sheep Analogy (Part II)
Last week we looked at
the context of the teaching of the shepherd and sheep
analogy in John 10 and saw how Jesus stood against the
Pharisees in their attempt to stone a woman taken in
adultery and excommunicate the man born blind. Now Jesus
teaches the parable of the shepherd and the sheep. He
is speaking to the Pharisees in the presence of others
for their learning when he says:
John 10:1:
Verily, verily [This is the figure of speech, epizeusis,
duplication.], I say unto you, [The phrase “Verily...you”
notes a solemn and earnest declaration.] He that entereth
not by the door [passageway] into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and
a robber.
It is not uncommon for
sheep to huddle together in the open fields at night
while the shepherds watch over them when there is no
danger. (Like at the birth of Jesus in Luke 2) However,
in districts where there is danger from thieves and
wild beasts, the sheepfold is a place of shelter and
refuge for the sheep at night. They are simple walled
enclosures. On tops of the walls are heaped thorny brushwood
as a further safeguard. Several flocks may use the same
sheepfold.
John 10:2,3:
But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd
of the sheep.
To him the porter [gatekeeper] openeth; and the sheep
hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out.
Sheep were very special
in the Bible culture, much like dogs are in our culture.
They were given names and would come when called. Remember
when Nathan confronted David in 2 Samuel 12. He talked
to David about a man who had only one ewe lamb who was
precious unto him. He had bought it up and nourished
it up and it grew up together with him, and with his
children. It ate of his own meat, and drank of his own
cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
Sheep were very special in their culture. David was
a shepherd, and he was outraged at the account Nathan
told him. Nathan got through to David’s heart
with a story of a little ewe lamb.
John 10:4,5:
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before
them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
[The shepherd had proven himself time after time. He
regularly led them to green pastures and they were most
ready to follow him.]
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from
him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
Freeman gives the account
of sheep leaving the sheepfold in his book on page 429.
He notes how thousands of sheep separated and followed
their shepherd as they proceeded from the sheepfold
out to find pasture. This sort of gives a new slant
on obeying His voice. The Children of Israel were to
know God and to obey His voice as sheep obeyed their
shepherd.
Deuteronomy
30:2,8,10,20:
And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey
his voice according to all that I command thee this
day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul…
And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD,
and do all his commandments which I command thee this
day….
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy
God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which
are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn
unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with
all thy soul…
That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou
mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto
him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:
that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware
unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,
to give them…
However, the unbelieving
Egyptian Pharaoh didn’t know Jehovah as his shepherd,
and he refused to obey his voice.
Exodus 5:2:
And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey
his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither
will I let Israel go.
These people should have
known and understood this parable, but they did not.
John 10:6:
This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood
[ginosko, knew by experience] not what things they were
which he spake unto them.
These Pharisees didn’t
know from experience the care and concern of a true
shepherd; they didn’t understand the parable.
However, the man born blind did. He knew by experience
how Jesus went looking for him like a shepherd would
do for one of the lost sheep. He knew how the shepherd
would comfort and heal his sheep. But these Pharisees
did not have a clue. They couldn’t figure it out
so Jesus lovingly explains it.
John 10:7-10:
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say
unto you [There’s that phrase again.], I am the
door of the sheep.
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers:
but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, [i.e. into
the sheepfold] he shall be saved, and shall go in and
out, and find pasture. [Be fed.]
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill,
and to destroy: I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
The thief is a name for
the adversary, the devil. Thayer says: “the name
is transferred to false teachers who do not care to
instruct men, but abuse their confidence for their own
gain.” The true shepherd serves out of love, and
the thieves, the false shepherds, are after their own
gain. That’s the counterfeit and the genuine in
a nutshell. This was elaborated on in detail in Ezekiel
34.
Ezekiel 34:1-4:
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD
unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel
that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed
the flocks?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye
kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, [That’s
what a shepherd was to do.] neither have ye healed that
which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which
was broken, neither have ye brought again that which
was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was
lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye
ruled them.
The welfare of the flock
should be the primary concern for the shepherd. However,
these shepherds were into it for what they could get,
not for what they could give. Verse four would clearly
demonstrate what happened with the man born blind. He
was not treated with compassion by the Pharisees. Rather,
they exercised great cruelty upon him because he refused
to succumb to their threats and spoke the truth about
the true shepherd.
Ezekiel 34:5-16,28:
And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd:
and they became meat to all the beasts of the field,
when they were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon
every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all
the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after
them.
Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock
became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast
of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither
did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds;
and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause
them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall
the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver
my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat
for them.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will
both search my sheep, and seek them out.
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that
he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I
seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy
and dark day.
And I will bring them out from the people, and gather
them from the countries, and will bring them to their
own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel
by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the
country.
I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high
mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall
they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall
they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down,
saith the Lord GOD.
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that
which was driven away, and will bind up that which was
broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but
I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them
with judgment.
That’s the Word.
Remember in John 9:39 Jesus said “for judgment
am I come into the world.” He came to bring God’s
Word of deliverance to God’s people. He sought
out those who needed help, and of those who came to
him for help, he turned none away. (John 6:37)
Ezekiel 34:28:
And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither
shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall
dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
Jesus Christ is the same
“yesterday, and to day and for ever.” (Hebrews
13:8) He has not changed. As the chief shepherd he is
still active and “ever liveth to make intercession”
for the saints. (Hebrews 7:25) Do you think God wants
his shepherds doing anything differently today?
1 Peter 5:1-4;
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also
an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly;
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being
ensamples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
There is a difference
between the true shepherd and the thief. Next week we
will read the rest of the shepherd and sheep analogy
in John 10 and see how the good shepherd leads the flock
by his freewill commitment and puts the welfare of the
flock above any selfish, personal gain.
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