When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.When he hath put forth all his own, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
4 sermons cite this verse
… leads me in the right path, the right path for his name's sake. As I said, he's never going to lead you in the wrong way. And in John 10 verse 4, Jesus says, the good shepherd walks ahead of the sheep and they follow him for they recognize his voice. Now, I want you to notice something. Circle the word or the phrase walks ahead. The good shepherd walks ahead of the sheep. They follow him and they recognize his voice. In shepherding, the shepherd always goes first. Why? He's the model. He's mentoring. He's leading by example. This is very different than being a cowboy. A cowboy and a shepherd are two different things. You drive cattle, but you lead sheep. Big difference. You drive cattle from the back. You push them forward. If you've ever watched a TV western, you know on a cattle drive, they're pushing the cattle from the back. So you drive cattle from the back, but you lead sheep. You get out front and they follow you. …
… 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. This allegory Jesus used as he spoke to them and they didn't understand the meaning. It doesn't mean they didn't understand the picture. It means they didn't understand why he talked about it. It was an empty story, familiar scene that had an unfamiliar message. And so with great care, Jesus interpreted his own allegory, beginning at verse 7. He said to them again, truly, truly, that often is an announcement of a discourse. Truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. So to begin with, the shepherd of verses 1 through 6 is the Lord Jesus. He says, I am the door. All who came before me are thieves and robbers. That answers to verse 1. These would be the pseudo-Messiahs. Edersheim tells us in his fine work on the Lord Jesus earthly ministry that there were, in the time of Jesus, several claiming to be Messiah. …
So you probably know this. We know that this is for UMD, for CSS. This is the last week of classes. One more week of classes. And then I just think about this. Like think about the road that brought you here. Like the road that brought you to this moment, the road that brought you to this season, or even like, you know, we're in the fourth Sunday of Easter. Three weeks ago, some of many of you, 55 people in this community became Catholic. and the road that brought you to the Catholic Church, or if that was the past, like just to think about the fact that wherever you're right now, there was some road that led you to this moment. Whether you're in school, out of school, it doesn't matter. Whether you've always been Catholic or just it's kind of a new thing for you. There was this road that brought you here. And this is one of those things that always happens. Whenever we're like, okay, this is the road that brought me here, there's a new question that comes up. …
… by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. The stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from Him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech, Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who come before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I come that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." This is a very vivid picture that our Lord paints. …