John 10 builds directly off of John 9- but for time's sake I am jumping to two key passages here and then John 12. But I want to make sure we are able to read all of John straight through before Easter.
Again- there is so much we could talk about. Again and again I come back to the verse that concludes John: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25) I feel this way about processing and discussing all that the Lord has said and done. It is why it will take us our lifetime to study scripture and even in that- never satisfy our longings to know Him more till we meet Him in eternity. So, As I jump in the study; please know my desire is that this ignites a passion to study our Lord a study that will take a lifetime.
Today: John 10:1-6 This passage is continuing off of chapter 9. It is vital that we do not cherry pick scripture and put our own presuppositions into its reading. This passage and the one after are incredibly abused within the church due to poor exposition and exploitation. We can know our Savior best when we listen to His words.
To set this up, there are many sheep stories and parallels spoken of in the old and new testament. Sheep and shepherding were very common place and an easy to understand metaphor. But for us, we will typically look even at this with Western eyes. Near Eastern shepherds operate much differently than our western exposure. If you think of a shepherd you might think more of a cattle drive, they push from behind, its loud, the western shepherd will often have sheep dogs coming in from the sides and running along. Eastern shepherd lead from the front. The sheep follow him. They know their shepherds voice. As we draw into this metaphor keep this understanding in mind.
10:1-2 Jesus is speaking about the Pharisees. False teachers who come to hard and damage the church. The picture is that the sheep are in the pen- in the evening they would be kept somewhere safe and have one entrance. The thief or bad teachers would come in from at the sides, and they would not use the door- because neither the doorkeeper nor the sheep would recognize them. So they come in through a separate measure. Their objection is not to lead the sheep but to steal them.
v3 The doorkeeper was a hired under-shepherd who knew the shepherd and would watch the flock. He was in charge of keeping them safe. A beautiful though of a pastor and a flock. A glimmer of what we hear echoed on the beach between Peter and Jesus, "Do you love me Peter," Feed my sheep. The under-shepherd is charged with knowing both the Shepherd and the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John MacArthur points out that " This shepherd goes even further by calling each sheep bu its own special name. Jesus point is that He comes to the fold of Israel and calls out His own sheep individually to come into His own messianic fold. The assumption is that there are already in some way His sheep, even before He calls them by name."
The entire first few verses had been lost on me for a long time. I can easily and readily admit to my error of so many times going to scripture and trying to read it through my modern western lenses. Not taking the time to understand original audience and what was going on. Or to pick up the bible and through inconsistent reading and flipping land on scripture, read it and misinterpret it because I had no understanding of context. This is a terrible practice. John Piper talks about being so careful to not go to the Word with a preconceived idea; but the need to let the Word teach and speak. We don't do that, often times we go to the Word seeking something for ourselves- not seeking the Savior and letting Him guide us.
Verse 4-6 exemplify how the flock should follow the leader. It is a common New testament leadership to lead by example. Paul says to follow him as he follows Christ. We see over and over to let our walk be worthy of the Gospel. Why is that? Because discipleship is through leading by example, not from behind. A heart that loves those that are being taught and that you demonstrate through your obedience to Christ in word and deed. Jesus told the woman at the well the Father is seeking those who will worship in spirit and in truth.
v6- they did not understand what Jesus was saying.
There were many in the crowd that heard the words of Jesus yet did not understand. So it is today. Many can sit in church and hear the words of the preacher and not understand. Or go to scripture and read with little avail. This is a heart issue- not a mind one. These are those that hearing the Word refuse to listen; or put it through their own worldview filter and wash it out as rubbish, or fairy tales, or foolishness.
Today is a good day to evaluate your heart. We are told to examine our hearts- the Psalmist cries out search me O God! Where are you today? Do you follow false teaching because you do not know the Shepherd? DO you go to scripture and try to fit it into your own philosophies and trim off the edges where it doesn't match? If you lead women or teach children- are you teaching well? Are you leading by example so that if they follow you, you are in fact leading them to the Savior? Have you responded to the Shepherd? Do you know his voice?
Tomorrow we move into verse 7-18. Jesus declares I AM the door of the sheep. He declares that He is the only way to the Father.
May we know His voice.<3
Worship today:
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