I Am the Good Shepherd October 3

 I Am the Good Shepherd.

Jesus watches over and cares for those who are His.

We are continuing in our series of the “I Am” Statements of Christ.  In this passage Jesus switches metaphors from being “The Door” of the sheepfold to  “I Am the Good Shepherd.” The Jews were accustomed to sheep and shepherds as a common part of the culture, so this illustration would have been very familiar to them.  Just as our pets know our voices and come to us, so the sheep know Jesus’ voice.  And just like we care for our animals in terms of food, safety, and protection, so the shepherd cares for the sheep. This metaphor is introduced to emphasize the certainty of our salvation. He will never allow us to be misled by a false shepherd. 

John 10: 2-5, 11-16, 25-27

We will not follow a stranger.

 ^“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 

He will never abandon us. 

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 

^{We know His voice. We cannot be deceived by a counterfeit.}

¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 

We know His voice and follow Him.

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.