I Am the Door and I Am the Good Shepherd, episode 85

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at When You Love a Prodigal, and also help and hope for your own life journey. In the past two weeks, we have talked about two I Am statements from Jesus. He is the Bread of Life and the Light of the World. This week, we considered two more. Jesus said, I am the door of the sheep pen, and I am the good shepherd. As you listen, be sure to jot down ways that you can care for your sheep.

0:43 Our son Josh, our former prodigal, is a part-time farmer. For a while, that included raising sheep. He had a sheep pasture and a sheep pen. The sheep stayed overnight in the pen and spent their days grazing in the pasture. Because he and his wife both were away at day jobs, they acquired a guard dog. Anatolian shepherds were bred as livestock guard dogs. They're huge. They're really beautiful, but they're great big. Their farm is in a wildlife area, and the dog did his job of protecting the sheep from coyotes, bears, maybe even panthers.

1:36 But one day, Josh returned home to find a dead ewe, killed by her protector. No one knows what happened, but that shepherd dog was surely not a good shepherd. Perhaps this story gives us a little understanding of John 10, 1-15. Here we find these two I Am statements from Jesus that offer us security and confidence. Jesus tells us, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them.

2:21 He says, I'm the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. I bet you didn't know that was the context for that wonderful verse, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. It's said because Jesus is the door to the pen, the safe place for the sheep, and he's the good shepherd.

3:03 Jesus warns us that the enemy has sent thieves and robbers to steal his sheep. He is the door or the gate to the sheep pen, and our prodigals have been stolen or at least tempted to leave by the enemy of their souls whose plan is to destroy them. But Jesus says, No, I have life, abundant life. Too often we also can be tempted to follow the enemy's tricks, though usually more politely than our prodigals. Yet how we live with our shepherd, living and loving like him, will often help to woo our wanderers back through the true door to the sheep pen, out of the hands of the enemy.

3:55 But Jesus says more. He says, I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd, ready? The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees a wolf coming and he says, I'm out of here. He leaves the sheep and flees. The wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees, Jesus says, because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.

4:39 And I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus is not just our shepherd. He is our good shepherd. What does a shepherd do? We have a beautiful picture of it in Psalm 23, so it's very short. I'm going to read it to remind us of what the good shepherd does. The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He says, I provide it all. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

5:25 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I don't think he puts us there so much as we get there. He says, there you are, surrounded by enemies that the evil one has sent. Let's sit and have dinner there, or just a cup of coffee, a table in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Then these wonderful words, surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

6:17 What does the good shepherd do? He leads us. He feeds us. He provides water. He gives us rest. He protects us, and he restores us. And then we're reminded that he lays down his life for us. A shepherd may have to do that for his sheep. David, a shepherd boy, tells of killing a bear and a lion to protect his flock. He was willing to lay down his life, but God gave him the strength to defeat the bear and the lion. Jesus, our good shepherd, was willing to lay down his life for us, and he did, to become our Savior.

7:06 He is a good shepherd to us who love our prodigal, but also to each of those prodigals, offering to love and provide and protect our loved ones. And he has given us the assignment to be his under-shepherds for those we love. Sometimes our God does an amazing miracle to restore our lost lambs. Often he lets them experience the results of their choices, but he is always waiting with open arms to welcome them home. If they don't come, he goes out looking for them.

7:47 He climbs down a cliff to rescue them. We've all seen that picture. He's always coming after us because of his great love for us. And if they still resist coming home, he just keeps working to woo them back and welcome them home, just as the father in Luke 15 did. When his prodigal son came home. Jesus is the door for the sheep, for us and our prodigals, and he protects the door. He keeps the sheep safe in that pen. And he is also the good shepherd who laid down his life for us and for our prodigals.

8:32 I know that in our many long years of prodigal wilderness, the names of Jesus as door and good shepherd comforted me. He wiped my tears. He drove out fear. He strengthened the resolve to not give up. He instilled courage in me. He gave wisdom because I asked for it many times. And he filled me with hope. He'll do the same for you as you keep waiting and praying and pursuing and wooing your loved one. Jesus is in you doing it. He's with you doing it.

9:14 He's a very good shepherd. And he doesn't give up. And he will enable you to not give up. So what do you need? What desperately do you need today that Jesus, the good shepherd, is offering you? A prayer for you. Thank you, Jesus, for being such a shepherd to care for us, provide for us, protect us, and lay down your life for us. May we be willing to do the same for those we love. God bless you.