The Gospel of John 10:1-21

John chapter 10 verses 1 through 21 here, and essentially we're breaking it down just for the sake of not wanting to cover too much at once, because there's a lot in here. We're breaking it down between this Sunday and next. This entire chapter deals with using the theme, the shepherd and the sheep. and follows that theme throughout the chapter in the shepherd and his relationship to the sheep. And the sheep are those that are saved by faith. In this instance, he's speaking actually particularly about Jews, but also he'll make reference to the church and use that as the shepherd and sheep analogy, which we'll explore in a little bit here.

So just as a preface here, we have a couple of numbers there. Jesus in this passage says there are sheep of another fold in John 10, 16. And so we'll be taking a look at that. This sheep of another fold, by the way, the Mormons will tell you that that's the ones over in the Americas, North and South America. That's the sheep of another fold. We'll see that here as we get into the passage.

The next one, the shepherd and the sheep metaphor is used numerous times in the New Testament of those in the church, including Acts 10.28, Ephesians 4.11, Hebrews 13.20, 1 Peter 2.25, and 5.2-4. So it is a metaphor, sheep and shepherd, it's a metaphor that is used for both those who are of Israel and are saved, and those of the church.

We have there the next paragraph, so by the interpretive principle of comparison and contrast, that's an interpretive principle it's important to look at in scripture, but a great many Christians have not understood that, and so the tendency has been to just bunch everything up under what's the same, and keep everything the same, and others have pointed out, well everything is so different, that we can't make a comparison. The reality is we can compare and contrast. We'll take a look at what that means here. So we're going to see truths in this lesson and in the next on that basis that apply to us in the Church, the body of Christ, from Acts 2 to the Rapture, the time when the Lord comes to take His Church home.

So now, additionally, the Old Testament has a lot of references, multiple references, to God as the Shepherd of Israel. References that go back to Genesis, here's 49-24, Psalm 23, the well-known one, the Lord is my shepherd. The Psalms are Israel's national hymn book. And God is referred to in Israel's national hymn book as the shepherd of Israel. Psalm 23 personalizes that. which is David's perspective. The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 80 verse 1, Ecclesiastes 12, 11. A number of references in Isaiah and especially in Jeremiah. Lots of references to God as the shepherd of Israel. Ezekiel 34 is reference to bad shepherds. And so guess what God says He's going to do? The leaders of Israel are bad shepherds. Therefore, I will be Israel's shepherd."

Micah 7.14 is another one, and then Zechariah 13.7 is one about Christ being the shepherd and the sheep. When the shepherd is struck, that's Christ on the throne, then the sheep are scattered, which is what the disciples did in great part when Christ was crucified.

So those are all a number of Old Testament references that say basically that God is the Shepherd of Israel. So when Jesus claims to be the Good Shepherd, what's that a claim to? What is that claim? Deity. It says if God is the Shepherd of Israel and Jesus says I am the Good Shepherd, then that's a claim that He is Deity.

Alright, let's take a look here. Okay, we're still in Jerusalem. This is Shepherd's Field in Bethlehem. It is traditionally the area where the shepherds were told about Jesus' birth, just outside of Bethlehem. And it so happens that this is an area close to Jerusalem and may likely have been the place where a lot of the lambs for the sacrifices were raised. So isn't it interesting to have the shepherds there in Bethlehem raising lambs for sacrifice to be told about the lamb who would be God's lamb and a sacrifice.

Here is a picture of a sheep fold as is referenced to in the biblical times where you have a wall that keeps the sheep in and then you would have the shepherd basically sleeping at the door with one eye open, making sure that the sheep are safe. And so this is an example. We have another one kind of like this with the sheep inside the fold. And the shepherds, this one's old enough, it's an old black and white from some decades back.

Shepherds with their sheep, Bethlehem in the background. Another aspect of being a shepherd is that you would have animals attacking the sheep, right? So what does the shepherd do in that instance, or what do these shepherds do if an animal comes to attack the flock? Pardon? Fight them off. Fight them off, even if that means killing the animal. Here it shows a picture with spears.

What's something else that they would use to fight off predators? hit him with a sling stone would be another one and that's of course what David had good skill at that came in handy when it came to him to take on Goliath. So sling stones and spears would be some of the things that they would use, even a rod you know, to go in there and whack a predator with that. So that would be another role of a shepherd and it's one we'll find in this passage as we go farther on. Here's another sheepfold where they'd stack up the stones. Pardon?

These particular ones are fairly small and that's because unless you had a number of shepherds That was about how many sheep you could support. In this one, you could probably put in 15 to 25 sheep. Realizing that here they're not likely doing a lot of feeding inside the sheepfold, it's just a place to stay for the night.

So yeah, you could pack them in tight. I've seen it having worked with sheep in the past. You can pack in quite a few in a tight spot. I've even seen them double and triple-decker. And here's another picture, and this particular one, a drawing, has the shepherd there acting as the door or the gate. So this would be another instance of what that might look like. Realistically, there wouldn't be a lot of grass inside the fold. That just wouldn't happen very long. The sheep would trample it down and eat it down. You wouldn't have that for very long.

So I am the door, closing in on the picture of the shepherds there at the gate. We've been showing this and it's also in your handout, second or third page in, and I am the gate or door is John 7 and 9, so twice, and then I am the good shepherd, twice, at John 10, 11 and 14.

So we find two of the seven instances of Jesus saying I am and then using a metaphor show up in this passage we're looking at here today. The I am statements in each case imply deity because he uses a unique expression in the Greek, egoimi, and it means literally I am. It is in the Greek Old Testament God's answer to Moses when God spoke from the burning bush and Moses says who should Isaiah sent me? I am, and Jesus uses that in each of these metaphors. We're going to continue to see that in John 11, 14, and 15, that same kind of expression. Okay, with that, let's continue on with the handout here. Let's take a look at John 10, 1 through 6.

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 is a thief and a robber. Now, what's the difference between a thief and a robber? Yeah? One by stealth and another by force. Yes, and I think what it's talking about, obviously a thief and a robber may in fact be the same, but it has different nuance. The thief is one who is sneaky, tricky, deceptive. The robber is one, it implies violence and aggression. So you have probably referring to the same individual but different nuances implied there in the two words.

Now, 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 he leads them out. By the way, what does it mean when he leads them out? Does that mean he misleads them? Does that mean they lose their salvation? What does it mean when he leads them out of the fold? If he is the door, the way in, what does it mean when he leads them out or they go in and out? Yeah, in other words, it doesn't mean they lose something. It means that they go in and out. The fold and Jesus being at the door means security and certain identity. There's the shepherd, the sheep, they know each other. Anybody else doesn't belong there, right?

And let's ask another question. Were there thieves and robbers in biblical times in these sheepfolds? Were there such a thing? Yes, there were. And let's ask this question. Can a thief or a robber, spiritually speaking, take your salvation away? No. No. So his illustration of it has to do with the character of those trying to get in, not that your salvation is at risk. See the difference there? Yes.

Could it also refer to the future where he says the sheep know his voice so they aren't going to be confused by the Antichrist later on. I mean, it could almost be a double prophet. Well, and let's think about this. If in reference to the Antichrist is that the church? No. No, because the church is gone. Is that Israel that he's speaking to? Not quite the same, although the church will be gone, it's going to be a special circumstance, and there will be people who, during the tribulation period where the Antichrist becomes apparent, there will be people who look at God's word and say, that's the guy.

Christians sometimes will get confused by going around trying to look for the Antichrist. And that's not a fruitful thing to do. The Antichrist will be apparent during the Tribulation period and probably not before. And any attempts that we make are not only probably fruitless, because he may not show himself for who he is, but secondarily, it's a real distraction.

Are we to be looking for the Antichrist or for Christ Himself? For Christ, right? Looking for His coming, not not going about looking for the Antichrist. And so you have Christians that can get not only confused thinking they're supposed to go around looking for the Antichrist, but really distracted when our call is to look for the blessed hope of the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I hope it's today. I hope we don't finish this lesson because of that. Alright.

So verse 4, 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. The Palestinian shepherd would lead the sheep and go out in front of them and the sheep follow him and they know his voice and there's a relationship there. While I've worked with sheep in the past, I was never a Palestinian style shepherd where the sheep just followed me.

Never had that. So this is something special and unique where there's such a close relationship with the sheep that the sheep know his voice, will only follow the shepherd and that's it. Yes. So basically they're talking about false prophets and teachers at this time. Yeah, that's a hazard and we're going to come into this again because when you have the hireling and the wolf you've got that kind of a question that comes up as well.

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. Did Jesus intend that they understand, but they just never did? Or did Jesus intend that they not understand, but that we understand? Which one is it? Yeah? And that is? OK?

Well, let's think about this. There's two kinds of people listening, right? One is there's the disciples. Did he want the disciples to understand what he was saying? Yes. And here's John writing this down, and John apparently did, right? So while the disciples would understand this, the other Jewish leaders wouldn't. What's all this? Because remember, they're not real good at thinking spiritually, right?

So they would not understand, but the disciples would. So this is comparable to how Jesus and Matthew, Mark and Luke would speak in parables, in that those who were intended to understand would understand, but those who were blind to what he was saying would continue to be blind.

In fact, he would speak fairly strongly against those who were the Jewish leaders and those who were intending to kill him, but he spoke it metaphor. What did he call the Jewish leaders? Robbers and thieves, right? He called the Jewish leaders robbers and thieves.

Did they understand that? No, they didn't, and that's his point here. Alright now, so the illustration Jesus used like parables allowed him to present a truth which would be understood by those with spiritual insight yet remain hidden from those lacking spiritual insight. Why would Jesus want to say things that the Jewish leaders would not understand at this point.

Yes, his time had not yet come. And because of that, we're going to see chapter 12 and 13 is going to say his time has come. But it's not there yet. We're getting close, but it's not there yet. And so he doesn't want to fan the flames, so to speak, until the right time has come, which will be Passover the following year, roughly six months out.

Christ, God working through Christ is illustrated as the shepherd, the door or gate and the doorkeeper, the one who enters by the door and the one He calls his sheep by name and leads them. That's Christ's part of the illustration. This illustration also characterizes the sheep by who the sheep will and won't trust and their singular relationship to the shepherd.

They follow the shepherd, they hear his voice, they know his voice, and nothing and nobody else. And that's true. Nothing and nobody else. The sheep will listen to the voice of the shepherd and will follow him, but they will flee any other. And that is true as well.

One of the problems, and I say I've worked with sheep in the past, one of the problems in protecting sheep where you don't have sheepfold and someone at the door, One of the measures that were used with the sheep on my folks' place, because they didn't have a shepherd with them all the time and didn't have a fold, was they bought a llama. Because the llamas are really tall, so you've got a larger looking animal, and when a predator comes, guess what the llama's response is? to go at the predator. So the llama acts in some degree as a protector, some degree as a shepherd. Not quite in the same sense, however, and the llama can be overcome. So it helps, but it's not foolproof.

Okay, here is John 7-10. So Jesus said to them again, Truly, truly, I say to you, and that's the way things are prefaced in the Gospel of John, I am the door of the sheep. That's the first reference there, I am the gate or the door. I am the door of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers. Thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pastor. So Jesus says twice, I am the door. I am the door. He made that statement. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

So he claims the specific and singular the door or gate of the sheep and the I am words in Greek that imply deity. The three parties are the door and the sheep and thieves and robbers in this passage here. The door, the sheep, and the thieves and robbers. It's abundantly clear that Christ is the door or the gate. He makes that clear. The sheep.

Is the sheep all those who are Jews? I see heads saying no. Why not? Why aren't all those who are Jews sheep? What's the difference between the Jews that are sheep and the Jews that aren't? Belief. And belief is it. Those who believe are the sheep. Those who don't believe are not the sheep.

As a matter of fact, what might they be? Thieves and robbers, right? So there's a dividing line. Here you have what on the surface might, well that's a Jew and that's a Jew, right? They're the same? No. The difference is a pivotal difference in that some are sheep who know the voice of the shepherd and they believe, right? And there are those who don't believe and their intent is evil. They have bad intent for the sheep. And so it's interesting, on the outside, But it looks all the same. These are Jews and those are Jews, right? These are Jews, they live in Israel. These are Jews, they live in Israel. Some are sheep and some are robbers and thieves. And he divides them up that way by belief. Going in and out and finding pasture comes from first believing, entering through the door. Now, sheep go in and out of the fold and find pasture.

Does that have a spiritual parallel? Or is it just incidental? What does going in and out and finding pasture mean for the sheep? Yeah? It's like a twenty-third song. It's about rest and relaxation. It could possibly refer to the Sabbath rest. Possibly. But it seems in this case not to have to do with some specific day.

If you look at it, they go in and out and find pasture. What does finding pasture mean? It's food. It's life. They're provided for. They have their needs met. Here are the I am claims. We have the bullets there, one by each one. Two of them we've already covered previously.

The bread of life, Christ is on the bread of life, points to Christ as the source of true sustenance. Spiritually speaking, the light of the world points to Christ as the source of true illumination. The Jews taught that the temple was the light of the world. They taught that the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses, that those were the light of the world. He says, no, I'm the light of the world. The source of true illumination.

And then the two that we have here, the door points to Christ as the source of true security. The Good Shepherd points to Christ as the source of true care. The next ones we're going to see in passages ahead of us. The Resurrection and the Life points to Christ as the source of true life. The Way, the Truth, and the Life points to Christ as the source of true authority.

And I would say that that's a minimal statement. We could certainly add more to that. Way, Truth, and Life says a lot. And we could expand on that. And finally, the vine points to Christ as the source of true fruitfulness. That's going to be a fascinating passage to get to. So, all these pointed directly to Jesus as the mediator. They also pointed beyond him to God the Father. They were truth about God. Here's John 10, 11-13 at the bottom of page 2. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

He who is a hired hen and not a shepherd is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hen and is not concerned about the sheep. Alright, looking at that passage here, Jesus makes the claim here as he does in John 10, 14 that he's the good shepherd, using these I am words, okay? implying his deity, literally his claim comes across like this, I, I am the shepherd, the good one. That's the way the Greek spells it out. I, I am the shepherd, the good one.

So he says he lays his life down for the sheep, and this is in first person, I lay my life down. In verses 15 and 18, he'll do on the cross in the next Passover. By the way, that's present tense. Why does Jesus say, I lay my life down, not I will lay my life down? Is there any reason for that? I lay my life down.

I think it relates to his self-sacrificing attitudes. When you're talking about the whole New Testament, he's thinking more about the people than he is about himself, which is what the Pharisees did not do. I'm looking out for number one, and number one is me. So they were selfish in what they did, so that's a very good point.

I think, however, there's even more to it than that. You're quite correct, but there's even more to it than that. Let's think about this. Jesus could have said, I will lay my life down for the sheep, which he will do in about six months out from the time he's speaking here. Or maybe a few months out. But the point is, it's future. But let's think about this.

What had Jesus said not too far before this, before Abraham was born, or before Abraham existed, I am. So God sees everything in the present tense. That's God's viewpoint. And let's look at one more thing. Revelation 13.8 says Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world, right? Isn't that wild? Jesus was slain before God said, let there be light. Adam hadn't even sinned yet. There wasn't any Garden of Eden. There wasn't anything called a human being yet. And it says before the foundation of the world, he was slain.

How could that be? Let's think about how we look at time and how God looks at time. If Jesus had said, I will lay my life down for the sheep, that's from a human, I'll call it a time tunnel perspective. As human beings, we're sitting here in the time tunnel and we look into the future. Which for Jesus is just a matter of a few months out. So he could have said that, but from Christ's standpoint, from God's standpoint, looking at time, is a specific time that Jesus was slain, how God sees things.

God's perspective is Christ having been slain always was. And even on into eternity, what will Christ's title be when there's no longer any of this present heavens and earth? He will still be called the Lamb. Isn't it amazing that before this present universe that we know existed, he was slain. And when this present universe is all gone and done, he'll still be slain.

He's the lamb for us. So for him to say, I lay my life down for the sheep, is an eternal perspective. He says, From any perspective at all that I can convey to you, I've always been laying my life down and always will. He is and forever will be the Lamb. Does that make sense? I lay my life down for the sheep. I always have been and I always will.

So why wouldn't that be a perfect chance? What's that? Why wouldn't that be imperfect? Well, could it be? Before Abraham existed, you know, imperfect, I am. Present tense. From God's perspective, the past and the present and the future are all now. He sees that all is now. He's not stuck in the time tunnel that we are. OK. Let's take a look at the second paragraph on page 3. While Jesus says he is the good shepherd, there are some sharp contrasts between what Christ came to do and what would be true of a good shepherd in biblical times. Christ came to deliberately die for the sheep.

I lay my life down for the sheep. What would happen in biblical times if the shepherd died? What would happen to the sheep? Yeah, this is a disaster for the sheep. In the typical biblical situation, in biblical times, if the shepherd died, this was very bad news for the sheep. The sheep would lose their protector.

So here's Christ who comes and deliberately lays his life down. In biblical times, the shepherd dying would have been some disastrous, tragic accident for the sheep. But for us, the exact opposite is true. Christ had to die for us. That was God's plan, and far from being a disaster, it's exactly what we needed. The contrast couldn't be greater. Christ had to die for the better of the sheep. and the opposite of what would have been true in a usual biblical shepherd. And one other thing, Christ had to die.

How many shepherds died and then came back to life? Didn't happen, right? Except for this one. And the only value of the shepherd dying, if it's Christ, It would do no good if Christ simply died for our sins and that was it. The value is that he is raised to life. And that didn't happen with any other shepherds either.

So, John 10, 14-16, 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, I lay down my life for the sheep. Here's this, I lay my life down. I deliberately choose to lay my life down for the sheep. Sharp contrast with the natural shepherd. 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. What does he mean by I've got this other flock out of this fold.

What's that talking about? Pardon? Yes and no. And he isn't just saying, okay, these are Jewish sheep, and now I've got Gentile sheep, but what he's talking about is Jews and Gentiles in this next fold, right? Jews and Gentiles. Because the church is composed of Jews and Gentiles. So yes, it includes Gentiles, but not exclusively Gentiles. It's the church. It's a pronouncement of the church. And he begins talking about the church here, and he'll continue as we go through the Gospel of John to prepare the apostles for what's coming next.

And boy, it's going to be quite a light bulb moment for a long time for them. saying there's mutual knowledge, I know my own and my own know me. I know my own and my own know me. And by the way, real real sharp contrast, Islam teaches that God is unknowable. This however represents a very different view and that is that God is known and specifically through Christ. God is known. As a matter of fact, you must know him. Not that you can know him only, but that you must know him.

Even as the Father knows me and I know the Father, I lay my life down for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I lay, in verse 18, no one has taken it from me. Jesus did not go on the cross by accident. He did not go kicking and screaming and saying, no, no, no, you've made a terrible mistake.

Instead, He deliberately laid down His life. What are some of the indications when Jesus was there before Pontius Pilate. What are some of the indications that he deliberately laid down his life? Pontius Pilate asked him questions in which he could have given his defense, and what did he do? He didn't respond at all. He didn't defend himself at all. Was it because he was just kind of overwhelmed and speechless at the moment? No. It was because he was deliberately laying down his life. Here is Christ who had at his command all the angels of heaven and could speak out of his mouth things into existence or out of existence. And what did he do when the Roman soldiers were doing their duty and driving the nails in? He let them do it.

It was as much as to say, let's do this. Let's do this, right? I have authority to lay it down and I take it up again. He has authority. Interesting, he doesn't just say, OK, I'll go along with it. He does so deliberately. He lays his life down deliberately and he even says, I have the authority to do it. He's very intentional about it. He is not the passive recipient of this death. He is one who specifically volunteers and has the authority to lay his life down.

Yeah. So doesn't that also relate to his deities? The authority? It certainly does. Because, you know, on the outside, you would have looked, oh, this pilot's, you know, declaring a death sentence on this guy. But Jesus doesn't defend himself, but he does tell Pilate, you wouldn't have any authority if God didn't give it to you. You wouldn't have any authority if God didn't give it to you.

Now, something that comes out here, this is the top of page 4, there was unconditional love between the father and the son from eternity past, regardless of what the son would have done. I could say this, that there are layers of love, and at the base there was unconditional love between the Father and the Son from eternity past and always would be, regardless of what He did. So when it talks about the love between the Father and the Son here, that is on top of that. That is a special additional love for His being willing to take on But because of God's love for us, the Son was willing to deliberately enter time, adding humanity to His deity, and to satisfy all of God's character of justice, holiness, and righteousness. There is a further expression of love as these things are anticipated and fulfilled in Christ's life, death, and resurrection. Then we get into the next part.

Jesus knew these other sheep. This is verses 14 and 15. As well as he knew those who would believe on him in Israel. This fold that he talks about. So John 10, 19 and 21. A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Well, what a surprise, right? Many of them were saying he has a demon. It 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?

So divisions and variations of viewpoint, we've been seeing that for chapters. As we've seen, occurred frequently over the actions and words and the identity of Jesus. Over the things Jesus did, there was division. Over the things He said, and over who He was.

All three of those things, okay? John 10, 19 is not referring to just a continuing of a past division, but rather a stirring of a fresh division among the crowds. So there was a division in the past? Yes. This was a new division. More division. Brand new, fresh division. Fuel for the fire. Oh yes. So what's interesting is, think about this. Some people understood.

Some people didn't, especially as they spoke in illustrations like this instead of direct language. Some people understood, some people didn't, and among the various people, lots of different viewpoints. Division all over the place, which tells you that they didn't understand. They didn't understand.

The issues brought up in this passage are continued on into the rest of the chapter of the Gospel of John, as we're soon going to see. The rest of the chapter he continues to bring up the sheep and the shepherd picture here. The Jews are going to ask him point blank, because soon it's going to be Hanukkah. That's this next passage. It's going to be Hanukkah. Festival of Lights. It's going to be Hanukkah, and they're going to ask him point-blank, if you're the Messiah, tell us.

And what are they wanting him to do? If you're the Messiah, tell us. What do they want him to do? They want him to hang himself, so to speak. Give us some words we can really accuse you of while you're here, right in front of us, and speak to us plainly, not in all these figures of speech and illustrations and parables. We don't get that. Besides that, everybody gets all divided. If you just tell us flat out, I'm the Messiah, then we can hang. So guess what? Does He give them what they want? He does one better than that. He says, you guys want me to claim to be the Messiah? I'm not going to do that. I'm going to claim to be God. And I'll see what you do with that.

Anyway, fascinating. Stan, did I see a I was just going to say, if he just comes out and says it, then there is no basis for faith to the people in general, not necessarily to the Pharisees, but if he just comes out and says it in obvious terms, then there is no requirement from the receiver to demonstrate any kind of faith. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, we'll be looking at that.

That's next week's passage. Trying to get some continuity here. He's going to continue to talk about the sheep and the shepherd. He's going to give further insights. It's going to be insight that gives us a very intense understanding of the security of our salvation. And it's going to be an insight in which he says, you guys want me to claim to be the Messiah? I'll do one better than that. I'll claim to be God. And in fact, they pick up stones because he claims to be God. But he escapes that.

Other thoughts? Yeah, Greg? Go back to verses 19 to 21. So this is an initial division along with the other divisions which are basically who he's saying he is and they don't believe him because they believe him in part because of miracles, right? Yeah, let's think of it. There's three areas of division. What he says, what he does, and then his identity. Who is he? And the bottom line is all three of those things have him divided. All three of those things have him divided.

One person looks and says, this guy just healed a man that's been hanging around here for decades who was born blind. He just healed him and the guy is walking around fully and clearly seeing. The man says, I once was blind but now I see. Now, do you rejoice over the fact that this guy is now seeing, having been cured of blindness after decades?

Or do you go and pick on the fact that he did it on the Sabbath? Do you get all obsessed with, well, was it his parents that sinned or him? Or do you rejoice and say, wow, praise the Lord, this guy's been healed. So they divided up over what he did. They divided up over what he said.

He says, I'm the Good Shepherd. And to say it egoe me is a claim to deity. This is Psalm 23. I'm the Good Shepherd and the Lord is my Shepherd. The repeated claim all the way from the book of Genesis on in the Old Testament that God is the Shepherd of Israel. And Jesus says, I'm Him.

They're wondering, are you the prophet? Are you Elijah? You know, all these different ideas. No, he's demon possessed. No, he's a lawbreaker and a sinner. So, what he does, what he says, and then who is he? Those three areas had people divided up. All three of those things. They divide it up. And you see it here in this fresh division. Why do you even listen to him? Wait a minute. He made a guy see who was blind. That doesn't sound like demons to me. What demon ever did that?

A fresh division over what he did, what he said, and his identity. So anyway, next week we will kind of complete this and get on to the rest of it. Jesus will continue the sheep and the shepherd theme, but provide additional insight and revelation in what he says.

And I think it's some pretty rich and astounding things that are in that passage. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the richness that is there in your word. We thank you for the great comfort that we can have. You are indeed the door and the shepherd. We have security in you. We have provision in you. Lord, we thank you for that. We have a relationship that will never go away. And we give you thanks for that role that you so lovingly take on, and that intimacy that we can have with you, and it's in fact your intent. We just pray these things and give you thanks. In Jesus' name, Amen.