John & 1,2,3 John | Lecture 13 : BC301-John-20260921

Okay, good morning everyone. Yes, good morning to all of you who are online as well. Uh we'll have someone here in our class opening for us with a word of prayer and then after that uh we will begin our session. If someone could just commit our entire time into the Lord's hand so that he ministers to us and so that we are blessed in some way. >> Let's pray. Thank you heavenly father. Thank you for this wonderful day oh Jesus. Give thanks to you God as we're going to study in your word. Oh father God give us wisdom, knowledge, understanding oh father god. So whatever we will learn oh father god we can understand. Oh father father god. And I pray that to father I surrender entire class into your hands. So father god word. And I surrender ma'am also into your hands. So father god you guide her. Oh father god you lead her. Oh father father god. And I pray that to father all things I just surrender into your hands. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayer. In Jesus name I say. Amen. >> Amen. Yeah. So we had started John chapter 9 uh last class uh which discusses the healing of the man who was blind from birth and we looked at the first three verses. Um and so we'll not repeat what we have already covered. Um we will just start off with verse four. Um if you could maybe read out all the way from John chapter 9 verse 4 up to verse 7 please. As long as it is the day we must do the work of him works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world I am the light of the world. After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes. Go, he told him, wash in the pool of um Saleom. This word means sand. So the the man went and washed and cameo came home seeing. >> Yeah. So um we saw in the previous class Jesus explaining and telling them uh that God always does not make the reason known why a certain person has been suffering under certain circumstances. It may be a sickness. It may be some other kind of a problem that has come into their life. God doesn't always give an explanation of why he has allowed that. But one guarantee is there. Whatever that situation is which is troubling us, the Lord has only permitted it because he knows how to bring good out of that evil thing and he can redeem the situation. He can help us. That's the guarantee that we can have no matter what that situation or sickness is. Uh and so over here um Jesus has you know given them that assurance that he wants to help this person because God wants to use the situation to bring glory to himself and um so we have him spitting on the ground and making mud and then putting that mud on his eyes. Uh so um there's some people who suggest that in the same way when Adam was created, he was created out of the mud. God must have mixed water and mud uh to create clay and created a human being out of that clay and then when he breathed into that clay uh image which he has made, it became a living person and that became Adam. So a creative act uh required his breath and uh you know your use of clay. So a suggestion which is made by some scholars is that over here maybe that man was born blind because those internal components which make up the human eye maybe they had not even formed properly which is why he could not even see uh you know all the right from birth. So maybe Jesus literally had to recreate those organs you know inside his eye so that he'll be able to see. And so in the same way Adam was created here uh Jesus is making clay you know using here his breath is not being used but his spit is being used and he makes clay and when he places it on that man's eye maybe those internal components of the eye actually were created for the first time. Uh so uh that is one suggestion and of course the Pharisees are highly offended because for them um mixing mud and making it clay is considered work. Uh which again you know is a Pharisee law. Moses simply said you you must not work on the Sabbath. So yes if a potter begins to mix clay and starts making pots then obviously that would be work. But here Jesus is not doing any work. He's not making any pots to sell them. Here he is healing the man. He's restoring the internal components of that man's eye so that he'll be able to see. So this is definitely not work. Um so uh we see the Pharisees protesting here and they say this man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath. Um and um so Jesus of course has not broken any law. He has not done any work. Um so let's look at the um the response of the parents when these Pharisees go to the parents. Uh so that would be verses 18 to 23 if you can read out. They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. Is this your son? They asked. Is this uh the one you say born blind? How it it is, how is it that now he can see? We know he is our son, the parents answer. And we know he was born blind. But how he can see now or who opened his eyes? We don't know. Ask him. He uh he is of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said because uh his parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put would be put out of the synagogue. That was that that that was why his parents said he is of age. Ask him. >> Yeah. So there seems to be an awareness both in the man and in the parents that the healing which has happened has been done by Jesus whom everybody is referring to as the Messiah. So they seem to be aware of this. They're also aware of the fact that the Pharisees are very angry and if they hear anyone saying that Jesus is the Messiah, you know, there there's a chance that they will get punished for that. So uh the parents seem to be aware of this and the man who got healed also is probably aware of this. So when the Pharisees go to the parents to ask was he really blind from birth? Could he never ever see? Maybe his I said got affected for a while and maybe it just became well now you know because they can't believe that something like this has actually been uh a miracle like this has actually been done by Jesus. So they really want to make sure and the parents of course are forced to admit they say yes it's true he was born uh blind. Uh but as for how he got his eyesight you go and ask him he's anyway old enough to talk for himself and it's explained why they don't you know state the facts. It says that they were afraid of the Pharisees who would put out of the synagogue anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Messiah. So they don't really want to admit uh that it is Jesus who did the healing and so they back off. Um as for this man uh he he is he has heard news of people talking about Jesus as the Messiah uh but he's not very sure of the implications of all of that. So when they approach the blind man himself directly he just says that he is a prophet. Okay. So um he's probably thinking in terms of the prophet that you know Moses prophesied about because Moses said God will send you a prophet like me. That was in your Deuteronomy 7 if I remember. Uh so he just says uh the person who healed me was a prophet is what he says. Um so can we can we read? Uh yeah. So that was in John 9:17 where he says the man who healed me was a prophet. And now if you can maybe read out verse 24 onwards because they call the call the man a second time to again crossqu question him. Uh so 24 to 33. Yeah if you can read out because there's a conversation here that happens between the blind man and the Pharisees. They are saying one thing about Jesus and he is saying something else about Jesus. >> A second time the sermon the man who had been blind give glory to God by telling the truth. They said we know this man is a sinner. He replied whether he is a sinner or not. I don't know. One thing I do know I was blind but now I see. Then they asked him what did you what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?" Then they heardly insults at him and said, "You are this follow this fellow's disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for he for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from." The man answered, "Now that is uh remarkable. You don't know where you where he becomes from, where he comes from. Yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." >> Yeah. So when this man is called a second time and again they start asking him the same questions he asks innocently do you also want to become his disciples and so then they get very angry and they say why would why would we want to be his disciple uh because we are Moses disciples and then they say we don't even know where this man comes from which is actually very very untrue because Jesus has explained that in the earlier passages there three four times where he has repeated and said I have come from the father and the reason that you don't believe me is because you don't believe in the father. If you knew uh the father then you would automatically know me as well. So those are dialogues which have been you know mentioned earlier in your earlier chapters. So in the earlier interactions with the Pharisees, Jesus has made this point that he has come from the father. Even over there during the feast of the tabernacles, you know, there are some people they say, "Oh, we know this man, you know, he's basically that carpenter son and all of that." And then he says, "Yes, you seem to be knowing from where I am, but actually I am from the father." So this is this is something which has already been discussed and mentioned three four times. And yet over here these people are saying we don't even know where he comes from. So they're very deliberately ignoring the truth which was presented to them. They do not want to accept that he has come from the father. Okay. So so then this man says, "Oh, that's very very remarkable. You people say that you don't even know where he has come from." But he has actually opened my eyes. And u uh he says nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. So I was born I was was born blind probably never even had all the components which are required to you know for an eye to see and yet I'm able to see now. And you people say you don't know where he is from. So he makes a very simple statement a logical statement. He says we know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. So you people are saying that he's a sinner. How can he be a sinner? If he were a sinner, how would he do this miracle which he has done? Um so he concludes and says if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. So they are very angry. They somehow wanted to make him admit that the person who healed him is a sinner and the man refuses to do that. He says no, this person is from God and he is a prophet. Okay. So, so then that is when they say to him, "Oh, you were steeped in sin at birth. How dare you lecture us?" And they threw him out. So over here, it's not just just a simple throwing out. They have basically banned him from ever entering into a synagogue. So this this man will never ever be allowed to enter into any synagogue and sit over there and worship God. So everyone will now point fingers at him and say look look this is the man who got healed. He couldn't even see from birth and now he's able to see everything perfectly and he's now been thrown out. He will never ever be able to enter a synagogue again. Okay. So that's the kind of story which would follow him wherever he goes. So they are basically these people have now said to him you were steeped in sin at birth. how steeped that word steeped basically means full to the brim. Okay, that's one of the one of the more um unused English words. Okay, so it right up to the brim. He's he was filled with sin at birth. How can a newborn baby be filled to the brim with sin? Uh so over here it's basically talking about how you know that was their understanding, right? They had this Jewish teaching not from the Bible but their Jewish understanding in among their in their folklore in their uh wrong traditional teachings. The idea was that if the parents have committed sin or if the ancestors have committed sin when that little baby is born it's already born carrying all the sins of those ancestors upon its head. So they're saying because you were so steeped in sin at the time of birth that is why you were born blind and you a person like you is trying to give us give us a lecture is what they are saying. So um we see a reference to this Paul's teaching uh in Jeremiah actually and also in Ezekiel. We'll just look at the Ezekiel passage um Ezekiel 18 2-4. So this was a wrong uh you know idea that has come all the way from Job's time that if a person sins only then bad very bad things will happen to them. Ezekiel 18 2-4 if you can read out >> what do you people mean by quoting uh this proverb about the land of Israel the parents eat so grapes and the children's teeth are not set in not on edge as surely as I live declares the sovereign Lord you will no longer uh quote this proverb in Israel for everyone belongs to me the parents as well as the ch child both like belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die. >> Yeah. So all the time from Job, they had this wrong idea stuck in their head. And when they when when you finally come to the time of Jeremiah, they're still saying that. And when you come down later on to the time of Ezekiel, they're still saying that. And it's a very very wrong statement. All along they have been saying that if the parents do something, the children will pay the price for it. And uh so in Ezekiel the Lord tells Ezekiel to go go and kindly tell the people don't stop you know saying this proverb this quote quotation proverb over here does not refer to the biblical proverbs. It's a quotation which they have you know in their um in their understanding and he's saying this is a wrong quotation. So please stop saying that because only the person who has committed the sin will be punished not someone who is innocent. So um God refers to that in Jeremiah and he corrects them again. He refers to it here in Ezekiel and he corrects them and says stop saying that some an innocent paper person will be made to pay for the sin of the person who has actually done the sin. That is not the case. And so right back in Deuteronomy itself that was the spiritual principle which Yahweh laid down that a person who has done the sin will pay the price. The innocent child will not be made to pay the price. Let's look at the Deuteronomy 24 verse 16. Deuteronomy 24:E 16. Parents are not to be put to death for their children. Not children put to death for their parents. Each will die for their own sin. >> Okay. So in Deuteronomy it was clearly established that God will never punish an innocent child for something which the parents have done. Now it's another story regarding curses. I mean if there's something that has been uh that has been done by the by the ancestors you know do through witchcraft or idolatry. So uh the control of um the evil one over that family uh may continue from generation to generation in the form of curses and then when when that person comes to the lord and you know places themselves under the covering of the blood that gets cut off. I mean those curses are cancelled. So uh that can happen but God never ever punishes an innocent baby for the you know for the sins of the parents. So when these people they say to this man you were steeped in sin at birth that is a very wrong statement that they are making. Okay. So uh we will not even accept a teaching like that today. So a person if they are sick we cannot say that that person's sick uh sickness has come only due to sin. Yes in some cases it can be due to sin but then there may be so many other reasons why a sickness has come and um uh when it comes to punishment God will punish the parents for their sin. He will not punish an innocent child. On the other hand, if there are curses in the family line, yes, family curses can get passed down from generation to generation simply because the evil one still has an open door in that household and so the evil one will continue to work against the future descendants as well until someone closes the door in the name of Jesus. So once you come under the covering of the blood and you take your authority and say now I am under the covenant now I can no longer be attacked by the evil one and you declare that and you pray that and you claim that the door is closed. So after that you know no curses can uh be passed on either to you or to your children. Um so so there are two these are two separate things here they are talking about punishment from God and God did not punish that boy I mean that man. Uh okay. So uh then Jesus goes looking for him uh because he's been thrown out of the synagogue and so he must be rather confused and scared at the moment. So Jesus wants to find him and give him some teaching and give him the assurance that you know everything is going to be all right for his life. And so it says um that Jesus went searching for him and found him. That would be in your verse 35. So yes, if you can read out verses 35 to 38. >> Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. And when he found him, he said, "Do not uh do you believe in the son of man? Who is he, sir?" The man asked, "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Jesus said, "You have now seen him. In fact, he is the one who speaking with you." Then the man said, "Lord, I believe." and he worshiped him. >> Yeah. So, uh the man was under the impression that Jesus is just a prophet that people are telling that you know he's probably the Messiah and all that. He's heard the rumors about all of that and he in his mind he he's thinking of Jesus as a good righteous prophet who has healed him in the way the Old Testament prophets you know used to move in gifts and they used to heal people. So he's under that impression. So Jesus wants to clarify and give him more teaching regarding this. So Jesus refers to himself as the son of man. That is basically what we had seen earlier I think in one of the earlier classes about Daniel 7 because in Daniel 7 Jesus you know um um over there you have uh one who is like a son of man being presented in front of the ancient of days and then the all authority is given to the uh son of man. So Jesus is basically teaching this man that I am that person that was prophesied about in Daniel. I am not just a prophet. I am the one to whom all authority has been given. So over here we just have the summary but then Jesus might have given him more details. And uh so the man believes and he worships him. He accepts Jesus as divine as Lord as God. Okay. So this is a true believer. This man is a true believer even though he has been thrown out of the synagogue. So now um Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and these are the words of judgment which Jesus speaks against these people. That will be in your verses 39 to 41. If you can read out Jesus said for judgment I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those will see uh become blind. Those who will see will become blind. Some Pharisees who are with him heard him say this and asked what are you are we blind too? Jesus said if you were blind you would not be uh guilty of sin but now that you claim you can see your guilt remains. So Jesus says I have come to pass judgment on people. There are people who are genuinely blind and I will help them to see and once I once I help them to see they will realize oh okay this is the truth and they will accept it. So that's basically what Jesus did for this man, right? He was physically blind and God healed him. And then after becoming, you know, physically able to see spiritually, he still could not see very clearly. He was thinking that Jesus is just a prophet. So Jesus goes to him, explains to him about this whole idea of the son of man and Daniel 7 and all of that Jesus would have told him. And so now that man is able to even see spiritually and he accepts it. So Jesus basically has come to help the blind see. You and I sometimes we don't we do not know all the spiritual truths which can help us. So he comes to us lovingly. He reveals those truths to us. And if we are you know if we are open in our hearts and we respond and say okay Lord I believe this teaching that you're telling me I accept it. You now are able to start seeing your blindness is gone and now you can start walking in the truth. Your life can be blessed. your life can be changed. But then there are some people when God shows them the truth, they deliberately close their eyes. They don't want to see that truth. They don't want to recognize it. U they are um they they are comfortable with the with their blindness because they were living in the way they wanted to live. Now if they really see the truth then they'll have to change their ways and they don't really want to change their ways. And so the Pharisees they say we are not blind people. You know when Jesus says those who see I will make them blind because you know they don't they're not responding. The Pharisees say oh what you're saying that we are blind is it? So Jesus says you yourselves are admitting that you're not blind and you have actually seen what I'm trying to show you. And uh so yes your guilt is upon you because even after seeing you have chosen not to believe. And so Jesus says you will be made blind. So those who choose to harden their hearts and refuse to see the truth, they will reach a stage where even if the truth is literally placed under their nose, they will not be able to recognize it. So uh know that's basically the judgment which comes upon people who continue again and again to harden their hearts and refuse to look at the truth. Such people they will be they will stop seeing. Now let you know let let that not happen to you and me especially when we are sitting in a Bible college because in a Bible college there are so many truths which are taught to us on a daily basis. So some truths which are inconvenient to us let us not harden our heart against those and keep pushing them away. You know there some truths which are which sound very nice we grab them we accept them. We believe them we even start applying them to our lives. But some truths which feel a little hard which expect a little bit of sacrifice from us. Let us not be people who keep pushing those truths away because when you do that there's a chance that your heart could get hardened you know. So let us not you know do that whenever any truth comes to us and when some truths make us feel happy. Some truths poke because they are targeting some area that needs to be changed that needs to be pruned. So some truths are very nice. They make us smile. They make us raise our hands and worship. Those truths are very nice. But then these other truths which poke us are also very very important. When those truths are spoken to us, let us not harden our hearts and push those truths away. Because you know, if you continue doing that, you'll reach a stage where you'll not even be able to see those truths. Which is why some students, right, by the time they come to third year, they're so hardened, everything bores them. No, because you know they they they've kind of not been pushing away those things till they have reached a stage where nothing touches them nothing you know sparks anything inside them so that is why I'm just saying be careful don't keep pushing away the truths which are inconvenient because it can lead to a hardness and once that hardness becomes like a covering on your heart you're not able to hear things clearly you're not able to see things clearly So you're not excited. So that can happen. So you know if if if you or I find ourselves at some point in life, I mean, you know, when we are not excited about the things of God anymore, ask him, Lord, what hard covering has come over my eyes and my ears which is not allowing me to get excited about the things of God. And God will actually show you, you know, because you want to be healed. He will show you. He will say see look this particular thing because you keep refusing to get rid of this it's it's led to a hardening of your eyes where you can't see it's leading to a hardening of your ears where you can't hear and then you'll be able to just get rid of that thing and your hearing will become clear your eyesight will become clear you'll get excited when you see the truth because now you can actually see it and you're like wow is this what God is speaking to me okay so if at all at any point in our life that hardening of the eyes and the ears happens you can always go back to him and say Lord nothing excites me when I read the Bible it's like oh just a bunch of words which I have read lots of times I already know them by heart so if if you know if that ever happens to you where the things of God are just not exciting you god's presence is not exciting you everything is boring it means that something has happened and you just quickly go running back to your father and you say Lord what what has made me so hard where I'm not getting excited and the Lord will show you you can just get rid of that you can repent and get rid of that and then that that aliveness that excitement that passion will again get reignited so you don't have to get worried just go back to your heavenly father and say lord show me show me what went wrong why have I become dead once he once he removes that that excitement automatically comes back it does because I've from speaking from experience. I've gone through hard phases where things did not excite me and I've gone through phases where I have been submissive and open and I've been so excited about the things of God. Okay? So I've gone through both. So when that when the hardness happens to you where nothing is exciting you don't panic. Go to him and say Lord show me which are the areas where I need to repent. He will show you. And then you just have to go repent. Get rid of those things and then you'll see a you know a passion inside an excitement inside for the word of God for worship time for uh for all the things which god wants to do in our lives. All right, we are moving into John chapter 10 which is uh you know about the shepherd and over here Jesus is basically making the statement you guys are false shepherds I am the true shepherd because you know that's he's basically talking to the Pharisees over here we generally miss out on that point we only think about how Jesus is such a wonderful shepherd but over here Jesus is actually talking to these guys these Pharisees and is telling them. You know what? You people are so eager for leadership positions. You want everyone to refer to you as oh the great and mighty leader. But you know what? You are actually false leaders. You are false shepherds. I I am the true shepherd. Uh the good shepherd. So that's basically what's going on over here in this chapter. So with having understood that, let's look at the verses which are you know um written over here. Um maybe we could just begin with the first two verses because Jesus is using very hard words just a few you know a few sentences back he he told them yeah you people are blind and when they said no no no we are not blind he said yes true you can see the truth you're not blind and you have deliberately chosen to close your eyes so yes you know you will be made blind so now he's continuing to scold them because at that time you know these these words were not divided into chapters it was just one flowing flow of thought. So he's continuing to scold them and now he's talking about their leadership and this is what he says and he's using one of his very truly statements. He's highlighting that sentence which he is talking about. So yes, chapter 10:es 1 and 2. Very truly I tell you fascist, anyone who does not enter the sheep uh pen by the gate but climbs in uh by some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. Yeah. So over here um Jesus is talking about a sheep pen and how some people don't enter the sheep pen through the gate. They tried to climb in through the wall or something like that and they are trying to enter inside in in a different way. So what on earth is the sheep pen and what is the gate and why would someone try to climb in through some other way when you have a nice gate over there? What is going on over here? So in a lot of uh you know these um Israelite towns uh many of them were shepherds right as a as a community they were a shepherd community. Uh, of course there was there were people among them who were agriculturists and farmers, but then they also had a lot of people who were shepherds and not every person is rich enough to build a you know sheep enclosure next to his house to keep all his sheep. So basically they would all have one parking space for all their sheep you know. So the in a town you would have one large sheep pen, a sheep fold. So all these people after they know they bring back their sheep they would take it to this big sheep pen where all the sheep of the different different owners would be stored. So that's basically where the sheep would stay for the night and then the next day the you know the owners will come collect their sheep again and take them out for pasture. So they would basically have a common large sheep pen in some of these uh of this of these towns. So in the morning when the people come to collect their sheep, you know the gatekeeper who's standing at the gate, he automatically knows, you know, who the owners are. So he allows them inside, they go inside, they collect their 50 or 60 sheep, how many other sheep they have, and they bring them out. If they're trying to bring someone else's sheep, the gatekeeper will realize that they are stealing. So the gatekeeper keeps an eye on them. So he makes sure that the right people are going in and they're coming out with their sheep and not with someone else's sheep. Okay? So he kind of keeps an eye on all of that. So someone who wants to steal the sheep obviously cannot go through the gate. So what would he do? He would have obviously have to climb in you know make a hole maybe in the wall somewhere and climb inside and try to sheep steal the steal the sheep. So Jesus is basically saying over here you know what I am the true shepherd. I just confidently go through the gate and I talk to my sheep. I collect my sheep. But you people, what kind of leaders are you? You're not actually the correct owners of the sheep. You are fake shepherds. You are uh you know uh you're robbers. Yeah, that's basically what he's calling them. So he says you people are trying to climb in from some other way and make yourself leaders over the flock. But actually you are not the true leaders of this flock. You have made holes in the wall and climbed in through through crooked methods to make yourself leaders. You are not the correct leaders. Why? Because the one who enters by the gate, he is the shepherd of the sheep. So here Jesus is using a lot of imagery which these Pharisees would have understood. When Jesus is talking like this, they would have been reminded of an Ezekiel passage which says similar things. It would have made them really angry that Jesus is saying these things. Let's look at the Ezekiel passage. Ezekiel 34 2-4 where it talks about the fake kind of shepherds. The word of the Lord came to me, son of man, prophecy against the shepherds of Israel. prophecy and say to them, "This is what the sovereign Lord says. Oh, to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves. Should not shepherd uh shepherds take care of the flock? You eat uh the Kurds, clothe yourself with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but uh do not take care of the flock. You h you have not uh strengthened the weak or heal the sick or bound up in uh bound up the injured. You have not brought uh back the strays or uh searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. >> So back in Ezekiel, this is what God says to the leaders of Israel. He says, "You have ruled the people harshly and brutally. You have just used them for your own purposes to make yourselves rich, to make yourselves powerful. You never cared about them. So you know that's the sheep imagery which he uses over there. He says you eat the curds, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the animals, but you don't bother taking care of them. Whatever you can get from them, you're getting, but you are not actually serving them. You're not helping them. So he uh he he says over there in the Ezekiel passage, you have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You know, you never cared about any of them. So that is exactly how these current Pharisees are also leading. So when Jesus says to them you know you are not the true shepherd they would have remembered the Ezekiel passage where Jesus where Yahweh has spoken about the false shepherds. So in the Ezekiel passage a prophecy which which God gives you know he says one day I myself will search for my sheep that would be you know in your Ezekiel 34 11 and 12. Yeah, if you can read out that Ezekiel 34:11 and 12. >> For this is what the sovereign Lord says, I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As the shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is uh with them, so I will uh look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scared uh scattered on the day of clouds and darkness. So we see over here uh the Lord had prophesied that one day he will come and he himself will search for all the lost sheep and he will gather them. And we see Jesus doing that over here. You know he's fulfilling this prophecy. He has come. He is searching for all the lost. You know in your verses 15 and 16 he says I will search for the lost and will bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. And he says um uh yeah yeah yeah he says I will shepherd the flock with justice. So what Jesus had what God had prophesied in the old testament we see Jesus fulfilling that prophecy over here in the new testament. So um yeah so we are still using the gate imagery right okay that's not yet finished. All right. So, let's look at verses three and four where he's continuing the, you know, the the the imagery of that sheep pen and how he enters through the gate. Uh, verses 3 and four, please. >> The gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. when he's when he has brought out all his own he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. So yeah, when this uh when this um uh shepherds would go inside that large sheep pen where you have hundreds and hundreds of sheep being stored uh being kept uh you know so as he would go inside he would just call out as he calls out the sheep which are his sheep you know they would immediately hear his voice they listen to his voice the entire day right so they're familiar with his voice so the minute they would hear they would all start responding you know they would start moving out of their particular pen to come towards him. So that's basically how the she the shepherds would go there and collect their sheep in the mornings. So he says over here see he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. So don't know what names they would give their sheep in those you know olden times you know whatever chunu whatever. So he would go inside you know he would just shout you know you know chunu and know all the sheep would immediately be alert because they recognize his voice. They've been hearing his voice every day so they know his voice. So they would they would follow him and it says uh you know it says over here he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. And then Jesus says but they will never follow a stranger. In fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. Jesus used this figure of speech but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. So Jesus is very clearly saying you people have made yourselves leaders by climbing in through the wall you know by making a hole and coming inside and stealing the sheep. You have made yourself leaders in that way. But you know what? My sheep will not listen to a stranger's voice. So those who really want to hear the truth, they will respond to what I am saying. They will come to me. They will follow me. They will not get led astray by you false leaders. That's the very clear statement that Jesus is making against these Pharisees. Um and so you know that man who got healed, uh the Pharisees went to him. They tried to tell him no this Jesus is a sinner. But that man was a true sheep. He heard Jesus' voice and he responded to Jesus. He did not respond to the voice of the false leaders, the Pharisees. So every true sheep, Jesus says, will recognize my voice and they will follow me. They will not get you know bit led astray by the strangers by the uh false shepherds. So in your notes, in fact, there's this story uh you know about the Turkish soldiers who tried to steal the sheep near Jerusalem during World War I. And so they gather all the sheep and they start, you know, going off with them. And the shepherd gets up. He realizes that all his sheep have are, you know, are being taken away. He can't go running behind each sheep, you know, and pull it back, you know, because um there are that many sheep. So what does he do? He just simply starts calling out loudly and when he starts calling out loudly the sheep when they hear his familiar voice they leave the Turkish sold soldiers and they come back to the shepherd. So that's just the example given in your uh notes uh in the APC notes you know which were passed down to us. Um so so Jesus is saying uh in in this verse when he has brought out all his own he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. When he has brought out all his own. Okay. So even the ones who are in Judaism right now the true sheep who belong to him they will step out of Judaism. they will be willing to come and place their faith in him because they have heard his voice and they will recognize that he is the truth and they will come to him. Okay. So that is the you know um that is the words of judgment which Jesus speaks against the Pharisees. And now Jesus is you know continuing the shepherd imagery and he's making his third I am statement. What were his first two I am statements? The first was the first one was in involved food. Uh and then the second one was ah they're all wide awake. Good students. Third statement. The third one is is found in your uh verse 7. So let's read out verses 7 to 9. And now Jesus is using a different image. Earlier he used the image of a sheep pen. Okay, a large sheep pen. Now he's using a separate a different picture, a different image. Uh if you can read out verses 7 to 9. Therefore Jesus said again, very truly I tell you, I am the gate uh for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and rob robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. >> Now in the earlier example, you had a large sheep pen. You would have a gate and you you would have a gatekeeper. That's a different picture. Now here, this is a different picture which is being used over here. And uh this picture applies more during winter season, you know, when the uh shepherds will take their sheep out for maybe an entire week and they stay out there. They don't come back to the town and you know put the sheep back in the sheep pen. They stay out in the open for maybe an entire week. And so which means during the night time in winter it would get really cold and so it's better to keep the sheep, you know, somewhere in a closed place. But they're out in the wilderness, you know. So what do they do? Or they don't have readymade sheep pens. So they would basically, you know, keep the sheep in a cave or if they have built some kind of a mud structure, they would take the sheep over there and put them in that mud structure. They would have some kind of a covering, you know, out in the open during the winter season for the sheep. So this is not your town sheep pen. This is out in the open. And so in a place like that, especially if they're using a cave, a cave doesn't automatically come with a door. Have you noticed? you know the rock doesn't automatically grow a door. So you would either have to make a gate or you the shepherd will literally lie down over there to keep the sheep from coming out you know and or and any dangerous creature from going in. So in this imagery Jesus is saying I am literally the gate. I'm guarding the sheep, not allowing any wolf or any dangerous creature to come and go inside and harm the sheep which are being you know being kept in the cave for the nighttime. So the shepherd would literally sleep there at the entrance so that nothing no danger can go inside. He's protecting the sheep. And so Jesus is basically saying over here I'm that kind of a uh gate. I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep have not listened to them. Because what do these uh false leaders what do they do? They will never keep themselves as the gate because you know the wolf will attack them. So they'd rather that the you know wolf goes inside and destroys the the sheep because they are fake shepherds. On the other hand, the true shepherd, he literally lies down over there at the entrance. Doesn't allow any any harm or danger to come and touch his sheep. So that is why in verse 9, Jesus says, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved." And he makes a statement um in the next verse. um where is that? No, the one about going in, coming in, and going out. Well, okay. Uh 9 9 and 10. 9 and 10. Yeah, if you can just read out nine and Okay, we'll save it for next time because there's there's some explaining to do regarding those verses. Uh so yes, we will stop over here. Um all right, let's quickly close with a word of prayer. Lord, we just thank you so much that you have chosen to be the son of man and you have chosen to be our shepherd. Uh there was no need, oh Lord, for you to come down to the earth because you were already king. You were already lord of lords and king of kings. But you chose to do all this for us to come here and to protect us. So we pray oh Lord that we would live under your covering stay safe. Enable us not to harden our hearts to be but to be very open and responsive towards you. We Lord we commit ourselves into your hands. Thank you Lord in Jesus' name. Amen. People during the prayer time do not do other activities. It's you.