I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.I am the good shepherd; and I know mine own, and mine own know me,
6 sermons cite this verse
… about what it meant in spiritual words. Quickly, let's look at the passage, shall we? He who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way is a thief and a robber. And that's true. The only one that was allowed entrance in a bonafide sense of the word was the shepherd. Whoever else tried to plunder was a thief and a robber. Verse 2, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd. Verse 3, to him, to the shepherd, the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice. That is the voice of their shepherd. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. The fourth verse says, when he puts forth all his own, notice all of them, none of them are left, then he goes before them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They simply will not follow a stranger. That voice they do not know. Now, this figure of speech in the word means allegory. …
so grateful for the honor of bringing these messages to you after all these decades of preaching i've never quite gotten over the fact that you would give me some of your minutes some of your time and your trust. And I pledge to be a good steward of both. Gracious Lord. Gracious Lord. as we open your word, would you open our hearts? Would you deposit truth in the deepest recesses of our souls? Would you defy the lies, silence the voices that are not from you? forgive our speaker you know his sins are many and grant that we see Jesus just Jesus through Jesus we pray and all who agreed with the prayer said well Joe was ticked off at Jesus I've never seen anyone so angry at Christ I've seen few people so angry, but never anyone is angry at Christ. He was red-faced, clenched fists, spit-spewing, angry. Prior to the encounter, I'd never met Joe. A mutual friend asked if I could intervene in what he described as a crisis of faith. …
… those of us who are His followers, here's what He said. He said in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. And then if you'll notice again in verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me. Who is the good shepherd? The good shepherd is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, what does it mean? It simply means that you and I have a relationship with him. If he is my shepherd, I have a personal relationship with him. And so, when you think in terms of the good shepherd, you may have the idea, well, how could God be so interested in those minor details? Why do you think he puts things like this in the Scripture? In order to unveil to us the tender, caring love and concern that he has for us. And so, he says, the Lord is my shepherd, not a shepherd. …
And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known by my own. Now let me just compare those words of Jesus with a very famous psalm from the Old Testament from the Psalm of David, the 23rd Psalm, when He likens God to the shepherd, where he says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul, and He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil. Why? Because the shepherd is with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." It's interesting language there in the Psalm where David is recalling his own days as a shepherd. You remember when he was still a boy and the troops of Israel were faced against the armies of the Philistines when the giant Goliath came into the valley and called out a challenge for there to be a champion to come forth from Israel who would take on this giant in hand-to-hand combat where winner takes all. …
… his love for his children, those of us who are his followers. Here's what he said. He said in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And then if you'll notice again in verse 14, I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know me. Who is the good shepherd? The good shepherd is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there are lots of folks in there thinking, they say, well, you know, I don't believe in Jesus, but I believe in God. And yes, indeed, I believe that 23rd Psalm. That's one of my favorite passages. And they'll quote, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You know what? He's not their shepherd and they are in want. What they don't realize oftentimes is that they are in want of the most important thing in their life. They don't realize that's what it is. They try to keep filling up their lives with other things and relationships and so forth. And what they really want, what they really desire is the hunger and thirst that God has placed in the heart of every person for himself. And so when they say, I quote, I believe, I believe that 23rd Psalm, my favorite passage, the Lord is my shepherd. …
… The hireling flees because he is a hireling, does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and have known by my own. And as the Father knows me, even I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep have I which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice. There will be one flock and one shepherd." So now Jesus contrasts Himself not with the thief and the robber, but with the hireling. Sometimes people took care of their own sheep, but also sometimes if they were too busy with other things, they would hire somebody to look after their sheep. And Jesus said the difference is this. If you're out in the wilderness and you're grazing there and you're leading your sheep, you own the sheep, they're your possession, and the wolf comes. You stand there in the gap. You use the rod of the shepherd to beat off the attack of the wolf. …