Laying It Down
Posted by Isaac Butterworth | Filed under Sermons
In our postmodern era, people of intelligence will not abide such exclusive assertions. Those who are wise by the world’s standards tell us that there cannot be such a thing as Truth. There are truths. They will allow that. There is your truth and my truth, but there is no overarching, definitive, absolute Truth. No Truth with a capital T.
John 10:1-21 (NRSV)
1 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls them by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down, and have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.
19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Other were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
WHEN I WAS A KID. I loved to go to my grandmother’s house. One of the things I remember about that house was a picture on the wall over the bed where I slept. It was a picture of Jesus. There’s a good chance you’ve seen it, or one like it. It shows the full stature of our Lord. He is walking toward you, the viewer. In one of his hands he is holding a shepherd’s crook, and in the other he is holding a lamb. He is carrying the lamb. And when you look at what is depicted in that picture, you somehow know that the lamb is you. He is carrying you. The painting, no doubt, was designed to portray Jesus as – well, as what he calls himself in our text for today. It shows him to be the Good Shepherd.
Now, the truth is, as a kid, I was easily frightened by the dark. But in my grandmother’s guest room, where she had the picture of Jesus over the bed, I never got scared. I felt safe. And, of course, I was. There was no danger to me, not in my grandmother’s home. And, if there had been, no picture was going to keep me safe, not even a picture of Jesus!
But now, out there in the world – even in the full light of day – there are hazards all around. You know the Bach piece, “Sheep May Safely Graze”? I love that composition. It is one of my favorites. But there’s one mistake you and I must not make. Sheep may safely graze, but it’s not because there is no danger. Danger is all around. And, what is worse, there are agents of that danger, sinister agents who do not have the welfare of the sheep at heart.
In John, chapter 10, Jesus calls them by name. In verse 1, there is the “thief and [the] bandit.” He is the one “who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way.” In verse 5, there is the “stranger.” The stranger calls to the sheep, but Jesus says, “They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” In verse 10, Jesus calls our attention to “the thief” yet again and exposes his aims. “The thief,” he says, “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
Then there is the “hired hand.” We find him in verse 12. He is the one, ostensibly, who has been charged with protecting the sheep. He is commissioned to feed them and care for them and keep them safe from harm. But when he “sees the wolf coming,” he “leaves the sheep and runs away – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.”
When our Lord first began His ministry, we are told that “he saw the crowds,” and “he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36). I can think of nothing more vulnerable to the hazards of life than a lamb alone in the field with thieves and bandits all about, and strangers – not to mention wolf-like predators – and no shepherd in sight.
But God is not going to let His sheep go without a shepherd. In fact, He says in Ezekiel 34, “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak…” (vv. 15f.). John, chapter 10, is the fulfillment of that promise. Here we find Jesus, who in the face of threats in every direction – there are thieves and bandits and strangers and wolves, and they are lurking everywhere – but, unlike the hired hand, Jesus does not run away. He lays down His life for His sheep.
He is the Good Shepherd. And that’s what the Good Shepherd does. He lays down His life for the sheep. He tells us this plainly. But here’s what puzzles me. The people he is talking to don’t understand it. In verse 6, we read, “Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying.” And then again in verse 19, John tells us that they “were divided because of [His] words. Many of them were saying, ‘He is…out of His mind. Why listen to Him?’”
And, without knowing it, they identified the key issue in this chapter of John’s Gospel. Why listen to Him indeed! How can He say, “I am the gate,” and mean it? How can He say, “Whoever enters by me will be saved,” and keep a straight face? He must be “out of His mind!” So, why listen to Him at all? His claims for Himself – are they not grandiose and extreme, especially in our day and time? Who believes anymore that He is who He says He is?
Certainly, in our postmodern era, people of intelligence will not abide such exclusive assertions. Those who are wise by the world’s standards tell us that there cannot be such a thing as Truth. There are truths. They will allow that. There is your truth and my truth. There is truth as you see it, but there is no overarching, definitive, absolute Truth. No Truth with a capital T.
Therefore, they will tell us that one religion is as good as another, different paths all leading to the same place. Your beliefs are fine, they will say, as long as you keep them to yourself and don’t impose them on others. My friends, this is what Jesus calls “the voice of strangers” (v. 5). And Jesus tells us that His sheep “do not know the voice of strangers.” They know His voice, and they follow Him. Listen: His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice, and they are safe.
They are safe for three reasons. I don’t have time to develop these three reasons, but I do want to give them to you. First, His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice, and they are safe…because He saves them. Our Good Shepherd, after all, is the Savior. The wolf has come and snatched and scattered us. The thief has entered the sheepfold with the design to steal and kill and destroy. And what has our Shepherd done? Has He, like a hired hand, run to save His own skin? No. “I am the Good Shepherd,” Jesus says. “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” And that is what He has done. Three times He says it. No, four times He says it. Five times. Count ‘em. “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Why listen to Him? Here’s why. He does not save Himself so that He can save us. His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice, and they are safe.
They are safe because He saves them, and they are also safe because He secures them. We didn’t read verses 27 through 29 a moment ago, but they are some of the most reassuring verses in all the Bible. “My sheep hear my voice,” Jesus says. That’s our point, isn’t it? His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice. But then Jesus goes on to say, And “I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” You see, He secures His sheep. Listen to Him. Listen to how He says, “No one will snatch them out of my hand” and “no one can snatch [them] out of [my] Father’s hand.” If ever you have the tendency to feel insecure and uncertain, come back to Jesus’ words here and absorb them into yourself. Jesus’ sheep know their Shepherd’s voice, and they are safe, because He secures them.
He saves them. He secures them. And, finally, He sustains them. His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice, and they are safe, because He sustains them. What does He say in verses 3 and 4? “The gatekeeper opens the gate for Him, and the sheep hear His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice.” Why listen to Him? Because He goes before us. He makes us to lie down in green pastures. He leads us beside still waters. He leads us in paths of righteousness. Even though we must at times walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with us. We, His sheep, know our Shepherd’s voice, and we are safe…because He sustains us.
Listen to me. You are His flock. Wolves prowl, and they would destroy you. Thieves lurk, and they would rob you of your hope. Hired hands flee because, as Jesus says, “A hired hand does not care for the sheep” (v. 13). But you are a people who know your Shepherd, and you know Him to be good. You know His voice, and you follow where He leads. You can distinguish His voice from the other voices that appeal to you for your trust. And you know that it is dangerous to trust anyone else. You know the risks, and so you tune your ears to one frequency only, the voice of your Shepherd. You trust Him because He loves you, and you know He loves you because He laid down His life for you. You trust Him because He sustains and secures you, and you know He can because, not only did He lay his life down; He took it up again.
Here’s what I want you to do. This week. Before next Sunday, today if possible. I want you to carve out some time to get alone. And I want you to sit down with the Twenty-third Psalm and perform this simple exercise.
I want you to read it through, and as you do, I want you to list the things your good Shepherd does for you. In the Psalm, of course, these things are stated in a general way for the sake of broad application. But I want you to get as specific as you can.
Your Shepherd has made you “to lie down in green pastures.” What does that mean? It means that He has fed you and given you rest. But how? That’s what I want you to think about. How, in your specific case, has He done this? Has He shown you something in His Word that has settled your spirit? Has He put you in just the right place at the right time to hear what you needed to hear to find comfort or hope? Think about how He has done this for you.
He has been with you in “the valley of the shadow of death.” But how? How, in your specific case, has He done this? How has He consoled you in your loss? How has He sustained you during seasons of fear and apprehension? I want you to reflect on that. Then, when you have worked through the Psalm in this way, I want you simply to say to yourself: “I am one of His sheep, and His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice and are safe.”
Will you do that this week? Perhaps even today? When will you do that? Think about it right now, and make a date with your Shepherd. And remember: His sheep know their Shepherd’s voice, and they are safe. You are safe…with Him.
Photo Credit: Schaf by Robert Weiler
