When the Lord speaks to us, even though at times He rebukes or challenges us, there is love in His voice. ![]() Jesus was the true Shepherd, and the people knew His voice. Among the common people of Israel there was obviously a growing dissatisfaction regarding their spiritual leaders, because many were forsaking the Pharisees and following Jesus. If another person calls them, even if he imitates the shepherd’s voice exactly, the sheep will not respond. Sheep are tuned in to their shepherd’s voice. They did their job for prestige and power-everything except for the people. A hireling won’t do that.” The religious leaders were hirelings. Jesus made a further distinction between Himself and the religious leaders: “I am the Good Shepherd, and I demonstrate it by laying down My life for the sheep. Jesus Himself was the “one shepherd” that God was establishing over Israel to care for them. When Jesus told the Pharisees, “I am the Good Shepherd,” I have a feeling that they thought of Ezekiel 34. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them I, the Lord, have spoken” (Ezekiel 34:2, 23–24). He shall feed them and be their shepherd. “ Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them-My servant David. But hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth, the Lord expressed a complaint against the leaders of Israel in the book of Ezekiel: The term “good shepherd” often reminds us of Psalm 23. Jesus quickly followed His third “I am” statement with a fourth: “ I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). In contrast to the leaders, who seemed unconcerned with people’s salvation, Jesus said, “ I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). He is the door, the only One through whom a person can enter the sheepfold-the kingdom of God. This is the third “I am” statement made by Jesus. “If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John 10:7, 9). “ I am the door of the sheep,” He explained. The religious leaders did not understand Jesus’ illustration. In misrepresenting the law of Moses, they were depriving people of salvation. The Pharisees had taken the system that Moses had passed on to them and ripped the heart out of it, replacing it with their humanistic thoughts and ideas. What do thieves do? Steal, kill, and destroy. The Pharisees’ animosity toward Jesus made manifest that they were not truly God’s servants. Jesus was calling these men, who claimed to be shepherds of Israel, thieves and robbers. This was a direct indictment against the Jewish leaders. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep” (John 10:1–2). Jesus, in His ongoing dialogue with the contradictory Pharisees, told a parable: “ He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. If we are truly following Jesus, we will sense the enemy’s designs and ignore his voice. He disguises himself as a caring shepherd in order to gain access into our lives and, ultimately, to destroy us. ![]() ![]() And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:1–4 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. “ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
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