John 10:1-4 "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, he is a thief and a robber. "But 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 leads them out. "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (NASB)
Jesus often taught using parables to make His point. As it is recorded, often His point was missed at first as the parables went right over the heads of those who were listening. Perhaps because Scripture tells us that it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us (John 14:26), they still will in some cases. The passage I turned to today is one of the parables of Jesus where He references His own ministry. Let’s take a deeper look.
The parable references sheep and the sheep fold which is a common theme among His teaching. Sheep are most often and I believe also in this case those who would believe in Jesus and upon doing so become Christians. That coming to faith in Christ then is what this parable is about. So how does it work?
First, there seem to be two kinds of people after the sheep. The first described as, “He who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way”. Who is that you ask? Well, who else wants your soul my friend? This, “Thief and … robber” is Satan or those doing his work, perhaps the Jewish leaders in this context. He is the one coming after the unsuspecting sheep to steal them away.
In contrast though, “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens”. Jesus is the rightful one to come to His own flock. What comes next is the remarkable part I think, "And the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out”. This friend is very important for us to understand. It is Jesus who calls His own sheep from among the many. He doesn’t steal what isn’t His. He doesn’t come sneaking in where he doesn’t belong. He comes in and He calls His own. Don’t miss who initiates the action here it is a crucial point. Jesus initiates the calling of His sheep. He calls us to Him.
“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice”. Jesus calls His own sheep to follow and we do because we recognize Him as our Shepherd. We hear His voice and we follow Him.
The bottom line then is that Satan wants to steal your soul like a wolf wants to poach from the flock. But Jesus wants His own sheep and will call you who are His. Those who belong to Him will recognize Him calling. When you hear the Shepherd’s voice – follow. AMEN!
Some commentaries take this view and there is room for that interpretation. When Jesus refers to the Shepherd calling "His own sheep" out you would have to ask - out of what? Out of some group of sheep that do not belong to the Shepherd. So, is it from among Jews, some who will believe and some who would not? That would make sense in context. If they are all believers, who are the NOT his own sheep?
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