The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Mother’s Day

May 8, 2022

John 10:22-30

Our Good Shepherd Is Our “Safe Person”!

Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem.  It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.  The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  Jesus answered “I did tell you, but you do not believe.  The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  (NIV1984)

Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

When Jonah started preschool last fall everything was new.  Everything was different.  And in some ways many things were scary.  He didn’t know any of the other children in his class.  He didn’t know any of the teachers or helpers.  He didn’t know what to expect.  Thankfully, one of his teachers, Miss Liana, quickly became his “safe person.”  As long as Miss Liana was there everything was fine.  But, on the days that Miss Liana was not able to be there, Jonah became very quiet in class and was very hesitant to go to school.  As soon as Miss Liana returned— he was happy to go to school and he was much better at participating in class.

Who was/is your “safe person”?  Especially when you were young who was the person in your life whose mere presence made you feel safe and secure?  For most of us the very first “safe person” in our life is our Mom.  Mom fed us.  Mom took care of us.  Mom wiped away the tears when we were injured or ill.  As we grew older we may have had others who became our “safe person” in life— a spouse, a trusted friend— but for most people their Mom will always have a special place in their heart as their “safe person.”

This morning as we continue our celebration of Easter we are given the opportunity to focus on the fact that today is both Mother’s Day as well as Good Shepherd Sunday.  To help us bridge those two wonderful truths let’s study our text for today under the theme:  Our Good Shepherd Is Our “Safe Person”!

The opening verses of our text give us a very good example of the type of situation our Good Shepherd encountered many times in His public Ministry.  John tells us, “Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem.  It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.  The Jews gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’”

The Feast of Dedication was a very important celebration in the lives of God’s Chosen People.  Today this feast is known as Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.  This festival commemorated the victory of God’s people over the Syrians and the purification of the Temple which had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes.  As Jesus was walking around in Solomon’s Colonnade on this very important day a group of Jesus’ enemies “gathered around him.”  Very literally the Greek here says that Jesus’ enemies “surrounded” Him.  Once Jesus’ enemies had “surrounded” Him, they demanded that He answer a very important question.  They said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”  We can still feel the tension in the air as Jesus’ enemies asked the right question— but the hardness of their hearts caused them to deny the right answer to that question!  Jesus reveals the hardness of their hearts when He says to them, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.  The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.”

Two months before the confrontation recorded here in our text, when Jesus proclaimed that He is the “Good Shepherd” who lays down His life for the sheep, John tells us that many of the Jews who heard Jesus make this claim responded by saying, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad.  Why listen to him?” (John 10:19).  Through the message He was proclaiming in town and villages and cities throughout Israel, through the way He was living His life, and through the miracles He was performing in His Father’s Name— Jesus had indeed clearly answered this question!  The problem was not to be found in Jesus’ testimony.  No, rather, the problem was to be found in the fact that the people who had “surrounded” Jesus there in Solomon’s Colonnade were not Jesus’ “sheep.”  In their unbelief they had rejected Jesus as the Christ, as the Promised Messiah.  In their unbelief they had rejected Jesus as the “Good Shepherd.”

Why did God the Holy Spirit make sure that this event was recorded for us on the pages of holy Scripture?  While there are probably many reasons, I will highlight just two.  First, God the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to record this confrontation in Solomon’s Colonnade because He knows how often Jesus’ disciples today— and that includes us!— He knows how often we are confronted by our spiritual enemies.  No one has to explain to you that the unbelieving world is still very hostile to Jesus, very hostile to His message and very hostile to His disciples.  Just try to bring Jesus into the conversation and you quickly find out just how hostile people can get!  The “strangers,” the “thieves,” the “robbers,” and the “wolves” that Jesus talks about earlier in John chapter ten are still bent on drawing and/or driving Jesus’ “sheep” away from their Good Shepherd.

Living here in this world without our Good Shepherd is an absolutely terrifying thought!  Without our Good Shepherd we would have no sense of direction.  The ever-changing voice of the “false shepherds” would lead us farther and farther away from the cross.  (Pointing to the cross)  Without our Good Shepherd we would be easy prey for the “roaring lion.”  Without our Good Shepherd we would be overwhelmed by the temptation to follow false Christs and false teachers.  Without our Good Shepherd we would be drawn to false gods— such as the gods of our bellies, the prophets of prosperity, the shallow theologies and false philosophies of this world.  Without our Good Shepherd we would be left to blindly wander through the darkness of this sin-filled world until we fall over the cliff that results in eternal separation from God.

Secondly, God the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to record this confrontation in Solomon’s Colonnade so that even when we are surrounded by our spiritual enemies we will have the peace and the comfort that comes from knowing that our Good Shepherd is our “Safe Person”!  What does this mean on a practical level?  I see three beautiful answers to that question.

The first answer is found in Jesus’ words, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”  You know as well as I do that we hear a whole cacophony of competing voices as we journey through this world.  There is the voice of human reason which tries to convince us that everything needs to be understood and explained and accepted on the basis of science.  There is the voice of “equity” which tries to convince us that we need to accept that all lifestyles and all religions have equal value and equal validity.  There is the voice of human logic which tries to convince us that if we want to get to heaven, if we want to be saved there is something that we must do— some work that we must perform, some decision that we must make.

Because of that cacophony of competing voices our Good Shepherd, our “Safe Person,” says to us you and to me, “My sheep listen to my voice.”  How do we listen to the “voice” of our Good Shepherd?  How does our “Safe Person” speak directly to us?  The answer to both of those questions is right here— God’s holy inspired Word.  The only way our Good Shepherd, the only way our “Safe Person” speaks to us today is through the power of the holy, inspired, inerrant Word that He has graciously placed into our hands.  Whenever we are reading and studying our Bible, whenever we gather together here in God’s house we are listening to the “voice” of our Good Shepherd!

The second practical application that comes from knowing that our Good Shepherd is our “Safe Person” is found in Jesus’ words, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”  Take a moment to digest those words.  The one thing we “sheep” need more than anything else is security.  We need to be protected.  Why?  Because all too often we are completely unaware of the dangers that are all round us.  Think about it.  How much danger to our soul’s welfare do we encounter every day out there in the world?  How many times have we walked into spiritually dangerous situations completely clueless of their eternal consequences?  Yes, we need protection.  We need the protection that only our Good Shepherd, only our “Safe Person” can provide!

Praise God that we have the peace and the comfort that comes from knowing that our Good Shepherd is our “Safe Person”  He is the only One who has the right and the authority to say, “I give them eternal life.”  Note how clearly Jesus reveals to us that eternal life is “given” to us as a free gift!Eternal life comes from the great  “I AM,” the One who stands alone, the One who alone is “big” enough to make such an offer to the entire world, the One who alone is able to deliver what He promises!  (Pointing to the cross)  He alone can guarantee to each and every one of His sheep, “They shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

That truth ties in well with the third practical application that comes from knowing that our Good Shepherd is our “Safe Person.”Look at what our Good Shepherd says to us in the closing verses of our text, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  A more literal translation of that last sentence has Jesus saying, “I and the Father— we are one.”

Jesus and the Father are “one.”  They are “one” not only in essence, but also in purpose.  Jesus was sent by the Father to be our Good Shepherd— the Shepherd who would willingly lay down His life for us— His sheep.  The perfect unity between our Good Shepherd and our heavenly Father— who is “greater than all”— gives us the unparalleled peace and comfort of knowing that no one and nothing will ever be able to “snatch” us out of their hands— not even death, not even Satan!

In just a few weeks Jonah’s first year of school will be over.  At that time he will learn what many of us have learned many times, namely, our “safe person” can and does change over the course of our life.  As you and I gather together today to celebrate both Good Shepherd Sunday and Mother’s Day, my prayer is three-fold.  First, if you are blessed to still have your Mom with you here on this earth, I pray that you will take the time to thank her.  Thank her for all the times that she was and still is your “safe person.”  Second, if your Mom is blessed to be with the Good Shepherd in His heavenly Home, I pray that you will take the time to thank your Good Shepherd for the perfect eternal safety that He has granted to your Mom.  And finally, no matter how often you may find yourself surrounded by your spiritual enemies, I pray that you will take the time to turn to and to trust in your Good Shepherd as your ultimate “Safe Person”!

To God be the glory!

Amen