Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00015A
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00:20 Hello and welcome to this program "Books of the Book."
00:23 We're so glad that you can join us in this program. 00:27 We're doing a Bible study on the Gospel of John. 00:31 My name is Deyvy Rodriguez and with us is a Bible scholar, 00:34 his name is Dr. Jon Paulien. 00:36 And he is the dean of Religion 00:39 at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. 00:43 And we want to welcome him 00:45 for being with us and taking his time. 00:47 You have flown from a very far distance. That's right. 00:51 Southern California to Southern Illinois. All right. 00:54 Loma Linda must be a very wonderful place. 00:56 Well, the name means 'beautiful hill' in Spanish. 01:00 In Spanish, yeah. All right. Well, come again. 01:03 And now we are in the middle of the gospel. 01:06 And by the way if you have a Bible, you can join us. 01:09 And we are picking up in Chapter 10, 01:12 again that's the Gospel of John. 01:14 And Dr. Paulien, so the last program we talked about, 01:19 of course Chapter 9 and how Jesus healed a blind man 01:23 and now we get into 10. 01:24 And it seems that Jesus is now giving another discourse. Hmm. 01:29 How is this chapter which is talks about the good shepherd? 01:35 Is that connected to Chapter 9? 01:38 Okay, I think a lot of people tend to read Chapter 10 01:42 as if it were by itself. 01:43 Chapter 10 is actually two separate incidents. 01:47 The first incident is the good shepherd analogy 01:51 and then you have the story of Jesus in the temple again, 01:56 this time in another feast day. 01:58 And those are three months are so apart. 02:01 But this story in Chapter 10 02:04 is actually connected to Chapter 9, 02:07 which is connected to Chapter 7 & 8. 02:09 It's all one incident. 02:13 In fact the later part of 8, 9 & 10, 02:16 all happened on the same day, maybe even in the same hour. 02:19 So they're all tied together. 02:21 And if you go to Chapter 10, right at the beginning. 02:26 If you have a King James Bible, 02:28 it'll say "Verily, verily, I say unto you." 02:31 If you have more modern translation, 02:33 it might say, "Truly, truly, I tell you." 02:36 That introduction that "Truly, truly" 02:40 never starts a new chapter. It's always a reaction. 02:44 If somebody say, look, let me really emphasize this," you see. 02:48 Nobody's gonna say, "Let me really emphasize this--" Right. 02:52 When he opens the door, you know. 02:54 Somebody rings your door bell, okay. 02:56 You open the door. "Let me emphasize this." 02:59 He's gonna like, "Oh--oh. Wait a minute. 03:00 What are we talking about?" You see. Right. 03:02 So Chapter 10:1 is not introducing a new thing, 03:06 it goes right on what came before. 03:09 Jesus' talking to the Pharisees 03:11 in the presence of this blind man, 03:13 who was healed and saying, you know, your guilt remains 03:17 because you're rejecting the light 03:19 that's been brought to you." 03:21 So something about this good shepherd analogy 03:25 is gonna related to that previous story. 03:28 And as we get closer we will see how that is. 03:32 Perhaps just look at verse 4, 03:34 just for a moment. Chapter 10-- 03:36 Chapter 10? Yeah. 03:37 "And when he brings out his own sheep, 03:39 he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, 03:42 for they know his voice." Okay. 03:45 That I think is a very clear reference 03:47 back to the blind man of Chapter 9. 03:49 The sheep of Jesus know His voice. 03:52 This man was a disciple of Jesus 03:54 before he actually knew Him. 03:58 He'd only met Him as a blind man. 04:00 Jesus puts something in his eyes, 04:02 sent him to the pool, he receives his sight, 04:05 he doesn't know what Jesus looks like, 04:07 he doesn't know his name, and he doesn't know who he is. 04:11 But as he's talking to the Pharisees, 04:14 he comes to know Jesus' voice. 04:17 So when he actually meets Jesus, he knows-- 04:19 So blind people, they know the voice, you know. 04:23 I had a friend who was blind. 04:25 And it didn't matter if we've been separated for two years, 04:29 he would know me instantly. 04:31 But here's an interesting thing, my roommate in college, 04:33 and he'd roam next to us. 04:35 And my roommate in college had a voice just like mine. 04:39 Our voices are so similar 04:41 that sometimes he'd have a girl friend on the phone, 04:43 he said "Hey, I got to go do something." 04:45 And I just take the phone and say, "Yeah, yeah." 04:47 And she never knew it wasn't him, you know. 04:51 But this blind guy, he would know 04:53 the difference between us. 04:54 But there was one thing, my roommate, 04:57 whenever he would see him "Hello, Don." 04:59 And he would kind of tap him under the chin. 05:02 And I remember that, so 20 years later, 05:04 I see this guy and I just go up to him and I said, "Hello, Don." 05:08 And I tapped him on the chin. 05:10 And he says, "Oh, this is Gaspar," 05:13 you know. "Hello." 05:14 And then I said, "Fooled you." 05:18 Very hard to fool a blind man. 05:20 See the blind man knows by the voice. 05:23 And Jesus takes that whole analogy 05:26 and brings it in here, and He says 05:27 "My sheep know My voice." 05:30 Those who truly commit themselves 05:32 to Jesus through the Holy Spirit 05:35 will know what is the right way, 05:37 will know the truth, they will be lead to follow Jesus. 05:41 Why don't we read the whole first 10 verses? 05:43 As the closest you get to a parable 05:46 in the entire Gospel of John. 05:48 "Most assuredly, I say to you, 05:50 he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, 05:53 but climbs up some other way, 05:55 the same is a thief and a robber. 05:58 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 06:01 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, 06:04 and he calls his own sheep by name 06:07 and leads them out. 06:09 And when he brings out his own sheep, 06:11 he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, 06:14 for they know his voice. 06:16 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, 06:19 but will flee from him, 06:21 for they do not know the voice of strangers. 06:24 Jesus used this illustration, 06:26 but did not understand the things, 06:29 they did not understand the things 06:30 which He spoke to them. 06:32 Then Jesus said to them again, 06:35 'Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 06:38 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, 06:42 but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. 06:46 If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, 06:49 and will go in and out and find pasture. 06:52 The thief does not come except to steal, 06:55 and to kill, and to destroy. 06:57 I have come that they may have life, 07:00 and that they may have it more abundantly.'" 07:03 Why don't you read verse 11, while you're there? 07:05 "I am the good shepherd." 07:07 The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." 07:10 So here Jesus has a couple of "I am" statements. 07:14 We learned earlier that, 07:15 that these were showing how divine power 07:18 has been exercised through his life. 07:21 Here he says, "I am the door of the sheepfold" 07:24 and then he says, " I am the good shepherd." 07:27 So what's going on here? 07:31 Palestine back at that time 07:32 and still today is a fairly dry country 07:36 and there aren't tons and tons of forests, you know. 07:41 It's hard for a tree to get established there and to grow, 07:44 because the moisture can be irregular and so and so. 07:48 When we think of a sheepfold, we think of a corral, 07:50 you know, made with wooden fences and so on-- 07:53 didn't happen. It's not the way they did it. 07:56 The favorite sheepfold was a cave, you see. 08:00 Because you could put the sheep in 08:03 and if the shepherd would lay down 08:05 at the entrance of the cave, the sheep were in there. 08:08 Right. They were safe. 08:09 The sheep couldn't get out without him knowing it, 08:12 or a wolf couldn't get in without him knowing it. 08:15 So you see the shepherd and the door are the same thing. 08:21 When you know the culture 08:22 and the way things went at that time, 08:25 this story makes perfect sense. 08:28 But what if they didn't have caves? 08:31 What they do have is lots and lots of stones. 08:34 It's a very rocky soil 08:36 and you'll see often stone fences. 08:39 And they would create a circle of stones, 08:42 maybe a meter high or little bit more 08:45 or whatever sheep would not be able to cross, 08:47 create that circle of stones. 08:49 And then there'd be an opening at one end. 08:52 And that's the place where the shepherd would stay. 08:54 So sheep would go in there at night, 08:56 the shepherd would lay down in that opening 08:58 and everything was safe. 09:01 So that's the context that you have here 09:05 that the shepherd and the door is the same thing. 09:09 The shepherd comes in by the door, 09:11 the sheep come in by the door, anybody goes in another way, 09:14 is a thief, or a robber or even a wolf. All right. 09:18 So what's he doing with all of these? 09:20 All of this is following on from Chapter 9. 09:24 So why don't we read verses 11 through 16? 09:29 We're still in Chapter 10. Hmm. 09:31 "I am the good shepherd. 09:32 The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 09:35 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, 09:39 one who does not own the sheep, 09:41 sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, 09:44 and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 09:47 The hireling flees because he is a hireling 09:50 and does not care about the sheep. 09:52 I am the good shepherd, and I know My sheep, 09:55 and am known by My own. 09:58 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father, 10:01 and I lay down My life for the sheep. 10:04 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, 10:07 them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice, 10:11 and there will be one flock and one shepherd." 10:15 So here Jesus explains the analogy, 10:17 it's not exactly a parable, this, 10:19 you know, shepherd and sheep, it's an analogy. 10:23 But he explains it here that there's two kinds of shepherd, 10:28 there's the shepherd who owns the sheep, 10:30 who has a relationship with the sheep 10:33 and this kind of shepherd will, 10:34 if necessary give his life for the sheep. 10:37 The wolf comes and he will fight. 10:40 Whereas the other type of shepherd is the hireling 10:43 and that's somebody who is doing it for "pay." 10:46 This is a person who has no intention 10:48 of dying for this job, you know. 10:50 So when the wolf comes or the thief comes, 10:53 he'll just run away, and leave the sheep. 10:55 You know, he was happy to take money for watching the sheep, 10:57 but he wasn't gonna defend them. 10:59 His motive is salary rather than-- Yeah. 11:02 A genuine care for the sheep. 11:04 Now who do these two shepherds represent? 11:08 The shepherd, who's willing 11:09 to give his life for the sheep would be? 11:12 Jesus. Jesus, okay. 11:14 Who are the hired hands, 11:17 who are not willing to give their lives, 11:18 and who don't really care about the sheep? 11:20 Going back to Chapter 9, those are the Pharisees, 11:23 who had a sheep in their midst, 11:27 this blind man and instead of caring for him 11:30 and being excited that, 11:32 you know, he sees now and he's close to the God, 11:36 they throw him out. 11:38 So they take the sheep and toss is out of the pen. 11:41 So Jesus is giving this analogy 11:44 as a further illustration of what was happening 11:48 in the story in Chapter 9. 11:50 And basically there's two relationships 11:53 with God that are possible. 11:56 One of them is the relationship 11:57 of institutional or political religion, 12:01 where people maybe following God, 12:05 giving lip service to God 12:07 for what they can get out of it in this world. 12:09 And what are the things that one can get out of a religion? 12:12 Well, you can get power. 12:14 There are some people 12:16 who don't have anything going on the job or stuff, 12:19 but if they can elder of the church, 12:22 there's a position of authority 12:24 and they like the power that comes with it, 12:27 there maybe money that comes with religion. 12:29 You know, you can use religion to gather fees 12:33 or sell tapes or all kinds of things. 12:35 So one can be into it 12:38 for what you can get out of it in this life 12:41 and those are the hired hands. 12:43 The Pharisees who are there, 12:45 religion for them was their way of life 12:47 and their way to power and authority 12:50 and sometimes even sexuality can get involved, 12:53 as we often heard in recent times. 12:57 But the true kind of faith 13:00 is the faith that's willing to die for it, 13:02 something worth living for and something worth dying for. 13:08 So that's the difference between the two kinds of religion 13:12 and Jesus is illustrating that here. 13:14 So there is a major connection again in Chapter 9 and 10, 13:18 although it appears--we can take just Chapter 10 by itself 13:22 and it would, you know, it would make sense. 13:24 But as you said that those first two words, 13:28 "Verily, verily or amen, amen." Yeah. 13:30 Well, my version says, most assuredly 13:32 and then he gets going. 13:33 So then again the conversation is not over. 13:38 As the blind man present most likely to face-- 13:40 He may well be present during this-- 13:41 it doesn't say one way or the other, yeah. 13:43 And so as the Pharisees are casting 13:46 this man out of the synagogue, Jesus is taking him. 13:49 He's collecting him. 13:50 He's collecting that sheep and he's following. Yeah. 13:52 So this idea of the shepherd 13:56 and the sheep happens in a lot of the gospels. 13:58 In Mathew 18, it's about the church, 14:02 so here it's about the Pharisees. 14:04 But in Mathew 18, it's about the church. 14:06 There are big shots in the church, 14:08 who are throwing out the sheep, in Mathew 18, 14:13 when you look at it. 14:14 In Luke 15, the sheep wanders out by itself. 14:18 But in Mathew 18, 14:20 Jesus is the one protecting those 14:22 that the church people are throwing out. 14:24 In Luke 15, the sheep that wanders out by themselves, 14:28 Jesus still goes after them. 14:30 In John Chapter 10, 14:32 when the Pharisees are throwing people out, 14:34 Jesus collects them. 14:36 So you can see the character of God in all of this. 14:40 And God is inviting us to treat people, 14:44 whether they're Jews, whether they're Christians, 14:46 or whether just people 14:48 who stupidly go the wrong way, like sheep, you know. 14:51 Grass looks greener over there, you go over there. 14:54 Oh, there's another greener one. 14:55 Pretty sooner they're lost, not very intelligent. 14:58 But Jesus still cares and goes after them. 15:01 Indeed God cares. 15:02 And we're gonna continue learning more of God's character 15:05 in the Gospel of John after this short break. |
Revised 2014-12-17