Do you understand correctly everything that you hear? Has it ever happened that you misunderstood someone because you didn't see something from the same perspective that person meant it? Misunderstandings – wrong perspectives, they can greatly alter our view of things.
For example the story is told of a little boy standing in the foyer of his church, curiously staring at a special plaque fixed to the wall. It was made of wood overlaid with bronze. The bronze sheeting was covered with names. On either side of the plaque small flags were mounted. The pastor noticed that little Alex had been staring at the plaque for some time. He walked up, stood beside the boy, and quietly greeted him:
"Good morning, Alex." "Good morning, Pastor" Alex replied, eyes still riveted on the plaque. "Pastor, what is this?" the boy asked. The pastor said, "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service."
For a while they stood there, somberly staring at the plaque together. Finally, little Alex's quiet voice whispered, "Pastor, which service did they die in, the 8:00 o'clock or the 10:30?"
Whoops! Wrong perspective! The pastor meant the military service, the little boy thought the worship service.
Wrong perspectives – do you ever have them, too? They can be humorous, but they can also end in a disastrous way. And if you have a wrong perspective on Christ and eternal things, your misunderstanding may cut you off from Him forever.
Who Is He and how does He compare to others who vie for your spiritual attention? What makes Him the one you'll want to follow? What's your perspective on this?
I. He is a Shepherd whose voice you can trust.
The Pharisees' perspective on Jesus was not a good one. They seemed to misunderstand everything He did and everything He said – and it wasn't a simple misunderstanding like the little boy had with the word “service.” The Pharisees' misunderstanding was deliberate and deep. They didn't want to understand who Jesus really was otherwise they would lose their status among the people as the religious leaders of the day. It was a position they were not willing to give up. So they tried to find fault with Him rather than understand who He was.
Right before our text they had found a good reason to fault Him because He had healed a man who was born blind on the Sabbath Day, when they said a person should not do any work except go to church. To make a long story short, as a result of the healing the Pharisees were offended and took it out on the man's family. And the man who was healed was kicked out of the synagogue – all because the Pharisees had a wrong perspective about the Lord Jesus. So it was that Jesus told a parable about Who He Was and who the Pharisees were. The story about sheep, shepherds, sheep pen, and robbers went like this.
Imagine a corral in the middle of town. Every night all the shepherds drive their flocks into it for safe keeping. But not everyone has the best interests of the sheep in mind. Jesus described that by saying: “The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out….because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice”
Sheep were a common sight in Jesus' day. They grazed on the hillsides, their wool was for sale in stores, and they were used in the temple services. Sheep were of great value. As with things of value, sheep were also vulnerable to loss, at risk anytime, anywhere. And defenseless, my how helpless sheep are in defending themselves. Bulls have massive shoulders and great horns to protect them; deer are swift of feet and spirited jumpers; cats have sharp claws and teeth; even a rabbit has fur that blends in with the rocks and dry grass. However, sheep don't blend in with the countryside, have no protective armor, and can't hide in holes in the ground. Sheep won't outrun many predators and can't defend themselves when cornered. Valuable yet highly vulnerable. So, it's necessary for the owner to protect them.
How about using a fenced-in enclosure to protect them from outside threats? That's what the shepherds in Israel did. At night when the animals needed to rest, they were herded into a pen in the middle of the village, the gate closed behind them and guarded by the shepherds lying in the way. That put an effective end to the threat of violence – unless the threat to the sheep did not come from the outside but from the inside.
What if in the place that was built to shelter the sheep from outside predators, a way was found to steal them? Thieves don't come in through the front door; they climb in on the backside in secret. Vulnerable to predators from without, and from within.
Jesus' story is a warning to those who follow Him because Satan works the same way to bring them down. He attacks on the outside; He also attacks from within.
You see, together with all Christians, you are the sheep that Jesus pictures in this parable. And the devil wants to engineer your death. He tries to do that outside of the sheep-pen, or the Church, in the world at large. Like a wild animal he preys on people with all the worldly enticements that can destroy men's souls - greed, power, glory, wealth, worldly wisdom, etc., whatever leads a person away from God, he'll use it. With such things he attacks you and seeks to destroy your soul outside of the safety of the Church.
But he also sends robbers into the church through back ways to steal the sheep from God. They come with lies and false doctrines in order to lead people away from the central message of salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ. It's the very thing the Pharisees were trying to do. In either case the result is the same, the killing of souls eternally. What can be done, especially with thieves, so that you are not misled and fall as prey to them?
The answer is simple, dear friends. Listen, listen closely to the voice that is calling you. Study that voice. Listen as it preaches.
If it is the voice of Christ, you will hear nothing about your own powers and abilities and works that make you right before God. You hear only the Gospel, the promise that God forgives you for Jesus' sake. In the Bible you hear Him say, “I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and you are mine” (Is.43:1). In the Bible you hear His assurance that He will watch over you; He will never be caught napping in His vigilance, nor will He let your foot slip (Ps.121). In the Bible He says He does it all that your heart may be at rest (Jn.14:1). Hear this and you will know the voice of the one who watches out for you. No robber or thief speaks like this. The Pharisees surely didn't; Jesus did.
Who Is He? He is a Shepherd whose voice you can trust.
II. He is a Shepherd who gives you life.
That's who the sheep will follow; they'll follow the voice of the one they trust, the one they know. If a robber climbs over the fence and calls them, they won't go to him. In fact, they'll run from him. They sense that he breaks in to kill, to steal, and to destroy.
In contrast to the pillage and death which the intruder seeks to wreak upon believers, the Savior says, “I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full” – literally, “that they might have a surplus of life.”
A surplus of life! An overabundance! What a thought, especially in a world that is filled with limitations and death!
I'm no farmer, but I can imagine the joy and peace of mind that a farmer might have in the fall of the year if he has had a bumper crop to harvest. If he has abundance, an over-abundance of hay that can be stored up for the winter in his barn, what peace of mind and contentment that must give him for the time that lies ahead.
Your Savior, the Good Shepherd, wants you, His sheep to have the same – peace, contentment, and joy in the abundance of life He gives you. The abundant life is exactly what the Christian has. Added to the life which is yours by nature everyday, you have a life “which is hidden with Christ in God” (Col.3:3). It is a life that lasts forever and is yours by faith in the death of Jesus Christ, your Savior. And what a life that is!
It is a life assured of full pardon for your sins. It is a life knowing that you are at peace with God and He is at peace with you. It is a life of love and hope and “joy in the Holy Spirit.” It is a life of power and victory “through Christ who strengthens us.” It is a life of hope, contentment, and happy service to God and others. It is a surplus of life, an abundance of life stored up within you like a bumper crop of hay in a barn. Your Savior is the Good Shepherd who gives you such life. Truly, in Him your cup runneth over.
Do you have it? Do you see it with the right perspective in mind? If you go to Christ and see Him in His grace, if you enter through Him alone into the presence of God's fold, you do, for He is like a door that grants you entrance into the fold and all the blessings that God has in store for His flock. If He is yours and you are His, if you know His voice and follow, no one can take it from you. So listen to Him, I. a shepherd whose voice you can trust; II. a shepherd who gives you life. God grant it to us in faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.