Life of Christ – Part 13 – Jesus Attends Two Feasts(6) – The Good Shepherd

Text: John 10:1-21

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

Right on the heals of calling the Pharisees and other rulers blind, Jesus fire forward the idea that he I the good shepherd of his sheep.  Shepherd imagery would be readily understood by the people of his day as nearly every boy might have at least taken a turn at watching sheep.  The one thing that is for sure Jesus ignites once again the controversy over who he is.

It seems strange to me that really we have come full circle but once again some claim that Jesus is demon possessed and others are saying he may be the Messiah.  What John gives us here is that the rulers were divided by Jesus as well.  It is just that those that hate Jesus act quicker to have him destroyed.

It should be noted that this is the last event surrounding Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles and the next thing we see is Jesus at the Feast of Dedication (what we know as Hanukkah).  These two feasts are separated by three months of time so what Jesus did in between the feasts is unrecorded.  Given that Jesus was declared to be good friends with Lazarus, Mary and Martha and they lived near Jerusalem, he may have spent this time with them.  He also might have returned to Galilee, but one thing is for certain by the next Feast Jesus is present with more controversial things to say.

Next: The Feast of Dedication