Series B – Fourth Sunday of Easter – Sunday, April 26, 2015 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough
Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough: |
Time Stamp | Transcript |
0:30 | the holy Gospel According to Saint John chapter 10 verses 11 through 18. |
0:37 | I am the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep The Hired Hand is not the |
0:44 | shepherd who owns the Sheep so when he sees the wolf coming he abandons the sheep and runs away then the wolf |
0:50 | attacks the flock and scatters it the man runs away because he’s a Hired Hand and cares nothing for the Sheep I |
0:57 | am the Good Shepherd I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay |
1:05 | down my life for the Sheep I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen I must bring them also they too will |
1:12 | listen to my voice and there shall be one flock one Shepherd the reason my |
1:17 | father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my |
1:23 | own accord I have authority to lay it down an authority to take it up again this command I received from my father |
1:33 | in the name of Jesus so Jesus is our Good Shepherd |
1:39 | now you’ll notice just from the hymn that we sung just now that there’s a lot |
1:45 | of facets to the picture of Jesus as our Good Shepherd and I’m just going to take |
1:50 | a look at two of them today because I could literally probably give three or |
1:56 | four sermons if we were to try to drill in deep into this idea of Jesus being |
2:01 | our Good Shepherd and so I first want to point out that the idea of Jesus being |
2:08 | our Good Shepherd you get pictures of this in the types and shadows in the Old |
2:14 | Testament particularly if you look at King David King David is both Shepherd |
2:19 | and King and real quick I’ll point something out from the story of David |
2:25 | and Goliath from first Samuel chapter 17. I’ll read a few passages from this |
2:30 | and kind of point this out we all know the story this is right after David is Anointed the king of Israel but there |
2:37 | happens to also be a currently rain King kind of creates one of those awkward situations so David is King but not yet |
2:44 | King it’s weird isn’t it there’s some aspects of this that point us to Jesus so immediately after Jesus is um |
2:52 | anointed we read this story chapter 17 for salmon now the Philistines gathered |
2:58 | their forces for war and assembled that sakkah and Judah they pitched camp at ephesdamim between Saka and azika |
3:06 | Saul and the Israelites assembled and encamped in the valley of elah and Drew up their battle lines to meet the |
3:12 | Philistines the Philistines occupied one Hill the Israelites another with a |
3:18 | valley between them sounds like the perfect setup for a great story so here comes the tension a champion named |
3:25 | Goliath who was from gath came out of the Philistine Camp he was over nine |
3:31 | feet tall I always feel bad for Goliath because if only he had lived in the 21st century he |
3:36 | would have made at least 50 million dollars a year playing basketball but I digress |
3:44 | I mean seriously everyone would be cheering for Goliath you know the guy would come out on the court I mean literally all you have to do is put the |
3:50 | ball you know into the basket Goliath Goliath you’re right but see he’s the He’s the bad guy in The Story |
3:56 | So I anyway all right so we read about Goliath that he was nine over nine feet tall he had a |
4:03 | bronze helmet his head on his head and he wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 5 000 Shackles on his legs were |
4:10 | bronze Greaves and a bronze Javelin was slung on his back his spear shaft was |
4:15 | like a Weaver’s rod and his Iron Point weighed 600 shackles his shield Bearer |
4:21 | went ahead of him Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel why do you come out and line up for battle am I |
4:28 | not a Philistine and are you not Servants of Saul choose a man and have |
4:33 | him come down to me if he is able to fight and kill me we will become your subjects but if I overcome him and kill |
4:41 | him you will become our subjects and serve us then the Philistines said this |
4:46 | day I defy the ranks of Israel give me a man and let us fight each other and on |
4:52 | hearing the Philistines words Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified |
4:59 | what a disappointing setup right so here we have Goliath |
5:06 | nine feet tall the guys decked out in armored all of the latest |
5:11 | Weaponry he’s got Javelin 2.0 this guy is just awesome to behold and everyone |
5:18 | is fearing him why are they fearing him because well Goliath likes so many people he trusts in his strength but who |
5:25 | is the strength of Israel who is your strength not you |
5:32 | God is and so we begin to see now here kind of the setup where we begin typologically |
5:39 | and prophetically to see this idea of the shepherd King who steps onto the battlefield for us I’ll fast forward a |
5:47 | little bit to where David he shows up and this is what it says David said to Saul let no one lose heart on account of |
5:53 | this Philistine your servant will go and fight him now how old is David at this point |
5:59 | maybe 12 13. so here we’ve got this short Ruddy |
6:08 | teenager who’s going to take on Goliath but see that’s kind of the thing it’s really not |
6:15 | David who’s taking on Goliath because who is Goliath defying he’s defying God |
6:21 | and so God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise so Saul said to David you’re not able to |
6:28 | go out against this Philistine and fight him you are only a boy and he has been fight a fighting man from his youth but |
6:34 | David said to Saul your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep notice Dave’s First Response I’m a |
6:41 | Shepherd I’ve been keeping your your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep and when a lion or a bear came and |
6:48 | carried off a sheep from the flock I went after it struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth when it turned on |
6:54 | me I seized it by its hair Struck it and killed it your servant has killed both The Lion and the bear this uncircumcised |
7:01 | Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the Living God the Lord who delivered me |
7:06 | from the Paw of The Lion and the Paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this philistine |
7:13 | so Saul said to David go and the Lord be with you |
7:19 | what an amazing answer but see in there we begin to see the typology of the |
7:24 | Messiah being Our Shepherd and so here David has done these miraculous things or I should say God has done these |
7:30 | miraculous things through this young Shepherd now who’s King but not yet reigning |
7:36 | again you’ve got to work that all out and he says that when a lion came and carried off a |
7:44 | sheep from the flock I went after it struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth and this is where |
7:50 | we can see ourselves in the story properly so many times when people read |
7:55 | the story they want to think they’re David no no no no you’re the little sheep that got taken away by the lion |
8:02 | and your Shepherd has come and rescued you from the mouth of the lion and that |
8:08 | lion is the devil we’re born in his power under his under his sway in tyranny and Christ Our |
8:15 | Shepherd King has come and rescued us and he’s done it by dying for us that’s how he rescues us so this idea of Jesus |
8:23 | being Our Shepherd it’s a deep and Rich theme in scripture and with that I want |
8:29 | to go back to our gospel text but I want to show you something about what aspect |
8:34 | we’re talking about is Jesus as our Shepherd in Our Gospel text today and that requires us to understand what’s |
8:41 | going on in the story in which Jesus makes these amazing statements about being our Good Shepherd so if you have |
8:47 | the Bible go open to the Gospel of John chapter 9. we’re going to put this story |
8:54 | in its context and I think you’ll find there’s something really rich and deep going on here |
9:00 | John chapter 9 verse 1. here’s what it says as he Jesus went along he saw a man |
9:07 | blind from birth so his disciples asked Jesus Rabbi who |
9:12 | sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind now this is an important question because the Assumption in Jesus |
9:19 | day and unfortunately in hours too is that if something terrible has happened to somebody that the only possible |
9:28 | explanation is that God is punishing them for their sins now it is true that |
9:34 | God does punish for sins but not every time we have an illness or something |
9:39 | happens to us is it because God is punishing us you got to keep this in mind think of |
9:45 | job right okay we all know the Inside Story regarding job and think of how |
9:50 | much that man suffered and how he longed to be dead it would have been better for him to be dead but |
9:57 | see he didn’t suffer because of his sin he suffered because the devil hated him |
10:06 | and the devil asked to sift him in order to knock his faith off of Christ that’s what the devil was all about so that’s |
10:12 | the reason why he suffered so but in Jesus day the Pharisees would teach oh are you poor are you stricken no do you |
10:20 | have an illness it’s because you’re a sinner that was the only possible solution so |
10:27 | the as Jesus is discipling his disciples and teaching them they come across this |
10:33 | man who was blind from birth and keep this in mind this poor man has lived a difficult life being blind |
10:40 | is no easy feat especially in the days before we have handicapped parking and |
10:45 | crosswalks that can tell you when it’s okay to cross being blind is a difficult road to hoe so he suffered greatly as a |
10:54 | blind man so Jesus’s answer to his disciples is this neither this man nor his parents sinned he’s not saying |
11:02 | they’re sinless he’s saying that the reason why this man was born blind is not due to God punishing a sin so Jesus |
11:09 | said this has happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life that’s the reason why he suffered |
11:16 | God was doing something it’s tough tough for us to swallow this |
11:21 | but sometimes our suffering is because God is doing something for his own Glory |
11:27 | so Jesus then says this as long as it is day we must do the work of him who sent me night is coming when no one can work |
11:34 | and while I’m in the world I am the light of the world having said this he spit on the ground made some mud with |
11:40 | the saliva put it on the Man’s eyes go he told him wash in the pool of Siloam |
11:45 | this word means sent so the man went and washed and came home seeing now keep in mind |
11:51 | mud made with spittle does not have any medicinal properties to heal people and |
11:58 | give them their eyesight back but this mud did Jesus if you would kind of made |
12:03 | a sacrament of sorts and so he takes he’s and he spits in the dirt and makes |
12:10 | some mud and puts it on the guy’s eyes this guy washes over goes over to Siloam and so |
12:16 | he’s got this mud on his eyes and while he’s the mud is on his eyes he clearly can’t see anything but God’s |
12:22 | miracle working power is working in him he gets to Siloam and he washes |
12:28 | and he sees think of your baptism here you are blind |
12:33 | until you are washed and then God opens your eyes there’s something going on in this theme as well |
12:39 | he still has not seen Jesus he’s heard Jesus’s voice but he hasn’t |
12:46 | seen him he doesn’t know what Jesus looks like keep all of that in mind having said this he’s been on the ground |
12:52 | made some mud with a saliva put it on the Man’s eyes go he told him washing the pool Asylum so the man went and |
12:57 | washed and he came home seeing his neighbors and those who had formally |
13:04 | seen him begging asked isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg |
13:10 | some claimed that he he was and I said no he only looks like him maybe he has a |
13:16 | twin brother right but he himself insisted I I’m the man well then how then were your eyes open they demanded |
13:23 | he replied the man they called Jesus he made some mud and put it on my eyes and |
13:28 | he told me to go to Siloam and watch so I went and I washed and then I could see |
13:35 | where is this man they asked him I don’t know he said |
13:40 | well whenever there’s a miracle is you got to get the religious authorities involved this they’ve got |
13:47 | this is they’ve got to conduct an investigation at this point but I want you to keep this in mind this is a |
13:53 | little bit of the story that you don’t understand they’re going to bring in the Pharisees |
13:58 | and you’re going to look long and hard in the Old Testament to find where the Pharisees have the authority to do what |
14:05 | they’re doing God has not called Pharisees to teach Israel |
14:12 | the job of the Levites is to pre is to teach Israel when you read about the |
14:17 | Levites in the Mosaic Covenant they are the Priestly Clan they are to perform the duties of the |
14:25 | Temple and they are called by God as the Levites to be the teachers of Israel |
14:32 | but remember this remember Paul of a Saul of tarshus he was before he was Paul |
14:37 | what Clan was he from he was from the clan The Tribe of |
14:43 | Benjamin nowhere in the Old Testament is Benjamin given the authority to be the teachers |
14:49 | of Israel so when we keep this in mind you have to understand this the Pharisees are |
14:55 | usurpers these are men who have asserted their own authority they have no calling from |
15:02 | God to teach Israel and so if you understand this about them they put themselves forward |
15:11 | and they are teaching their doctrines which they’re not authorized to teach |
15:16 | and they created this idea that the written word of God is not enough they |
15:23 | claim to not only have the written Torah they claim to have the oral Torah |
15:28 | and this is just as authoritative and so when you see the clash between Jesus and the Pharisees going on and this is one |
15:34 | of them keep that in mind if you understand this you’ll understand what Jesus then says |
15:40 | regarding the hireling because he says his state statement about being the true |
15:45 | Shepherd in light of the fact that there are hirelings people who jump the fence who shouldn’t even be in the in this you |
15:52 | know in the Sheep pin so keep that in mind so here’s what it says so Jesus performed this miracle we got to get the |
15:58 | Pharisees involved so they brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind |
16:03 | now the day in which Jesus had made the mud and opened the Man’s eyes was a Sabbath therefore the Pharisees also |
16:10 | asked him how he had received his sight so the man says well he put mud on my eyes and the man replied and I washed |
16:17 | and now I see some of the Pharisees said this man is not from God for he does not keep the |
16:23 | Sabbath where in the Sabbath does it say you can’t spit in the mud on a Sunday on a |
16:29 | sorry not a Sunday Saturday right it doesn’t say that anywhere well keep this in mind in the tradition |
16:36 | of the elders created by the Pharisees there’s a whole section in there about |
16:42 | what you can and can’t do on the Sabbath and according to the Pharisees if you |
16:47 | live in a home where you have a dirt floor and you have a table and chairs |
16:54 | you on the Sabbath on the Sabbath you cannot sit at that table and then push |
17:00 | back from the table because if you did that the legs of the chair would create |
17:05 | furrows in the dirt and that would be plowing I’m not making this up |
17:12 | and of course then you have the Pharisees with this ultimate conundrum if you have an apple in your hand and |
17:20 | you are and your arm is extended outside of the window of your home and the sun goes down and it’s Friday |
17:27 | night it becomes the Sabbath because the Sabbath begins when the Sun goes down can you bring your arm in to your home |
17:35 | answer no because then you would be delivering groceries |
17:40 | but can you drop the Apple no you can’t drop the Apple either because then you’d be planting a tree |
17:50 | no joke what a sick and twisted religion this is really you’re gonna sin if you never |
17:57 | mind so clearly this is what’s going on here Jesus made mud on the south you |
18:04 | can’t work on the Sabbath Jesus didn’t sin |
18:09 | he literally healed a man this is the conundrum so some of the Pharisees said |
18:14 | this man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath the other said well how can a sinner do such miraculous signs so |
18:21 | they were divided finally they turned again to the blind man what have you to say about him it was your eyes he opened |
18:29 | notice the accusation here what has this man done how dare you be healed |
18:36 | pieces so the man replied he’s a prophet get out of here so the Jews still did |
18:43 | not believe that he had been blind that well the answer to the solution is that he couldn’t pot this is some kind of a ruse right so the Jews have still not |
18:50 | believe that he had been blind and he had received a sight until they sent for the Man’s parents now watch this line of questioning is |
18:56 | this your son they asked is this the one you say was born blind how is it that he |
19:01 | can now see these are not safe questions right I |
19:07 | mean you would think these people had committed murder or something you know had plotted to kill the emperor of Rome |
19:12 | right well here’s where they answered well we know this is our son parents answered |
19:20 | and we know he was born blind now now they go all squishy but how he can see and who opened his eyes we don’t |
19:26 | know ask him he’s of age he’ll speak for himself thanks Mom thanks Dad |
19:33 | right the text says so he his parents said |
19:38 | this because they were afraid of the Jews for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was |
19:45 | the Christ the Messiah they would be put out of the synagogue that was why his parents said he is of age ask him now |
19:51 | think about this the religious leaders of Israel |
19:56 | are saying they’re going to put you out of the church they’re going to excommunicate you if you believe that |
20:03 | Jesus is the messiah what kind of religious leaders are these because who is Jesus |
20:10 | he is the messiah so something terrible has happened these |
20:15 | usurpers this this office of Pharisee the ones who’ve become the instructors |
20:21 | of Israel they’re not true religious leaders are they the reason they’re not is because they |
20:28 | they claim to worship the god of the Bible the god of the Torah The God Who revealed himself |
20:34 | a Mount Sinai and yet Moses said a prophet like me will arise among you and you must listen |
20:42 | to him and if you don’t you will be held accountable for this and so now he’s come |
20:49 | and they don’t recognize who he is how does one get to be so blind |
20:57 | yet they read their Bible do they not so think about the irony of the situation |
21:03 | well the investigation continues a second time they summoned the man who had been blind give glory to God they |
21:09 | said we know this man is a sinner really so now watch what happens and we |
21:16 | learn from this that the man who had been born blind was not only healed with his eyesight but God also gave him faith |
21:24 | and listen to that and so he has faith in Christ and now he’s going to suffer |
21:29 | for it he’s going to be persecuted watch this so the the guy replied all right whether or not he’s a sinner I don’t |
21:35 | know one thing I do know I was blind but now I see so then they asked him what did he do to |
21:42 | you how did he open your eyes he answered I told you already and you did not want to listen why do you want |
21:49 | to hear it again do you want to become his disciples too |
21:56 | well that did go over too well so the text says so they hurled insults |
22:03 | at him you are you you are this fellow’s disciple we’re Disciples of Moses we |
22:09 | know that God spoke to Moses but as for this fellow we don’t even know where he came from and now watch the hutzpah here |
22:15 | so the man answered well now that’s remarkable you don’t know where he comes from yet he opened my eyes we know that |
22:20 | God does not listen to Sinners he listens to the godly man who does his will nobody has ever heard of opening |
22:26 | the eyes of a man born blind if this man were not from God he could do nothing |
22:32 | boom yeah drop the mic walk off stage yes okay no what boldness what a great |
22:40 | Proclamation and what again what has this guy done wrong |
22:46 | he was healed that’s it now watch the theology so to |
22:51 | this the Pharisees replied you were steeped in sin at Birth how dare you lecture us |
22:57 | and they threw him out so they really believed that he was steeped in Sin from birth why because he |
23:03 | was born blind but Jesus explained he wasn’t born blind because of sin |
23:08 | so that the works of God might be displayed in his life now they threw him out |
23:14 | what an encounter now by the way you can’t go through something like this without being a little shaken up I mean |
23:19 | you know what I’m saying you think your church fights can be a little ornery at times I mean this is kind of like taken |
23:25 | to a different level so the guy’s shaken up clearly and all he’s done is be healed that’s it |
23:33 | but he confesses Christ and so here’s what happens Jesus seeks him out |
23:39 | Jesus heard that they had thrown him out and when he found him he said do you |
23:44 | believe in the son of man who is he sir the man asked tell me so |
23:49 | that I might believe in him and these beautiful words come out you have now seen him in fact he is the one speaking |
23:57 | with you remember he hadn’t seen Jesus yet and now he says you have now seen him |
24:02 | and the emphasis is on the scene what a beautiful thing that Jesus has done here seeking this man out and then |
24:10 | it says this so then the man said Lord I believe and |
24:15 | he worshiped him you only worship God and Jesus accepts worship from this man what a beautiful |
24:22 | picture Jesus seeks out the blind man who had never seen him and keep this in mind we have a lot in common with this |
24:28 | blind man a lot each of us were truly born blind and each of us were washed in |
24:34 | the waters of our baptism and God has given us sight now and like this man up |
24:40 | to this point we have yet to see the one who has opened our eyes with our physical eyes but like job says in his |
24:47 | book I will Behold Him with my very eyes so you too will behold Jesus with your |
24:54 | very eyes and he will be just as kind to you as he |
24:59 | was to this man because he’s healed you and he’s given you Faith he’s washed |
25:04 | away all of your sins he is truly your lord and your Shepherd |
25:10 | so with this story then continues |
25:15 | Jesus said it is for judgment that I have come into this world so that the |
25:20 | blind will see and those who see will become blind |
25:26 | and Jesus isn’t here talking about physical sight he’s talking about that spiritual sight |
25:32 | so some of the Pharisees who were with him they heard him say this and they asked him what are we blind too |
25:41 | what do you think they’re so blind they’ll excommunicate anybody who |
25:47 | confesses Christ as the Messiah and yet that’s exactly who he is so Jesus said |
25:52 | if you were blind you would not be guilty of sin |
25:58 | boy is that a theologically Charged statement he’s going right after their false teaching |
26:03 | but now that you claim that you can see your guilt remains I tell you the truth |
26:09 | the man who does not enter the Sheep tend by the gate but climbs in by some |
26:15 | other way is a thief and a robber who’s Jesus talking about |
26:22 | the Pharisees there is no office of Pharisee |
26:27 | these are people who’ve basically climbed the fence while no one was |
26:33 | looking came right into the Sheep pen they have no authority to be teaching what they’re teaching and what they’re |
26:38 | teaching is contrary to the word of God if they were teaching the truth they would recognize Jesus for who he is |
26:45 | and like the man who was just healed day two would worship Jesus but they don’t |
26:53 | so Jesus says they are thieves and robbers and that’s what false teachers are |
26:59 | the man who enters the gate the man who enters by the gate he is The Shepherd of his sheep and now Jesus speaks about |
27:06 | himself and this is the context in which he makes our statement from our gospel The Watchman opens the gate for him and |
27:12 | the Sheep listen to his voice he calls his own Sheep by name and leads them out when he has brought out all of his own |
27:19 | he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice they will never follow a stranger in |
27:26 | fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice Jesus used this figure of speech but |
27:32 | they did not understand what he was telling them notice it says they didn’t understand what he was telling them the Pharisees |
27:38 | didn’t get it in other words Jesus said my sheep know my voice Jesus |
27:44 | is speaking to them and all they’re hearing is |
27:49 | they’re not his sheep therefore Jesus said again I tell you |
27:55 | the truth I am the gate for the Sheep all whoever came before me were thieves and robbers talking about the Pharisees |
28:01 | but the Sheep did not listen to them I am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved I will come in and go out |
28:09 | and find Pat he will come in and go out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal to kill and to destroy |
28:17 | now oftentimes you hear people quote this passage the Bible says that the thief comes to kill steal and destroy |
28:23 | and people think it’s talking about Satan it’s not it’s talking about false teachers |
28:30 | that’s the context the thief comes to only steal to kill |
28:37 | and to destroy and that’s what false teachers are I have come so they might have life have it to the full I am the |
28:44 | Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep now normally this wouldn’t |
28:51 | help sheep think about this you know if a shepherd’s out in the field and the wolf comes and the shepherd lays down |
28:58 | his life for the Sheep well no sooner is the wolf done with a Shepherd that he’s going to start gnawing on the Sheep but |
29:05 | in this case Jesus by laying down his life for his sheep that is how he |
29:10 | conquers this is how he rescues us from the mouth of the lion and from being torn apart by |
29:18 | the devil by laying down his life by paying the price for all of our sins we |
29:24 | like silly stupid sheep have wandered away and put ourselves in danger with |
29:29 | our sin we’ve done that in all the ways in which we fall short when we don’t love God with our whole heart and we |
29:37 | don’t love our neighbor as ourselves every one of our adulteries even of mind |
29:42 | every one of our thefts that we’ve committed every time we’ve lied about |
29:47 | somebody we have put ourselves in grave Danger |
29:54 | but our Shepherd has laid down his life for the sheep and that’s what we are we are Jesus’s little lambs and so he’s |
30:01 | done this out of his great love for us he says just as the father knows me and I know the father I lay down my life for |
30:08 | the Sheep I have other sheep that are not of the sheep pen and Jesus there is referring to Gentiles he said this in a |
30:14 | Jewish context so he’s here at this point making it clear that he lays down |
30:19 | his life for his sheep both who are genetically related to Abraham and those who are just rank Gentiles like us |
30:28 | I have other sheep I must bring them also they too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock one |
30:35 | Shepherd so the reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life not only to take it |
30:41 | up again no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down and authority |
30:46 | to take it up this command I received from my father now notice that Jesus says I have the authority to lay it down |
30:53 | I have the authority to pick it up again and this command I receive from my father |
30:58 | that is in total distinction to the Pharisees who have no authority to be doing any of the things that they’re |
31:04 | doing God did not send them they have no authority to be teaching Israel and that what their the doctrines they’re |
31:10 | teaching are contrary to the written word of God but Jesus makes it clear I have the authority to lay my life down |
31:16 | again and I have the authority to take it up and all of this I have received from God |
31:22 | he truly is Our Shepherd the Pharisees their hirelings |
31:27 | they care nothing for the Sheep false teachers care nothing at all for |
31:33 | Christ’s sheep but Jesus does and all of these words at these words the Jews were again divided many of them said well |
31:40 | he’s demon-possessed and he’s raving mad why listen to him are these the words of a Madman |
31:47 | not at all others said these are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon can a demon Open the Eyes of the blind |
31:57 | so do you hear Jesus’s voice today do you hear his voice again |
32:04 | where he says I have bled and died for you I’ve laid down my life for the sheep |
32:09 | and this my friends changes everything it changes everything and let me remind |
32:15 | you of the words that we read in our epistle texts first John chapter 3 16. by this we know |
32:22 | love that he laid down his life for us and it doesn’t end there |
32:28 | and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers for each other |
32:33 | remember Christ’s singular command as I have loved you love one another and how |
32:40 | has Christ loved us by laying down his life for us |
32:45 | so if there’s somebody needy Among Us somebody who’s Fallen |
32:51 | we care for them we love them we pick them up we forgive their sins |
32:58 | as Christ has loved us we also ought to love each other |
33:03 | so this Good Shepherd of ours who has the authority to lay down his life and take it up again has done so |
33:09 | and he’s done so for you and by the authority that it was given to him by the father he Now commands us to love |
33:16 | each other in the same way what a great merciful kind Shepherd we |
33:23 | have let us listen to his voice and let us follow him even as he leads us to the |
33:28 | Valley of the shadow of death because on the other side of that is the promised land and eternal life with him and when |
33:35 | we get there we will be like the blind man who even though our eyes were opened we |
33:42 | have not seen him with our eyes when we get there we will see him face to face and he will say to us well done |
33:50 | good and faithful servant in the name of Jesus Amen [Music] |
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