“Truly, truly, I say
to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by
another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is
the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his
voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has
brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from
him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus
used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them (John 10: 1-6).
Jesus answered
the question that was asked by the Pharisees… “Are we also blind?”
(Jn 9:40). Because they were blind to the truth presented by the Christ who
stood before them, Jesus said they are not the true leaders of Israel. He echoed
the spiritual truth that all people are like sheep that blindly follow anyone… “All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way” (Isaiah
53:6). Jesus used the illustration of a shepherd to show the crowd that the
Pharisees were false shepherds. They were supposed to lead the children of
Israel to the Messiah through pastoral care, preaching, and teaching… “Thus
says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel… The weak you have not strengthened,
the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed
you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and
harshness you have ruled them” (Ezekiel 34:2-4). The Pharisees had
become false shepherds that harm the sheep by leading them deeper into the
legalism and tradition of men and farther from the truth that pointed toward
the Christ. But today they were confronted with the fulfillment of God’s promise
to replace the false shepherds of Israel. The Holy Spirit moved the prophet
Ezekiel to declare that God Himself would come and shepherd His people… “I
myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down,
declares 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, and the fat and
the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice” (Ezekiel 34:15-16). The
only way earnest Christ followers could become and remain true disciples was by
rejecting the words of these false shepherds and listening to the voice of
the True Shepherd.
The
first step toward becoming a disciple of Christ is trusting Him as the Good
Shepherd… “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life
for the sheep” (John 10:11). The key to growing as a disciple of Christ
is hearing and embracing His word so we become familiar with and eager to
follow His voice… “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me” (John 10:27). To avoid being led astray by a false shepherd we
must know the voice of the True Shepherd by spending much time listening to and
studying the word of God… “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The
reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God” (John 8:47).
Abiding in God’s word produces knowledge of truth… “If you abide in my
word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Regular immersion in truth makes us
familiar with and responsive to the voice of Christ… “For this purpose I
was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the
truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Those
who are following Christ but not loving and embracing His truth leave
themselves vulnerable to the deception of false shepherds… “The coming of
the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and
wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because
they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
The
blindness of the Pharisees was so infectious that they and the crowd of
followers did not recognize the True Shepherd that stood before them. He earnestly
wanted His followers to see and grasp the truth about who He was. Once again
Jesus challenged His followers to become His disciples by hearing His voice and
embracing His teaching… “Whoever abides in the teaching has both the
Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9).
As we grow
up into Christ abiding in His word and loving His truth, we become more
familiar with…
The Voice of the True Shepherd.
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