"To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:3–4
A sheep pen was enclosed with walls that kept the sheep safe. When the sheep were brought in, the Shepherd usually slept at the entrance to keep the sheep safe. The gatekeeper knew the Shepherd, so they would recognize the thief immediately if anyone else tried to come in.
The allegory Jesus speaks of is of the Old Covenant law as the sheep pen- it became like a pen that confined the people. Christ is the gate who, by His sacrifice, brought the New Covenant, an allegory for how He brought them into new pastures where they are free to roam and enjoy all the riches of His pasture. The Holy Spirit represents the gatekeeper who protects the sheepfold by sealing the door and keeping the sheep safe within the walls.
The Pharisees did not understand that Jesus spoke about them (and false prophets) as thieves and robbers (the thief also represents Satan, the great deceiver. What gives the enemy fuel is the law- It is the law that makes us conscious of sin and self-righteousness. If the enemy can keep us focused on our flesh, this is how he condemns us.
Many today still listen to the voices of Moses and Elijah—the law and the prophets—not fully understanding that it is all about hearing the voice of Jesus in the new covenant. Why does the Father want us to hear only Jesus? Why are we to focus on Jesus and grow in the knowledge of His grace? Because neither the law nor the prophets hold the answer to our deepest cry for intimacy and peace with God and the enjoyment of His presence.
To hear Jesus only is to understand His finished work and to live from that position. When we are sick, instead of looking at our symptoms, we look to the stripes Jesus took on his back. When we have sinned, we look to the cross and remember that He became sin for us to make us the righteousness of God. When we are discouraged, we look to Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. It is not in our works that keep us in God's love; it is in Jesus’ work that does. He is the Shepherd, the gate, and the pasture. The Holy Spirit seals us in Jesus and keeps us secure.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100
“The Father is in me, and I in the Father.” John 10:38
What is God like? If you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father (John 14:9). Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). Your heavenly Father is exactly like Jesus.
Jesus didn’t shame sinners; He was a friend of sinners. He did not turn anyone away who needed healing. He did not put sickness on anyone; He healed all who came to him. Jesus did not bog anyone down with religion; He lavished grace on them, had dinner with them, and lifted them.
Some people believe Jesus was the “good guy” and the Father is the bad guy; He stood in the path of God’s wrath toward sinners to absorb God’s anger to keep us from getting consumed. Some imagine God as a bookkeeper recording all our sins. Some think he is a passive and ineffectual sovereign who lets the universe run on auto-pilot. But God is not like that because Jesus is not like that. Jesus desired to see the Father’s will be done on earth as in heaven. This is why he healed the sick and raised the dead.
“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods.”
Jesus quoted Psalm 82:6 (Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”‘). The word “gods” in Hebrew is eloahck- (plural)": referring to magistrates, judges, ones with authority; in Greek, the same word is theos: a god or goddess.
In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” The word for dominion in Hebrew is rada: to rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down, and subjugate.
Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.”
When God created mankind, he gave them the authority to rule this world like kings and queens- or “gods,” like the Hebrew word was translated. Think of a King of many lands who deputies men to rule in his stead. He gives them the power and authority to rule under his name and authority. He is sovereign over the lands but also delegates authority and does not take it back once given. The lesser deputy is not greater than the king, but he does have the king’s blessing and authority. This is the Sovereignty of God. This is how God delegated authority to mankind.
Yet, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (“world” in greek is “eons” which means “generation, this age”- Paul is calling the devil the God of this world AFTER the cross, during the church age”)
How did the devil become the God of the world when God made man “gods” over the world at the beginning?
In Luke 4:6, after Jesus had been baptized and then was sent by the Spirit to fast in a season of preparation for ministry, He faced temptation by Satan himself. Satan offered him this: “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” Satan offered the authority he possessed over the earth to Jesus. He admitted that it had been “handed over to me,” and he had the power to hand it to Jesus.
Who gave Satan the authority? The one who handed it to him had to be “the god of the world” first.
Genesis 3 holds the answer. When the serpent deceived the woman, he asked, “Did God really say?” He caused Eve to question what God had told them. Take a look at what the serpent vs. what God said and how Eve understood:
Serpent: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?
Eve: “‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’“
God: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Did you catch that? The serpent made God out to be stingy - not allowing them to enjoy the garden's fruits. Doubt was planted in Eve’s heart, and when she returned to remember what God had said, she couldn’t quite remember what tree God had mentioned. God had told them they could eat from any tree except for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When she obeyed the serpent's voice and ate the fruit, she abdicated her position as “gatekeeper” and “god” and unknowingly handed the keys of dominion to the serpent. That is when he became the “god” of the world and therefore had the authority to offer it to Jesus.
But… where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus succeeded. We will continue to see how Jesus succeeded as we returned to the Temple with Jesus’ sheep gathered to His heart.
