07-04-21 Kevin Goins - Why Does Jesus Call Himself the Good Shepherd

“Why does Jesus call himself ‘the Good Shepherd?’”
John 10:11-21 
For most of us, the statement that “Jesus is the good shepherd” lies at the bedrock of our Christian faith.  Many of the Jewish religious leaders, however, were very upset that Jesus was acting as a shepherd, because for them the attention Jesus was receiving was anything but “good.”  In our text today Jesus gives the Pharisees some very plain reasons for why he is the good shepherd.                                        
I Jesus used two parables in John 10:1-10 to show the Pharisees how they were being bad spiritual leaders, but they did not get e__________________ parable.

A. As a result, Jesus leaves the indirect language of parables and begins to speak very d_______________________.

B. Jesus says to the Pharisees, “You are bad shepherds, but I am the good shepherd, the only _______________ for Israel.

II What does it mean to be a good shepherd?  

A. In New Testament Greek there are __________ adjectives commonly translated as “good.”

1. First, agathos means to be good in the sense of being m_________________ pure.

2. Second, kalos, the word Jesus uses here, means to be morally pure, but it has an added dimension:  it also means to be beautiful, attractive, winsome, and m___________________.

B. It is possible to be morally good and at the same time be very u___________________.

C. The Bible says Jesus was morally perfect, without sin, and yet the Bible calls Jesus “a f_________________ to sinners.”

D. The Pharisees did not see the fact that sinners were running to Jesus as evidence of his goodness, so Jesus gives them ____________ additional reasons for why he is the kind of shepherd who is truly good.

III First, Jesus is the good shepherd because he is willing to ________ to protect his sheep (10:11-13).

A. To “lay down your life” means to be willing to die, but to die for the sheep does not n______________________ make one a good shepherd.

B. In verses 12 to 13 Jesus contrasts the shepherd with the h____________________.

C. Jesus does not condemn the hired hand, because when a hired hand runs away from the wolf, he is fulfilling his call; he is doing what a hired hand is e_____________________ to do. 

D. The sheep do not belong to the hired hand, and so he is not i____________________ in their welfare.

E. Jesus makes two points about the hired hand:

 1. A hired hand c________________ be a good shepherd.

2. He (Jesus) can be a good shepherd because his _______________ is the one to whom all the sheep of the world belong.

IV But we have a problem:  for many in our world it makes no sense that Jesus had to ___________ in order for God to forgive us.

A. Because God is holy and sin is unjust, if God does nothing to punish sin, then there is no j_________________ in the universe.

B. First, Jesus is the perfect shepherd for the sheep because he s_____________________ himself so that we might escape death and have life.

V Second, Jesus is the good shepherd because he knows b______________ his sheep and God intimately (10:14-15).

 A. Jesus is making two statements here:

  1. I am a good shepherd because I know the ______________ so well.

  2. I am a good shepherd because I know ________ the ______________ so well.

B. What Jesus literally says in verse 14 is, “I know m_____________ and m___________ know me.”