John 10 – the great “I am the door of the Sheep” and “I am the Good Shepherd” discourse is in the context of the blind man healed in John 9. Jesus said to the religious leaders: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (9:41). That is, since they were so convinced that they knew the truth they could not see the evidence of Jesus in front of their eyes, they were really blind and would stay in their sinful state.
In the context of that interchange with the Jews, Jesus gives us this famous sermon in John 10. We’ll just examine the first ten verses in which Jesus tells us: “I am the door of the sheep.”
We need to follow the voice of Jesus because…
#1 HIS IS THE ONLY LEGITIMATE VOICE – 10:1-2:
There are those who will try to get to heaven through some other way – verse 1 – through listening to some other voice. Some tried, after the resurrection of Christ, to get into heaven by obeying the Law of Moses. But Moses isn’t the way into heaven. Some today are trying to get in to heaven through the teachings of the prophet Muhammad or the Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi. Most, however, who do not follow the voice of Jesus are simply following their own voices.
Like Naaman who came to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy in 2 Kings 5. “Behold, I thought…” But Solomon wrote: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” The voice of Jesus is the only legitimate voice we can listen to in order to go to heaven.
#2 HE KNOWS US INTIMATELY – 10:3-4
Notice verse 3 – “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” Jesus knows us intimately. He knows our every weakness. In Hebrews 4:13, the Hebrew writer says, “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Here in this text, John 10:27. Also notice verse 4 – “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” We follow him because we are His – He knows us intimately and we know His voice.
We need to follow His voice because…
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#3. HE IS TRUSTWORTHY (10:5)
Jesus picks up again with the thief and robber from verse 1 and says that His sheep will not follow a stranger. Instead, they flee because they do not know the voice of a stranger.
Jesus is the only one we can trust when it comes to religion and spiritual matters. If the teaching is not from Jesus, it is not trustworthy. That’s why we can’t believe or trust anything that has been supposedly revealed from heaven since the close of the New Testament. The Scriptures teach that the Bible is the only revelation from God – nothing else is trustworthy – Galatians 1:8-9; Hebrews 1:1-2; Jude 3.
Finally, we need to follow His voice because…
#4 HE GIVES LIFE ABUNDANTLY (10:10):
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Jesus wants us to live the abundant life on this earth. He came to give us an abundant life. That abundant life may not include material prosperity. But it is an abundant life compared to what is not available outside of Christ. Observe these verses: Ephesians 3:20; 2 Corinthians 9:8; 2 Peter 1:4. Remember how God abundantly replenished the widow with the jars of oil in 1 Kings 17.
If we follow His voice, we will enjoy an abundant life – abundant hope, abundant faith, abundant love, abundant joy, abundant peace.
Follow the voice of Jesus because He is the only legitimate voice, He knows you intimately, He is trustworthy, and He wants to give you an abundant life.
–Paul Holland
