In John 10, Jesus talks at length about His sheep, the ones who hear His voice and follow Him.
He gives here two of the seven ‘I AM’ statements in John’s Gospel. I AM the Gate for the sheep and I AM the Good Shepherd who lays down His Life for the sheep. There’s only one Gate and one Shepherd, no other legitimate way to be counted as one of the Lord’s flock. Many people today talk about different ways/their ways of salvation when this life is over, but Jesus tells us here He is the only way.
The chapter begins with the Lord’s warning that anyone who ‘climbs into the sheep fold another way, is a thief and a robber’. Anyone who is presenting another gospel, other than Jesus, is a thief and robber. We may need to pray and ask the Lord to show us whether someone is diverging from His path and taking the flock away from Him. The thief is one who wants to steal our hearts away from Jesus! It’s crucial that we as individuals (sheep) follow His voice and His alone. Sheep follow, they want to be led, but we must make sure we’re following Jesus.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:3
Everyone received a personal invitation or call to join with the Lord, to be one of His flock, this includes you and I. The Lord addressed us individually not as a group, not like a cult. He died for each of us and the thief/devil will do everything he can to break our relationship. Our protection lies in hearing God through His Word (Logos, general word) and by the Spirit (Rhema Word, to us directly/personally). Some ministers/pastors feel threatened when individual members learn to hear the Lord for themselves, but the Lord expects us to follow Him and Him alone!
The other character Jesus mentioned is the hired hand John 10:12, the professional who doesn’t care for the sheep. They’re not his sheep and he doesn’t really care for them. Jesus repeats twice that the ‘Good Shepherd’ lays down His life for the sheep. When troubles come the hired hand abandons the flock to the attacks of the enemy. The price is too great for the hireling and they quickly desert the flock. The shepherd who sacrifices themselves for those under their care, is a true shepherd, copying the Master. I met a pastor and his wife who had taken turns to sit up with a Dear Christian lady, night about when her husband was dying with cancer. I’d never met him before, but I heard him praying for the lady herself in hospital and immediately sensed the anointing on the prayer.
John 10 concludes with the Pharisees challenging Jesus to tell them plainly if He was the Messiah. He replied;
…you do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. John 10:26
Religious people who weren’t Jesus’ sheep and opposed everything God was doing through Him, including the miracles. Religion masquerades as righteousness, but the real question is who is our shepherd, who are we following? Our life is in the Lord.
God bless and keep you today.