I Am the Good Shepherd
10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I and the Father Are One
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there. (ESV)
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
mmmmmmmmmmmm! Jesus is the good shepherd! He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings! Through him is the only way to get to heaven. No good works or prayer is a free ticket to eternal life. The Lord is so good and merciful that he humbled himself as a baby, who lived a perfect life and died on the cross, bearing the sins of the world! God loved us while we were still sinners and it is so comforting to know that he loves me unconditionally! I am so blessed with what God has provided me with and the work he did in my life. Praise the Lord for his continuous blessings! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is awesome, and he is good ALL THE TIME, and deserves all my praise, thanksgiving, and worship forever and ever!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! The exciting thing is that Christmas is not just a day. I know it is in that we celebrate today on December 25. But the reality of what Jesus has done for us is something we will celebrate forever, literally for all of eternity.
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Praise God that we can know this gift won’t need to be taken back! The gift of Jesus is permanent and so I am excited to celebrate him today and every day ever after!
Hope you have a great celebration today! To all of you at True North you are a great gift to me!
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A shepherd works hard to take care of his sheep. He has to prepare the fields for them to graze, lead them to sources of water, and fend off wild animals that are trying to eat them. One of his most challenging jobs is trying to bring back the foolish sheep that wander away. The sheep don’t realize that they are in imminent danger from getting stuck in a ditch, being eaten by a wolf, or starving to death after they get hopelessly lost. The Bible tells us the bad news that we are the stupid wandering sheep but their is good news in that we have a shepherd. Despite our former wanderings and bad decisions, Jesus as the good shepherd, took the initiative and rescued us from certain death. He went to the extreme to save us, laying down his life so that we could live with him in heaven. We are thankful on this Christmas for the good shepherd that was born not only to care for us, lead us and guide us, but to lay down his life for us.
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Now THAT is a Christmas present! Jesus is the good shepherd, and he did exactly that! It is so incredible to think that Jesus, who was God, came down to live as a man just so that we could be saved! That is the greatest thing anyone has ever done!! I am so thankful that God chose me to be on his team! And so thankful for his gift of FREE salvation! I want to serve him wholeheartedly for the rest of my life because he is so worth it, and then I will get to see him in Heaven and worship him for eternity! Come quickly oh LORD!!! MARANATHA!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TRUE NORTH!
ELLO and merry CHRISTmas
I like verse 5,”But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
I like this verse because it talks about CHRISTians following GOD and no false god who can do nothing. The devil uses all sorts of tricks to get us to have doubts in GOD but they will only work on those who are not CHRISTs sheep. This makes me want to talk to all those who are teaching falsely because I can’t be changed by them I can only change them.
CYA
25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,
26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
An excellent reminder of how all we are called to do is OBEY. We are not called to change anyone, we are not called to make people believe in God. But simply to share His love (i.e., share His Truth and Gospel with others, in the attitude of love and gentleness that He teaches us to take on as His believers) with others. Not once. Not in a moment. But always. In the life that we live. It’s not a spiritual diet. It’s a way of LIVING. It’s a response that comes from the Holy Spirit within us, so it’s nothing that feels obligatory. We are in fact COMPELLED by the gratitude we have for Him laying down His life for us and saving us from the sure damnation we were born facing.
Father, this morning we celebrate the love You have for Yours, and we pray for Your Spirit upon more sheep whom You called to be Yours, before the world was even created. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Only You can yield the right response in others, and we anticipate Your favor and Your Day of Glory. We thank You not with just our words, but with our LIVES–that YOU gave us.
Merry Christmas and Jesus’s Birthday:) I love Jesus
Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!! mmmmmmmmm it feels good to be back on SOTD(:
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
WOWW what an amazing chapter!!! I am in awe at how incredible our God is!!! Jesus is the good sheperd and he takes care of us, his sheep! This Christmas I am going to focus on how Jesus became a man for MY sake and he laid down his life for me!!!! Thank you Jesus <3
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
What an awesome promise, I am so incredibly grateful for my awesome God! no one will ever snatch me out of his hand. I know I can be sure of this(:
I hope everyone has a great CHRISTmas and remembers to praise and worship our perfect, sovereign, gracious, HOLY LORD, Jesus for what he did for us!!
merry CHRISTmas!!! :D i pray that i stay focused on Jesus’s sacrifice for us today.
4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
This is such a good passage! its just about following God our Lord and not following someone else or some sin that might be hard to let go. As christians we should KNOW our Lord and i know that i don’t as much as i should. I pray that every Christmas i will know my father more and know of how miraculous He is and how much He loves us.
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
This is such an encouraging verse, he is our father, and he is always there for me. He died for my sins and came and became flesh and lived and died, and rose again for us, thank you.
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Thank you Jesus for dying for our sins, and saving us from the eternal fire. This is so cool, and it mixes into today, for how he came down, and it is just amazing to see his love and what he did for us.
4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
in this metaphor Jesus is the Shepherd and the sheep are those who “follow him because they know his voice”. one thing that stuck out at me in this verse was that they follow him because they know his voice. as Christians, we are commanded to follow Christ. this means to obey Him. real sheep follow their shepherd. James 2 goes on at length about how true followers of Christ obey Him; our works prove our faith. this verse says that we will follow Jesus because we know His voice. God has spoken to us via His holy Scriptures. this is why its so important to be getting in the Bible all the time! how are we going to obey God if we dont know what His commands are?!
5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
on the flip side, true sheep dont follow strangers, in fact they run from strangers. is Christ the only One we are following? is He the only One we want to please, or are there others things that we worship? the strangers in our lives could be anything; money, a relationship, the world, or sin, to name a few. a real Christian will not follow the world, and his or her own sinful lusts, and will even flee from the things that pull them away from God.
in my life i need to be following Christ and obeying His commands. one command that is super important is the spreading of the gospel. i need to be constantly looking and praying for opportunities to share the gospel with someone, and being bold and taking hold of those opportunities. i also need to be fleeing the sinful desires of my youth (2 Timothy 2:22), and making sure that God is the only One i am seeking and worshipping. MARANATHA and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I like when Jesus uses metaphors to describe himself. Some of the ones that stood out to me were:
I am the door (9)
I am the good shepherd (11)
Both of these true statements all had one theme in general: they relate why Jesus came down to earth for. He came to die for our sins: the best gift anyone could receive. Without Jesus dying for our sins, we would have no door to salvation. But, Jesus is the good shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep, which is us! I will praise God now and forever for sending his son down to die for our sins! Merry Christmas!!(:
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Today we celebrate Jesus’ coming. And this verses explains why he came. He came so that we could have life to the fullest! What an awesome description of Christianity! This is definitely something I am going to celebrate this Christmas!
Life to the full!
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
This verse brings me joy and gets me excited! God gives my eternal life and the chance to spend eternity with him in Heaven and i will never perish with Him! NO ONE can snatch me out of Gods hands! Not even Satan! THat is so incredible and relieving to know that i am always in the hands of God and no one can change that. So with every trial or struggle i go through, i must pray and trust in God because i know that it is in His hands and he will get me through it(1 Peter 1:6-7). KNowing that He will always protect me, i must do my job and live for the Lord!
Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope that you have a great day with your family! Always remember to give glory to Jesus because He is the true reason we celebrate CHristmas! Like Ben says, he came so that we could live life to the fullest! Wow God is so loving, generous, and merciful! I cannot wait till the day i meet him face to face (:
Praise God for the gift of His Son!
Merry Christmas!!
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
This is such a comforting picture! The [good] shepherd lays down his live for us who are sheep. Our relationship with God is compared to sheep and their shepherd. The sheep know the voice of the shepherd and follow him always. They obey his word eagerly and wait for his wise command. They trust him without doubting, trust in full faith.
Lord may I trust you. May I wait earnestly upon your written word, and may I obey it with an eager attitude and please you. I want to follow the Lord on the narrow road to life all the days I am upon this earth.
Christmas!!
merry christmas…im on my iPod
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Merry Christmas!!!!
Today I am celebrating the greatest gift ever! Eternal life. It was a gift given to us by God! We celebrate the birth of Jesus today and for that I am very excited! We are God’s children, and like this verse says, no one can snatch us out of his hands! How wonderful to be secure in our salvation, knowing that that is the one thing that no one can take from us! Merry Christmas again, and remember: JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON <3
37Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does.
38But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
I love this verse. JESUS was constantly persecuted and called a liar. No matter what he did, the pharisees were after him. But this stopped them dead in their tracks. JESUS did what he father in heaven said, and therefore he was worthy of their faith.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and the Father are one.”
MMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! THIS is why I’m a Christian. One of the most satisfying and important things to me about being a Christian is that I cant be stolen from God. There are soo many things that are snatched out of our hands on a daily basis, that it feels like nothing is forever! But as a Christian I know that my home in heaven is eternal, and cannot be taken from me. Just reading these verses makes me grateful for my salvation and I love God even more for it!! With the lovely gift of Jesus birth combined with the amazing scripture, I would say today is a good day.
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MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!! Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!!!!!!!! ESV STUDY BIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!
Amen Pastor Bobby!
Merry Christmas true north!!!
The verses that stood out to me the most were verses 9-11.
Maranatha!
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
Why would we not want to give our entire lives to Jesus Christ? He gives us eternal life and he holds us forever. Thank you, Lord, for everything you have done for us, for the forgiveness and for sending your Son. Merry Christmas!
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
This verse is so cool. I am so glad that Jesus died for me and just want to thank him. Christ is so awesome. I can’t wait to see him.
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
I am so thankful that the Lord gives us a chance at eternal life so that we in turn will not perish. He gave His only Son so that we will not have to suffer the fires of Hell. We have a chance to live with the Lord for all eternity.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
I loved this verse because i love how Jesus makes it clear that no matter what he is our God and we are his children and he will always protect us and love us unconditionally! And i think thats a great thing to praise God about! :)
I read…
I liked verse 18… No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
In this verse Jesus was preaching and telling everyone that He did not need to come to earth but that He did to save us all. Let us remember His humility and live our life differently because of it.
9 “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
Jesus is the only way to be saved. Man cannot be saved through works or other people who claim to be the way to eternal life. Jesus is the one and only way, He came down as low as a baby when He was being glorified in Heaven to die for us. This is why Christmas is so important. Without Christmas, we are all headed for Hell. Thank you Jesus for coming down to eath and dying on the cross!
!!!MARANATHA!!!
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
This is what all Christian’s are looking forward to. I am psyched out of my mind to go to Heaven!!!!!!! I was so afraid of Hell that I became a Christian because I wanted Heaven instead of Hell!!!! I get confused when people tell me they would rather go to Hell than Heaven. They need people like us to explain the differences between Heaven and Hell. I am so happy that the Lord has given us a path to the Kingdom of Heaven which is through Jesus Christ. That is the one and only way to get to Heaven!!!! Us Christians are in God’s hands and he will never lose us or let us go. God gives us eternal life with Him in his glory and away from Satan!!! I am definitely looking more forward to Heaven this year!!!! MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas!!!
39Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
It’s crazy how the pharasees were so stubborn that when they have nothing to accuse Jesus with, they simply try to seize him. This is the messiah, the one they are supposed to be diligently waiting for, but when they find him, they are so power hungry that they refuse to admit who he really is.
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
This is an awsome verse!!! Jesus came and humbled Himself in this world!!! But He did not do it to become a hero to all in those days or someone loved by all !! He came down and humbled Himself to be hated by all and be crucified !!! But what an awsome thing that is. That He came and died for our sins !!!! Praise be to Jesus!!!!
I was reading this part about them wanting to stone Jesus for claiming to be God and it made me think about the lier lunatic Lord thing. If Jesus was just tryign to live a lie and fasley claim that He was God, He would certaintly back off of that claim at the point of death. If He was lying then it would not make sense for Him to die for nothing at all. This further strengthens the fact for me that Jesus is Lord and that He lived the perfect life for my sins!!!
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Sheep listen and follow. As a follower of Christ, I am a sheep and need to make sure I am listening and following the Good Shepherd. I need to be in the Word each day so that I may know the instructions of the Lord that are to be obeyed.
John 10
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Jesus Christ shows us His obedience to the Father by voluntarily laying down His life. God gave His Son authority to live a life that would become a sacrifice for mans sin along with the authority to rise from the dead. With this Christ conquered sin and death which gives us victory over our sin and everlasting life. God showed His amazing Grace by sending His Son to become the great redeemer. Thank you Lord for the perfect gift that you gave on Christmas that gave salvation to a sinful people.
Hebrews 10:8-10 8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Dear Lord I pray that my life would be lived in complete obedience to your will for my life just as Christ lived bringing glory and honor to the Father.
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus did the ultamite sacrifice when he gave his life for all of ours, he truely is the good shepherd
c u all later
this is an amazing chapter!
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.—I love the whole analogy throughout this chapter! Especially because it is Christmas, I have been thinking a lot about Jesus’ birth and how thankful I am for the gift of salvation through Him! I know that Christ is the good shepherd and he laid down his life for me! I do not deserve that at all! I definitely need to be more thankful for that gift and show my love in reply to Jesus’ by following his voice that will lead me to eternal life!
MARANATHA!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
This promise is incredible and most importantly true! Sometimes I just glaze over phrases like this acknowledging their truth but not taking time to let it sink in. God is promising sinners eternal life through faith and repentence! God, the Creator of the universe, offers salvation for sinners in such a way that nothing can snatch them out of His hand. Especially today, celebrating Christmas and the incarnation, I am in awe of the Lord and praising Him for His promises!
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The reason a lot of people fall away from the faith is that they get sucked into the desires of this world. And if your mind is focused on the world instead of on heaven, it is indeed easy to feel that the pressure to give in to the world is overwhelming. But in the end, it leads only to death, without exception. All of the things that bring temporary satisfaction cannot bring eternal reward, and those who try to live their lives here will lose them in the long run. Instead, I need to be drawing closer and closer to Christ, longing for His Word and for fellowship through prayer, keeping my mind focused on what matters and experiencing the joy that I can have in Him even when things in my live do not seem like cause for me to be happy.
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”
Much like when he says, “I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me”, he blatantly states his divinity to the people, making it clear that he is the Christ and the messiah.
10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The world would love for every single person on the face of the earth to buy into their deception. They try to make people think that living it up here and now is the maximum of satisfaction ever to be achieved. Jesus here says that He came into the world that “His sheep” could have life, life to the full. Only in Him, in Jesus, can true life be found. No matter how hard the world tries to convince you that it can satisfy you, it will never succeed. Everything here is temporary. Nothing will last here as all will fade away. However, the true life found in Jesus Christ will never expire or fade away. Instead, it will continue for all of eternity, a life never ending to dwell in the presence of the holy and perfect God who created the universe. True satisfaction is only found in God; He is the only source from which true joy can be found. Through God can true life be found, and life to the full. Nothing more and nothing else could ever be better than the ultimate and lasting fulfillment found through Jesus. I need to not settle for less than the best. I have tasted that the LORD is good. I know that only in Him can I have true life. I need to not fall into the hollow and deceptive ways of the world. Though they may try to make me buy into that which won’t last, I need to keep my focus on that of immeasurable eternal value. I am going to continue living for Christ with all that I am because I know that He is worth it! And so with my life I will never stop praising Him!!!
11″I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
God is a great amazing perfect shepard that is our leader nd never lets us out of His sight. He takes care of us like a shepard over His sheep.