The Good Shepherd
John 10:1-10 and Psalm 24
I want to start today's sermon by telling you a story of a man named Elijah McCoy.
Maybe some of you have heard this story before, but i'm going to tell you it anyway lol. . .
Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1844 in Colchester, Ontayrio, Canada.
At the age of 3, McCoy and his family moved to the U.S. and eventually settled in Michigan, where his father opened a tobacco business. Even from a young age, McCoy loved playing with his father’s tools and machines, and he experimented with different ways to fix and improve them.
McCoy was sent to school in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he studied mechanical engineering. When he returned to the U.S., he landed a job working for the Michigan Central Railroad.
The company’s deep-rooted discriminatory practices excluded Black men from becoming engineers at that time, so McCoy was hired to work in the boiler room of trains as a fireman. This position required him to shovel coal into the train’s furnace and maintain the engine’s moving parts, axles and bearings.
Though working as a fireman was not ideal, thanks to his training and education, McCoy was able to develop a more effective way to lubricate the engine and prevent it from overheating. What he came up with was an automatic lubricator that used steam pressure to pump oil where it was needed.
McCoy patented his invention, known as an “oil-drip cup,” in 1872, and the device was an instant success. However, due to its ingeniously simple design, other railroads began creating similar versions. Historians believe that because McCoy’s version of the “oil-drip cup” was the most effective, engineers began asking for “the real McCoy.”
It will hopefully become apparent a little bit later in the sermon as to why I have told you that story. . . but for now. . .
I want to move on to breaking down Scripture reading for us today. . . there are some fantastic truths in this small section of scripture, so I want to try and pull out some of those for us . . .
First of all I want to put this part of scripture into context so we know exactly what is happening here. . .
The start of John chapter 10 is actually a continuation on from the conversation that Jesus was having with the Pharisees...
You see in chapter 9, yet again we see these Pharisees jump in to a situation where Jesus is trying to teach and transform lives, but they don't like that... so that challenge Jesus.
Chapter 10 then is Jesus correcting their behaviour. . . You see the Pharisees would have consider themselves as the rightful shepherds of Israel, but Jesus begins to tell them here that they need to rethink. . . This is why this part of Scripture is sometimes titled in our Bibles as "The Good Shepherd", or in some translation the title says, "The True Shepherd".
If you can remember back to the Palm Sunday sermon that i preached a few weeks ago, then you will remember something similar happening. Jesus was telling the crowd that their idea of the kingdom was wrong and that they needed to rethink what they thought they knew. . .
Here we see the Pharisees assume that they know who the shepherds of the people are... but Jesus is pointing out to them that they need to stop and rethink...
These teachers of the law should have know better... Time and time again, God had sent prophet after prophet to tell them that there is one coming who is even greater than they where, Isaiah preached it, John the Baptist preached it, but the Pharisees just didn't want to hear it. . .
This even still happens today believe it or not. . . We have the freedom to read our Bibles, we listen to sermons. . . Lockdown made it easier than ever for anyone with a computer or a smart phone to go and listen to some of the greatest preachers in the world preaching the gospel. . . Yet time and time again, we hear the scriptures, yet we don't allow the word of God to transform our lives!
You have probably already heard this story of the good shepherd preached a hundred times before, just like the Palm Sunday story. . . We thinking it's either going to be a story of celebration or in this case we think that the story of the good Shepherd is going to be a lovely wee story about how we are like a little cute lamb, curled up on Jesus Knee.
That's not what this story is about. . . It's about the need for us to stop thinking that we are the shepherd, just like the Pharisees did, It's about the fact that we need to stop thinking that as followers of Christ we get to things our way and in our own strength. . . We gave up the right to lead our own lives the moment we accepted Christ into our hearts. . . and our lives are all the better for it!
At the start of Jesus correcting the Pharisees we can see straight away in verse 1 of chapter 10, where it says...
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
The Pharisees, the Chief Priests, and the teachers of the law... Jesus is calling them thieves and robbers because they are trying to stop the people of God from seeing the True Shepherd. . .
They are claiming that they know better and and telling the Jews not to listen what Jesus has to say.
As always... I want to try and bring this a bit closer to home... Who are the Pharisees in your life? . . . (Pause)
Who or what are the things holding you back from following the true shepherd? You see, we can allow what we think we know to stop us from seeing the truth. . .
What is stopping you from laying down your nets and following Jesus? (Pause)
Moving on to the next section in John's gospel is where we then see it link with our Psalm from earlier. . .
In that famous Psalm... Psalm 23... we see the Lord being referred to as as a shepherd, now in Joh we are seeing this in John 10 v2 where it says ...
"But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."
In verse 9 of our Psalm from today Psalm 24... we see this command for the gate to be opened so that the King of Glory may come in. . . This is not a coincidence. . . If we look at verse 3-5 then in John 10 we then see what it means here when it talks about gates and doors. . .
Except in verse 3 of John 10, we are introduced to a doorkeeper, or as the old King James says "The Porter openeth". . .
There is some debate as to who this doorkeeper or porter is... but I personally agree with the scholars that say it is the Holy Spirit.
You see if we picture this sheepfold that is talked about in John 10 as our hearts. . . then we can see here that there is a door, or a gate to our hears and someone is gaurding that entrance. . .
That is why in the previous verse Jesus talks about people who do not eneter by the door and He calls them thieves or robbers. . .
This is because they have not been from God, they have not been the things God wants for your life. They are counterfit. . . false . . . temporary things that try and steal your attention away from God. . . This is what Jesus meant when He was talking about the Pharisees. . . they where counterfit shepherds . . they where temporary . . . false and they were trying to stop the people of God from seeing God. . . Just like the things in our hearts today that are counterfit . . . false . . . that try and steal our joy and block our view of Jesus. . . they are not the real McCoy. . .
Phillipians 4:7 says ... And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
That is why I think the gatekeeper or the porter is the Holy Spirit. . . Because typically in scripture, anywhere that mentions the peace of God, it referrs to the Spirit of God.
It is also the Spirits job to point us towards Jesus. When the Spirit opens the door of our hearts that is when we see here in John 10:3 where it says that the sheep are able to hear His voice.
2 Timothy 3:16 says . . .All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Anytime we hear of the breath of God mentioned it refers to the Spirit of God. . . .
So, if we believe that the scriptures are God breathed, if we believe that Jesus is the word as it says in John 1:1 then here in John 10:3 we can see that the Spirit points to Christ and allows Christ's words into our hearts!
And this is something amazing because when we allow the Word of God into our hearts by allowing the Holy Spirit to open the door, . . . then darkness flees, the thieves and robbers of peace, love and joy. . . they are commanded to leave!
You see all of the counterfeit stuff looses its value in the presence of the real McCoy. . . You see even a look a like might be convincing for a bit, but when you put it beside the real thing. . . you ask yourself how you ever believed it could be real in the first place. . . the small differences that you over looked, become massive unavoidable things that tarnish your view. . . This is all because the real thing cannot be copied or mimic'd
And this goes for the stuff we allow into our hearts. . . All of the stuff that has tried to take our attention away from God, cannot stand in the Presence of God!
Another amazing thing about this verse is what it says in the 2nd part of it . . .
It says "he knows His sheep by name and He calls them out". . .
Jesus calls us out of darkness into His glorious light. . . He calls for our allegiance, our obedience, but the amazing thing here is calls us by name. . . this shows that He isn't calling us to just bind us under the same laws that the Pharisees lived under. . . He calls us by name because He loves us and cares for us and wants the best for us. . . Jesus doesn't want us to live in a den of robbers but to stand in a Kingdom that is beyond our wildest dreams!
The rest of this reading in John 10 tells us some amazing truths that I just want to quickly highlight for us. . . because they really drive it home what Jesus is getting at here. . .
Verse 5 goes onto say that the sheep will not follow another voice. . . Once they have heard the shepherds voice, once they have heard the word of God . . they will not stray. . .
How do we stop thieves and robbers entering in again over the back wall? . . surround yourselves with the word of God! Surround yourself with the presence of God. Read His word, spend time in prayer, come to the things that are happening in church. . . meet up with friends to discuss scripture and talk about the pains and struggles you are going through. . . because that's how we defend our hearts against the thieves and robbers that try to kill steal and destroy. . .
That try and rob of from a life in God's kingdom that is full and overflowing with blessing.
This is what the scripture means where it says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. . . no one comes to the father except through me. . . no counterfeit will do! Nothing in this world will satisfy! Nothing! Only Jesus can give us life to the full!
Have you ever wondered why other religions cannot stand up against Christianity? . . . Because they say that you can earn salvation through this way and that way. . . by doing this or that. . . or even that there are lots of Gods that we should be worshipping . . . Christianity is the only religion that claims to have the one true God and that no other God's can come before Him!
The God we serve is the real McCoy. . . nothing comes close. . .
So, as I come to a close, I want to give you the takeaways from this sermon. . .
Search your heart: Are there any robbers or thieves knocking about in there? Is there anything that is trying to take your attention away from Christ who is standing at the door an knocking?
Allow the Holy Spirit to open the gates that Christ may come in. Allow the Spirit to speak to you through God's word. . . Allow Him to illuminate Christ and what He has done for you.
If we look at what it says in John 10:11 it tells us exactly what that is. . .it says... "I am the good Shepherd, The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep"
What an amazing gift. . . that Christ would lay down His life so that we may be saved.
And finally, devote yourself to the one true God. Learn the Shepherd's voice so that you will never depart from Him. Read the word, encourage one another, don't allow pride to stand in the way and rob you of a life with Jesus. Don't allow hurt or offence to stop you from experiencing the goodness of God.
Follow the Shepherd, follow His ways, learn His plan and purpose for your life, and walk in that freedom that comes along with it.
I want to finish by reading the last 2 verses of our reading for us again today but in the Message translation, it says this...
I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
Amen
