Pastor Chris Royce
Sermon Text: John 10:11-18
Sunday May 9, 2021
Have you seen this picture before? I think the first time I saw it was on social media somewhere and the picture has always resonated with me. As you can see, it’s a thought-provoking image of a boss vs. a leader. You might wonder, “Well, aren’t a boss and a leader one-in-the-same? Not so fast!
According to this picture, a boss is someone who barks orders but does nothing to get on the frontlines to help get the mission accomplished. Contrast that with a leader. A leader gets down and dirty in the trenches to help his or her team achieve success. As you think of some of the people you’ve worked for throughout your lifetime, would you describe them as more the top image, or the bottom one? Your current overseer – what do you think about them? Are they more of a boss or a leader? Or maybe you’re the one that has employees and subordinates at work – if I were to poll them, how would they describe you? As one who bosses, or as one who leads?
Tomorrow morning, many of you will go and clock in for your boss/leader. Or maybe you’re retired and your days of dealing with this are long gone. But as Christians, all of us live every day under the watch and eye of Jesus Christ. Is Jesus more of a boss or leader? Some people see Jesus and Christianity as just a bunch of rules, rules, rules. Their impression of Jesus is someone who gives us this big rulebook and we better listen to his holy orders, or else. Jesus as a leader is a better image. “He guides us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, Christ be my leader by night as by day…” In our songs and in the Word we’re comforted and reminded that we have a leader in Jesus who has our best interests at heart. But as we’re going to see today, maybe the best descriptor of Jesus isn’t found on the screen right here. Perhaps a third option – Shepherd – gives us the best, rounded image of who our Savior really is and what he’s like to us.
It’s interesting that this has become such a popular image and illustration for Jesus. One the one hand, Shepherding is a rare vocation in today’s world. I don’t drive south on I-5 towards Portland and see shepherds and sheep roaming in those rural fields. Google tells me that the US maybe has around 1,500 total shepherds these days. It’s a job and task that was way more prevalent in Bible times than it is now. And yet, it’s a picture that, strangely enough, all of us love and understand. What’s the most popular of the 150 Psalms? Psalm 23. How does that Psalm start? The Lord is my ______________. Art and pictures like these are found in many a Christian home. Kids can understand this image even if they’ve never seen a shepherd in action before. Jesus gives us in John 10 a timeless illustration about his endless love for people that he cares so deeply about.
What does your Good Shepherd, Jesus all do for you and me? The first thing that Jesus teaches us in our lesson here is about what he already did for us long ago. Five times in this section Jesus talks about laying down his life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Would a boss die for an employee? Would the CEO jump in front of the gun or into oncoming traffic to spare the part-time minimum wage employee? It seems unlikely. Would a leader give his life for those alongside him in the fight? Maybe, depending on the cause. With Jesus, we don’t need to wonder. We don’t need to play out hypothetical situations on what Jesus would or wouldn’t do for us because we know what he has already done for us. We bring these four words up every Sunday here at Messiah – Jesus died for you. Do you ever stop and marvel at those four words? Jesus died for you. We could spend the rest of our time here this morning unpacking each of those words up here and the comfort they bring. But let this just go to show you how great his love for you is. Jesus’s life ended so that your sins would be paid for. Jesus’s life ended so that you might have the hope of living forever eternally. Jesus died for you, a stubborn sinner. That’s who he resolved to die for.
Would you die for anyone? Would you lay down your life for your spouse? Your kid? Your parent? One of your siblings? Maybe it’s an obvious yes. Maybe it’s a hard “no”. Maybe you’re not sure. Well, if you would ever give your life for someone else, why would you do it? Because you love them with every fiber of your being and because they’re the most important person in your life. That’s how much you value them. Well, in the book of Romans, Paul talks about this topic and explains why Christ’s work as our good shepherd was so amazing. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. It would make some sense to die for a good person. But remember, we’re stubborn sinners. And yet, Jesus willingly did it anyway. We all like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Incredible love.
So you can see that Jesus showed dedicated commitment to the sheep in how he died and rose back to life for them. But Jesus continues – the Shepherd’s commitment also shows in how deeply he cares for you and knows you. Jesus uses contrast to teach us his next point: The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. It’s important for us to keep in mind who Jesus was speaking this Good Shepherd message to. He wasn’t having an intimate roundtable discussion with his disciples like we had last week, nor was he painting this beautiful picture in a kids sermon to the local youth. Instead, he was teaching a harsh lesson to the Pharisees. If you read through the Gospel books of the Bible, you hear quite a bit about the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law – they were the rock in Jesus’s sandal if you will. Always contradicting his teachings, always looking for ways to trap Jesus or turn his words against him. The Pharisees were the ones who boasted in their faithfulness, they put on an outward show of holy living while the inside crumbled. These spiritual leaders only cared about their own gain, they only cared about themselves. The Good Shepherd however, is only concerned about others – the sheep, come whatever may – even at the expense of his own life
You might not fully grasp the whole Jesus vs. Pharisees dynamic that takes place in the Bible, but I think we can still understand what Jesus means with his whole “hired hand” analogy. Think about how a babysitter differs from a parent, or how a substitute teacher differs from the main teacher. The teenage babysitter might be more interested in the paycheck at the end of the night than in fully attentive care for the kids. The substitute teacher isn’t as passionate about the learning needs of each kid, he’s just there to fill a gap while the main teacher is away. Nothing beats the love and care of a parent, right? Nothing beats the attention and specialized care a teacher can give to her students. But an even greater love than the best parents or dedicated teachers is the love that Jesus has for you.
He knows you. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. “Know” is kinda an interesting word. I know what 2+2 is. I know what I want to order at the restaurant. “I know what you’re going through”. I know about the guy who lives next door and I know my wife. Same word, but the range of that word is extraordinary. What does it mean that Jesus knows you? It’s not just a glance down from heaven “Oh, hey – that’s Chris, and that’s Melissa, and that’s…Jesus knows you intimately – better than you know yourself. He knows your fears, dreams, your mind, your heart. He knows your future as well as he knows your past. He knows what’s on our heart before we even go to him in prayer. Only a Good Shepherd can do this! Isn’t it something, that with how majestic and holy and great God is – he is endlessly invested in you. Both in his death and in his life.
And he’s invested not just in us (believers) but in outsiders, too. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. In context, Jesus first came to win the hearts of the Jewish people. Some converted, but many maintained a hardened heart toward the good news Jesus brought. So Jesus said that there would be non-Jewish people (aka Gentiles) who would come to faith as well. And even now today, isn’t this our mission as well? Jesus has other believers, other sheep in our Puget Sound area – we just haven’t found them yet! We get the privilege in joining our Savior’s work – finding and leading new sheep to rest with us beside green pastures and quiet waters. So not only does he love us to the end, but also them, too. He died for them as well!
Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Way better of an image than a boss, even better than Jesus as a leader. I’m sure there have been days at work where you’ve felt that you could get by without having a supervisor of any kind. Have you ever felt that way about Jesus the Good Shepherd in your life? Just like how we have days where we resent our earthly superiors, far too often have there been times where our sinful nature resents having a spiritual Shepherd. We want to veer off and indulge the sins we crave, and then as His shepherd’s crook gently makes its way around our necks to bring us back to course, we buck it and want to go right back to our familiar sinful ways. The Word shows us what a life in Christ looks like, yet far too often our words and actions mimic a worldly life instead of a life filled with the Spirit. Sheep are notorious for being wayward. Whether we want one or not, we need one to rescue us from Satan’s power, from all the wolves that want to destroy the life in Christ that we have. We need a Good Shepherd, and yet we don’t deserve one at all. Remember that sheep from the video earlier? Freed from a ditch only to fall right back in. What ditch do you keep falling into after Jesus forgives you and dusts you off? Maybe it’s cutting corners at work. Perhaps your ditch is anger. Or being dishonest with your family. Maybe your ditch is laziness, poor stewardship of money, health or time. Maybe your ditch is never being content with what God has given you. Maybe it’s porn, lust, or sinful fantasy. Maybe it’s pattern hatred and disgust for another human being. Dusted off only to fall back in. You know what your ditch is. We desperately need a shepherd, yet how undeserving we are.
And yet that’s what Jesus the Good Shepherd does time and time again. He’s invested his precious blood into you, shed it on the cross. He’s not going to give up on you that easily. Better said, he won’t give up on you ever! You note that in this John section, no details were given on the sheep. I think that’s deliberate. Because the focus shouldn’t be on the quality of the sheep under the shepherd’s care. The focus is fixed on Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Who willingly poured out his life for you and who powerfully took his life back so that you could be pure in the sight of God. Who, no matter how far or frequently you have strayed – nothing will separate his burning love and desire for you. Who also, is so passionate about a single soul that he will leave the rest behind to search the countrysides for the one. That’s how much he cares. That’s how deeply he loves. That’s the Good Shepherd. That’s your Good Shepherd. Who knows you better, pursues you more, loves you more, than you can ever imagine. Amen.
