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The voice of strangers

Text: John 10 : 1- 21

THE VOICE OF STRANGERS

Sheep may not be the most intelligent of animals, but they know enough to form a strong relationship with their shepherd. What if a thief and robber would attempt to imitate the voice of their shepherd? Would they respond to the voice of a false shepherd? Jesus had this to say about genuine sheep.

“Yet they will by no means follow a stranger,
but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice
of strangers.”
John 10:5

The bond between sheep and shepherd was deep and true. Was that not the reason why the true disciples of Jesus could never be persuaded by the false arguments of the Jews? They had promoted themselves as the Disciples of Moses (John 9:28). They had castigated Jesus as a sinner, with the obvious implication that they were righteous before God. They had gone to great lengths to intimidate and bully people into submission. However, none of the true disciples of Jesus were in the least affected.

Those who had heard the Shepherd’s voice long enough had grown accustomed to it. They could never follow another voice now. They would flee from the voice of strangers!

A BEAUTIFUL ‘FIGURE OF SPEECH’ (ILLUSTRATION)

Jesus knew both the Biblical text as well as practical details of looking after sheep. He wove both sets of knowledge into a beautiful illustration. How well was the illustration received? John made an important note here.

“Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand
the things which He spoke to them.”
John 10:6

How sad and lamentable it was that a well thought out illustrative lesson was wasted on the Jews. Yet, surely that too was expected! The Jews were not His sheep. They wouldn’t respond!

FEEDING OUT IN THE OPEN PASTURE

The picture of a good shepherd depicted in the Book of Ezekiel must have been on Jesus’ mind even as He taught the people. Let us turn once again to the book of Ezekiel.

‘”I will feed them in good pasture, and their
fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel.
There they shall lie down in a good fold and
feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,’
says the Lord God.
‘I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away,
bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick;
but I will destroy the fat and the strong,
and feed them in judgment.'”
Ezekiel 34:14-16

The illustration in the Book of Ezekiel was that of a good shepherd leading his flock to rich pastures. The good shepherd would do everything in his power to ensure that every sheep would be well looked after.

Jesus changed the illustration along the way as He continued to speak to the crowds. The scene was no longer that of the public sheepfold. This time He spoke about the Good Shepherd leading His flock into the open fields.

“Most assuredly, I say to you,
I am the Door of the sheep.”
John 10:7

What did Jesus mean by that? The meaning of the word “door” in this context (John 10:7) was different from that mentioned previously (John 10:1-2). The first time Jesus used the word “door” (John 10:1, 2), it was a reference to a literal, physical door.

When Jesus spoke of Himself as the Door of the sheep, He had in mind a totally different scenario. When a shepherd leads his flock into the fields to graze, he has an important task to perform. If the flock is a small one, he would probably find a cave that he could pen the sheep in for the night. The good shepherd would then sit or sleep at the mouth of the cave. The shepherd became the living “door of the sheep”.

Only a very good shepherd would do this for his sheep. He would defend the flock from wild animals that had caught the scent of the sheep. He would also prevent the sheep from wandering outside from the safety of the sheepfold.

WARNING AGAINST “THIEVES AND ROBBERS”

A word of warning had to be given at this juncture. Just as there were thieves and robbers who would try and break into a public sheepfold, so there would be “thieves and robbers” out in the open field attempting to harm the sheep. Men may be compared to sheep, and yet there was a limit to that comparison and analogy.

Men were not like sheep. They could think for themselves. They must distinguish between the Good Shepherd and the bad ones! That may seem obvious, yet the distinction needed to be stated.

“All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not hear them.”
John 10:8

Who were the people “who came before Jesus”? For four hundred years, there had been no prophetic voice in Israel before Jesus came to the nation. However, there was no shortage of people who promoted themselves as “good shepherds”. Jesus dismissed them as “thieves and robbers”. Mercifully, those who were true sheep did not respond to them.