Lessons from John 10: Sheep Pen
Let’s start today by looking at John 10:1. There we will pick up Jesus’ conversation with the religious leaders who were gathered around.
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth,” Now, Jesus was not a man that He would lie. Everything about Jesus was holy and pure and reliable, so it’s not that He was saying, okay now listen up, you can count on me and these words, as if He ever said anything less.
No, what Jesus was saying was “LISTEN.” I’m trying to get my point across and you are not paying attention.
Ever felt like the Holy Spirit was nudging you to listen to God and then obey? Yes, we all have! Probably beginning with the steps to our salvation.
So as He commanded their attention, Jesus began to lay out this illustration of a sheep pen.
Now there were two types of sheep pens. One was designed for those shepherds who lived in a nearby town or village. They could take their sheep and leave them for a price in a public pen with a hired hand for the night.
This would enable the shepherd to go home and be with his family. Then early the next morning he could get up and return to retrieve and care for his flock of sheep.
Because this was a large area with one gatekeeper and several flocks, it became a place where thieves often tried to come in through another way, other than the guarded gate, to steal sheep.
It reminds me of the thieves who broke into our house. The first time, they kicked in the front door when no one was home. The second time, the perpetrator took a crowbar and wretched open the door to the garage.
Once in, they did the same to the door that enters our house from the garage. This last incident, right before Christmas break, the thieves smashed in the stationary side of our sliding glass window into our bedroom.
These thieves don’t usually come knocking at your door, making their presence known. They usually watch and lie in wait until they think it’s all clear. Then they come in and take what they want for themselves.
The other type of sheep pen was reserved for sheep and their shepherds who lived out in the country. Now, these sheep pens were made of small rocks. The shepherd would lie across the opening and become a physical barrier protecting his precious flock. Once inside the circle of stones or rocks, the sheep would settle in and go to sleep. They knew their shepherd was shielding and protecting them.
Jesus used this picture of a shepherd to reveal Himself as the gate for the sheep of His flock. Thieves and robbers come to take what is not theirs, but Jesus enters through the gate, not to take but rather to give.
Jesus came as the gate to open the way, that people might have life and have it to the full.
But God’s righteous requirement is that a person must place their faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross for the remission of their sins. Then and only then is the gate to God’s family (sheep pen if you will) open. And in that pen, God’s people find life to the full.
A life full of freedom and security, not only for now but for eternity.
Now that’s what I call amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, should die for me?
But He did and He would do it again if He had to. But the good news is He doesn’t. The scripture tells us He did it once and for all! Though sadly, not all will receive Him as the way the truth and the life.
People want to believe in the lie that all roads, meaning all religions, lead to heaven. Which is not the case.
How do I know this? Because God says so in His holy and reliable Word.
In fact, I have heard people say, “If God is so good, how could He send people to hell?” That’s the wrong question. We should ask ourselves and others, “Since God is so good, so pure and so holy, how could He allow sinful people into His holy heaven?
And the answer is, God only allows those who have been washed in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, into His holy heaven.
Jesus is the only way to know the truth, experience a full life, and have eternal security.
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach