John 10:22-30
Why sheep? Why didn't Jesus compare his followers to other animals? Like cheetahs or wolves or tigers or some animal that raises the hairs on your arm just at the mention of their name? But Jesus tells us often that we are sheep. And Jesus is the shepherd.
Sheep are not survivors. They are not strong and independent animals, not skilled hunters or fierce predators. They’re actually kind of pathetic, entirely dependent upon a shepherd. In a word, sheep are stupid.
Take this news story for example. Hundreds of sheep followed their leader off a cliff in eastern Turkey, plunging to their deaths this week while shepherds looked on in dismay. Four hundred sheep fell 20 feet to their deaths into a ravine. But the ones who went over the edge first did brake the fall of another 1100 sheep who survived. Shepherds from a nearby village neglected the flock while eating breakfast, leaving the sheep to roam free, and eventually fall to their deaths. The loss to local farmers was estimated at $74,000.
All it took was one sheep. It wandered off a cliff and nearly 1500 others just followed along. Can you picture it? 1500 sheep, each walking off a cliff, one after the other. Soon they were piled so deep that the ones at the bottom were crushed to death and the ones on top were lying on a big pile of woolen death. It is completely head-shaking and tells us one important fact about sheep: they are not the smartest animals in the world.
And yet, Jesus says we are like sheep. Jesus wasn’t paying us any complement. It was actually a tongue-in-cheek insult. But at least he said, My sheep. For good or for ill—or for stupid—we are his.
As Jesus’ sheep, though, there are certain advantages. Jesus mentions those benefits in a conversation with some people who surrounded him during the Temple Festival in Jerusalem.
The first says Jesus, is, “My sheep hear my voice…” But it’s just not hearing, as if we heard a noise in the middle of other noises as we go about our day. It’s hearing with attention. It’s hearing and attending to what we are hearing. It is considering and thinking about what is, or what has been said.
The story is told of Franklin Roosevelt, who often endured long receiving lines at the White House. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was said. One day, during a reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the line and shook his hand, he murmured, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." The guests responded with phrases like, "Marvelous! Keep up the good work. We are proud of you. God bless you, sir." It was not till the end of the line, while greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Nonplussed, the ambassador leaned over and whispered, "I'm sure she had it coming.”
As Jesus’ sheep, as dumb as we may be, at least he says we pay attention.
And what are we paying attention to? Jesus’ voice. The word Jesus used doesn’t mean just voice, but the tone of that voice. The sound of the words as they came out of Jesus’ mouth.
How good a listener are you? Here are some questions to ask yourself in order to discern how deeply your are listening to another person’s voice.
1) Since you think about four times faster than a person usually talks, do you use this time to think about other things while you're keeping track of the conversation?
2) Do you listen primarily for facts rather than tone of voice or emotions when someone is speaking?
3) Do you avoid listening to things you feel will be too difficult to understand?
4) Do you judge from a person's appearance and delivery that there won't be anything worthwhile said?
5) When someone is talking to you do you appear to be paying attention when you're not?
6) Do certain words and phrases prejudice you so you cannot listen objectively?
7) When listening are you distracted by outside sights and sounds?
All those questions are important to ask ourselves when we are the sheep, and Jesus is speaking. Because sheep usually don’t listen well, or pay attention to the shepherd’s voice, because they are so easily distracted. Yet, despite that, Jesus says we, as his sheep, listen to his voice.
A second benefit of being Jesus’ sheep is that Jesus says, of his sheep, “I know them.” The word Jesus uses for know, means not just to know, but to learn to know. It’s knowing someone, but being in a continual process of getting to know them. It’s knowing someone without making any assumptions that you know all about them. There is always something to learn about another person.
I think couples who do the best in their relationships have this kind of “knowledge” about each other. They don’t assume they know everything about the other. Mystery writer, Agatha Christie, once said, “An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets the more interested he is in her.” That’s the great thing about being Jesus’ sheep—he knows us, and he wants to keep on getting to know us.
Thirdly, an advantage to being Jesus’ sheep is that we follow him. To follow Jesus doesn’t mean we are just tagging along behind. It means we are on the same way with Jesus. Instead of stupidly following Jesus in a line, it is more that we are accompanying him out into the world.
There is a difference between being a fan of Jesus and a follower of Jesus—being on the way with him. Jesus was never interested in having fans. When he defined what kind of relationship he wants, "Enthusiastic Admirer" isn’t an option. Sanctuaries shouldn’t become stadiums. If we come to stadiums instead of sanctuaries, all the fans cheer for Jesus but have no interest in truly following him. The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get an autograph, but not so close that it requires anything from them.
Following puts us on the same way with Jesus, which means we will face what Jesus faces, but with him beside us for guidance and strength.
Another benefit Jesus has for his sheep is eternal life: “And I give them eternal life,” Jesus said. It’s hard for us to imagine life going on and on without end. Everlasting life. Perpetual life. Part of the reason we have a hard time getting our heads around eternal life is that we now live within time. But we believe that time is part of God’s creation of the universe. Time is a created thing. We live in linear time because it’s the way God created the world. To have eternal life, to live forever, though, would mean living outside time. It would mean living an existence where there is no time, nor concept of time. You just are.
The word for life that Jesus used for “eternal life” literally means life that is real and genuine. How much of your life, now, would you describe as real and genuine? True and authentic? Honest-to-God? That’s what makes life real and genuine—it’s that our lives belong to God. In eternity, we will belong to God, outside of time, in truth and as authentic souls.
Coupled with this thought, Jesus says that his sheep will never perish. This is a great word Jesus used to describe his sheep. The word literally means, “render useless.” As Jesus’ sheep, we will never be rendered useless.
When Irving S. Olds was chairman of the U.S. Steel Corporation, he arrived for a stockholders' meeting and was confronted by a woman who asked, "Exactly who are you and what do you do?”
Without batting an eye, Olds replied, "I am your chairman. Of course, you know the duties of a chairman--that's someone who is roughly the equivalent of parsley on a platter of fish."
Jesus is saying, my sheep will never just be parsley on a platter of fish. No one is useless in Jesus’ eyes. No one. Anyone who is his sheep has a role to play, a mission to complete, lives to save. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church:
…don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
And lastly, Jesus said no one will snatch his sheep out of his hands. Jesus is letting us know that it is the strategy of the evil one to separate the sheep from the shepherd, the believers from Jesus. It seems to be the natural way of sheep that they wander off. Of course, no one can get inside a sheep’s head and figure out what they’re thinking that would make them wander off like they do. Or walk off a cliff, one after another.
But for people, it’s much easier to find out what makes us wander off from the Savior: compromise, laziness, poor habits, self-centeredness, arrogance. There’s a long list. The evil one uses all these choices and attitudes, that are ours and ours alone, to try to separate us from Jesus.
Jesus promises, though, that even with misguided choices and frivolous attitudes, if we are one of the Savior’s sheep, we will always be his. We are always in his grasp, in his embrace. And try as he may, the evil one will never be able to pull us from Jesus’ grasp and control. Never.
So, we are Jesus’ sheep. Stupid, yes; but we are his, and we will always be his. And despite being sheep, Jesus still gives us so many advantages, even when we are behaving like stupid sheep. We are his, and will always be his.
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