Well, good morning church and a big old pat on the back for all of you today. Amen. Uh, that was a crazy, crazy night. Um, I do have a little announcement to make that if any of you are the crafty type, the Pinterest crafty type of people, and you are looking for sweet gumballs, um, I have the deal for you. Um, at my place. I will make you an offer that you cannot deny. All right? Uh, so just reach out to me this week and I'll get 'em to you. Uh, or, uh, you can come get 'em, uh, anytime you'd like to this week. It was a crazy night, uh, last night. Well, listen, I want you to do something. Go ahead and grab your Bibles this morning and turn with me to John Chapter 10. John Chapter 10 is where we're gonna be today as we just continually walk with Jesus.
As Jesus makes these I am promises, these I am promises. There's seven of them through the Gospel of John, where Jesus actually reaches back to the Old Testament, and he grabs hold, right? He grabs hold of the name that God uses to describe himself, the highest and the holiness name, Yahweh or Jehovah in the Old Testament. Jesus in the New Testament to show who he is, he proclaims that name for himself on one side, but on the other side, Jesus proclaims that name and the promises that that name brings over some of the deepest hurts and the deepest needs and affections of our lives. What we've been doing in this kind of middle section of John in our full spring series of the Gospel of John is we've been walking through these, we started with the first I am claim, where Jesus just simply claim to be the bread of life, the bread of life.
Right after he fed the, the people, the 5,000 and the 4,000, he reached back to the manna of the Old Testament, and he said, I am God and I bring substance to your life. The second week we looked at Jesus and John chapter eight, where he proclaimed to be the light of the world, the light of the world, standing on the temple Mount in front of the lights at the temple Mount on top, he looks at the people at the festival of the Tabernacles and said, I am the light of the world. I'm the one that brings light, that illuminates your way, that grows, and that brings you life. Last week, we stepped into John chapter 10, and Jesus makes the claim last week that he is the door. He steps up in front of the door and he says, I am the door, meaning that I am the one that brings protection.
I'm the one that brings salvation, and I'm the one that brings safety. Well, look, all I could think about this week was the fact that this week's message out of John chapter 10, coming out of last week's message out of John chapter 10, is really just a continuation. Or you could kind of call it a part two. All right? So in your minds, think of that. You've pressed pause and your Netflix show last week. You're joining it back this week because there's no scene change, there's no location change, there's no kind of swap on time gone by. This week is really picking up exactly where we were last week, and Jesus doubles down one more time with another I am statement. So let me just remind you of what is happening in John chapter 10. So it kind of gets you caught up to where we're gonna be in John chapter 10.
The reality is, is there's this group of Jewish leaders, these Jewish Pharisees, if you would, that were really and truly just mad at Jesus. They were so mad at Jesus that they're spreading lies about him. They're calling him a demon. They're calling him possessed. They're calling him from below. And actually, they've tried to kill him at this point in the book of John three different times, already, three different times. So they're hot at Jesus, they're mad at Jesus, but they're really mad at him, specifically for something that actually happened in John chapter nine and below in John chapter nine. It was the latest offense, if you would, of Jesus, when Jesus healed this man that was born blind. Now, this man that was born blind, he comes to Jesus and Jesus sets him free from his blindness from birth, and that made the Pharisees mad.
But Jesus did it actually on the Sabbath day, which really once again ticked them off. But at the end of John chapter nine, Jesus lets us in to actually how mad these people were and sets the scene for what we're gonna talk about today. Because at the end of John chapter nine, we see that there are three different kind of groups of people that are present on this side. We have the disciples that are just continually seeing over and over again that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is God on this side in the middle or not side, but in the middle, you've got all of the people that Jesus is healing over and over again and and this specifically right now, the blind man that has turned his heart and his life and his vision towards Jesus. But on this side, you've got these religious leaders that are so spun out of control at this point that they're making up lies about Jesus.
Now, that doesn't sound like religious people, right? But they're making up lies about Jesus. Their logic is failing because they try to deny the miracle of this guy getting his sight. But I'm sure Jesus is like, well, you can see that. He can see and he can see, right? We can all see. But then Jesus, at the end of this points out that the real blind people in the story are actually the religious leaders. Now, now, we don't need to miss this point because this is the point that leads us into our texts today. Jesus looks at the religious people, and maybe you've been there in your life, and he points out the fact that your blindness to spiritual things is keeping you from understanding who I am. You're just blind. You might not be physically blind, but Jesus says you're spiritually blind. No matter how religious you are, no matter how much you're in the temple, no matter how much you're in the church, you are separated from God.
Now, Jesus over and over and over again tells them this, but at the end of chapter nine, it actually comes to a head, and Jesus calls them blind to their faces. Now, they were hot, but Jesus is showing them in this that he really does want to reach them. He really does wanna show 'em who he is, and he's trying his best to draw them in, but they're not budging to the point to where later on speaking about these same religious people. Listen to this, in Matthew chapter 23, this is way later on. Jesus says this, speaking about them and and who they represent. He says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone, those who sent, those who sent to you. How often have I long to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and you are not willing?
So later on, Jesus is going, listen, I tried. I presented myself. I showed you who I am, but over and over again, I'm trying to gather you. But what are you doing in your blindness to me? You are holding your hands up and saying, no, no, no, no, no, no. We know the way. So what does Jesus do? Jesus in our text today, he goes, one more step in his mercy, in his love. And one more time, in John chapter 10, he tries to show them who they are and show them who he is. That's where we were last week, right? Our double me, our double metaphor of the the two sheep folds that Jesus was the door. Now this week, we're jumping right back in, and so think of the context as Jesus is with the religious leaders. He's with the disciples. He's with these other people that have already been healed, and now I want you to listen to the claim and listen to the offer that Jesus not only gives them, but he gives us, all right, John, chapter 10, verse 11, I'm gonna read the claim and then we're just gonna work our way back through the claim because it really preaches itself.
Here it is. Here's what Jesus says to them and to us. He says, verse 11, I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd, right? Watch what he says. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Now, I want you to circle, I want you to underline, highlight that verse, however it needs to work for you, because that is the claim, all right? That's the promise that Jesus is making to them and to us, to draw us into him as God. Now, I don't wanna assume anything, so I need to ask you two questions, all right? Two questions. This is the group participatory part of the message. I know some of you have been up for a long time. You need to wake up a little bit. All right? I already see you. You're already sleeping. Alright, here it is. Okay, here it is.
Who is the shepherd in the story? Ready? Jesus. Great. That's like 12 of you. You got it? Maybe by the end it'll be up to like 90%. All right? All right. That's good. Jesus is the shepherd. All right. Now, here's the second question. Who are the sheep in the story? Okay, that was like a right, that was a little bit of everything. All right? Understandably, why? Because sheep in the story can mean us. I heard a couple of those on the front row down here. Uh, I I heard me. That's good that that's what, that's what it means, but it also means those that God is speaking to and drawing, and actually in this, he's actually hoping that even more come. All right? So Jesus is the shepherd, the Jews, if you want, of the pure context. But in our context, us, we are the sheep.
All right? Now, we need to know that because the rest of this passage is dealing with the relationship that the shepherd has to the sheep, all right? The shepherd has to the sheep and is explaining, explaining the things that the shepherd brings to the relationship to have the sheep as is. All right? So that's the context, all right? That's the context. Now, in that though, before we go any farther, when Jesus says He is the good shepherd, we've got to talk for just a few minutes about this word. Good. Alright. We gotta talk. Why? Because the word good kind of tees us up for the rest of the message choice. You're like, Matt, we know the definition of good. You do, but you don't. And here's, here's what I mean by that. You see, before we jump into the text, we need to know the word good, because here's what I know about us.
It is one thing for someone to be able to say that there is a God, right? There is a God. There is one thing for even religions to be able to say that we have a God, all right? But it is a whole nother level for us to be able to say, and we're the only ones that can say this as as Christians, that we have a good God, all right? Have you ever noticed other religions? They don't claim that. They just say that there is a God, all right? There is the God, little g in their world, right? But we actually come to the table as believers in Jesus as followers of Jesus, and we actually say, we have a good God. In fact, write that principle down. I put it in your notes because that's a huge, huge message for us that somebody needs to hear in here.
Listen, we have a good God. Amen. We have a good God, right? Amen. Now, that is exactly what we just read, right? That Jesus is proclaiming. He says, I am the good shepherd. Now, on the surface, when we see that, we're like, Hey, yeah, you know what? We don't have a bad God. We have a good God. But there's way more to the story than that. In fact, lemme, let's just kind of go into the nerd land just for a minute. Can we do that just for a minute? Can you handle it just for a minute? Because this is gonna make this text come a lot. Alright? Here's what it is. In the original language, which this was written in, it was written in Greek, in the original language, the Greeks had two words. This is your dual lingo section for today. All right? The Greeks had two words for the word good.
The first word that they used was this word, Agatha. Alright? It was the word Agatha, which literally just meant something is good in the sense of quality, maybe even good in the sense of morals. In other words, that was a good meal. Have a good morning. You are a good person, right? That that's, that's what that means. Or maybe your kid comes outta kid land in just a minute, and they hand you their craft for the morning, right? And you're like, oh, good job, Johnny. Right? Which it's really not, but you're just saying that to kind of puff 'em up, right? That's what that word good means, Agatha. But here's the news in this. That is not the word that Jesus uses for good here. Now, if you don't know Greek, and you've never looked this up in the bottom of your notes, you are just reading this and you're like, ah, Jesus is good in the sense of like my craft, like the macaroni like heart or whatever the kids do over there, right?
The second word that the Greeks use, and this is the one that Jesus used, is actually the word kalos. It's the word kalos, alright? Now, kalos is this word that the Greeks used to describe something that was a masterpiece, something that from its total essence and from its being is 100% beautiful and 100% perfect. So Jesus doesn't step onto the scene right here and go, Hey, I'm good, just in a sense of that I'm morally good. No, no, no. Jesus steps onto the scene right here and says, I am kalos. In other words, I am the one. In fact, I put this in your notes for you, right? Jesus says, I am the kalos shepherd. I am the preeminent. That's a big word that just means I'm above. I am the totally from my own essence, beautifully perfect and excellent in every way, shepherd. Now for us in English, we're like, wow, why didn't they just say that?
Well, the Bible would be really big if it described all of that to us. But it's just how English collapses some of the Greek words. Now, when we read this, we, we don't see the good and the good, but to the Jewish audience, listen to me closely to the Jewish audience. When Jesus steps up and he doesn't say, I'm Agatha good. He says, I'm kalos good. All right? When Jesus steps up onto the scene in John chapter 10, verse 11, here's what he says, all right. Here's the verse. I am the kalos shepherd. I'm the kalos shepherd when he says this. Now to us, we're like, oh, he's the good shepherd. He's petting the sheep. He's got good hair and a cool robe. No, no, no, no. When he says this, what Jesus does is he single handedly and instantaneously without any question, separates himself out as the only kalos good shepherd.
He separates himself out from the moral leaders. He separates himself out from anything else that is ever claimed to be this. Say, Matt, well, how do you know that? Well, first he uses the phrase, I am. We've covered that a few weeks in a row, right? He picks up on the fact that he is God. But secondly, he picks up on this idea that he is kalos he is above all, he is preeminent or he is preeminent. He is from his essence, all good, all knowing, and Jesus does something specific here and then he says, and then it means this, that he's actually separating himself from any other shepherd that has ever lived to which we're like, come on. Yeah, that's my God. But if you were a Jew, and if you heard Jesus say this, it would've blown your mind. You say, well, why?
Why would that blow my mind any more than it blows my American mind? Here's why. Because as a Jew, every time the word shepherd was mentioned, the only thing your mind went to was that King David was the shepherd of all shepherds that ever lived, and that God is my shepherds, right? So, so what is Jesus saying when he says, he's the calo, he's the good shepherd. Jesus is in essence looking at these guys and he's looking at us and he's saying, listen, I am fulfilling the messianic promise that the Messiah is going to come from the line of David. He's going to come as the great shepherd, and he's going to come to fulfill all of the promises of all times, and he is going to be God. That's what Jesus is saying. Now, when he says this, man, I wish I would've been a fly on the wall.
You say, well, why? Why? Because these people looked up to David. Oh my goodness. They talked about it so much. In fact, when I get to heaven, I hope Jesus kind of has this little side class over here with like highlight reels when he really peeved off, uh, the religious leaders, right? 'cause I don't wanna go to it, right? This would've been one of them. I mean, if you think about it, the whole book of John shows us in John chapter five. Jesus has already stepped up on the scene, and he's already said, I'm greater than Moses and his manna. In John chapter eight, he comes up and he says, I'm also greater than your man, Abraham, right before Abraham was, I am. And now he leans in and he says, listen, I am even above your good shepherd, David, and I am the one that even he talked about.
You see, that's pretty cool, isn't it? But to us, we're like, oh, he is a good shepherd. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's way bigger than that. You see, he came onto the scene, Jesus, and said, I'm superior to all those other shepherds. I'm superior to all those other prophets. I'm the one that you've been looking for, and I'm the fulfillment of all the prophets spoke of, and I am even going to bring a better kingdom than the kingdom of David that you are still looking back on to say, that's what the hope looks like. You see, man, are you sure this was that big of a deal to them? Oh, it was that big of a deal to them. In fact, the guys that he's speaking to would've memorized who the true and excellent shepherd was God and the under shepherd David.
Remember what David said in Psalm 23, verses one through six. Lemme read this and watch this connection. David says this, the Lord is my shepherd, and I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me inside the quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right path for his name, sat. And even though I'll walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil wine for you are with me. You're Rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. And surely, Lord, look at this, my shepherd, your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and watch, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. You see, they're looking at the good shepherd being God the other good shepherd being David.
And now Jesus steps up onto the scene and says this, I fulfill both of them. I, I am the kalos shepherd and I am the one, religious leaders, that you better turn and follow me so that I can give you life. Now, that's the aha moment of what Jesus is doing, right? That's the old and the New Testament just slamming themselves together with Jesus being the Messiah. So with that being the backstory, alright, what I wanna do is I wanna read the whole text of where Jesus proclaims this. Alright? And I'm praying that it becomes so much richer than every time you've read it, where you've just looked at this whole idea is all oh He's a good God. No, no, no. It is different than that. And I'm praying that for some of you, it turns your hearts and it turns your affections towards the good shepherd.
And even more, for some of you, it turns your hearts to go introduce others to our good shepherd. Yes, sir. Let's look at it. John 10, verse 10. Here's what it says. We'll start where we left off last week. It says this, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But watch this that I have come that they may have life and they may have it to the full. Here's the claim. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming and he abandons and runs away, the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it, the man runs away because he's a hired hand and he cares nothing for the sheep. Watch this. Verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the father knows me, and I know the Father.
I lay my life down for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this pen, and I must bring them also, and they too will listen to my voice. And there shall be one flock and one shepherd. Now, this is an incredibly intimidating text because we could take the next nine hours and dissect everything that is in it, okay? But we're not. Amen. We're not gonna do that. But what I want to do with the aha moment already being established, I wanna show you three of the many things that the great good shepherd brings to his sheep. Alright? I wanna show you those by walking through the text, and I wanna write 'em down here. Here it is, number one, the good shepherd dies for his sheep. The good shepherd dies for his sheep. Now, at first glance, this seems like a crazy place to start.
Why? Because if he dies for his sheep, then his sheep won't know where to go. They won't be protected. They won't have a way. They won't know where to go. But thanks be to God that although our great shepherd died, he rose again. Amen. Amen. Without him dying, none of the rest of everything else that we're gonna take into context today could have happened. In fact, without this first step, there would be no relationship with God for us the sheep. In fact, if you go back to verse 10, look at verse 10 with me. Watch this. It lays out the argument. It says, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Alright? Are you seeing that is the heart of the shepherd. The heart of the shepherd is that we may have the xécheilos life, right?
The overflowing. He wants to continually pour himself into us life. So Jesus says, even though the world's gonna try to steal it, even though people are gonna try to get it out of you, I want you to have that fulfilled life in me that I have promised. But verse 11, what he continues on to say from there. But because we have walked away from him because that sin entered the world, because sin entered my life and your life, what does the shepherd have to do? Look at verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd. What does he do? He lays his life down for the sheep, lays it down for his sheep. Why? Because before we can have any other relationship with God, Jesus had to lay his life down. Jesus had to die before we can have any access to God. Jesus had to God die, why?
So that we could now be adopted through the shepherd across the door from last week into the sheepfold of God. What does that mean? That we have the opportunity to be in his flock. Now, at this time, let's talk about shepherds for a minute, okay? At this time, shepherds were not cuddly little men that you looked at and went, Ooh, he's a little rugged. No, no, no. These were absolutely gnarly, nasty men that would cut your throat and not care a bit. All right? They weren't. That's just who they were during this time period. Okay? So they took their job incredibly, incredibly serious. In fact, they were fanatics about keeping the sheep safe, right? And they did not care. They would protect their sheep, even if it cost them their lives. And it often actually did. Often in history, you can read it, it often did cost their lives.
Why? Because they were there to save the sheep at all cost. And church, listen, it cost Jesus everything to save us. It's the point of the text, right? It's the point of the text. You've got the shepherd that it cost everything. But on the other side, notice what Jesus does here. It's an incredible literary moment right here for Jesus, because Jesus shows us the true shepherd that lays down his life. But on the other side, he shows us a contrast in the text in verse 12, and he begins to talk about the hired person. All right? He's kind of looking over at the Pharisees at this moment and kind of winking at him a minute right here, right? But listen to what he says about them. He says, the hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So look at this, verse 12.
So when he sees the wolf coming, what does he do? The hired hand. He abandons the sheep, he runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it, and the man runs away. Why? Because he is a hired hand and he cares nothing for the sheep. Now, in our minds, we're reading this like, I'm not a shepherd. I don't really care about this. But what Jesus is saying here is there's a difference. And you gotta know the difference. You see, because for us sheep, there is going to be countless things that try to sneak into our lives and lead us and entice us that promise us that they're gonna be our protector and they're gonna be our promise. But what Jesus is saying here, only the good shepherd, only the good shepherd is gonna only be the one that stays with us when the wolves attack.
Now, in context, the wolves are the religious people that are trying to bring this false religion of works and, and just Old Testament grinding it out. But for us, it might be something in your life that's trying to lead you like popularity or status or financial gain or some earthly goal or maybe some group that you want to be in. But Jesus says, Hey, remember this when the going gets tough and when the fights start, be careful not to follow the fake shepherds of this world because they will always only be about their advancement. They will always leave you exposed. They will always turn their backs on you just to save themselves and listen to me. That's exactly what everything else other than the good shepherd will do in your life. But man, don't we chase it? Don't we chase the other stuff that looks alluring, that looks like it wants us to follow it.
But Jesus is the one that laid his life down. To, to which many of us would go, Matt, I, I get the fact that that that Jesus laid his life down. But, but was it really that big of a deal? About a month and a half ago, I met with a person that that, that we kind of got into a little bit of an argument, okay? It wasn't an argument, it was a discussion, right? Um, about they wanted to challenge me on the fact that it wasn't a big deal for Jesus's physical self to die. Like was it a big deal for his body to be to to be taken on the cross, that he just gave up this little temporary flesh suit and he was God and it really didn't matter. And it hit me in that moment, this verse right here. I don't know why.
It just divs the Holy Spirit deal, right? To where Jesus said that he's the good shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for sheep. In fact, look at the verse right here in verse 11 and watch what it says. It says, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. That word life that you're seeing right there is not the word bios. That just means breath. It's actually the word suka, alright? Suka. That literally means that Jesus didn't just kinda lay down this biological self for you. I want, I want you to hear this, all right? He didn't just lay down this biological, temporary, earthly suit for you and then just kind of went on about his business. No, no, no. Jesus laid down his suah. That's the word that Jesus uses right here. What that means is he laid down his very essence in all of who he is.
From the beginning to the end, he laid down every bit of emotion, every bit of his soul, every bit of his body, for your atonement of your sins. That's what the good shepherd does. So don't think that Jesus just all of a sudden just gave up this temporary earthlyness he had. No, Jesus fully felt everything, the physical pain, the curse of sin, the hurt of hate, the separation from God, and thank God the shepherd did this for me as a fellow sheep. Lemme just say today, thank God he died for me. I'm so glad that even when the wolf's come at me, I know that one's already died with me and he's already still walking with me. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's the good shepherd. In fact, write this principle down. When life, when the going gets tough, it's only the good shepherd that has the perfect love to stay right there with you.
Teenagers, if you don't hear anything else today, hear this, every other shepherd in your life will turn its back on you when the wolfs come. But he won't. He won't. He's the only one. So number one, number one, I know you're thinking, we ain't ever going home. Yeah, we are. That's the long one. All right there, there we are. All right. Number one, the good shepherd dies for his sheep. Here's the second one. It seems really obvious after talking about that the good shepherd not only dies for his sheep, but the good shepherd loves his sheep, loves his sheep. Here, here's what I want you to hear in this. Listen, God, Jesus did not just die for you because it was something he was supposed to do. He did it because of his love for you. It's so comforting and it's so good to know that in light of the good shepherd, listen, if you have given your life to Jesus, if you have been saved, listen, this is not just a theological something for you to grasp hold of.
It is a personal relationship with Jesus to where, yes, he so loved the world, but also, yes, he so loved you. Individually, personally, he loves you. In fact, look at verse 14 where he proves this. He says this, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. Why does he lay it on his life for us? Because of how strong his relationship with God is, how much he knows God, how much his relationship with God teaches him how to love. That's how much he loves us. This beautifully explains Jesus' love for us. To which he would say, well, Matt, how is the word love is never even used in the paragraph? No, it's not. But the word to know is to know.
Actually, it was in there four times. If you wanna circle it. This word to know is the word ginosko. It doesn't mean that you read something or heard something on the radio. It is literally that he knows us at a soul level. That's what it means. He knows us at our worst enough to give his best. He knows us as a husband knows their wife. That's the word that he uses, right? He doesn't use just this word just kind of, I happened to have happened upon him. No, no, no. He knows us. So in other words, when Jesus died for us, when we were at our worst, he has now given us a fully loving relationship in him. Even though he knows our wounds, even though he knows our battles, even though he knows to walk in front of and behind us, he offers all of himself to us in his love. And listen, while we are like sheep in a lot of ways, right? We are.
We wonder in the pastures we don't belong to, we get into fights. We know we can't win. We find ourselves in crevices. We can't get out of right. Even though we know that here's the great part for us. We are loved by the good shepherd that will always fight for us. That's the good shepherd. He knows me by my name and he will always love me. In fact, Romans 8:38 says, for I'm convinced, in neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, nor present or future, nor any powers, watch this, neither height nor death nor anything in all creation will be able to do what will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in the good shepherd Christ, Jesus, my Lord. Good shepherd was mine, but it works. Right? So the good shepherd has given us this perfect, this lasting, this powerful love that transcends just the fact that he may know us, but he knows us.
So he dies for his sheep. He loves his sheep. Here's the third one it's quick, but it's powerful. He unites his sheep. The good shepherd unites his sheep. Think back to shepherds with me just for a minute. What was the role? The role was to protect the sheep. The role was to do what? To keep the sheep together. The role was to keep the sheep moving and to pastures to where they could flourish, right? Because listen, left to their own. Do you know what sheep will do? Sheep will literally stand in the same place and eat every blade of grass and never move from that dirt spot and literally starve, eat their own feces and die. But what does the good shepherd do? The good shepherd unites his sheep around him and leads them into pasture to where they can flourish. That that's what he's saying in the text right here.
Look, I mean, think of it from our salvation. What does Jesus do? Jesus unites us in our salvation, right? He invites us from all walks, from all places, from all backgrounds. He is the way he keeps us safe, right? As his believer, we looked at that last week. He is the door, the gate. He keeps us moving in a direction as one group, as one body, as the Big C church and the local church. But also watch what he says in verse 16, Jesus says this. He said, I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. Now, I gotta pause there for a minute. 'cause this is one of the most taken outta context verses in all of the book of John. Lemme tell you what this doesn't mean. This doesn't mean that there's aliens out there that he's going to save, all right?
It doesn't. The Discovery Channel will try to tell you that it does, but it's not all right. It is not that. It also doesn't mean that there are cult groups that are mimicking Christianity, that are out there, that are trying to say, see, we are the other sheep pens that Jesus is gonna say, thank you Joseph Smith. That is not going to happen, right? That is not what it is. What Jesus is doing here is he is speaking to the Jews, right? He's speaking to the Jews in Jerusalem at this moment, and he's thinking about you, and he's thinking about me. All of us who are non-ethnic Jews from Jerusalem, thanks be to God. He is looking back over all of us for all times saying, this is not just a Jewish game. This is a whole world game that anybody that turns to me, I will unite them.
I will save them, and I will give them life. Yes sir. Yes sir. Right? That's what he says. Now, I probably went a little far for that, but here's what it is, okay? Okay, sir, I have the other. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. Keep going. I must bring them. Also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. Do you see what he just did here? He just absolutely blew a hole in the idea that there are multiple ways into his pen. He just blew a hole into this idea that all roads lead up the mountain to the same God. He just blew a hole into pluralistic thinking that our world has just grabbed a hold of by saying, Hey, listen. Your mind, their mind. But there is only one pen. There is only one savior.
There is only one me. There is only one good shepherd, and I have always been him. I will always be him, and I am offering you my life, and I want to unite you in it. I wanna unite you, but he also does something else here in it that I want you to notice, because also in this same text, Jesus is actually breaking every cultural, ethnic, or diversity barrier that you have ever thought of, and he's saying this, if you are in Christ and he is your shepherd, everything else that distinguishes you comes after the fact that you are in his pen. Amen. That's what he's saying. So whatever you grew up with, I don't know what yours was, it was something, whatever you grew up thinking, Hey, stay away from, get away from do whatever. He's saying this, if he I, if he is your shepherd and he is your king and he has redeemed you, then whatever that was, it no longer exists in his sheepfold.
That's what it says. In fact, later on, Paul says it like this, in Galatians chapter three, verse 26, he says, so in Christ, you and all the children of God through faith, for all of you are baptized and to Christ Jesus, you've clothed yourself with Christ. And now there is neither Jew nor Gentiles, slave nor free. Neither is there, male or female, for you are all one in Christ. Listen, church, this sheepfold is the primary function of how we are now to operate in life. Wherever you came from is great, you can celebrate that, but you celebrate the fact that you were led by the good shepherd, under his name, under his banner, under his salvation, and you are now unified as his church under him way before any of that. That's what he's saying, and hallelujah, he's saying it because actually, here's the bigger principle of all this.
Write it down. It's the last one. It's this as a sheep, we're not called to do this alone. Have you noticed that everything in this has been a, has been a massive response to Christ, has unified us. Listen, there's so many Christians that think that they can just operate as a lone wolf, sheep. They can operate outside the body of Christ. They can operate outside of community and walking with a group of believers that are moving in the same direction. Listen, that is not following Jesus. Jesus died for the church to be unified together under His name as the good shepherd to give us life and to direct our paths. Listen, we're called to live as part of the body in community, as him being our good shepherd, linking arms with others, never alone to walk with him. Can I tell you why some of you guys have never felt like that you belong?
Number one, because you've never stepped into the sheepfold. You've never given your life to Jesus. You've never allowed him to forgive you of your sins and to be your savior and Lord. But number two, for those of you that have done that, some of you have felt alone your whole life because you've never given yourself over to the body of Christ to be unified underneath the banner of Jesus. You've just tried to do it on your own, and can I tell you, it never ever works. The shepherd dies for his sheep. The good shepherd loves his sheep. Yes, sir. And the good shepherd unites his sheep. Let me ask you this morning as we close, do you need close? Do you need to give your life to Jesus today? Offers on the table for you to cross through the gate of his forgiveness and to his lordship?
Do you need to just say, Lord Jesus, I need you to be my shepherd, to be my kalos above all from all time beautiful in your existence. I need you to be my Lord and Savior. Is that you today? Just a second. We're gonna have an invitation time, and whether you reach out on the next steps app and hit, Hey, I need to accept Jesus today, or whether you just march over here to this banner and say, I need the good shepherd today. Do you need to meet Jesus today for real? Listen, some of you've been in this church game for a long time. It is really hard for church people to get saved because Satan has put a wall up in front of you that you think you're there. But has there been a moment in your life where you've surrendered your life to Jesus?
If not, today's your day. For some of you that are believers today, and maybe there was something in this message that just showed you one more time that he has died for you and that he loves you. He loves you. He doesn't just love the world, he loves you. Maybe today you just need to stand in his presence. Say, thanks for loving me, shepherd. Thank you. Even when I wondered, even when I went my way, even when you love me. Maybe that's what you need to do these next couple minutes. Maybe you today, maybe you today, just need to spend a couple minutes, whether it's at this altar or come over to the next steps banner for prayer today. Maybe you today just need to say, Hey, Lord, I'm yours moving me. Move in me.