All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
5 sermons cite this verse
… verse 7, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I'm the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep don't listen to them. And just think about that for a moment, back to where we started in 2 Timothy. Paul says to Timothy, you need to know the context in which you're going to follow Jesus. Evil men and imposters will be going from bad to worse, deceiving people and being themselves deceived. So he says, you need to understand that. And that's why I'm saying to you, you need to continue in what you have begun. of course, the confidence that he gives when he writes to the Philippians is being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion of the day of Jesus Christ so that we're continuing to work out what he is working in. So all who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. Here we go again. I am the door. By me, If anyone enters, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. …
… 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. They are thieves and they are robbers and they come in another way. They do not come in through the door. They are not to be followed. As a matter of fact, the sheep don't hear them. Verse 9, I am the door. If anyone enters through me, notice the access through Jesus, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Not I, says Jesus. I come to save. When you notice in verse 10, he also says, I have come that they might have life and might have it abundantly. The Westerner reads that and he thinks prosperity. He thinks success. Because we connect abundance with things. …
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. …
… 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. He tells us in verse 6 that it's a figure of speech. In other words, He's giving us a physical, temporal, earthly illustration of a spiritual reality. And it features the idea of a shepherd, a shepherd who comes to take his sheep out of a fold and set them loose in the pasture. This is a picture of the work of our Lord in gathering His own elect redeemed people. …
… but I'm the door. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't hear them. I am the door, and if anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief doesn't come except to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." So Jesus is not only the shepherd of the sheep, but He's the door to the sheepfold. Nobody goes into the sheepfold except through Him. And finally, He says in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 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. …