John 10:1-6

John 10:1-6

“Amen, amen, I say to you all: The one who does not enter through the door into the fold of the sheep while going up from another place – that one is a thief and a robber.  But the one who enters in through the door, that one is a shepherd of the sheep.  The guard of the door opens to this one, the sheep hear his voice, he calls his own sheep by their name, and he leads them out.  Whenever he should cast out all of his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him because they have known his voice.  And they will surely not follow a stranger but they will flee from him because they have not known the voice of strangers.”  Jesus said this figure of speech to them, but these ones did not understand what He was saying to them.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this reading, Jesus is tapping into a very well known way of life.  It is a way of life that is unknown to us modern western people.  So let me spin it out to you.  In ancient days, the sheep fold was usually a large pen surrounded by a tall wall of rocks.  At night, sheep would be led into the pen – often sheep from multiple flocks and multiple shepherds.  There would usually be a night watchman who would guard the one way in and out – although occasionally the shepherds themselves would be each others’ doorman.  At daybreak, the shepherds would return, the door guard would know the shepherds, and the shepherds would call to their sheep.  The sheep of the shepherd’s flock would follow while the sheep of other shepherds’ flocks would stay behind until their shepherd came.  From that point on, the sheep would follow the shepherd out to pasture where they would graze and find water.

How does understanding this rhythm help you understand this figure of speech?  In this story, who is the shepherd?  Where are you?  What might the other sheep from other flocks represent?

Second Thought:

The sheep know the voice of the shepherd.  This is an interesting thought.  Notice that the good shepherd doesn’t force or cajole the sheep.  The sheep know the shepherd.  They recognize the shepherd’s voice.  The sheep choose to follow because they know.  The sheep don’t choose to follow imposters because they don’t know him.  But in all cases the sheep follow because they choose to follow not because the shepherd forces them or cajoles them.  They follow because they know it is the right thing to do.

Are you a sheep?  How good are you at following?  Do you know the voice of the Lord?  How do you know it?  Do you follow it when the voice of the Lord calls out?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage we have a difficult yet true verse.  They did not understand Jesus.  It is all too easy for us to sit upon our high horse and say about them, “Oh, how sad that they did not understand.”  But the true mature position is to understand just how often we are those people.  How often do we truly understand God’s plan before He moves among us?  How much of our life is spent just keeping up with what God is doing and trying desperately not to be left behind?  Sometimes we’re too focused on our own agenda.  Sometimes we’ve not done the foundational spiritual growth necessary to truly follow what God is saying in our midst.  We are often in a place of not understanding God.

What gets in your way and inhibits you from understanding God?  How good is God that He uses us anyways?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 10:7-10