A friend of mine was preaching on this particular passage in a huge Baptist church where he was guest preacher one evening, I guess it was one morning, and he arrived just a little bit late. The service had already begun and he was hurried into the sanctuary through the side door, didn't even have time to take cognizance of his surroundings, found himself being pushed into the pulpit. And this was one of his favorite passages, and he had a typical approach to it, which he immediately launched right into. And what he said was, I'd like you all please to close your eyes.

You don't have to do this if you don't want to, but you may. Close your eyes and just let your imagination flow freely and picture Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

Then he paused. He said, now let me describe to you what you're picturing.

And he immediately began to go into the inevitable caricature that comes to mind. I'm sure that many of you are picturing it right now. Jesus in a long flowing gown, right? Without spot. This man has been nowhere near a sheep field, I guarantee you.

Utterly western, straight-nosed, fine European features, very light skin, hair perfectly coiffed, not a strand out of place, and his hands look like they've just been soaking in Madge's palm olive liquid.

And he's surrounded by these cute little lambs, their fleece was white as snow.

And there he is strolling on a beautiful morning through the pastures in a very idyllic pastoral scene.

This was always a very effective beginning because just exactly as you've done, people would laugh. They'd laugh both at the caricature and at themselves because we know that that's not how it was. We know that Jesus was a man who really knew how to work. He wasn't literally in the sheep field, but He used His hands at the carpenter's bench, at the lathe with the plane.

They had splinters in them. They were calloused. We know that he was dark-skinned and swarthy. We know that he knew what it meant to sweat. And surely if he was among sheep, that flowing robe wouldn't have been without spot or blemish. And so we laugh at ourselves. We laugh at the picture that somehow inevitably crowds into our minds because of all the bad art. This particular morning, as my friend launched into this description, he found that people weren't laughing.

They weren't even smiling. As a matter of fact, the further he got into it, the more hostile it seemed to him his congregation was. And he didn't know what was wrong. He made the description more and more extreme. Finally, he realized that people were looking right past him.

So he turned around, and there was this mammoth stained glass window. the pride and joy of their church.

And he had just described it.

The rest of the sermon was very brief. Very, very brief.

That is the way we picture him. We know he wasn't that way. We know that's not what he intended, And yet somehow that's what fills our minds.

I want you to hear in contrast to that caricature. I want you to hear again what Jesus said.

I am the good shepherd.

Because I give my life for the sheep.

That was his description. And that was the only description. Because I give my life for the sheep.

You stop and think about that for a moment. That's not a pretty pastoral scene. That's a picture of conflict and violence. That's a picture of bloodshed and pain and death. And Jesus said, that's why I'm the good shepherd. And that's what it means to be the good shepherd. that I give my life for the sheep. He says the wolf is coming and my sheep are in danger.

He's going to destroy them if he can, but I will interpose myself between them and him. And if there's any tearing going to happen, if there's anybody going to be destroyed, it's me. I give my life for the sheep. It's not a pretty picture when you really stop to call it to mind. The good shepherd who interposes himself and allows the wolf to tear him and rip him and kill him on behalf of the sheep.

I don't know if any of you have been around sheep. If you've lived where they were raised or visited a place where they pastured. We were going through England a few years ago. I remember one particular moment when we came up behind a shepherd in his truck. He was transporting his sheep from one pastor to another.

And it was one of those funny, funny scenes. It was like the little car that the clowns come out of at the circus. You know, and they just keep coming. And there's no way that they could have all fit into that little car. Well, this shepherd had a truck, and he opened up the back end of it, and there were three tiers of sheep. And they just kept coming. And it must have been a hundred sheep in this truck.

And they were the big English sheep, not little cute lambs.

The essential characteristic of sheep, in fact you could say essential sheepiness,

what it takes to qualify as a sheep is what I would call a built-in misguidance system.

Sheep by nature go astray. That's what Isaiah said. You remember, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone unto his own way.

Sheep had to get from this truck, not as far as to Joe Kitts, across a little English road into the pasture, and there was this great, huge gate inviting them into the pasture. Do you think they could get through that gate?

Anywhere but.

The thing about sheep, they'll follow anybody. One of the sheep, they're kind of moseying around and chatting with each other. And one of them decides he's going to wander off this direction. And about half the crowd follows him. Other sheep decides he's going to wander off in that direction. Half the crowd follows him. And the shepherd's standing there waiting to go across the road with no sheep.

He began to understand the role of the sheepdog. This is just a parenthesis, but it was fun. sheepdog is dying he's trembling to go do his thing waiting for a command from the shepherd finally the shepherd speaks dog takes off running twice as fast as the sheep can barking and hollering and nipping at them doesn't scratch them doesn't actually touch them but nipping at them terrifying them rounds them up single handedly and herds them through that gate into the pasture marvelous picture you begin to understand why in Christian art, the devil is always pictured as a dog.

At the shepherd's disposal, herding the sheep back to where it's safe and not allowed to do any more to them than the shepherd permits. End of parenthesis. Sheep have a built-in astray system. They'll wander off into the wilderness. If there's one hole in the fence, they'll get out. But there could be 18 doorways and they'll never get back in by themselves. Wander off into the wilderness, utterly oblivious of the danger that they're going into.

They'll walk right up to a wolf and say, good morning.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray. You thought the Lord was paying you a compliment. Saying, what a nice little lamb you are. Saying, you just might qualify for that essential sheepiness. dumb.

But Isaiah goes on to say

we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

And that's what Jesus entered into. Jesus fulfilled that passage. He fulfilled all of that prophetic expectation of what the good shepherd would be. It's a marvelous passage. I'm not going to take time to turn to it, but you might enjoy going back this afternoon and in your families reading over Ezekiel chapter 34, where God Himself upbraids the shepherds of Israel. And He says, I'm against you because you've been bad shepherds.

And He details what they have not done.

they haven't fed my sheep they haven't cared for them they haven't built up the weak they haven't bound up the crippled they haven't healed the sick and on and on and on he goes and he says behold I am against the shepherds and I myself he says will come and be the shepherd I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep And that's exactly what Jesus lays claim to.

Did you hear that contrast? He says, all those who have gone before me are thieves and robbers. They're a bunch of hirelings. They don't really care for the sheep at all. When the wolf comes, they run.

But in contrast to them, I myself will be the good shepherd. And I will feed the sheep. And I will heal the sick. And I will strengthen the weak. and I will bind up the crippled and I'll make them lie down in good pastures and I'll feed them beside the still waters. I'll be the good shepherd.

And more particularly,

in the midst of that danger, I will interpose myself between those lovable dumb sheep

and the wolf.

And I'll lay down my life on their behalf.

then he says

my purpose in coming

is that they might have life and have it in all of its abundance

I've said this many many times I'm going to say it again and again and again and maybe one of these times some of us will get it Jesus did not come to give us something that we already have what an utter waste of time that would be.

He did not come to lay down His life in order that we might receive what we've already got. So many people would love to sentimentalize all of this. Of course there's a God and all men are His children. That is not what Jesus says. Of course there's a God and all men are equally loved by Him. God plays no favorites. But not all are His children. I am come that they might have what they don't have what they've lost and what apart from me they could in no wise have life

and here is life he says to know me my sheep know me and I know them that's what it is to really live that's what it is to enter into the abundance of life life as it was meant to be lived is to be in fellowship With this Lord Jesus Christ.

Utterly lost in a love affair with Him.

He says, I lay down my life. I give my life. That their lives might be spared. The wolf has come. He's going to get somebody. I give myself.

That they don't have to give their lives. That's my gift. Life. Life itself. In all of its fullness. and he says if you would receive that gift if you would enter into a love affair with me if you would come to know me and know my Father and have that fellowship which we have shared from all eternity then the purpose of my coming will be fulfilled I am the good shepherd because I give my life to those who would receive it

let's bow our heads

Lord we know those words the Lord is my shepherd

I shall not want

we know what it is to feast in the very presence of our enemies

to have our cup overflowing.

We'd stop to remember this morning what it cost for that privilege to be made available to us.

We thank You that when we wandered off into the wilderness and got caught in the brambles, the shepherd came into the midst of those brambles The thorns which held us scratched and pierced Him.

And He set us free.

Or at least those who would be freed by Him.

Lord, move amongst us this morning. Cause us to see with fresh wonder what it is to know this good shepherd. And if there be those amongst us who haven't ever yielded to Him, we pray Father that they might do so this very morning

to see the the depths the awesomeness of his love and the gift which he offers we would receive it this morning for his name's sake Amen