Preached at Markham Baptist Church, March 11, 2001

One day while Jesus was walking with his disciples he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" And the disciples answered, giving him the rumours of the day. "Some people say you are John the Baptist come back from the dead. Others say you are Elijah and some others speculate that you are one of the prophets."

Then Jesus asks them, "But you, who do you say I am?"

It is a question that reverberates through the corridors of time - a question that Jesus asks everyone who seeks to follow him, in every age. It is a question he asked your grandparents; it is a question he asked your parents. It is a question he asks you and me today, "Who do you say I am?"

It is a vitally important question, for how we answer reflects the state of our relationship and the nature of our faith. For instance, if you know Jesus to be your Saviour but not your Lord, then you will rest in your salvation but you will not have any inclination to obey his word, and your faith will lack substance. If you know him to be your Lord but not your Saviour, then you will always be seeking to please him without a realization of his deep love for you. And your faith will become legalistic and stale.

Christ is the centre of our faith; he is the focus of our faith. To know him is to know God. So it is vitally important that we grasp with our minds and with our hearts who he is.

And Jesus isn't cruel; he doesn't play guessing games with us. He doesn't come and say to us, "Who do you say I am? Try to guess. Come on, guess; I'll give you three chances." No, he reveals himself to us and whoever really wants to know can know who he is. And O what wonders await anyone who will take the time to allow Christ to reveal himself to them. We have discovered some of those wonders, haven't we, during the last number of weeks. And I know, from your comments at the door, that many of you have had your faith strengthened as the Holy Spirit has revealed to us the person of Christ.

"I am the vine," he says. And you are the branches. In that word picture we have a revelation of who Christ is and the nature of our relationship.

"I am the door," he says. That's who he is, and then the nature of our relationship with him, "Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture." (John 10:9)

Then today, in our text, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd."

The good shepherd, what does that mean?

We look to John 10 to discover the meaning of this name. Our text is John 10:11-21.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father." Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?" Others were saying, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
(John 10:11-21) (NRSV)

Now you know from reading your Bibles that the image of the shepherd is one that is used over and over again. You know from that most popular of Psalms, Psalm 23, that God is pictured as a shepherd who provides for his sheep, who leads to still waters and green pastures, who brings comfort in the dark times of life.

There are other passages too that identify God as the shepherd: Psalm 80 and Isaiah 40. When Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd," he is identifying himself as divine. It is tantamount to saying, "I am God, the shepherd."

You will also know from reading your Bibles that many of God's leaders were shepherds. Jacob looked after the flocks of Laban in order to win the hand of Rachael. Moses tended the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. David watched over his flock and rescued them from the lion and the bear. Those are good examples of shepherds.

But there were others, religious leaders of the day, who neglected the work of God. God speaks through Ezekiel to them and says:

"Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals."
(Ezekiel 34:2-5) (NIV)

Jesus is the GOOD shepherd. That is, he is the excellent shepherd, the qualified shepherd, the true shepherd.

It is important for us to keep all this in mind when we hear Jesus say "I am the good shepherd." We must remember all that has been revealed before. Clearly he is the revelation of the shepherd of Psalm 23; surely he is the epitome of all the good shepherds that went before, and he is the opposite of those shepherds that neglect the flock and care only for their own welfare.

Jesus emphasizes this point especially in our text. In verses 11 through 13 Jesus compares himself to the false shepherd, or the hired hand.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep."
(John 10:11-13) (NRSV)

Jesus uses the negative example to explain the kind of shepherd he is. Who is Jesus? He is the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. Now we understand that. We know that, just as any good shepherd would sacrifice himself for his sheep if a wolf came prowling around. So Jesus gives his life for us. He has rescued us from our two enemies, sin and death. Because of our sin, because we have fallen short of God's mark, we deserve to die. That is the judgement of God. Satan, like a prowling wolf, seeks to keep us locked into sin. But because of God's love for us, his creations, he bore the judgement and, through Christ, died on the cross for us. He laid down his life for his sheep.

We know it to be true. He gave his life fully for us. He died in our place. But not only did Jesus give his life FOR us, this also means that Jesus Christ has given his life TO us. In verse 10 Jesus says, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

What life is it that Jesus wants us to have by his coming? It is his own life. He lays down his life and verse 17 says that he takes it up again. Why? To give it to us. If you have received Christ as Lord and Saviour he now resides in you. The very life that overcame the world, the very life that spends itself for God and for his purposes, now lives in you. It is through dependence on that life of the good shepherd that we are able to live the Christian life.

We need to realize that God was not just active in the Cross so that we only look back with gratitude for what he has done. Nor is he simply waiting for us in heaven wondering how we will do. His purpose is to become active in our lives now, in every area. So he calls us not so that we might do the work of the Kingdom for him, but that we might become the means through which he does it!

This is what Christianity is, something far more than just another religion, far more than just some wishful thinking, far more than a never ending struggle to produce a life that would be pleasing to God. It is an amazing truth that Christ not only gave his life for us, but he has given his life to us. So now with reliance upon him living in us, we are able to be loving toward those who are unloving; we are able to forgive those who slander us and hurt us; we are able to endure; we are able to persevere; we are able to do that which before was impossible.

Jesus is the good shepherd who gives his life to us and for us.

Then this, Jesus Christ is the good shepherd who knows us. All through this passage there is the idea of an intimate relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Verse 11 speaks of how we are owned by the shepherd. Which is true, for we have been bought by the shepherd by his own blood.

In verse 14 Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me."

Think of the depth of this knowledge. This is not some superficial knowledge. Our shepherd knows us like no one else - for he formed us.

Earlier in verse 3 Jesus says that the good shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out of the fold. This is complete and deep knowledge of the sheep. He knows us by name.

Does God know what causes my heartache? Yes he does. Does God know why I toss and turn at night? Yes he does. Does he care? Yes he does, for he knows your name; he knows my name.

You remember how in the Old Testament we read of how the High Priest would get all dressed up to go into the holy of holies, the presence of God. He would put on a special outfit for the occasion. It was covered with precious gems, in particular there were gems on his shoulders, and on his breastplate. And on each of these stones was engraved the name of a tribe of Israel. He carried them on his shoulders, the place of strength; he carried them over his heart, the place of sympathy; he carried them into the very presence of God.

You and I have a high priest, the great shepherd of the sheep. He knows each of us by name and he upholds us in strength and love in the very presence of God. He does not forget any one of us.

Jesus is the good shepherd then who gives his life for us and to us; he is the one who knows us fully and intimately.

Then there is also this in our text: Jesus is the good shepherd who CARES for his sheep. As we have seen throughout this passage - this idea is put in the negative in verse 13, "The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep."

The good shepherd, on the other hand, is deeply concerned for his sheep. In Luke 15 Jesus is compared to a shepherd who, upon returning his sheep to the pen for the night, discovers that one is lost and he goes out in search of it. And he does not stop looking until he has found that one. And when he has found it he brings it back on his shoulders and calls all his neighbours to come and see - saying the sheep that was lost has been found! This is a picture of his infinite care for you.

Now you see some overlap in the qualities that are expressed in these word pictures. Last week we discovered that Jesus is the door who protects us and so we can rest in him, and this week he is the shepherd who cares for his sheep - unlike the hired hand who leaves the sheep to be snatched and scattered by the wolf.

Let me ask you this morning, are you resting in his care for you? Are you modelling a trust in his care so that when you do walk through the dark times in life you in fact do not fear any evil?

This is not simply whistling in the dark to keep our spirits up and it is not keeping a stiff upper lip at church on Sunday so that no one will see us cry. It is a steadfast trust in the loving care of our shepherd who gave his life for us and to us.

Are you resting in his care for you? It's sometimes difficult isn't it? We have three children. John, Mark and Nora. You have met them and you know them, have heard us speak of them. When John was little he was an angel. He slept through the night, was healthy, fun-loving. He lulled us into thinking that we could have another just like him. When Janet became pregnant we had such dreams, such hopes - if it was a boy we would name him Mark, we decided, after his uncle, whom for all my joking, I admire a great deal. We had dreams for our second child, that perhaps he would follow in his uncle's footsteps. You can imagine the joy when Mark was born. But that joy soon turned into frustration and exhaustion, anger, and desperation. As Mark never slept through the night, he would wake up screaming; he was obviously developmentally delayed, and no doctor could diagnose the problem. Finally it was Sick Kids' Hospital, when Mark was three years old, that diagnosed Mark as having autism.

And I was left wondering where was our caring shepherd? Here we were, a little Christian family, with a little Christian child, serving a little Christian church, praying for a safe delivery, praying for a healthy child. What happened, God? Was he simply standing in the corner with his hands in his pockets? Why didn't he look after my child?

I can give you an elaborate theological answer to that question - it includes sin, and the fall of creation. But let me tell you, that in the midst of all the pain and the sorrow, God didn't cease to be the caring shepherd that he revealed himself to be in Christ. As I look back over the years, I can see how God cared for us and enabled us to carry on. I think of one family in our church in particular who connected with Mark from the very beginning, and cared for him and would often say to us, "You need to get away - we'll look after Mark; you guys go." And to this day they have been a demonstration of God's care for us. I think of other times, and other events, when God has come alongside and shown his care in the midst of the difficulty.

Scripture says God sees the sparrow fall - it falls to be sure, but not without the care of our shepherd. Our little sparrow fell but we were still in the hands of our caring shepherd.

I wonder, do we dare pray, "God give us enough heartache to make us trust you. Enough trouble to rely on your strength"? It is a daring prayer, but we can pray it because our Lord is a caring shepherd.

One day long ago Jesus walked with his disciples and asked them a question. It is the same question that he asks each one of us today - "Who do you say that I am?"

Do you know him as your shepherd? Do you know Jesus, who lays down his life for you, for your life, and to give you life? Do you know Jesus is intimately aquatinted with you? Do you know him to be the shepherd who cares for you?

You do? Good, then depend on him. No matter what you are facing right now, depend on his strength to see you through.

Spend time with him; get to know his voice by reading his word and praying to him so that when he calls your name, when he calls to you in ministry you can say, "That's the voice of my shepherd, God."

Do you know him as your shepherd? You don't? Then who or what are you depending on? It will fail you. Give it up - whatever it may be, and say to him who gave his life for you that you will give your life to him. Ask him to be your shepherd - mind, don't ask him to be your servant - he won't do it - ask him to be your shepherd, to lead you, to guide you, to be in control of your life, and you will experience life - life to the full.