Listening To The Right Voice

John 10:1-10:

1 “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. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

What is Jesus teaching here? He is teaching all of us to discern:

His character

His voice

His way

1. His character

Jesus said:

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 (John 10:1-2).

What is interesting is that there is no break from John chs 9 to 10 so Jesus is still talking with the man that has received his sight. Right away Jesus wanted to teach this man how to differentiate the character of the Good Shepherd from that of thieves/robbers and false teachers. The false shepherds Jesus is referring to here are the Pharisees, who instead of caring for this man, condemned him and then kicked him out of the synagogue. The religious leaders left this man to wander alone and it was Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who went to look for him and found him.

These false shepherds were not helping the sheep but using them for their own benefit. In other words, these shepherds didn’t have God’s heart for His people and didn’t reflect His character. Instead of leading them into an encounter with the living God and teaching them His Word and caring for them, they were leading the people away from God and into empty religious rituals. Instead of bringing the people to God to graze in green pastures of His grace and mercy, these leaders were leaving them diseased, in their distress, and spiritually dead. While it was still day, Jesus would continue to teach the people the truth and express His character and nature to them so they would be prepared. He knew the night was coming and that is when thieves and robbers come in to steal, kill, and destroy.

We see throughout the Old and New Testaments God rebuking the false shepherds who harmed the sheep because of their lack of compassion, their greed, and selfish desire for power and control. He rebuked them for feeding the flock their own man-constructed traditions, for not expressing His character and nature and for walking contrary to His Word.

In v. 3, when Jesus came to the sheep it was through the gate. The gate or entrance was guarded by a doorkeeper or watchman whose job was to admit authorized persons and keep out intruders. If anyone was seen climbing into the fold on one of the other sides, it was safe to assume that he was an intruder, up to no good. Today, it’s normal for people to ring the bell when they come to your door and if you saw someone climbing over your neighbor’s fence or making their way through the hedges you might tend to think this is someone up to no good.

These intruders were supposed to be “God’s representatives to His people” but Jesus characterized them as thieves and robbers who steal by stealth or else by violent exploitation and intimidation. Abusive, false teachers who have an ulterior motive and agenda, they use deception or stealth to get rich off of people and exploit the poor through intimidation and manipulation. Not only what they taught them was wrong; it was also destructive. Through their laws, rules, and regulations they made God to look like a cosmic bully, presenting a distorted picture of God.

Throughout the history of Israel and the church, God has always been warning His people against false prophets and their teaching. That is why Jesus and His disciples taught the people the Scriptures and about God’s true character and warned them to continually be on alert about these things.