Dear PBC Family,
I am preaching the last sermon in the “I AM” series from John, and I am speaking from John 10: “I am the good shepherd” and “I am the Door to the sheep.” In my studying I needed to look at Ezekiel 34.
In Ezekiel 34, the Lord is condemning the false/corrupt shepherds for their actions. Instead of teaching the pure Word of God, these shepherds were enriching themselves at the expense of the sheep (34:3–4), probably by giving comfort to people in their sin instead of charging them to repent. It is often easier to get a hearing by telling people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear, and many old covenant authorities committed that error. False prophets taught according to what would help them succeed, not according to the Lord’s truth (Jer. 28).
But the situation would not stay that way forever. Because the Lord makes the following promise, “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.” (Ezekiel 34:15–16)
So when Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” He was stating that he was the fulfillment of that promise. Anyone who follows Jesus follows someone who is not corrupt, and not fleecing the sheep, and not in it for themselves. Rather the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
Blessings,
Jarred