What Jesus Did

[Jesus said,] "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep."

—John 10:11-13 NLT

Key Thought


Will God run? Yes, he will run to meet us when...

 

[Jesus said,] "Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

—John 10:9-10 NLT

Key Thought


When a shepherd would take his sheep to open pastureland, he would sometimes place them in a small pen at night. This pen didn't have a gate. The shepherd would actually sleep in the opening...

 

[Jesus explained his statements about sheep following only their own shepherd:] "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them."

—John 10:7-8 NLT

Key Thought


People were constantly looking for a messiah, and many false messiahs had come and gone. Many religious leaders were ready to claim that role. But only one was sent by God. Only one did the will of God completely...

 

[Jesus said, "Sheep] won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice." Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn't understand what he meant, ...

—John 10:5-6 NLT

Key Thought


An old recording logo showed a dog listening at a megaphone-type speaker with the words, "His Master's Voice."® In the same way, we — as the sheep in today's verses — should know the voice of the true shepherd. We should train ourselves to recognize him...

 

[Jesus said,] "The gatekeeper opens the gate for [the shepherd], and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice."

—John 10:3-4 NLT

Key Thought


Even today, sheep are separated from other flocks by the sound of their shepherd's voice. They follow their shepherd while sheep from other flocks follow...

 

[Jesus said,] "I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep."

—John 10:1-2 NLT

Key Thought


If you want to know the attributes of God's shepherd, John 10 is the chapter for you. Of course, the ultimate Shepherd is God, and Jesus comes to us as God in human flesh. Jesus didn't sneak into a leadership...

 

Then Jesus told [the man who had been healed of his blindness], "I entered this world to render judgment — to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind." Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, "Are you saying we're blind?" "If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty," Jesus replied. "But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.

—John 9:39-41 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus is the Savior for those who are...

 

When Jesus heard [that the man he had healed was thrown out of the synagogue], he found the man and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" The man answered, "Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him." "You have seen him," Jesus said, "and he is speaking to you!" "Yes, Lord, I believe!" the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

—John 9:35-38 NLT

Key Thought


Jesus shows by his actions that he is who he claims to be. When everyone else abandons and casts out the...

 

"You were born a total sinner!" [the Jewish leaders answered to the man who had been healed of his blindness]. "Are you trying to teach us?" And they threw him out of the synagogue.

—John 9:34 NLT

Key Thought


God despises the abuse of power. He repeatedly warned against it in Old Testament times, and he warns those who teach and lead in his Kingdom that they had better do so honorably or they will stand under harsher judgment. When these religious authorities...

 

"Why, that's very strange!" the man replied. "[Jesus] healed my eyes, and yet you don't know where he comes from? We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn't have done it."

—John 9:30-33 NLT

Key Thought


The healed man reminds the authorities that his "Bible" (the Scriptures)...