Listen Only to Jesus!

4th Sunday of Easter, 5/11/14
John 10:1-10


Listen Only to Jesus!
I. He is the Good Shepherd.
II. He is the gate.


Ten days ago I was in a room full of like-minded people—as like-minded as you might ever see. All of us were about the same age—within a couple years of each other. We all shared the same faith. It was a room full of WELS pastors and their wives. How’s that for a homogenous group? And the leader of the discussion asked us, “Where do you get your news?” And then he asked us all to raise our hands as he listed the sources. CNN? MSNBC? FoxNews? Local? Believe it or not, there was roughly the same number of hands raised for each media outlet.

Who do you listen to for news? I’m sure we’re all intelligent enough to know that every source of news has its particular slant. Most of them unabashedly proclaim that they are either liberal or conservative. But with such opposing views, it makes you wonder if you’re hearing the truth—the whole truth—or just what that branch of the media wants you to hear. If you think about it, it makes you skeptical. How do you know what to believe? Who will give you the truth?

That’s unsettling enough when it comes to national and international news. It’s even more vexing when it comes to spiritual truth. I’m stating the obvious when I tell you that the number of religious views out there is countless and it changes constantly. What used to be “true” isn’t anymore. What are we supposed to believe? How should we analyze what we see and hear?

If it helps you any, that’s nothing new. It’s always been that way, at least since sin entered the world. It was even true when people had the very Son of God standing in front of them, speaking to them.

We don’t have the advantage of having Jesus standing in front of us this morning, but we do have his word. And on this Good Shepherd Sunday, we can do nothing better than to listen to him. In fact, listen only to him. Listen only to Jesus. He shares his reasons why in this portion of John’s Gospel before us this morning.

Part I.

I’ve heard more than one well-known person claim, “My words were taken out of context. Yes, I sad that, but I didn’t mean what you are saying I meant.” Most of us can relate to that. For whatever reason, people took what we said in the wrong way. Those words we spoke were said in a specific context in a specific situation. Those things must be considered when understanding what we said.

That’s also true with the words of Jesus. To understand what he’s saying to us this morning you need to understand the context. Jesus didn’t spout these words out the clear blue. This morning’s text is from the beginning words of John 10, but you need to remember that the original Greek text does not have chapter and verse divisions. Jesus is speaking in the last verse of chapter 9 and he continues right into chapter 10 without a break in time or thought.

So, what was going on in this day of his ministry? He had just used his almighty power to give sight to a man born blind and he had done in it dramatic fashion. His reason for doing so was that no one who witnessed the miracle or the blind man himself could be mistaken that Jesus was who he said he was—the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

But he had done this miracle on the Sabbath when the Jews were prohibited from doing any work. The response of the Pharisees—that self-righteous group of Jewish men—was predictable. They called Jesus a “sinner” for having violated the Sabbath by working. They rejected the man’s testimony about Jesus and what Jesus said about himself. Just as incredible, they rejected the evidence of the miracle itself. They wrongly pointed to the man’s blindness as evidence that he was more sinful than others and then excommunicated him from the synagogue.

Their actions against this man were tragic, but not only for him. They were tragic for the common Jews around them because the Pharisees were considered to be religious leaders. They were admired and revered. Their influence was immense.

So Jesus went on the attack. He used a figure of speech—some might even call it a parable—to point out the Pharisees’ spiritual poison. He declared, “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.” Really? Thieves and robbers? Indeed, thieves and robbers. These men were stealing sheep from the flock of Christ. How so? By their false teachings, by their discrediting the words and miracles of Jesus, by their self-serving influence over the people. He calls for the people to ignore them, avoid them.

And instead, listen to Jesus. Only to Jesus. He went on to say, “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” Does that sound like the words of our Good Shepherd or what? In contrast to the thieving and robbing acts of the Pharisees, Jesus supplies security. He’s the real deal! His words are truth and life! He goes in among his sheep and protects them.

And then he also leads them out of the pen into pasture. He feeds them on the life-giving and life-saving gospel, the good news of their forgiveness and eternal life which he, and he alone, provides. His words remove guilt; the words of the Pharisees only added guilt.

But in focusing on Jesus, don’t miss the reaction of the sheep. They know his voice. They recognize it. And they also recognize an imposter. “But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Their reaction to an imposter is, “These aren’t the words of the Good Shepherd; they’re the words of someone leading me into spiritual harm.”

Don’t listen to them! Listen only to Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd.

Just as on this day in the life of Jesus here on earth, so also today there are spiritual thieves and robbers out there. They’re everywhere. If you need help recognizing them, please let me know. But even if they aren’t a concern for you, you’re still not immune from spiritual thieves and robbers. I’m always a little uneasy when someone tells me, “A voice told me to do this or that.” Where did that voice come from and how do you know it’s from your God? Maybe that’s not an issue with you. But this one is, “I feel like this is what is right, this is what I should do.” Be careful of that one. Always check that with what you know your Good Shepherd says. Satan is a master of lies. He’s the author of lies. He used the respected Pharisees in Jesus’ day to spread his lies. He’s doing the same today. Listen to Jesus. Listen only to Jesus. He offers you the truth—the truth about your sin and the truth about himself as your Savior from sin. Listen only to Jesus.

Part II.

What Jesus was saying was critical. Listening to a false shepherd can be spiritually deadly. But his audience that day didn’t get it. John tells us, “Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.”

So, what do you do when someone doesn’t understand what you’re telling them? You tell them again in a slightly different way. That’s exactly what Jesus did. We read, “Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.’” The Pharisees wanted to lead the people spiritually. They wanted others to follow what they had to say. Their words sounded good to so many of the Jews. It sounded like they had a way that leads to heaven—just be as good as they were and you can enter heaven, too.

But it won’t happen. They are not the gate to heaven. Only Jesus is the gate. The words and teachings of the Pharisees did not lead people closer to God. Just the opposite. They did not lead the people to heaven. Just the opposite. As good as their teachings sounded, they were deadly.

Praise God, people, that you have Jesus as the gate to eternal life! Jesus tells you in no uncertain terms, “I have come that they may life, and have it to the full.” That life comes to you through the words of Jesus, the words of God himself. Listen only to Jesus. He is the gate.

Living in the spiritually pluralistic society that we do, that might not be so easy for us to accept. You mean the nice man I work with who isn’t Christian but is a good person isn’t going to heaven to be with Jesus? That question conveniently ignores his spiritual reality—one that he shares with you and me. He’s a sinner. Every day. Just like we are. He needs a Savior from sin no matter how outwardly good he is. And the only Savior—the only gate—is Jesus Christ. Sincere wrong thinking about your spiritual life is still wrong thinking. Listen only to Jesus. He’s the way and the truth and the life. How blessed we are to have that truth! He’s that gate. He’s the Good Shepherd. Listen only to Jesus! Amen.