KBM The Greatest Shepherd
KBM The Life Of Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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Throughout the bible there is a continued theme that should produce a wonderful mental picture in our minds and that picture is of God being a shepherd for his sheep. Now, I know most people “now-a-days” don’t really know or understand the value a shepherd brings to his sheep, but I hope to try and explain that today in our study of “”The Greatest Shepherd.” God the Son is called our shepherd because he protects, cares for, tenderly helps, and willing gave his life for his sheep. This is good considering how unintelligent sheep really are. Sheep have poor eyesight and very little sense of direction. They are defenseless when attack as they simply sit down with their legs tucked underneath them and therefore are easily taken by predictors if no shepherd is near. When one sheep simply “imagines” seeing something scary it jumps and all the other sheep do the same. Sheep in an unfamiliar place will not even know where to get water to drink. Sheep need a shepherd and it is no wonder why God calls us sheep. So why in John 10:1-21 does Jesus say both “I am the door” and “I am the good Shepherd?” In John 10:7, we read Jesus saying “I am the Door” and there are two realities that come with this truth. First, Jesus like a door, is a barrier to the Father. He will not allow the “unfaithful” access to the Father. The Hebrew writer would say in Hebrews 11:6…
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Jesus made this clear in Matthew 7:21 when he said…
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
No one will be adopted into the Father’s family, which is the church, which is the kingdom of God without going through “the Door” Jesus their Christ. This means Jesus is not just a barrier but an opening. Notice what Jesus says in John 10:9.
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
In Revelation 3:8 we read this…
8 “ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
So, Jesus who is the Greatest Shepherd, is our barrier and entrance to the Father. Having said that Jesus then makes sure those hearing him then and now understand that he is “The Good or Greatest Shepherd” and worthy of leading us, the sheep. Why is this the case, because Jesus “knows his sheep.” Sheep will only follow “their shepherd. This is why had said in Matthew 6:24 one can only serve one master. Either Jesus is our shepherd and leader or this world and its ruler Satan are (John 14:30). Why would anyone follow someone that doesn’t really know us. Satan for all his knowledge doesn’t know us better than Jesus. Jesus created us.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
Jesus personally created us for himself because he loves us.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
This means we can trust him, who created us, loves us, and knows us best.
Jesus is the “Greatest Shepherd” also because he was willing to die for us to protect us and save us. In John 10.11-13 we read…
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
Notice the shepherd who loves us says he is willing to “fight for us” because he isn’t hired to do so but because he loves us. In the same way a parent is willing to go into a burning building for their child but a babysitter isn’t we find a difference in Jesus’ desire for us over Satan’s. Jesus is was willing and did die for us so we could be with him forever if we want. The Greatest Shepherd, who knows us best, and died for us, is the far greater shepherd to follow than Satan.