Tag Archives: John 10-11

November 7, 2023 Bible Study — His Sheep Know His Voice and Follow Him

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 10-11.

I was struck that Jesus implies that not all of the sheep in the sheep pen are His.  He tells us that He calls His sheep by name and leads them out.  Then He says that after calling all of His own sheep out through the gate, He goes on ahead of them.  This suggests that there are sheep which are not His, which do not follow Him.  Having made note of that I want to point out that Jesus has called each of His sheep by name.  There is something very comforting in knowing that the Creator of the Universe has called me by my name to follow Him.  As importantly, Jesus tells us that His sheep will only follow His voice, that they will run away from the voice of a stranger.  I think this helps explain why we sometimes feel that certain preachers are not to be trusted, even before they have said anything we can point to as wrong.

The account of Lazarus’ death and resurrection contains many things which advance our understanding of Jesus’ message.  However, I want to look at what we learn from the Sanhedrin’s response to it.  A couple of days ago I wrote about the human tendency to ask God for a sign after He has already given us the very sign for which we are asking.  Here the Sanhedrin recognized that Jesus had given signs which supported His message and were more concerned that people might believe His message than they were in what message He had for them.  They believed that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, but that did not inspire them to believe that God was working through Him.  Instead, it inspired them to fear that His actions would lead to them being removed from their positions of power.  These men, who claimed to lead their people to worship God properly, were more concerned with their positions and power than they were with listening to God’s message.  They were afraid that if people listened to God’s message, the temple would be destroyed.  How often do we today become more worried about the survival of our congregation than we are with its members doing God’s will?

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

November 7, 2022 Bible Study — Death In Christ’s Service Is Not Forever

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 10-11.

There are two things which Jesus says in today’s passage which I want to write about today.  First, He tells the Pharisees that His Father loves Him because He lays down His life, clearly stating that His crucifixion was not something forced upon Him, but something which He voluntarily experienced.  He goes on as part of that statement that God gave Him the authority to lay down His life, and to take it up again.  A little later when asked to state clearly whether or not He was the Messiah, Jesus says that the works He does in God’s name testify answer that question.  He then follows that up by saying that they do not believe because they are not His sheep, that His sheep listen to His voice and follow Him.  He gives those sheep eternal life and no one will take those sheep, those followers of His, from Him.  The Father has given those followers to Jesus and no one is able to take those followers from God.

All of this comes together to give us great hope and confidence.  Jesus did not die at the hand of the Romans, nor of the Jews: Jesus died because He laid down His life as a sacrifice for our sins. But He did not do so as a suicide, not even as a “suicide by cop” (or in this case by judicial execution).  No God, the Father, had given Him the authority to lay down His life, and to take it back up again.  The same God who has given us, if we are His followers, into His care.  Since no one and nothing is able to snatch us away from God the Father no one and nothing is able to take us away from being Jesus’ followers.  This gives us hope in the most desperate of situations, as well as confidence in those some situations.  Jesus had the authority to lay down His life, and to take it back up again.  Which allows us to know that if He asks us to lay down our lives in His service, He will also take our lives back up again to be with Him throughout eternity.  Today’s passage reminds us that suffering and death in Christ’s service is not forever.  It will be followed by an eternity of joy at His side.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

November 7, 2021 Bible Study — There Are Those Who Will Not Believe, Even If They See A Man Raised From The Dead

Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 10-11.

We are called to imitate Jesus who laid down his life for us, and then took it up again.  In the same way, if we lay down our life for others in service to Christ, God will raise us up again.  This passage contains two statements which should give us great comfort.  First, if we listen to Jesus and believe in Him, He will give us eternal life.  God has given in to His hands those who do so, and no one is able to take them out of His hands.  The second statement is closely related.  Those who believe in Jesus will live, even though they may die.  Thus we know that those who have gone before us while believing in Jesus will live again, and if we put our faith in Him we shall one day see them again.

This passage also contains an important lesson in the negative.  While Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead caused many to believe in Him, there were those whose opposition to Him was merely intensified by this event.  They were more concerned with losing their power and position then with seeing the will of God come to pass.  In many ways, they represent the answer to the question, “Why doesn’t God just show Himself in a way that no one could doubt?”  The answer, as we see here, is that there will always be those who reject the evidence for God because they do not wish to accept it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

November 7, 2020 Bible Study Those Who Listen To Jesus’ Voice Are All One, and No Power Can Separate Them.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 10-11

There are two things which Jesus said as He spoke about being the Good Shepherd which I want to write about today.  He speaks about how He has sheep in another sheepfold that would also know His voice, follow Him, and become one flock with those to whom He had already called.  I believe that Jesus was referring to Gentiles when He referred to another sheepfold. Jesus’ teaching here, and what He spoke about in yesterday’s passage when He talked about truth and those who are truly the heirs of Abraham, form the basis for what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28-29. Those who follow Jesus’ voice are no longer divided into tribes. We are no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, black or white. We are one in Jesus.  Those who strive to divide us into separate tribes are those whom Jesus refers to as the thieves who desire to steal and kill and destroy.  As we look around us today, we can see who those people are.  Do not listen to their voices.

Jesus goes on to tell us that those who listen to His voice were given to Him by the Father.  And once again, what Jesus says here is the basis for what Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39.  Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love, nothing and no one can snatch us away from Jesus.  God is more powerful than anyone else, and  than anything.  As bad as things may seem when we look at the world around us, let us remember that God holds us in His hands and nothing can pry us out of them.  And this connects with what Jesus said to Martha shortly before He raised Lazarus from the dead.  Not even death can separate us from Jesus.  Those who put their faith in Jesus and listen to His voice will never truly die.  You have heard the saying, “Only two things in life are sure, death and taxes.”  But, the fact of the matter is that there is one thing even more sure than either of those.  That thing is God’s love for us.  No power can separate us from God, not death, and not the government.

November 7, 2019 Bible Study — The Good Shepherd

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 10-11

Jesus uses a mixed metaphor here that can be slightly confusing.  Perhaps in writing this John combined things which Jesus said at different times, but I think the passage can be understood as written.  First, Jesus is the gate to the sheepfold through which honest shepherds will come.  Anyone who presents themselves as a spiritual leader who does not direct us to Jesus is a thief and a liar.  But Jesus is also The Shepherd.  We should listen to His voice and follow Him.  Any leader who does not speak with Jesus’ voice and direct us to Him is a false prophet, who does not have our best interests at heart.

November 7, 2018 Bible Study — Listening to the Voice of the Good Shepherd

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 10-11.

    The account here of what Jesus said about the Good Shepherd, the sheepfold, and the sheep is a very mixed metaphor. In this metaphor Jesus is the shepherd, the gate, and the gatekeeper (OK, perhaps the gatekeeper is the Holy Spirit). First, Jesus is the gate, those religious leaders who do not come through Him and lead the sheep through Him are thieves and robbers. They do not have the best interest of the sheep at heart. Further those sheep who go in and out of the fold through the gate will find safety and comfort. Those who seek another way in or out of the fold will fail to get into the safety of the sheepfold and suffer hurt and injury when they attempt to go out for food and water. But Jesus is also the Good Shepherd. Those who are His sheep recognize His voice and follow His lead to good pasture and safety. The key understanding here is that those who do not follow Jesus’ voice are not part of His flock and thus will not gain entry into the Kingdom of God. He was willing to sacrifice His life for His sheep, those shepherds (Church leaders) who truly follow His lead will do likewise. Those leaders who are in it for the money and/or prestige will abandon their followers when trouble/persecution arises.

    We typically remember the Apostle Thomas as “Doubting Thomas” for his response to being told that Jesus had risen from the dead. However, in this passage he encourages the rest of the disciples to accompany Jesus back to Judea even though they all might face death for doing so. This is not the braggadocio of Peter during Passion Week, but a genuine call for the other disciples to stand with him at Jesus’ side in the face of perceived danger. I don’t want to make too much of either what Thomas did here or what Peter did later. Thomas is calling for the disciples to stand together with Jesus while Peter was claiming that he would stand alone with Jesus.
    Mary and Martha represent the faith challenge that most of us experience. We believe in Jesus, we believe in God’s power, but when it comes down to it we doubt that He will act. Here Mary and Martha believed that those who believed in Jesus would have eternal life, but doubted that their brother would rise from the dead.

November 7, 2017 Bible Study — Laying Down Our Lives For Others

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 10-11.

    When Jesus uses the metaphor about the sheep and the shepherd here there are many layers to the message He is communicating. When Jesus first explains His metaphor He tells His listeners that He is the gate and any leader who does not come through Him is a thief and a robber. We can recognize false teachers and leaders because they do not direct us to and through Jesus. Once we have become a part of Jesus’ flock we will know the voices of those shepherds whom God has sent to lead us. There is another piece to this metaphor. If we make our decisions through the thought of what pleases Jesus we will find freedom and good pastures.

    As I was writing the above I realized that it applies to conversations I have read today about response to the shooting in the church building in Texas on Sunday (November 5, 2017). Various people were asking what congregations were going to have to do in response to this shooting. Some suggested that they should hire armed security services. Others suggested that they encourage those members who hold concealed carry licenses to carry to the worship services. I am going to tell you that there is only one thing we as Christians need to do to ensure the safety of our meetings, pray that God’s will be done fervently and continuously. That prayer will not prevent shooters from coming into our meetings and killing people, but it will ensure that God’s will will be done. Safety is not one of the things which Jesus offered to us. At least, not safety as the world understands the term. There is something I have said before, but perhaps not in this forum.

If it is God’s will that I die today, there is nothing I can do to extend my life to tomorrow (and I should not desire to do so). If it is God’s will that I not die today, there is nothing you, or any other power anywhere, can do to end my life today.

This does not give us leeway to act recklessly (see Jesus’ response when He was tempted). If we are willing to put our faith in God, He will use us to frustrate the desires of those who wish only to steal and destroy.

    Once Jesus had completed His explanation of the previous metaphor He used the context to shift the metaphor to another message we need to hear. This extension of the metaphor tells us that Jesus was willing to die for His flock. Further His death was not something He could not avoid, it was something He chose. He sacrificed His life so that we might live. He did not sacrifice His life just for the Jews, He did so for everyone else who was willing to accept His sacrifice on their behalf. In many ways we are called to follow Jesus’ example here as well. We should strive to care for the flock the same way that He does and not be like the hired hand to which He contrasts Himself. We should be willing to lay our lives down for others in the same way in which Jesus did. If we do so, we will experience the resurrection of Christ for ourselves. Related to what I said about our response to the shooting on Sunday, when Devin Kelley comes to our service, are we willing to lay down our lives for him?

November 7, 2016 Bible Study — The Good Shepherd

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on John 10-11.

    I struggle with fully extracting the meaning from the parable of the Good Shepherd. There are several things which stand out. The first is that there are those who have striven to become religious leaders solely for their own benefit. We can recognize such leaders because they do not take people through Jesus to salvation. When someone tries to separate Jesus’ teachings from Jesus and His death and resurrection, we know that they are those Jesus referred to as thieves in this parable. The other thing is that Jesus’ true followers do not listen to such people. They recognize Jesus’ voice and are not led astray by such charlatans. There have been those who have come who have deceived true Christians for a time. However, if we continue to listen for Jesus’ voice such deception will soon fail. Jesus promises us that no one is able to snatch us from His hand. If we continue to listen for His voice He will guide us to safety.