The Good Shepherd: Jesus, the Door and Voice

Jesus says this, I will lay down my life for people that I have loved and provided for and forgiven and tried to help over and over and over again. The entire first half of the bible, the entire Old Testament. These are the people I tried to help, I loved, I cared for, I forgave, and they continually rejected me, continually rebelled against me, continually cheated on me with other gods. They are people who call themselves my friends saying they know God, and they're going to demand that I be tortured to death. Those are the people I'll lay my life down for. It is the greatest example of love there is. That while you and I were yet sinners in rebellion against God, he would lay down his life for us. [01:00:45] (49 seconds)  #GreatestLove

And the only way that God can hold both of those simultaneously is to be full of mercy and full of grace. And that's what it says about who God is. It's so opposite of the pharisees that we saw in the last chapter. They had these incredibly high standards. They weren't even God's standards. And if anybody even messed with them, you were cut off. Jesus has the most godly standards in the world, and he goes, I know you. I knew you when you were at your worst, and I still love you, and I still chose you, and I still want you to be my flock, and I want to be your shepherd. [00:33:58] (37 seconds)  #KnownAndLoved

It was about power, and it was about money. It was about taking advantage of the sheep. And Jesus says, that's not who I am. Watch out for that. And he calls them thieves and robbers. It's actually two different words there he's talking about. A thief would be one who would take advantage of people by deceit or by trickery. A robber was someone who took advantage, but people by force. And we see that in the leadership of Jerusalem, and I think we even see it now in the church. [00:39:52] (35 seconds)  #ExposeReligiousCorruption

The abundant life is found through following. If when I was 18 years old, graduating high school, I wanted to be a corporate lawyer living in a big city. I would be miserable. But if you'd come to my 18 year old self and been like, listen, you wanna know what abundant life is gonna look like? It's gonna look like four kids in Grants Pass. It's gonna look like a job where you come home with dirt under your fingernails every day, a bad back in a 24 year old car. I would have been like, I would have been like, No. That's not a my cup overflows. I would have never been here if I hadn't followed. If I had demanded that God give me the abundant life that I wanted, I would not have abundant life. It's in the context of him as the shepherd and us as the sheep. [01:10:44] (51 seconds)  #FollowForAbundance

And and that's the thing about this that we have to get. The Jewish people would be looking at the Pharisees as the ultimate example of how you're supposed to live and be like God. They were supposed to be the people to look up to. And Jesus is like, that's why he's so mad at them. He's like, you're not representing me right. That's not how I treat people. That's not how I care about people. And what we're supposed to see here is not who the gatekeeper is. It's the contrast between a group of people who excommunicated someone for being healed and what a shepherd truly looks like. That's what we're supposed to see. [00:46:36] (37 seconds)  #ShepherdNotGatekeeper

One of my favorite things about Jesus as you watch through it is, you watch him heal the people who are blind. Right? Sometimes he spits and puts mud on their eyes. Some guy he touches. One guy he sends to go wash. He never does it the same way twice. I think that's an illustration for us. I can have these things where I'm like, I know how Jesus solved that problem in my life. I know how he he walked me through that situation. I'm just like, Lord, do it again in the same exact way because I understand that. And God would be like, I have a whole new way of doing it this time, and I'm gonna teach you something totally new. [00:48:41] (36 seconds)  #ExpectNewWays

So incredibly comforting to me. Because here's what I see as I study through the bible. The bible holds up an incredibly standard for you and me as believers. Be holy as I am holy. Says it three times in Leviticus. It's repeated in Peter chapter three. Be holy as I am holy. Unbelievably high standard. Psalm one zero three. I know your form. You're but dust. Realistic expectations. That God has this unbelievably high standard for us, but he also has realistic expectation because he knows who we are. [00:33:20] (37 seconds)  #HighStandardsHighGrace

When service lets out and it's just like chaos here, and then you see like a toddler walking around looking for their mom. And I think the funny one is when they walk up and they grab a leg and then they look up and they're like, right? Because what did they do? They grabbed a pair of pants that looked like mom's pants. They thought that was mom because they can't see fully. And as they grow, like my 13 year old doesn't do that anymore. Right? Because she's seen mom so much. She knows she can recognize mom by her voice. I think that happens to us as we walk with God, as we spend time with him, as we meditate on his word. That's our job as sheeps. [00:44:44] (42 seconds)  #KnowGodByVoice

We see people who are pastors, leaders, teachers who are taking advantage of the sheep, taking advantage of God's flock by deceit, by power. And Jesus says, that's not a true shepherd. A true shepherd leads and knows and loves and his sheep follow. And that's what it says next about the sheep. And if we're looking at these characters as we're going through, we have the shepherd, we have the thieves and robbers. Now we have the character of the sheep. That's us. That's you and me. In this time, it's the Jews, but we'll see later that God has brought us into this fold. [00:40:27] (37 seconds)  #SheepAndShepherd

But I think that the argument is interesting and important to have because when people say that Christianity is exclusive, they're actually making a claim about the nature of who God is that's not right. So there's a reason to walk that argument out. They're saying, God is exclusive, meaning he's uncaring. When in reality, he is the most inclusive of all that there is. Because Christianity has no prerequisites. There's not a list of things that you have to do. There's prerequisites for Muslim. There's prerequisites for Hindus. Here listen. Jesus takes bad people. Jesus takes bad people. [00:56:49] (43 seconds)  #ChristianityIsInclusive

And if you want me, I was thinking about this. This is the thought that I was I had this morning with my wife, and I was thinking about it. I was like, that's that's not for me. As far as I'm aware, if you want proof that Christianity is the most inclusive, that God is the most inclusive when it comes to the salvation plan through his son, it is the only religion that you can convert to on your deathbed that I'm aware of. Right? Every other has a system. You can't be on your deathbed and be like, I wanna be a Muslim. They're like, there's a lot of things you gotta do. Jesus alone will say, okay. That's it. Faith in my son, you're in. It is the most inclusive thing that there is. [00:57:32] (45 seconds)  #GraceAtTheLastMoment

Because I love the whole bible, and I really love the old testament stories. Man, I like the Gideons, and I like the Davids, and I like the Josephs, and I like to study their life and learn things about their life and see how I can follow Jesus like them. But ultimately, who we're following Jesus Christ. He is our example. He is our shepherd. He is the one leading us to where we're supposed to go. And I love that because the Bible tells us over and over again, specifically in Hebrews, that the reason we can follow Jesus is because he's walked this way before us. [00:36:05] (38 seconds)  #JesusOurExample

Now I don't wanna live like Lot. That's what I call a saved soul and a wasted life. But his eternity is held. We are secure. And then Jesus goes on, verse 31. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. And Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the father. For which of them are you going to stone me? And the Jews answering him said, it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy because you being a man make yourself God. And Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said you are gods? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him who the father consecrated and sent into the world, you are blaspheming because I said I am the son of God? [01:13:41] (46 seconds)  #JesusClaimedDivinity

But what I love about what Jesus does here in this story is he gives a single proof that he is the good shepherd. One single reason that we can believe that he's the good shepherd and it's this, I lay down my life for the sheep. That's what Jesus' proof is. Do you wanna know that I'm good? Everything you need to know about my nature, about my goodness as a shepherd is shown to you through me laying down my life. Jesus laying down his life for us on the cross is the greatest example of love in the history of the universe. It's not jumping in front of a moving train to save someone you love or jumping into a raging river to save a stranger. This is what this is. I I was thinking about this, just kinda meditating over this. [00:59:57] (48 seconds)  #ProofIsTheCross

That there's things in my life that as I walk through as a Christian, I say, I don't understand, God, why you did it that way or allowed it to be done that way or why I'm walking through this difficulty. But here's the thing I know about you. You're good. We sang it this twenty minutes ago. You're good. You're my good shepherd, and I know that because you laid down your life for me. You laid down your life. And it says two other things here that are interesting, Jesus says about this. He says he lays down his life willingly. [01:03:21] (34 seconds)  #TrustHisGoodness

We don't get to demand abundant life as a believer. I don't get to define abundant life. Jesus, you said I would have abundant life. I've sketched it out for you. It's a 3,500 square foot house. It's a wife who always says yes, and it's kids who obey. That's abundant life and a beamer. don't get to define abundant life. I don't even think we pray for abundant life. Let me unpack that for a second. As I walk further and further with the Lord, I've begun to pray for less and less specific things and more for just the ability to follow and to listen. Because I have no idea what I want. That's what Jesus is saying here. That's what Psalm 23 is about. Like, we don't [01:09:50] (50 seconds)  #PrayToFollow

He's the most important thing in our lives. See the most important thing in your life? Is he the I am? That without him, everything else falls apart? Because that's the way we're supposed to construct our lives. Jesus is the one. And so he says here, he says, I am the door. Now wait a minute. I thought the what do you what do you mean that that he is the door of the sheepfold? Like, we just talked about a gatekeeper and a gate and and what's this thing about a door? So we actually have two different types of sheepfolds here that Jesus is talking about. [00:53:43] (35 seconds)  #JesusIsTheDoor

And it's more than just the names. What this would mean is that he knows the sheep's natures. A good shepherd, our shepherd, knows the nature of his sheep. He knows which ones are skittish. He knows which ones are shy. He knows which ones are a little too bold. He knows the nature of his sheep. Jesus, our good shepherd, he knows our nature. He knows us. I find that so encouraging. I find that so wonderful because there's a lot of things that the Bible says about our nature that Jesus knows. Like Isaiah fifty three six, it says this, all we like sheep [00:30:48] (41 seconds)  #KnownByTheShepherd

And I think I've done that in my Christian walk. Not to this degree. I never never said that Jesus was a sinner, but I I I think I have this idea sometimes about the way God is gonna speak or the way God is gonna work or the way God is going to guide or direct me. And if I get too closed minded, I miss the things he's actually trying to do. Have you guys seen that in your own walks? I wanna pray that I would continually be looking for who Jesus actually is and not who I think he might be. One of my favorite things about Jesus as you watch through it is, [00:48:10] (36 seconds)  #DontBoxGodIn

And whatever what else happens is this, is the longer that I walk with Jesus, the easier it is for me to understand when he's speaking to me. I think we begin to recognize it more and more. We see more of God because we've walked with him longer. And so if if you're not hearing right away, if continue to walk, continue to listen, he will speak into your life, and you will be able to understand it more and more and more. Sometimes I think it's like this. Like, it's one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday morning. When service lets out and it's just like chaos here, [00:44:13] (34 seconds)  #KeepWalkingKeepListening