King's Business - 1937-01

January, 1937

THE K I NG ' S BUS I NES S

herd” (v. 11). Being the good Shepherd, He would give His life for the sheep. We should be careful to make proper distinc tion between the past, present, and future work of this Shepherd. His work as the good Shepherd has been accomplished; He has already given His life for the sheep. His work during the present age is that of the great Shepherd, the One who provides for, and protects His sheep. They are made His by His work as the good Shepherd; they are maintained as His by His work as the great Shepherd, and soon He will come as the chief Shepherd to reward His own (cf. Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:4). In contrast to the good Shepherd there is the hireling, whose own the sheep are not (vs. 12, 13). The hireling is present for his own benefit and gain and not for the welfare of the sheep. He makes mer chandise of them, caring nothing about sac rificial service for them. When the time arrives that he can no longer receive any thing from them for himself, he is very ready to desert them. Behind the hireling stands that sinister being who is a liar and a murderer from the beginning, Satan. It is the hireling shepherds who have brought the gospel ministry into disrepute. Because of the attitude of such leaders, the ministry has come to be considered, by the world in general, as a mere job. The gospel minis try is a calling, not a trade or profession. Jesus again declared Himself to be the good Shepherd (vs. 14, 15). He made the assertion that not only did He know His own sheep but also that they knew Him. Not all who appear in the flock actually belong to Him, but those who do are known by Him, and each has his own name given by the Shepherd. Each one knows the Shep herd, who is the true and good Shepherd. Their knowledge is akin to the mutual knowledge and understanding existing be tween the Father and the Son, a knowledge involving likeness of character, nature, and purpose. There is an inner relationship which cannot be broken without destroying both Shepherd and sheep. The foundation of this relationship lies in the good Shep herd’s death on behalf of His sheep, and hence the Lord again says: “ I lay down my life for the sheep” (v. 15). Looking beyond the limits of Israel, Jesus saw and spoke of His other sheep. These were not of the fold of Israel, but must be brought into the one flock under one Shep herd (v. 16). The rendering in the Re vised Version is enlightening: “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, . . . and they shall become1one flock, one shepherd.” There are not two or more flocks; there is but one, regardless of the number and variety of folds. The Lord had in mind the Gentile believers ( “ other sheep” ) who would be brought in and joined to the flock through knowing Him, the true Shepherd, as He knew them. There is a very close relationship and connection between chapters 9 and 10 in the Gospel of John. The poor blind man of chapter 9, treated contemptuously by the Pharisees and cast out of the syna gogue, provided our Lord with a perfect Points and Problems 1.

background for His denunciation of evil shepherds and His claim of being the “good shepherd.” The solemn “ Verily, verily” of John 10:1 is, according to Lucke, a formula which always unites what follows with what precedes. The healed outcast must have heard the words of the Shepherd with peculiar delight. 2. The "door into the sheepfold” of verse 1 is not the same as “ the door of the sheep” in verse 7. Even the sheepfold is different. The first sheepfold means historic Judaism, and the door represents the proper creden tials of the true Messiah. Our Lord pre sented the exact credentials predicted by the Old Testament prophets, thus demonstrating His right to the sheep. But in verse 7 the sheepfold is that of salvation by grace, and here our blessed Lord becomes not only the Door, but also the Shepherd and the Sheep- fold. He is everything. 3. “ Calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out . . . putteth forth his own sheep” (vs. 3, 4). This section indicates a definite change of dispensation. Foresee ing clearly His rejection by the Jewish na tion, the Shepherd declared His purpose to lead His own sheep out of the historical fold. This does not mean the final and total rejection of the chosen nation, but rather the rejection of that apostate gen eration which was about to crucify its own Shepherd. 4. “I am the good shepherd” (vs. 11, 1 4 ). The Old Testament reference is un mistakable. Undiscerning as the average Gentile may be, every intelligent Jew knew that the definite article “ the” and the ad jective “good” could point to no other than the Jehovah-Shepherd of Psalm 23. Our Lord never made a clearer claim to deity than this one; and that the Jews under stood His claim is perfectly evident from their immediate reaction. “ He hath a devil,” they said, “ and is mad” (v. 20). Such a claim on the part of a mere man, as they regarded Him, would have been a mark of an unbalanced mind. Golden Text Illustration J o h n 10:11 “ I was lying one night,” said an old fisherman, “in Plymouth Sound aboard my fishing boat when I heard a splash in the water. A drunk man, in trying to get out of his boat, had fallen overboard. I jumped into my boat and rowed with all my might and prayed God to help me. I pulled him into my boat and took him to his own boat. I worked and rubbed till life came into him, then made him comfortable and left him. Next morning he was leaning over the side of his craft when I pulled over to see how he was. ‘How are you this morning?’ I asked. BLACKBOARD LESSON V%71 m TUC GOOD SUCMJCW) S

“ ‘What’s that to you?’ says he. ‘Why,’ says I, ‘I can’t help taking an interest in yon, I saved your life last night.’- “ ‘Get out,’ said he, and he cursed me for a liar. “My heart was like a thing broken as I pulled away. Oh, Lord Jesus, I am sorry for Thee; I know how Thou dost feel. That is how the world is always treating Thee. I am terribly sorry for Thee, my dear Lord.”— S elected .

A Good Shepherd J ohn 10:1-42

Memory Verse: “ I am the good shep herd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Approach: The Lord Jesus is called by many different names in the Bible, and these names help us to understand the

things that He can do for us. W e have learned that He is the Bread of Life and the Light of the World. Today we are going to talk about Him as the Good Shepherd. L e s s o n S t o r y : Many of the people who lived in the

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country where Jesus lived when He was on earth, were shepherds. They could un derstand Him very well when He talked to them about good shepherds and bad shepherds. They knew what He meant when He said that a man who tried to get into the sheepfold by climbing over the wall, instead of by using the door, was a thief and a robber, and not the real shep herd. They knew that the thief came only to steal and to kill and to destroy. They knew that the good shepherd came to feed and to care for his sheep. When the good shepherd took his sheep to pasture, he stayed with them when they were in dan ger and led them back to safety. The false shepherd, one who was only working for money, would run away when a wolf came, and the sheep would be caught and scat tered. Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. He came to give His life for His sheep. He died for us, and all who believe in Him are the sheep of His pasture. He knows all of His sheep by name. He will never leave them when they are in trouble. He is the door of the sheepfold. The sheep must come in through that door. Jesus wanted His followers to know that only through Him can they have entrance into the sheep- fold, which is heaven. Is the Lord Jesus your Good Shepherd? Is He your Bread of Life? Is He the Light of the World to you?

Object Lesson “ S top , T hief ”

Objects: A cardboard background marked “ Heaven,” and three cardboard ladders. (Cut a small door near the bottom of the cardboard, and put a red cross on it. The ladders should be green, white, and yel low. They should not be long enough to reach (he top of thè background.)