07-18-21 Kevin Goins - Why Does Jesus Call Himself the Good Shepherd?, part 3

“Why does Jesus call himself ‘the Good Shepherd?’” (Part 3)
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 First, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is “the Friend of Sinners” (10:11a).
II Second, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for the sheep (10:11b-13).
III Third, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he knows both his sheep and God intimately (10:14-15).
IV Fourth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because his love and care is not limited to the nation of Israel (10:16).

V Fifth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is the __________ of ___________ (10:17).

 A. There are three clear indicators in this verse that Jesus is God’s Son:

1. First, and most obvious, Jesus is God’s Son because he c_____________ God his Father.

2. Second, Jesus is God’s Son because he ______________ his life for the sheep.

a. If his willingness to g__________ his Son to die for us reveals that God has the heart of a Father, the fact that Jesus is willing to be g_____________ shows that he has the heart of a Son.

b. Both God the Father and Jesus the Son are working together to save humanity because both share the same h______________ and the same n________________.

3. The third indicator that Jesus is God’s Son is found at the end of this verse: “The reason the Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to t__________ it up a__________.”

B. We can count on our shepherd to be the Good Shepherd because he is like no _______________ shepherd who ever lived.

VI Sixth, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he has a_____________________ given him by God (10:18).

 A. As Son of God, Jesus was i__________________ to any kind of human attack.

B. Jesus never acts on his own in relation to the Father, but he always acts on his own in relation to p________________.

C. Jesus has the authority to defeat death because he got a command from God the Father to give his life for the sins of the world and he o______________ that command.

D. To make your death count as a substitute for the punishment of billions of people requires a_______________ authority, and to overcome death requires u___________________ authority – and that is the authority of our shepherd.

VII Seventh, Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he gives people the opportunity to d________________ whether they want to follow him (10:19-21).

A. The problem is: Jesus is the Good Shepherd o________________ for those who choose to follow him.

B. There are two things about choosing which make it so difficult:

1. In our world there are m__________ decisions which we need to make each day. 

2. The second problem is that every decision we make has consequences and some consequences change our life s_____________________.

C. There are so many choices, so many decisions we must make each day, and each of these decisions is making us into a p__________________ kind of person.