We Really Need Looking After

“‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.’”

Jesus, recorded in, John 10:27 esvbible.org

Yes, we need looking after.

I once heard Billy Graham describe sheep, in his humble opinion, as the most stupid creatures God has created.

He said that, on their farm in North Carolina, the sheep would gladly follow a goat who could always find a gap in the fence. The goat was also able to find his way back home.

The sheep didn’t have a clue.

And so, here we are, the followers of Jesus, God’s people, often referred to in Scripture as sheep.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Are we flattered yet?

There are two reasons to not be flattered.

The first is the tendency of sheep to wander off, and the second is that Jesus had to die, in our place, for our sin.

In the Old Testament, the Lord God often refers to himself as Israel’s shepherd.

In the New Testament Jesus continues this role in the lives of His people.

“‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” John 10:11)

One of the conditions of the people that most brought out the compassion of Jesus was how scattered they were.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)

Harassed and helpless, Sound familiar?

When Jesus says that we’re His sheep, the sheep of HIs pasture, and we know His voice, and we follow Him, what does that mean for us?

1. The sheep of His pasture are chosen.

Being sinners by nature and inclination, rebellious and disobedient, we don’t go looking for someone to get our lives in order, to bring us under control.

In fact, we are all spiritually dead, according to another of today’s readings:

‘And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — [3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

(Ephesians 2:1–3)

So this means that the Good Shepherd picked out each and every one of His sheep.

“‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.’” (John 15:16)

This is never an issue of what is fair or right. This is always about God’s grace and mercy in choosing us to spend eternity in His kingdom, His pasture.

2. The sheep of His pasture are called.

Look at our text again! He knows us by name and He calls us by name. It’s a really, really huge flock, but the Good Shepherd knows each of us by name.

“‘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.’” (John 10:2–3)

Are you getting the wonder of this?

Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth and all that is, He alone who is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, knows us and calls each one of us by name!

I once had the privilege of pastoring a large church. It was a policy to provide engraved plastic name tags for everyone. I still had trouble remembering who people were, and if I saw them outside of the church building context I was really in trouble.

It didn’t help that many of the youth took delight in exchanging their name tags with one another on Sundays, just to enjoy watching my confusion.

3. The sheep of His pasture are carried.

In one of His parables Jesus describes a sheep crisis, when one goes astray, gets lost, and then He describes what the shepherd will do.

“‘What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine fn the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?’”

(Luke 15:4)

The parable continues with a lot of joy!

“‘And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. [6] And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for iI have found my sheep that was lost.’” (Luke 15:5–6)

Do you know the these lines in Robert Robinson’s 18th Century hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing?

“prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here’s my heart, O take and seal it;

seal it for thy courts above.”

4. The sheep of His pasture are cared for.

This is the Good Shepherd, who is also the living bread and the living water.

We are not only fed and watered, and protected from the roving and ravenous predators, we are also those who are cared for and cared about forever.

“‘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.’” (John 10:28–30)

In one of the most familiar texts of Scripture, a king of Israel, who started out in his career as a shepherd, wrote these words:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, always and everywhere, we really do need looking after.

Do you want to try and do this all by yourself, or rather trust and rely on and rest in our Good Shepherd?

He knows your name!

Soli Deo gloria!