Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE GOOD SHEPHERD’S SHEEP”
John 10.19-31
This morning I bring a message from God’s Word that will affect the nominal Christian’s view of the Christian faith in what I trust will be a disruptive and disturbing way. I certainly do not want to provide comfort to the religious but lost among us. That portion of God’s Word that we will deal with is John 10.19-31. Please turn there. When you have found that passage, I invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word:
19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Verses 25 through 30 record the Lord Jesus Christ’s words, which will be the focus of this sermon, but verses 19-24 and verse 31 deserve some attention by way of introduction to solidify the context of the passage my sermon deals with. Verses 19-21 summarize the reactions of those who witnessed the events recorded in verses 1-18, wherein the Savior told of the sheepfold, identified Himself as the Door, the Door of the sheep, and the Good Shepherd. He also favorably contrasted His ministry with that of the Pharisees, who He labeled thieves and robbers. Of course, different opinions were held by different witnesses to His loud cry at the Feast of Tabernacles, to His dealings with the woman caught in the act of adultery, to His healing of the man born blind, and to His strong criticism of the Pharisees who expelled the formerly blind man from his synagogue.
Verse 22 is significant:
“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.”
The feast of dedication referred to here is what contemporary Jewish people refer to as Hanukkah. Important to us is that the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated, depending on the Jewish lunar calendar, in September or October. The feast of dedication, Hanukkah, is celebrated at the end of November or December. Thus, months have elapsed between the events of John 7, 8, 9 and 10.1-21 and John 10.22.
That observation made, it should be noted that the Apostle’s account of our Lord’s ministry connects what happened during and immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles with what happens in our passage at the time of Hanukkah:
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Our Lord is either still in and around the Temple, or He has returned to the Temple two or three months later. But the Jews (and this is likely the Jewish leadership the apostle refers to) are still bothered by our Lord, His ministry, His teachings, and (most importantly) the question of exactly who He is.
Before examining His response to their persistent query take note of verse 31:
“Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.”
Of course, they took up stones again to stone him. Throughout most of human history that is what one did when one disagreed with another’s core beliefs.
Not all cultures resorted to stoning over strong disagreements. Muslims prefer beheadings. Brits under the sway of Roman Catholicism and the Church of England resorted to burning people at the stake. If you think seeking the death of one with whom you profoundly disagree is a bad thing, then you should recognize the extent to which you have been influenced by the Christian faith. Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, communists, fascists, and other non-Christian belief systems tend to react much like these Jewish religious leaders reacted when their core religious beliefs are seriously challenged.
It has been within the past four centuries that legitimate Christianity’s influence on the dominant culture of the West has overcome the human tendency to kill people with whom you strongly disagree. And this has been the result of the uniquely Christian persuasion that individuals should have the right to believe what they choose to believe and to say what they choose to say.
In our country, it is known as the First Amendment recognition of one’s God-given right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Where else have such freedoms been acknowledged? Where else are such freedoms guaranteed? Nowhere that I know of. Certainly not in our Lord’s day.
Let us now turn to verses 25-30, taking note of what our Lord says about Himself, about the Father, about His sheep, and those not His sheep. Read again with me:
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
First, NOTE WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAID ABOUT HIMSELF
Three observations in this regard:
First, we observe what the Lord Jesus Christ said about what He said. Remember their question to Him in verse 24?
“How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.”
In verse 25 His answer begins by Him saying to them,
“Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not.”
Therefore, the issue is not that the Lord Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah of Israel, by the words He uttered, by the prophecies He fulfilled, by the miracles He performed, by the timing of His entrance onto the stage of human events, and by the lineage He chose as a direct descendant of King David and His virgin mother, Mary. The problem was that, for the most part, they refused to see and hear. They never denied that He worked miracles, but disputed what those miracles meant and by whose authority they were wrought. As for His teachings, it was admitted that never before had a man spoken as He spoke[1] and that He spoke with authority, and not as the scribes[2]. The problem was that they simply would not receive the truth.
Next, we observe what the Lord Jesus Christ said about what He did. There are two references made by our Lord to His works in this passage: First, there is His statement in verse 25:
“the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.”
The works referred to here are without doubt such deeds as His works of giving sight to the blind, making the lame to walk again, raising the dead, and feeding the thousands with only a few loaves and fishes. Then, there is His comment in verse 28, which serves to segregate the miracle of eternal life from all the other miracles He worked that are of comparably less significance than the miracle of altering one’s eternal destiny:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
Three brief observations about this declaration: First, eternal life, which is life for all eternity, is a gift given. And unless you maintain that Jesus Christ is somehow less than God, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.[3] Next, those given this gift of eternal life “shall never perish,” with the word perish referring to eternal damnation. Finally, no one can pluck those Christ has given eternal life (who are envisioned to be in His hand) out of His hand. Period. Exclamation point.
Finally, we observe what the Lord Jesus Christ said about what He is. Notice the three ways in which the Lord Jesus Christ told them about what He is: The first way in which He told His audience what He is is how He refers to God as His Father. He does this four times in verses 25-30. Once in verse 25. Twice in verse 29. And once in verse 30. The First Person of the Triune Godhead is His Father! Who else can say that? He is the Second Person of the Triune Godhead, the eternal Son of the Father. That is a unique relationship and speaks powerfully about what He is. There is a second way in which the Lord Jesus told them about what He is:
“I and my Father are one.”
Adam Clarke asks, “If Jesus Christ were not God, could he have said these words without being guilty of blasphemy?”[4] But what does our Lord mean by this assertion? When Jesus said I and the Father are One, He was not affirming that He and the Father are the same Person. The Son and the Father are two Persons in the Trinity... Instead, He was saying They have the closest possible unity of purpose. Jesus’ will is identical to the Father’s regarding the salvation of His sheep. And yet absolute identity of wills involves identity of nature. Jesus and the Father are One in will (and also in nature for both are God; cf. 20:28; Phil. 2:6; Col. 2:9).[5]
What is the third way in which our Lord said what He is? It is in verses 26 and 27, with His use of the phrase “my sheep.” He thereby implies that He is the Shepherd of the sheep. Of course, in John 10.11 and 14 He referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd. In Hebrews 13.20 He is described as “the great shepherd of the sheep,” and in First Peter 5.4 He is seen to be “the chief shepherd.”
As the Shepherd of His sheep, our Lord fulfills a far different relationship than He will fulfill with those who are not His sheep. His sheep have the commitment of His care and oversight. Those not His sheep have the commitment of His judgment.
Next, NOTE WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAID ABOUT HIS FATHER
Four observations in this regard:
First, He speaks of His Father’s authority. This is highlighted by our Lord’s comment, “the works that I do in my Father’s name,” in verse 25. Much could be said about the Father’s authority and the bestowal of that authority to His Son.
Next, He speaks of His Father’s activity. Though our Lord informs His audience that He gives eternal life to His sheep in verse 28, in verse 29, He declares “My Father, which gave them me.” Thus, those who are Christ’s sheep are given to the Lord Jesus Christ by God the Father. When did God give the sheep to His Son? That’s an interesting question. I would suggest Ephesians 1.4 as the place where that question is likely answered:
“According as he [God] hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him [God] in love.”
I suggest to you that God gave the sheep to Christ before the foundation of the world.
Third, He speaks of His Father’s greatness and its implication. For this we read verse 29 once more:
“My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
“Greater than all” can refer to anything; power, size, intelligence, wisdom, you name it. “The greatness of the Father, not of the flock, is the ground of the safety of the flock. Hence the conclusion that ‘no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.’”[6]
Finally, His Father’s relationship with Him. I come back to verse 30, wondering how one might plumb the depths of such a relationship as is described by these words, and find that I have nothing to add:
“I and my Father are one.”
Third, NOTE WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAID ABOUT HIS SHEEP
The Lord Jesus Christ is God, is the Son of God, and is the Good Shepherd of the sheep the Father has given Him. Now we turn to the sheep given by the Father to the Son, to whom the Son gives eternal life. What did the Savior say about His sheep? Three observations in this regard:
First, His sheep hear Him. Observe the opening declaration of verse 27:
“My sheep hear my voice.”
Does this not reiterate what our Lord had said several months earlier, in John 10.4?
“And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”
One of the identifying characteristics of Christ’s sheep is not their appearance, but their habitual conduct. Christ’s sheep hear His voice.
Second, His sheep are known by Him:
“and I know them.”
I recognize that to be known by Him is very passive. But one might ask, Can Christ know you without His knowing you affecting you, everything about you, including your conduct? Some who profess to be Christians might not think so, but I am so persuaded. We love Him because He first loved us, and I think we know Him because He first knew us.
Third, His sheep follow Him. This is the clincher by my way of thinking:
“and they follow me.”
Is there a denial here by the Lord that sheep are prone to wander? No. Is there any indication that the flock’s following of the shepherd will always be perfect and without incident? Again, no. That said, however imperfectly or erratically it may be, Christ’s sheep follow Him. Do you profess to be a Christian, which is to say that you lay claim to being one of Christ’s sheep? I would ask you if you hear His voice if you are known by Him, and if you follow Him? If the answer to these questions is not yes, you are not Christ’s sheep. At least it is not yet known that you are one of His sheep.
Finally, NOTE WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAID ABOUT THOSE NOT HIS SHEEP
Three observations and implications in this regard:
First, they who are not His sheep believe not. Notice a repeating pattern that is characteristic of those who are not Christ’s sheep:
Verse 25:
“ye believed not.”
Verse 26:
“ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.”
Are you one who believes? That is, have you trusted Christ as your Savior, Whom to know is life eternal? Now consider the implication that contrasts those who are Christ’s sheep from those who are not:
Verse 27:
“My sheep hear my voice.”
Thus, those who are not sheep do not believe and, therefore, do not hear His voice. And by hear His voice is meant being responsive to His words, the Word of God. Those who are not Christ’s sheep are characterized by being unbelieving in matters of faith and are unconcerned about the doctrines and dictates of Scriptural truth. God’s truth is of minor significance to those who are not Christ’s sheep.
Next, they who are not sheep follow not. Our Lord said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,” with the implication to those He was speaking to being they did not follow Him.
Finally, they who are not sheep are not recipients of eternal life and will perish. Again, we have more implication by what our Lord said to His audience:
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.”
With them and they being His sheep, the implication here is that you will not be given eternal life, not being one who believes, and therefore you will perish, while His sheep shall never perish.
These six verses speak strongly to the deity of Christ, the Triunity of God, and to the drastic differences that distinguish between those who are Christ’s sheep and those who are not; their attentiveness to His voice, their belief in Him, their following Him, and their eternal destinies. What separates Christ’s sheep from those who are not Christ’s sheep may not be at all distinguishable initially. After all, everyone is born into this world in a fallen spiritual condition, dead in trespasses and sins. None do good. None seek after God. All have sinned.
But through the ministry of the Word of God sheep hear the sound of the Good Shepherd’s voice calling them to safety, to salvation, to pasturage. Then, coming under the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit of God, the sheep is drawn by God to His Son, Jesus Christ. It is when the sinner comes to Christ, believes on Christ, trusts Christ, receives Christ as his personal Savior, as an act whereby sin is turned from, and the Lord Jesus is turned to, that one’s destiny as one of Christ’s sheep is revealed and His eternal life in Christ begins. Those who do not hear His voice, who do not turn aside from their sins and come to Christ, are those who are not His sheep and will continue on their way to finally perishing.
Which are you? There is no way you can know if you are Christ’s sheep or not apart from coming to trust as your personal Savior. No one knows, because God does not reveal to anyone except by means of the Gospel received or finally rejected.
Would you have your sins forgiven? Would you be given the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord? Would you become one of God’s children by the Spirit of adoption into the family of God? Then come to Christ, my friend. Come to Christ now.
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[1] John 7.46
[2] Matthew 7.29
[3] Romans 11.29
[4] Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary, Vol V, (New York: Abingdon Press), page 595.
[5] John F. Walvoord & Roy B. Zuck, General Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1983), pages 311-312.
[6] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures In The New Testament, Vol V, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1932), page 186.
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