What makes Jesus the Good Shepherd? In John 10:1-21, Jesus calls Himself "the good shepherd" who lays down His life for the sheep — spoken, surprisingly, in the middle of conflict. Dr. Toby Holt unpacks this beloved picture of Christ. Jesus speaks not in a peaceful pasture but to hostile leaders who had thrown out a man He healed. Against their failure, He is the true Shepherd who feeds and protects His flock and willingly dies for the sheep. He also speaks of "other sheep" — the Gentiles He would gather.

Questions this study answers:

1. What does a shepherd do? A shepherd both feeds and protects the flock. Jesus does both perfectly, unlike the failed leaders of Israel.

2. Who are the "other sheep" not of this fold? The Gentiles — people of every nation whom Jesus would also gather into one flock under one Shepherd.

3. What does it mean to be Jesus' sheep? It means knowing His voice and following Him, and being kept safe by a Shepherd who laid down His life for you.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." — John 10:11 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

In John 10, Jesus made one of his most famous I Am statements when he said,

2

I am the Good Shepherd. Then he explained what sets him apart from other shepherds.

3

The Good Shepherd offers up his life so that his flock may live.

4

That sacrifice will be the focus of today's study.

5

Sometimes when you hear about the Good Shepherd, we think, that sounds nice.

6

We see Jesus sitting on a hillside saying, come to me.

7

And we get this picture X view of what's going on in this text.

8

But if you read this chapter in light of the chapters around it,

9

you'd realize that what's really going on in John 10 is a battle royale.

10

You see, for chapter after chapter after chapter, Jesus had been talking.

11

But who had he been talking to?

12

Well, he'd been talking primarily, principally, if you look in John 8 and John 9, to those who hated him.

13

He'd been talking to Pharisees and scribes, the religious elite, and he had said things to them

14

that had shaken their world, and on multiple times, just in several chapters, he had said

15

things that startled them so greatly that they hated so much that they started to look around

16

to pick up what? Stones. Why? To kill the one in front of them. This text is not Jesus sitting on

17

a hillside with all these willing people listening to him and all nodding their head and affirming

18

what he's saying. Rather, these are words he is speaking to those who hate him and who cannot wait

19

for the opportunity to strike him down. So that's the greater context of this passage, and it's

20

helpful to bear it in mind as we dissect it this morning. Now, back in John 8, one of the first

21

things Jesus said that really broke the brains of the religious elite, and it was the main thing

22

that caused them back then to pick up stones, as Jesus said this statement. It was two words long.

23

he said, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. I am. Why was that two-word statement significant

24

to his audience? Well, significant, as we talked about a few weeks ago, because back in Exodus

25

chapter 3, that was the way that God had identified himself to Moses. God answered Moses' question

26

about, who are you, O Lord? And God just said, I am who I am. I am. Tell them that the great I am

27

has sent me to you. That's what Moses was to tell the people, the Jews there under Pharaoh. So when

28

Jesus was talking to the Pharisees back in chapter eight, and they were having this back and forth,

29

this argument, this discourse that was going wildly off tracks, at least from their perspective,

30

Jesus had sealed the deal in their mind that this man had to die when he said, I am. Before Abraham

31

was, I am. At that moment, they picked up stones to throw. That's in chapter eight. Things didn't

32

to prove in chapter 9. Last week, Pastor Fish preached from chapter 9. In chapter 9, Jesus

33

says something wonderful and nice. He encounters a blind man, and what does he do? Well, the blind

34

man calls out to him, and Jesus says, come here, and he heals the blind man. Remember, there's the

35

mud and the spit and all this different stuff, and he heals a blind man. The blind man is healed,

36

and he's able to see once again. Now, you would think, you would think that that would be a cause

37

for celebration, right? That the people would be really excited. What a miracle. How amazing. And

38

we're so happy for Brother Bob over here. He can see now. How wonderful. Well, as we saw last week

39

in Pastor Fish's sermon. People did not treat it as wonderful, or at least the religious leaders

40

did not. When they saw a man who was blind previously and now could see, all it did was

41

infuriate them. It infuriated them for a number of reasons, but not the least of which was the source,

42

the cause of his healing. It was that Jesus guy. That Jesus guy who keeps doing this stuff we can't

43

understand. It's got to be demons. Got to be demons. That's all they could ever come up with.

44

It must be demons. They hated it. He kept doing stuff. They wanted to kill him. He was saying

45

crazy stuff. They wanted him dead. And yet he kept doing things that the people would see and then

46

run to him with great abandon and try to embrace him. And they couldn't believe it. They couldn't

47

accept it. They wanted him dead. Now you remember, they tried to accost the blind guy. Poor blind

48

Bob here. Poor blind guy. What do they do? Well, they chase him down. They want to know. All right,

49

tell us the truth. Tell us about this one who healed you. And then they go to his parents as

50

well. And his parents say, don't talk to us. Talk to him. But ultimately, the blind guy just goes,

51

hey, all I know is this. I was blind, but now I see. Do you guys want to become his disciples too?

52

They really hated that. So what did they do to the poor blind guy? What was the religious elite's

53

approach to the blind guy? They took him and they cast him out. They wanted his estate now to be

54

worse than his estate was even when he was blind. Now he was excommunicated, so to speak. Now he was

55

cast out of the synagogue. Now you had this sheep that Jesus had nurtured and Jesus had healed and

56

touched his eyes, and Jesus called close. And what did the religious elite do? They cast him

57

from their presence in chapter 9. Now, as we come to chapter 10, that statement, that two-word

58

statement, I am, Jesus is going to repeat it on a couple of different occasions. Today's text,

59

he's going to say, I am about two things. He's going to say, I am the door, and I am the good

60

shepherd. Do they mean the exact same thing? Not really, as we're going to see in today's text,

61

but just as a side note here, the two times he says it in John chapter 10, he would say I am

62

throughout the entirety of the book. Seven times. Now back in John 6, he says, I am the bread of

63

life. John 8, I am the light of the world. These are very divine statements. The light of the world,

64

who can say that? I am the bread of life, John 6. I'm the light of the world, John 8. I am the door

65

here in John 10. I'm the good shepherd, John 10, John 14. I am the resurrection and the life,

66

John 11. I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14. You ever encounter someone who says,

67

you know, Jesus never claimed to be God. Dear heavens, what do you think he's saying here?

68

I am this. I am that. The light of the world. The way, the truth, and life. The resurrection. I am

69

he. I'm the one who was sent. I'm the fulfillment of Psalm 23. I'm the fulfillment of the entirety

70

of the Old Testament. Hey guys, it's me. He says this time and time again before the people.

71

Now, one aside before we look at verses 1 through 10 together.

72

One aside is I'm not a grammarian or the son of a grammarian.

73

You can tell by the way I'm pronouncing it.

74

Grammar is not my thing.

75

But I do know this.

76

Definite articles matter.

77

Now, what's a definite article?

78

Definite article is if you say, I am the door, then the word that does jump out is the word the.

79

That's the definite article.

80

What if Jesus had told the masses, what if he had said, I am a way and a truth, a life?

81

what if he said, I am a door? What would the implication be? There'd be more than one door.

82

If Jesus told the world, hey guys, I'm here, it's me. I am a door. You can enter in and find rest.

83

One of many. I hope you choose me, but there's other options. I am a door. What if he had said

84

that? Oh, dear heavens, that's blasphemy. And it's also not what he said. He says, I am the door. I

85

am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. No one comes

86

of the Father, but through me. This is the most hated doctrine in all of Christendom. Why? Because

87

it excludes all those who do not go through Jesus. It says this very straightforwardly. It says that

88

the singular means, the singular way to reach the apex, whatever that looks like, wherever it is,

89

the singular way to reach God's golden shores, the singular way to reach that heavenly estate

90

is through what? It's through the door, who is who? What other options are there? None. This is

91

Christianity 101. And yet, so often in our day, even in Christian circles, even in brick buildings

92

with crosses on top, they kind of try to hide that. Try to hide that, right? Why? Because it

93

sounds exclusionary. Well, here's the thing. We don't want to exclude any sinner from that promise,

94

which is why we're constantly evangelizing and trying to share the gospel. But we do know this,

95

there's but one door, one way, one truth, one life. There's one bread of life, one light of the world,

96

one resurrection. It is through the personal work of Jesus Christ. And we would be like Judas. We

97

would be betraying Jesus with a kiss if we failed to point to him and highlight these statements,

98

even if they sound exclusionary to modern ears. All right, let's look at verses 1 through 10 once

99

again. Verse 1, most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door,

100

but climbs in some other way, he is a thief, he's a robber. But he who enters by the door is the

101

shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, the sheep hears voice, and he calls his

102

own sheep by name, and he leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them,

103

and the sheep, they follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger,

104

but they will flee from the stranger, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Now Jesus used

105

this illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them. Then Jesus said to

106

them, most surely I say to you, I am the door. I am the door. Remember, not a door. I am the door of the

107

sheep. All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not hear them. I am

108

the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. So there's a correlation here. And he will go in

109

and find pasture. But the thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. And I

110

have come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly. All right, let's say that

111

you've got two guys. You've got two men, and they're standing in the sheep pan, or they're standing out

112

on that hillside, right? Two men. On the one hand, you got Farmer Jones, right? Shepherd Jones in a

113

straw hat and like Farmer Jones, the shepherd of the sheep. You got him. And on the other hand,

114

you got Brad Pitt. Now, let's say you release a bunch of sheep, a bunch of sheep that belong to

115

Farmer Jones, right? They both call the sheep to come to them. One of them is Farmer Jones. The

116

other one's Brad Pitt. Who are they going to go to? This is one of the odder analogies I've used

117

in recent days, but let's go with it. I'm going to lean into it here. They're not going to go to

118

Brad Pitt. Why? Because there's nothing about Brad Pitt that's appealing to them. What appeals to

119

them is nourishment. They look at the farmer and they say, that's our guy. I hear his voice. I

120

recognize that guy. That's the guy who shows up and he feeds me and he takes care of me. Oh, and when

121

the wolves came, that's the guy who defended us and protected us. Run to him. Brad Pitt will be

122

standing alone. The sheep will not go to him. Why? Because fame and wealth and celebrity does not

123

matter to the sheep, but rather he who nourishes them is what they will desire. In a very weird

124

way, in a roundabout way, that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, I am the shepherd. I'm the

125

door. I'm the singular means. There's a world of Brad Pitt's, and there's a world of Oprah's,

126

and there's a world of other means and paths that people think will spiral up to heaven.

127

Nonsense. I am he. And when my sheep hear my voice, what do they do? They respond. They follow

128

me because they recognized my voice. You know, I've told this story at other intervals. It's one

129

of my favorites, so I'm going to tell it again. We went to Ireland on a couple different occasions

130

about, I don't know, seven, eight years ago. I had an opportunity to Bible in an hour across

131

different counties there in Ireland. Now, our host there, my host, wanted to show me the various

132

sites of Ireland. It's a very pretty country, very nice. You know, the rolling hillsides,

133

all the postcard stuff you see, it kind of matched up with what I found in Ireland. Well,

134

went off towards the coast. I don't know if it's County Dongle or what's over there on the west

135

side, but we went over towards the coast. And as we got towards the coast, it was even more rural

136

than the areas that were more central. And as we went out to the coast, there was a lot of sheep.

137

And you would think that there'd be like big old fences. Like here in America, we know how to do

138

fences, right? We have tall fences, barbed wire fences, all sorts of fences that keep animals

139

apart. Well, they have fences too. But the thing is, they're all like two feet tall and made of

140

broken, you know, run down old stones from some different age, right? You see fences, but they're

141

all small. And you go, well, how does this, how does this even work? They're not tall enough to

142

keep about anything out. Well, I'm not sure they do keep anything out, but I know this, the sheep,

143

the sheep are all over the place. They run about, they scatter the hillsides with no discernible

144

way because of these low fences of keeping them in one specific pen, at least not that I saw during

145

my time there. So I commented to my host. I said, boy, how in the world? How does people know who

146

sheep is who's? They're all over the place around here. And he says, look closer. So I did. And

147

immediately I saw something that was just the oddest thing. Now, this is not on the postcards.

148

This is not in the movies. This is not something I'd ever seen or even expected to see. He says,

149

look closer. He says, we've got a very practical solution. We're practical people here. We've got

150

a practical solution to this problem of how you know which sheep are yours. He says, if you look

151

at the sheep, look to the side, and you'll see something. And sure enough, I looked. And on the

152

side of the various sheep, the different shepherds or farmers or what have you, had taken cans of

153

spray paint. And there was different colors, purple, pink, green, yellow, what have you.

154

And if you were the farmer with the purple spray paint, what'd you do? Well, you went up to your

155

sheep and went, and there was a nice purple stripe down the side of your sheep. And I thought, boy,

156

this doesn't show up in the postcards at all. But yet, you could look out the hillside and see the

157

different colors now with that said what was even more fascinating was i was like all right so how

158

does so they're all different sheep with the different colors what about feeding time and i

159

only had to wait about an hour and a half to find out we had sat in a little kind of a cafe in that

160

area and a big truck not a big truck like by our standards but by irish standards a big truck went

161

rolling by and it was one of the local farmers agricultural guys and he goes rolling up down

162

the hillside and his truck makes a lot of noise and the gentleman i was with says now just watch

163

you look out towards the hillside, what happens?

164

Well, what happens is that a whole lot of sheep do nothing,

165

but some sheep hear the sound of this particular truck's approach

166

and run to it.

167

And when the gentleman gets out, he calls, rings a bell,

168

makes a specific noise,

169

and then the sheep with the purple or pink or green or what have you,

170

stripes, go running to the appropriate guy who takes care of them.

171

Now, I cannot believe that that's the way that this is done,

172

and yet that's what my own eyes saw.

173

This is the way that it's done,

174

but the singular means by which sheep get nourished

175

by their own shepherd is that the sheep recognize the voices and sounds and cars and different

176

things attributed to their specific shepherd. And so you don't need 10 foot high fences. You don't

177

need all these different things because the sheep respond to their shepherd's voices. In a sense,

178

this is what Jesus is saying here. He says, my sheep know me. My sheep know me. They've been

179

enabled and persuaded by the agency of the Holy Spirit who has changed their hearts to recognize

180

that which they previously rejected. My sheep know me because the Spirit has entered in, has

181

changed their hearts, and now, now when I speak, they hear, and not only do they hear, but they

182

follow. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. Now who is he saying all this to? Again, principally

183

to people who are not his sheep. Let's see how they respond here as we look to the next verses.

184

Let's look at verses 11 through 16. Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his

185

life for the sheep but a hireling he was not the shepherd one who does not own the sheep he sees

186

the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them

187

the hireling flees because he is a hireling and he does not care about the sheep i am the good

188

shepherd and i know my sheep and i'm known by my own as the father knows me even so i know the

189

Father, and I lay down, I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of

190

this fold. Them also I must bring. They will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one

191

shepherd. All right. So a shepherd has two principal jobs. Those jobs are broken down

192

into a lot of different responsibilities, but there's two principal jobs. The first one is to

193

feed the sheep. Remember what Jesus says to Peter? Peter, you love me? Peter says, oh, you know it,

194

boss. I love you. I love you. I love you. And Jesus says what? If you love me, you will feed

195

the sheep. He says it three times because it's important. Feeding and nourishing the sheep is

196

an important task given to shepherds, both real shepherds on the hillside, but also those who

197

occupy the pulpits, those who are the apostles, disciples, those in ministry, Sunday school

198

teachers and the like. We have a responsibility to shepherd by nourishing. Now, the second job

199

that a shepherd has, beyond nourishing, is protection, to protect the sheep, to defend the

200

sheep. In verses 11 through 16, it's that protection that Jesus is talking about here.

201

Now, if you go to the Old Testament, the Old Testament priests, they were supposed to be

202

shepherds too. In the Old Testament, the leaders that God had appointed, in our context today,

203

it would be elders and deacons and the like. But in the Old Testament context, it was generally

204

speaking the priesthood. The priests were called to shepherd God's people, to shepherd the people.

205

However, routinely they did a bad job. And so there's a number of texts I could cherry pick

206

from a handful of them. There's a number of texts in which God warns the priesthood and the leaders

207

of the Old Testament covenant community and says, hey guys, you are not doing good work.

208

I have given you sheep to take care of, and you are busy getting fat off of them, so to speak.

209

That was the problem with Eli and Eli's sons when we studied Samuel.

210

Zechariah 11, verse 17, God says this,

211

Woe to the worthless shepherd, the one who leaves the flock.

212

A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye.

213

His arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded.

214

Time and time again, the Old Testament was filled with these prompts

215

that the religious leader should shepherd and care for God's own,

216

and yet warnings that they were failing to do just that.

217

Now, who's the greatest shepherd in the Old Testament?

218

Who's the most well-known shepherd in the Old Testament?

219

David, right.

220

He was a shepherd in his youth.

221

Remember, he used the slingshot that used to protect the sheep

222

from the wolves and the lions and the bears.

223

He used the slingshot in order to kill Goliath.

224

He was a shepherd. He knew all about shepherding.

225

He was a shepherd from Bethlehem, which tells us what?

226

He was a type of Jesus.

227

He was an anticipation of Christ himself, the shepherd who would rise from Bethlehem.

228

So, a great shepherd in the Old Testament.

229

With that said, what if you're a man named Uriah?

230

Who's Uriah?

231

Who is Uriah married to?

232

Bathsheba.

233

Oh, I think we're onto something here.

234

What if you're a man named Uriah, who has a beautiful wife named Bathsheba,

235

and this guy, this king, this David, takes a hankering, a liking to your wife, and says,

236

I think I'm going to make her mine, and the way I'm going to secure that is I'm going to send Uriah

237

out to the front lines in order that he would be killed, and if he's killed, then I can take his

238

wife. This is King David, the greatest shepherd of the Old Testament. Ask Uriah how his shepherding

239

was. The point here is not to run down David. David is a sinner like the rest of us. The point

240

is this, that the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of one who would be the good shepherd.

241

All the other shepherds had failed. All modern day shepherds fail. And yet there is one singularly

242

referred to as the good shepherd. The fulfillment of that which all the other shepherds should have

243

been and should have done. The good shepherd. In verse 11, Jesus says, it's me. Jesus says this,

244

I am the good shepherd I am the one who lays down my life for the sheep verse 11 through 16 he says

245

he's the good shepherd he looks out for the sheep and the sheep at this time are God's people his

246

covenant community of Israel he says I have come to redeem those that God has given to me and I

247

have come to mine own I have come to my people remember he would cry over them later he would

248

cry over them as he came and approached the city for the last time and say oh Israel oh Israel oh

249

Jerusalem. How long I've wanted to hold you to myself, but you would have none of it, right?

250

But that's who he was sent to. However, notice something really interesting here.

251

Here in this last verse, it's verse 16, he says something that's astonishing. In the face of this

252

idea that Israel is his people, he came to his people. In verse 16, he says this. Yes, Israel is

253

my people, but verse 16, but I have other sheep too. I have other sheep that are not of this fold,

254

and them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock

255

and one shepherd. Who in the world is he talking about? You know, there's some wild, you want to

256

read commentaries and get into some weird stuff on that verse? There's some people who have looked

257

at that and said, okay, so Jesus says, I've come to mine own, this flock, but I have other flocks,

258

maybe celestial flocks, maybe flocks in other planets, in other galaxies. I have other sheep

259

somewhere, and at a given time, there will be one giant flock made up of people across the whole

260

galaxy. Some have looked at this text and said, I think that's what he's talking about. Is that what

261

he's talking about? Heavens no. What is he talking about? He's talking about the Gentiles. He's

262

addressing a Jewish audience in Jerusalem, and he says this. He says, I've come to you as the

263

fulfillment of that which the Old Testament anticipated. I'm the fulfillment of all these

264

prophecies. It's me. I've come to you just as scripture said that I would. But know this, I have

265

sheep outside this fold, and through me they will be yoked to you. So there'll be one flock

266

and one shepherd. If you and I this morning are Gentiles, we can praise God that this verse is a

267

reference to us. If this morning you're a Gentile, so to speak, outside of the original ethnic Israel,

268

this morning, if you are a Gentile, this verse is the promise by which God said, I will take folks

269

from far fields and from centuries later and the likes, and I will bind them and yoke them to the

270

covenant community that I will purchase with my own blood. All right, let's look at verses 17 through

271

18 now. Verse 17. Therefore, my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up

272

again. That's interesting. Verse 18. No one takes it from me. Imagine all the people looking for the

273

stone still. He says, no one, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power

274

to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This command I've received from my Father.

275

You know, throughout this book, as you said before, there are people who wanted Jesus dead,

276

almost on every page. Once he gets past the things like turning water to wine, you know,

277

that just startled people. But once he starts doing the miracles on the other side of that,

278

once you get to John 4, 5, 6, it builds. The crescendo of hatred and animosity builds towards

279

Jesus, and they want him dead. The people want him dead. The leaders, excuse me, want him dead. The

280

wolves, the enemies, the bandits, the thieves that he referred to earlier in this passage, they're

281

already sharpening their knives, hoping to slaughter this particular lamb, this one, this Jesus.

282

But here's the thing. Jesus says, when it happens, and it would happen, he routinely told his disciples,

283

this day is coming, but when it happens, it will not be because someone else does it to me. It will

284

be for this reason and this reason alone, because I will volitionally, of my own will, my own choice,

285

I will lay down my life. No one has the power to take it from me. There's no one, no collection of

286

someones that have the ability, the power to take my life from me, but I lay it down. And not only

287

do I lay it down, as impressive as that would be, the idea that you could call your own shot along

288

that front, that's impressive. But he says, not only, not only do I lay my own life down, but I

289

have the power to take it up again. So that's what we see there in verses 17 through 18. A day would

290

come when the Pharisees would rejoice and they thought they'd finally done it. They finally did

291

it. They'd finally taken them out. However, it would be in the timing, the way, the fashion,

292

and for the purposes, not of them, but of Christ himself. In 1 Peter 2, Peter said it this way,

293

he who bore our sins in his own body on that tree, that we having died to sins might live

294

for righteousness. It's by his stripes you were healed. Remember that's from Isaiah 53 we read

295

this morning. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd

296

and overseer of your souls. The good shepherd laid down his life, not necessarily to save your

297

physical flesh. You and I, if we live long enough, that life will eventually be extinguished. If

298

Jesus doesn't come back first, we will perish. And yet Jesus here is declared as one who's the

299

shepherd and overseer of our souls. Our souls are entrusted to him. If you are a child of God right

300

now, your soul is in his hands. That will never change. It is in this sense that he continues to

301

shepherd. All right, let's look at our last verses, verses 19 through 21. Therefore now there was a

302

division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, he has a demon

303

and he is mad. Why do you listen to him? Now others said, these are not the words of one who has

304

a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? All right. In the 1940s, C.S. Lewis popularized

305

a theological concept. It existed before him, but he popularized it, so I'll refer to him. It's

306

called the trilemma, the trilemma. He popularized this idea of the trilemma. Now, what in the world

307

is that? Well, from tricycle, you know, tri applies to three, and in this particular case,

308

C.S. Lewis said that there's a trilemma that modern man has when it comes to the personal

309

work of Jesus and who he really is. And the trilemma, you know, tri-dilemma, the trilemma

310

is this, that this guy, this Jesus, this one in times past who said the most outlandish things,

311

there's only three things we can believe about him. And this was true for first century Jews,

312

it's true of 21st century people in Gulfport. There's only three options to what Jesus said,

313

repeatedly what he said and said again and said again. There's only three options. The first is

314

this, that he was a liar. That's one option. It's not the right option, but it's one option

315

theoretically. So some people, that's what they believe. They say he is full of it. Remember there

316

were Pharisees that said he's full of it. No, no, he's a liar. He's got a demon. The father of lies

317

speaks to him. He's a liar. We've got to take him out. Now there were others who would say that I

318

don't know if he's lying, but he is crazy. He's a lunatic. Liar and lunatic, right? That's what we

319

hear right here. They said he's mad. He's a madman. He's either a liar. He's either a demon-possessed

320

liar spouting falsehoods from the pit of hell, that's either the case or he's just mad. He's

321

just crazy. So he's either a liar or he's just a lunatic. Now, is that the case either? Was he a

322

crazy man? Well, no. And one of the ways you know he wasn't crazy is, dear heavens, he won every

323

argument he gets into. Every debate, every argument, every discourse that we see here,

324

every attempt that the collective brainpower of the Pharisees had to try to take him down,

325

throwing their best men at the job.

326

Everything they did to try to argue

327

and to tear him down through words fell flat.

328

Mad men do not reason the way Jesus Christ reasoned.

329

He deduced and he concluded

330

and he spoke in ways that no one did.

331

He's not a mad man and he's not a liar either.

332

So what does that leave?

333

If he's not a liar and he's not a lunatic, what's left?

334

The third option in the trilemma is this.

335

He's either a liar, he's a lunatic, or he's the Lord.

336

He's either lying to us, he's crazy, or maybe, just maybe, he is who he said he is.

337

Maybe, just maybe, this one who's doing miracle after miracle that boggles our minds that no one can do,

338

maybe, just maybe, the guy who died, and we all saw he died, and he rose three days later,

339

and we saw he was rose, maybe, just maybe, that guy is who he said he is.

340

Even during his life, his own disciples had moments of question and doubt and anxiety about what was going on.

341

But when they saw the risen Jesus come on in and eat some fish and honeycomb with them,

342

they went, ah!

343

Everything he said is true.

344

He wasn't lying, and he wasn't crazy.

345

He is who he said he is.

346

This is the Lord.

347

And his disciples responded by acting accordingly every day of the rest of their lives,

348

even as the overwhelming majority would die as martyrs.

349

They didn't die as martyrs to defend a liar,

350

and they didn't die as martyrs to defend a crazy man.

351

They died as martyrs because they knew, they knew that Jesus Christ is who he said he is.

352

And they also knew that he who made promises to them,

353

that if he would go, he would return and take them to where he might be,

354

that they might be with him, that he had the power and the ability to fulfill those promises.

355

One of the things that emboldened the saints, as we wrap up this morning,

356

one of the things that emboldened the apostles and the disciples was this,

357

that Jesus had said outlandish stuff, amazing stuff.

358

Now, he had backed it up with these miracles.

359

And yet, there was no miracle greater than this.

360

Laying down his own life in the way in which the Old Testament anticipated he would,

361

and then taking it up again, three days later, walking in and eating fish and honeycomb with them.

362

There was no greater miracle than the resurrection.

363

No one had done that.

364

People just didn't heal blind people either.

365

But certainly no one died, and then three days later, they arose.

366

So if you were a disciple, if you're an apostle, and you saw that, and you saw the risen Christ,

367

and you saw all this happen, he's not a liar, he's not a lunatic, he is the Lord.

368

But furthermore, not only is the Lord, but if he could fulfill all the things that he said he would do,

369

that he would lay down his life and take it up three days later,

370

if he could fill all of that, then maybe, just maybe, he could fulfill the promises that he has given to you as well.

371

Maybe, just maybe, when Jesus said, I will die that you might live, maybe, just maybe, that's what he means.

372

When Jesus said, you who believe in him today, even today in 21st century Gulfport,

373

we were broken and hurting and wounded and looking around the culture around us,

374

maybe, just maybe, when the shepherd says, I am he, take my hand and live, maybe, just maybe,

375

It's the truth.

376

Maybe, just maybe, the promises that he's given you

377

that you're leaning into even now,

378

maybe, just maybe, in fact, not just maybe,

379

absolutely, they are true.

380

And they're cemented in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

381

If he could fulfill that promise,

382

then let me ask you, what promise can't he fulfill?

383

You know the answer.

384

Let's pray.