Shepherd, Sheep, and Strangers (4)

John 10:10 arguably is the most quoted verse in this text. The contrast between the work of the thief and the shepherd could not be starker. The intent of the thief is to steal, kill, and destroy. The intent of the shepherd is to give abundant life. What will happen to the sheep? Will it be devoured or will it be preserved to live abundantly? The thief wants to take away the identity of the sheep. It goes missing from the fold. There is no sheep to hear its name. An eaten sheep cannot hear. The progression is that the thief steals it in order to kill it in order to destroy it. There are many levels on which this happens. If people are sheep, then what takes them captive? Jesus has already told us in John 8 that one is a slave to sin. Sin takes one captive. Romans 6-7 speak of one being in bondage to sin. Sin robs us, taking our very lives. It kills us and destroys us. It is a horrible thief who has no conscience. Once it gains access into our lives it is not satisfied until we are destroyed by it. It takes and takes and takes, until we are no more. The protection around the sheep pen is not for some occasional wolf who might pick off a sheep or two. This is more than the BIG, BAD WOLF. The monster that lurks outside the sheep pen would make King Kong look like a toy monkey. Its appetite for destruction is voracious. It cannot be satisfied. It is like a roaring lion seeking whom it may devour. We have no protection from this thief without the shepherd. We have no chance of survival without His protection.

So what does our shepherd seek to give us? Abundant Life! The word life is ZOE, which is eternal life. The "abundant" part is the magnitude of life. How much life is this? It is not measured in quantity, but in quality. How would you describe a quality of life on earth? We often speak in terms of end of life decisions as being a matter of quality of life. We might be able to extend the quantity of a life (number of days) without extending the quality of that life. We make decisions on this basis. So what is quality of life? Eternal life is quality of life. On earth we think in terms of having what we need and want (food, clothing, shelter, a degree of comfort, meaningful pursuits, healthy relationships, and exciting entertainment). If we had sufficient resources (i.e. money) we could design the life we would like to have, and once fixed just like we want it, call it quality. However, we observe many who have sufficient resources and do arranged their lives just like they want them and still do not have quality.

Perhaps we should admit that we do not know how to create quality of life for ourselves. This abundant life is a result of Jesus coming. Without His coming we could not have this life He speaks of in this text. A full and abundant life, even a super-abundant life can only be provided by this one shepherd. He alone knows what eternal life is. He alone can provide it. We usually do not believe that. I know we don't because of what we do with our resources. When we get anxious we buy more stuff. When we get afraid we eat. When we get bored we book a flight or go see one more movie. We are constantly arranging our lives to provide for us this quality we are looking for. We chase eternity when it can only be had as a gift. This quality of life Jesus promises is not merely being saved and not having to go to hell (think of the opposite of quality of life). It is an experience God intends for us to have beginning now. We do not have to wait till we die to experience quality of life. But, real living is not in the living-it-up culture of our day. It is going deeper and deeper into knowing the Father and the Son (John 17:3). I am not saying not to enjoy things here. I am saying even the things you enjoy here will leave you empty if you do not experience first and foremost the quality of life that Jesus came to give you as your shepherd.

Shepherd, Sheep and the Stranger (3)

Continuing in John 10, I have always heard you do not eat any animal you have named. My wife had 125 rabbits at one time, and each one had a name. One day dad decided his feed bill was too high and they needed to eat "boppy" and his 124 other brothers and sisters. Jesus knows our names. Some sheep were given new names while on earth. Remember Simon was named Peter by Jesus. Does Jesus give us nick-names? Jesus says he calls His sheep by name, they hear His voice, and go out of the pen to find pasture. Names are personal. The word "name" signifies identity and authority. A name, though shared with others most of the time, often distinguish us from others within a particular group. Names provide some distinction. In Rev.2:17 there is mention there about a new name to be given to His people. Rev.3:5 speaks of our names being blotted out of the Book of Life, and our names being acknowledged before the Father. I prefer an introduction to an erasure. Rev.3:12 speaks of His writing on us the name of God. Rev.13:8 speaks of those who names have not even been written in the Book of Life. Rev.14:1 speaks of 144,000 who have Jesus and the Father's names written on their foreheads. Minimally the sheep Jesus calls by name are those who have put their faith in Him. The named sheep know Him.

Voice recognition technology is amazing. We speak to a device, it recognizes our voice, and responds. Babies learn to recognize the voices of those they hear most often, and associate those voices with a certain emotion. Some hear voices in their heads and when they believe these are real we put labels on them and lock up the guns. But, actually we all hear voices in our heads, even if it is our own. I often tell people to let Jesus be the loudest voice in their heads. But, how can this happen unless they spend time with Him and know Him and know what He would think? Having the mind of Christ is essential to having the voice of Christ in our heads. For the sheep it was a matter of who to follow. We tell our children not to follow a stranger. Little Red Riding Hood knew something was up when grandma's voice was too deep (along with the big nose and teeth). Men have tried to imagine what Jesus would sound like if He were here today speaking through human vocal cords. Movie directors have given instructions to on-screen Jesus' to help them be convincing. I heard one Jesus with a British accent. In the Passion Jesus spoke Aramaic. At least we heard the right language.

I love what Jesus says in 10:5 (NASB), "And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." Two actions are contemplated here for sheep who hear strange voices. The first is to stop and not follow. The second is to run. Appropriate fear which helps us to know when to run is natural in some cases, but has to be taught in others. For years I directed our Kids' Safety Rally. One purpose was to train children to know when to flee, and how to do so. In 1 Timothy 6 and 2 Timothy 2 Paul tells us what to pursue and what to flee. Paul says to flee the pitfalls associated with the love of money and youthful lusts. He instructs us to pursue seven virtues: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness, and peace. This is the voice of Jesus. These words describe what Jesus sounds like. These are the types of things that the Jewish leaders neglected (Matt.23). So a good place to begin in getting to know the voice of Jesus would be with these seven words.

Shepherd, Sheep, and the Stranger (2)

In this allegory or "figure of speech" story in John 10, Jesus paints a picture of His framework for ministry. Jesus does not leave ministry definition to us. He defines His ministry and invites us into it. He doesn't want us to rearrange it or tweak it or redefine it. He wants us to discover it and get on board with it, on the ground, in time and space, and in real, meaningful ways. There emerges three works of Jesus in John 10 regarding the sheep.

 

Jesus Identifies His Sheep

Jesus Shepherds His Sheep

Jesus Unifies His Sheep

Imagine a pen full of sheep. On the outside all sheep look pretty much alike. You can't tell by looking at a sheep which one belongs to which shepherd. Cattlemen brand their cows to identify them. Pig farmers tag the ears of the hogs. Jesus calls His sheep. He identifies His sheep by those who respond to His call. Who is listening to Jesus and following Him determines whether they are truly His disciples. In John 8:31 Jesus says, "If you abide in My word you are truly disciples of Mine." Jesus was interested in knowing which sheep belonged to Him and which ones did not. If we switch the word from sheep to Christians we might say that Jesus wants to know who is a Christian (a saved, born again, Holy Spirit filled person) and who is not. Have we become so nervous about such a distinction that we simply allow someone to self-identify. It seems that anyone who claims to be a Christian, we just have to accept as a Christian. This was not Jesus' approach. He identified His own sheep by calling them by name and seeing how they responded to His voice. As His followers we respect this process and know that not all who say "Lord, Lord" are genuine.

 

Jesus also shepherded His sheep. Those who belong to Jesus come under His protection and provision. They are His sheep and He has to take care of them. He watches out for the wolf. He guards against thieves and robbers. He lays down His life for His sheep. He leads them out to find pasture. He is the good shepherd. He does not abuse or take advantage of them (read Ezekiel 34). Jesus has not relinquished His role as Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). Though He has put shepherds or pastors in charge of His sheep, they are still His sheep and not theirs. Jesus is still the Head of His body, the church. He personally is involved in conducting the business of the kingdom. Our constant orientation must be to seek His will on every matter, speak His words on every occasion, and watch for His direction in every situation.

 

Jesus also unifies His sheep. As the Jews were scattered throughout the nations (Diaspora) and as Jesus tells us there are two sheep folds or flocks, God's eternal purpose is in uniting His people. Men divide and denominate. Jesus unites and centralizes His people under One Shepherd and in One Flock. Men resist this move by God. They did in Jesus' day and we do so today. The business of a church or congregation is not to segregate or to isolate but to participate in the unification process. Our job is to make sure we personally are responding to His voice, and then we seek to be united with others who are listening and following His voice. We cannot do that by staying away from one another. We do that by testing what we think we hear and what others say they hear with the actual voice of the shepherd recorded in His word. Coming near others, focusing on His voice, and through prayer and study, seeking His will together, His purpose  in uniting His sheep can be realized.

Shepherd, Sheep and the Stranger (1)

John 10 contextually follows John 9. In 10:21 the crowd is still talking about the FKA blind man. The shift in time comes at 10:22-23 from Fall to Winter. So why talk about a shepherd, sheep and strangers? All of these are in the story of the FKA blind man. Jesus is the shepherd who calls the FKA blind man, who recognizes the voice of the shepherd and follows. The strangers are the Jewish leaders from whom the FKA blind man flees. It helps me to keep a parable or allegory like this in a specific context so I don't let my imagination run wild. John 10 has a cast of characters. There is a doorkeeper who may be the Father. There is a shepherd that Jesus identifies as Himself (10:11). There are sheep found in two folds which seem to be Jewish sheep and Gentile sheep that will eventually become one fold with one shepherd (10:16). There are thieves and robbers or strangers, and possibly a wolf that means to harm the sheep, perhaps a devil-led band if we remember the teachings in in John 8 about the Jewish leaders' father being the devil himself. Then there is a hireling who fails to protect the sheep, perhaps foreshadowing the apostles who ran away when the wolf came after Jesus.

The focus of the story is clearly on the shepherd and His legitimacy. There are several ways this legitimacy is expressed. 1) He enters by the door instead of breaking into the sheep pen. I don't have to break into my own house. I can legitimately walk in the front door because I have a key, a deed, and a mortgage, and I know the security code. I thief is illegitimate because he has none of these. 2) In this case the doorkeeper opens the door for the shepherd. In Haiti when we pull up to the house where we are staying there is a doorkeeper who comes out to the gate and if he recognizes us, he opens the gate and lets us in. The gate is meant to keep the robbers out, not legitimate folks. 3) Jesus is also the door in the story, the means by which the sheep can go out and find pasture. The one who provides access to the sheep for pasture is legitimate. The stranger provides access only to harm the sheep. 4) The shepherd is legitimate because the sheep know his voice. A baby hears mom's voice before they are born and every day afterwards. He knows the voice. He knows he belongs in her arms without anyone telling him. 5) Legitimacy is also determined by who knows certain information, in this case knowing the names of the sheep. When children are picked up at school by someone there usually has to be some way to identify the person who is picking them up. If the person doesn't know the child's name, that might be a dead giveaway that they shouldn't be doing it. In John 8 and 9, the Pharisees did not care anything about the woman caught in the act of adultery or the FKA blind man. Jesus took time to know them and to let them know him. 6) The shepherd is legitimate because He gives life to the sheep. 7) The shepherd also lays down His life for the sheep. A stranger is not going to risk his life for sheep that he steals. Men die for what they value. 8) The shepherd is legitimate because he protects the sheep from what would harm them. 9) The shepherd knows His own and His own know Him. 10) Since the sheep are really the Father's, Jesus proves His legitimacy because He knows the Father and the Father knows Him. A thief can't usually tell you who the stuff belongs to. 11) The shepherd is about uniting the sheep, the two flocks, and not dividing them. 12) The Father confirms the Son's legitimacy by loving His Son. 13) Jesus shows his legitimacy by having authority over His own life, laying it down willingly for the sheep.

Each of these thirteen points in the text point to the credentials of Jesus and His right to be our Shepherd. It is the desire of the Father that there be One Shepherd and One Flock. Anyone or anything that would lead us to any other end is not from the Father and is illegitimate.

Blindness and Sight

It is hard for me to imagine total blindness, and from birth. How I take for granted all I have been able to see in my lifetime! Never seeing the faces of my mother, father, brothers, wife, children, grandchildren and friends alone is enough to make me sad. Add to this all the amazing sights of God's creation, the colors, the words on a page of the Bible and other books I have read, the paintings of man, the performances of artists, the architectural accomplishments of man, and amazing feats of daring, and how rich life is because of sight. I know the blind compensate and often lead very fulfilling lives and make great contributions to the world. I admire the likes of Helen Keller. But I want to see. I long to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord (Psa.27:4). I want to take a long, eternal look, and to stare (I hope that is alright in heaven).

The story of the blind man in John 9 is long. Why? It has a lot to teach us, and the major lessons do not come out until the closing scene. The blind man has sparred with the Jewish leaders about who healed him and how. The FKA(formerly known as) blind man has become exasperated with them to the point of wondering if these leaders really wanted more information so they could become disciples of Jesus. This infuriated the Jews and they made good on their threat to put him out of the synagogue. Jesus heard the news and found the FKA blind man, and a little evangelism took place. Jesus had a very complicated method of evangelism. He simply said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  It requires a "yes" or "no" answer. The FKA blind man had to clarify one matter. Who is the Son of Man? Jesus was happy to supply the answer. Jesus was happy to tell him that the FKA blind man has seen with his own eyes this Son of Man, Jesus and was presently hearing words from His mouth. At this the FKA bind man expressed his faith and worshipped. God had found another true worshipper.

But read what Jesus says next (John 9:39-41). Did you read it? I'll wait. Now in John 3:17-18 Jesus says He did not come into the world to judge the world but to save it. Here He says it was for judgment that He came into the world. Which is it? Both. There is no contradiction in Jesus' words. There are two parts to judgment. Jesus did come to give man a choice so that man could exercise his judgment. Those who know they are blind will seek sight. Those who think they see will not, but remain in their blindness or sin. The judgment of Christ comes later and is based on our judgment of him. If we judge Jesus as an imposter and fail to confess Him before men, then He will judge us as blind and will not confess us before His Father in heaven. Remember this chapter begins with wanting to know who sinned that this man was born blind. Physical blindness is not necessarily caused by sin, but spiritual blindness is always caused by sin.

Rules and Excommunication

John 9 carries with it many lessons. Human nature is woven throughout these Jesus-scenes. Of course, human nature is rooted in the divine nature in which we are called to participate (2 Peter 1), but a flawed human nature, one tainted by sin. This man was healed. This was the fact of the matter. He had been blind from birth and now he could see. He didn't hit his head on a rock or get struck by lightening. Jesus made mud, put it on his eyes, told him to wash and he could see. The Pharisees were divided on the matter (9:16). There are always "some" and the "others." The "some" focused on the rule, i.e. Sabbath rules, and the "others" focused on the miracle which is not normally performed by sinners, i.e. rule-breakers. So what do you do when you cannot agree? Ask someone else, and gang up on him if you don't like his answer. So the "formerly known as blind man" decided to call Jesus a prophet. Sounds safe enough. He didn't say Messiah or God. The Jews didn't like the answer so they move on to the parents, questioning them. They play it safe too. They confirm that the man is their son and was born blind. But, as to his seeing, they toss the hot potato back to their son since he is of age. The reason they do this is because of another rule made up by the Jews (9:22), i.e. that anyone confessing Jesus to be the Messiah would be excommunicated from the synagogue. There were three levels of disfellowshipping (don't look for this in spell check). Level one involved a period of one month where the excommunicate could not bathe, shave or get closer than six feet from a good Jew (of course if I didn't bathe for a month no one could get closer than six feet). They could attend the sacred rites. Level two involved all this plus not attending the sacred assemblies or having any communication with a good Jew. Level three was a perpetual exclusion, civil and religious, from the life of the community. The parents feared this because to be excluded here is to be excluded there, as in "up there."

One of the things that struck me is that for all the contortions of the Jewish leaders in questioning "the formerly known as blind man," his parents, and the neighbors, and eventually Jesus Himself, the one thing they never did was question their rules. Healing on the Sabbath was clearly a violation of the rules as they prescribed them. It would be like a pharmacist prescribing medication that was keeping or making everyone sick and instead of questioning the medicine, they questioned whether folks were taking it properly. Jewish leaders, once a rule was in place, never questioned whether they might have written a bad rule. Pride prevented them from questioning their own rules. The thought that they might be wrong was unthinkable. There is no worse fate for a religious leader than to be wrong. Isn't a leader's credibility dependent on being right, not just about some or most things, but about everything? They thought so. Since they could not, would not question their rule, they looked for someone else to focus on, i.e. "the formerly known as blind man," his parents, the neighbors, and Jesus. And, when a man-made rule has been formulated and broken, then what do you do? You make another rule to enforce the first. Where does it end? There is no end to rule making (in government we call rules "regulations"). The more we make the more we need to qualify, quantify, and sanctify the first rule.

The problem with rules is that miracles do not conform to rules. In fact the nature of a miracle is it is about breaking rules, the rules of nature. A rule maker hates miracles. How can you regulate something that doesn't by its very nature conform to set boundaries? It would be like Pharaoh complaining to Moses that it is not fair for him to be causing all these plagues. For those who remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, there are even rules in knife fights. Miracles do not fight fair. Rule makers hate changed lives and clear evidence that God has superseded their rules. How dare He do so? I have a suggestion. When a miracle is present, before you look further, look first at your rule to see if maybe, just maybe, it needs to be rescinded.