Page 17 - Florida Sentinel 4-28-17

The Good Shepherd (John 10:1-15)
godly predecessors of Jesus such as the prophets and John the Baptist, the more traditional view from the context is that the opposition to Jesus came from the coun- terfeit leaders of Israel. In fact, they actually seem to be doing the wolf’s (devil’s) business.
By being the gate, Jesus grants protecting love to his sheep. In Jesus’ world the shepherd often functioned as the gate. The shepherd would lie down at night in the gate- way of the sheep pen. When day came the shepherd would rise up from the gate- way and lead the sheep out for the day to find food and water.
There developed therefore an intimacy between shep- herd and sheep. The sheep listened uniquely to the shep- herd’s voice and experienced the freedom (come in and go out) that he gave.
On the other hand, this gate/shepherd called his
sheep by name, brought them out of the pen, and led them to pasture.
Jesus said it best: I am the gate (door); whoever enters through me will be saved.
The intimacy that shepherd and sheep share is similar to that shared between Father and Son (vv. 14, 15).
The Shepherd Of Sacri- fice | John 10:11-15
Jesus is not only the gate, he is the good shepherd him- self. This claim of being the good shepherd is mentioned twice. Jesus not only being the door, but also being the shepherd has been earlier in- troduced in vv. 2-3: The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him.
The connection in this sec- tion is that the good shep- herd actually lays down his life for the sheep.
In Jesus’ day, shepherds would protect and defend their sheep. But rarely would
a shepherd die for the sheep. After all, it is a sheep.
But the good shepherd is not at all like the counterfeit rulers of Israel (hired hands who enable the wolf to pick off the sheep). A hired man tends the sheep for money, while the shepherd does it for love. Jesus is not merely doing a job, he is committed to love us and even lay down his life for us.
We should understand this laying down of life in its lit- eral sense. No one took Jesus’ life (John 10:18). When he was arrested, he willingly let himself be incar- cerated (John 18:4-9). When he was crucified he was silent before his shearers (Acts 8:32, 33; Isaiah 53:7, 8). What distinguishes this shepherd is his sacrifice for his sheep.
The gate leads to life. The sacrifice leads to life. The gate/shepherd came to give life so that we could have it to the full.
Door To Salvation | John 10:1-10
Jesus underlined the sig- nificance of his teaching with the phrase, Very truly (vv. 1, 7). He used the metaphor of gate or door five times in these verses.
First he pointed out the im- portance of the gate or door. Next he claimed (twice) to be the gate (or door).
Gates and doors in the an- cient world were vital. They were the guardians of protec- tion for a city as well as the happening place for com- merce, debate, and some-
times even court. In this oc- casion the gate (door) is metaphoric and refers to the salvation that Jesus brought.
The claim that Jesus was making is exclusive. If he was the door, the implication is that there is no other.
Two other items matter, namely the sheep within the gate and the opposition out- side of the gate. The opposi- tion to the sheep is characterized with five titles: robber, stranger, thief, hired hand, and wolf. While some suggest that thief and robber might be a reference to the
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