Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: I am the good shepherd, Jesus would say, and he lays down his life for the sheep. I am the great shepherd, and he lives for the sheep, equipping them. And then there's the chief shepherd. He comes for the sheep.

Kurt (Guest): Pastor Brett Mether with a warning. Jesus knows his sheep, and his sheep know him.

Brett Meador: Can you really say that today that Christ is your shepherd? You need a shepherd to get you through the valley of the shadow of death so that you can fear no evil. I hope you can say today, I do know the shepherd.

Kurt (Guest): In John chapter 10, Jesus proclaimed, I am the good shepherd, revealing his sacrificial love and care for his followers. On Today's Word, Pastor Brett Mether illustrates how this passage invites us to reflect on Christ's selfless love and challenges us to trust him as our savior, just as Psalm 23 assures God's protection as a good shepherd watches over his sheep.

Brett Meador: Today we come to our fourth installment of the I ams, the F7, and it's right here in John chapter 10. It says there in John 10 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling and not the shepherd whose own sheep are not seeeth the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catches them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he's a hireling and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine.

As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. Here Jesus declares himself the fourth I am. I am the good shepherd. And the link here is he says, I am the good shepherd that lays down his life for the sheep. We see that in verse 11. He giveth his life for the sheep. And in verse 15, I lay down my life for the sheep. This is a major theme for this whole story that we're looking at. I love Psalm 23. It's a beautiful and amazing passage.

I love what H. A. Ironside. I read his commentaries. He was a preacher from a generation ago. He say, I believe Psalm 23 is the most beloved Psalm of them all. And it's one of the least believed. I think that's probably true. Everybody's like, oh, we love the Psalm 23. It's so great. But but do you believe it for yourself? Have you Do you believe that the Lord is your shepherd? When it starts out, the Lord is my shepherd. And and it's easy to say, yeah, yeah, yeah, he's my shepherd. But you know, sometimes we're kind of stubborn sheep.

Sometimes we don't always do what we're supposed to do. When people say the Lord is my shepherd, Isaiah says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. Isaiah 53 6. And that's why it's so essential. Sheep really need a shepherd. Of all the animals in the animal kingdom, it seems like a shepherd is really appropriate because they have no defense mechanism. And that's where Psalm 23 comes in very strongly. Let's take a look Psalm 23 verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. See a sheep that has no wants, no wants, like they're perfectly content.

What makes a contented sheep? Food, comfort, safety. Uh this is where a lamb feels content and will lie down. It's funny because it says, he maketh me verse 2 to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. You know, a lamb will not lie down unless it feels perfectly full and happy and safe. This is what the Lord does. You know, when we say I shall not want, you know, it's interesting because the I shall not want part, I shall not want rest. He maketh me to lie down. I shall not want refreshment.

It says he, you know, leaves me beside the still waters. I shall not want, you know, as it says here, restoration. If you're a person who has Jesus as your shepherd, you don't need restoration because he restoreth what? My soul. By the way, there was a little fancy shindig somewhere in England years ago where a Shakespearian superstar was there at the soiree. It was a fancy sort of deal. Well, the host in this big fancy house called all the guests together and they he introduced the fancy Shakespearian guy and he and they said, hey, would you just come and recite?

Give us a dramatic interp of Psalm 23. And so the Shakespearian guy got up there and he recited Psalm 23 eloquently. Silver tongued, you know, just spoke it beautifully. And and people are like, wow. And by the end, everybody clapped, you know, and and he took a bow and all that. But then the host of the party realized he'd maybe done something was a little socially awkward. The pastor was there standing off in the corner. The local pastor was invited to this fancy, you know, shindig. And and he kind of felt like, oh, oh, oh, and here's pastor so and so.

Pastor, won't you come up and give us your sort of reading of Psalm 23? And the pastor stood in front of everybody and he started reciting by memory. But he didn't have the fancy voice. It wasn't booming in Shakespearian. It was just kind of very normal. The only difference was as he spoke it, a tear started rolling down his cheek. And as he recited it, it came off in a way that it started to sort of infectiously. Many of the guests started little tears started going down the There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

By the time he said, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, there was just a dead silence. Nobody knew what to do. It was kind of awkward, but everybody was sort of touched. It was kind of weird moment. But the Shakespearian actor, he stepped in at that awkward moment and he said, boy, he said, I know Psalm 23, but he knows the shepherd. And that's the truth. Do you know the shepherd? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I know the shepherd. Psalm 23. I know no, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, do you know him?

Is he Can you say he's my shepherd? And are you letting him lead you through this life down the paths of righteousness for his name's sake? Well, that's the big question. Well, Jesus says here, I am the good shepherd. What a huge important part that is. Well, um is he your shepherd? Um is he leading you through the paths of right? Is he restoring your soul? That's something to be careful about. Now, there's back to John John chapter 10. There's a few nuancey things here that I'd like to sort of point out. One that's kind of an important nuance.

When I say good shepherd, what does good mean to you when you hear that in the English like, oh, that means he's nice. He's good, not bad. Which is true. But the word good is actually kind of a clumsy translation from what the, you know, original Greek word is. And I want to point that out. Here in John chapter 10 verse 11 and verse 14, it both of those say, Jesus, I am the good shepherd. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and the sheep are known of me. The word good here is a word that I just wanted to point out.

It's kalos. In fact, it's kind of a fun word if you have many Greek dictionaries and you look up different There's all these adjectives and it's actually quite a broad word. But this is that comes from like Strong's, uh the most basic of Greek dictionaries if you ask me, but but sometimes really helpful. Kalos, it means useful, suitable, genuine, approved, competent, and able. There's a difference from just good to that. I want to say like, for example, if somebody walks up to you at church and says, I want to give you $500, and they write a check.

Who does that anymore? But they write a check and they hand it to you and and you're like, is this person like who is this person? Give me $500. And let's say one of his friends walks up to you says, no, he's good for it. That's the way this word good is used in this context. He's good for it. They mean he's he's suitable, useful, genuine, approved, competent, able because you're able to do what you're saying you're going to do. Was Jesus good for it to be the shepherd? Was he competent? Was he able? In fact, it's in that context of paying a price or money that Jesus was good for it.

And he was the only one who would be good for it to die on the cross. He says the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Question. Who else would be good for that that walked the planet? Who else would be good to say, I I'll die for the sins of the whole world? And what if anybody else in history, Gandhi, Muhammad, Buddha, any of those guys, what if any of them said, I will lay down my life for the sins of the world. Could you say they were good for it? Well, no.

They're they're not good for it because they were not suitable, because they were sinners just like everybody else. They weren't competent to die for the sins of the world. Jesus was good for it in that when he said, I will lay down my life for the sheep and then I will raise up from the dead. That's what proved him to be the one who was competent when he rose from the grave. The good shepherd gave his life. He didn't just die, but he rose from the dead. And because he was the sinless and perfect lamb, he's the one who's qualified or good for it to forgive sin.

That's why 2 Corinthians 5 21. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God. So when Jesus says, you know, I am the good shepherd, it means he's able to save us. Is that kind of the idea? They're suitable, competent. Very important. I love that. To get even more clarity, you know, we are his sheep, not the sheep of some hired hand. Now, this is important that we kind of see this. A hireling, Jesus said In fact, look at look at verse 12.

But he that is a hireling and not the shepherd whose own sheep are not seeeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catches them and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and careth not for the sheep. This is where I want to just mention for a second. Did you know the word pastor? It's not really used that much in the New Testament. The more common terms are bishop, elder, deacon, those leadership roles, episcopos, that's sort of a governing bishop or leader. But pastor is in there.

But what is a pastor supposed to do? Well, the pastor literally the word pastor means feeder of the sheep, feeder of the flock. And that's something that I think is important. The word pastor implies a shepherding role. And that 's why some people try to say, well, the pastor sort of was supposed to be a shepherd of the flock of the church. And people use that idiom. And I think there's a certain truth to that. The way I kind of like to think of it, however, is Jesus is the good shepherd. Pastors are supposed to be the under shepherd, servant.

It's more of a servant role, not the leader. Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus is the good shepherd. I'll show you more about that in a second. But pastors are called to be sort of under shepherds. And those under shepherds, one thing you and I need to watch out for, whether you're at any other church or ministry in the world, you should kind of say, boy, is this under shepherd a hireling? As soon as there's something that comes that's sort of uncomfortable or, you know, if there's wolves around and is that under shepherd warning the flock, watching, guarding sort of as an under shepherd?

Or does he just run at the first sign of danger? Is that hireling a fearful one? Or worse yet, is that pastor a wolf in sheep's clothing? You know, there's some pastors that rather than feeding the flock, they feed on the flock. How do you know a wolf in sheep's clothing? By what they eat. Jot this down in your notes. You should know this because if you're a pastor, elder, leader in the church, this is what we're called to do. It's Um you can jot down Acts chapter 20 where Paul was talking to the pastors, elders at the church at Ephesus.

And he said this to these guys. He said, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, their sheep over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God. That's what a pastor does, feed the the word of God. Um if a pastor's not preaching the word, the sheep are going to starve. That's another hireling thing. If a hireling is just talking about fluffy stuff that's not feeding the sheep, then he may not be a real shepherd. He might be more of a hireling. But the overseer to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.

I mean, if you're a pastor and you don't see the congregation as these are the people God sent his son and purchased these people with his own blood, like the gravity of that. But he says verse 29, for I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among and not sparing the flock, also of your own selves, pastors shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Boy, is that happening today? Where pastors are trying to draw disciples not to Jesus, but to themselves. We're seeing that all over the place.

Then it says, therefore watch and remember by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. Paul saying, as a good pastor, you're going to watch and warn the flock of the grievous wolves that will enter in. This is what a pastor's supposed to do. So when people come and say, what are you doing talking about that guy or whatever? But that's not nice. You should only talk about what we're for, not about what we're against. Well, that's not what Jesus did and that's not what Paul the apostle did.

Uh we have to remember that. There's a lot of grievous wolves out there. I think it's important to make sure Jesus is your shepherd. Follow him. And then be careful with the under shepherds. We have to say, is this person trying to feed on the flock or is that person working hard to feed the flock with the word of God? That's a big litmus test if you ask me. You should pray about that because I think it's important to to be aware of that. Well, so we are his sheep, not some sheep of a hired hand that a hireling would run around or even a hireling appears like a shepherd but is actually a wolf wolf.

Watch out for that. Jesus protects from that. So Jesus is the good shepherd. But there's a few more notions here I want you to know. And this is where I think it's kind of fascinating. The the description of the shepherd Jesus gets even more grand as we go through the New Testament. And I want to just show you a couple levels. We have Jesus as the good shepherd. But did you know Jesus is also called the great shepherd? Not here in John chapter 10. John 10 is where we learn of the good shepherd. Good meaning good for it, able to shepherd satisfaction of the requirement.

Jesus is the good shepherd. But he's also the great shepherd. And we read about that in Hebrews 13 verse 20 and 21. Says, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do as well working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Here's where we see him as the great shepherd. And with each title that I'm giving you, there's sort of a subtitle.

The good shepherd, he lays down his life for the sheep. Okay? Are you guys with me on that? The great shepherd actually ever lives for the sheep. This is speaking of When you say great shepherd, we're talking about the resurrected shepherd, Jesus who died, but now he rose from the grave. And what is Jesus doing as a resurrected shepherd, the great shepherd? It tells us right here. When he does that, he'll make you verse 21 perfect. How many of guys have arrived on that by the way? Perfect. This word perfect is a little bit unfortunate as far as the translation goes.

The word perfect is actually three words in the English, the make you perfect. They there make three words. It's actually one word in the Greek. And it's this word which is a fancy Greek word that means to render, to mend, to set, to equip, to prepare. If you read ancient Greek language, let me give you some of the context the Greek writers use the word for. Doctors when they would set a broken bone, they would use the word like mending or setting a broken bone. Fishermen would use the word to mend a broken net. A sailor This is Now this is where we're starting to get closer to the context of when Jesus is the great shepherd that will make you perfect.

This is where the comes in. A sailor would use the word to describe a ship that is outfitted with the proper gear for a long voyage at sea. Like you'd have enough food, weapons, ammunition, all the stuff you'd need on your ship to to be successful. You'd say that ship is And this is the context. So what is Jesus our great shepherd doing? He wants to equip you, get you all the stuff that you need for a successful journey or life or ministry or what have you. Another group in ancient writing is a soldier. A soldier would say if he was ready and equipped for battle with his proper training, weapons, stuff like that.

So the great shepherd resurrected, he will equip you as a believer. That's what it is. So the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The great shepherd will equip you and prepare you as a believer. This is really important. And by the way, this is what you need. If you're letting Jesus be your shepherd, then he's going to lead you to do certain things and he will equip you. He'll not just tell you what to do, he'll equip you. If you're trying to be a light at the school you attend and your your other friends at school are, you know, dark and there's sinful stuff going on, the Lord will equip you to be a light.

Maybe if if it's you want to teach Sunday school or go on the mission field or do something, the Lord will he'll equip you. That's what the great shepherd does. He'll equip you so that you can be utilized by the Lord. Very important. Well, so you got the good shepherd. What's the theme there? Laid down his life for the sheep. You got the great shepherd. What does he do? He equips us. Equips us for his purpose. And then we have thirdly and finally we have the chief shepherd he's called. Now this is another theme and we pick that up in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 4.

It says, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. If you know the context here of 1 Peter chapter 4, it's in the context of the second coming of Christ. And so the theme of the chief shepherd is he comes for the sheep. This is his second coming. He's going to return in glory. Now some of you are like, great Brett, but wasn't Jesus' second coming? He's not coming as a shepherd as much. Isn't he coming as a conquering king? Oh yes, he is. But it depends on which side of the battlefield you're on.

If you're on the right side of the battlefield, you'll look at him as the chief shepherd and he's coming for the sheep. But if you're on the wrong side of the battlefield, you'll see him as a conquering king. Uh you better run for your life and there's no hope for you. Uh you don't want to be on the wrong side of that battlefield. But if you're on the right side, you'll see him as the chief shepherd. And what is he going to do? He's going to When he appears, you shall receive a crown of glory.

The word crown There's some of you like, I'm not into crowns. I don't want a crown. Whatever. Depends on what crown you're talking about. In the Greek word, the word diadem, maybe you remember singing that in old hymns. You know, what's this diadem? Well, a diadem is sort of like what Queen Elizabeth used to wear. Big fancy heavy crown that's made of fancy gold or silver, diamonds. That's a diadem. But this word is not crown, diadem. It's the Greek word stephanos. And a stephanos crown, you've seen them. Like you remember in the the statues in ancient Greece, the athletes, they'd be standing on their boxes, you know, first, second, and third.

But what were they wearing on their head? A green little wreath around their head. That's a stephanos. It's a crown of, you know, Now Now some of you like, I really don't want that crown. Uh who cares about ivy? I don't like ivy. Uh whatever. No. If you're a shot putter in ancient Greek and you happen to, you know, put the shot farther than anybody else in the world and you're the champion, do you think he cared about a little leaf on his head? Not really. But it's what that leaf meant that had value. It meant that he was rewarded for his great achievement.

And that was something that was noted. So it wasn't really about the wreath on your head as much as about what it stood for. In the same way when Christ comes again and we'll go through the bema seat judgment or the judgment seat of Christ, you'll be rewarded, the Bible says, for the things you've done. That's not how you're saved. You're not saved by doing good deeds. You're saved by the grace of God through faith. Ephesians 2 8. But when you're saved, when you get to heaven and when Christ comes, there's going to be a stephanos given, a reward given.

That's a whole another story. So whatever it is, you're going to want one of these stephanoses when Christ comes. Uh now we've got it. I am the good shepherd. He lays down his life for the sheep. I am the great shepherd, Jesus would say. And he lives ever lives for the sheep, equipping them. And then there's the chief shepherd. He comes for the sheep. This is such a huge thing. I hope you can say today, I do know the shepherd. And there's times where I have I've gone astray and I've been in the ditch and he's pulled me out cuz he goes after the one.

We know that. But can you really say that today that Christ is your shepherd? If he's never been your shepherd and you've just been your boss the whole time, I would just say, how's that working out for you? Cuz the older you get, it's not going to work out for you. You need a shepherd to get you through the valley of the shadow of death so that you can fear no evil. How do you make Jesus your shepherd? You accept him. Uh becoming a Christian, confess with your mouth, believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins.

That means you're repenting saying, I know I'm a sinner and I deserve death. But you accept the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ. You with your mouth, you confess it. With your heart, you believe it.

Kurt (Guest): Pastor Brett Mether drawing the eternal provision and protection of the good, great, and chief shepherd. That's Jesus our savior from a study of John chapter 10 on Today's Word. In just a moment, Pastor Brett will join me in the studio, so I hope you'll stay tuned. But first, Today's Word is the radio ministry of Athey Creek Church just south of Portland, Oregon where Pastor Brett Mether is the senior pastor. We invite you to find out more by going to Today's Word radio.com. If you've missed any portion of this study, you can find all of Pastor Brett 's messages online at Today's Word radio.com.

All right, Pastor Brett has joined me now. Brett, I know you've been the pastor at Athey Creek Church since 1996. And this church has grown from a small group meeting at a middle school to now being one of the largest churches in the Pacific Northwest. What do you attribute that growth to?

Brett Meador: Well, Kurt, I I really think that it's because the pastor is so handsome. No, no. Actually actually quite the opposite. No, I I really believe that it's attributed to people are hungry for the word of God. People have told me, Kurt, that I have a radio face. You'll you'll appreciate that. But actually as it turns out, people are hungry for the word of God. And I I think that that's what's drawing people is they're not as interested in my opinions or me trying to talk about even wonderful topical type things. But what does the the Bible really say?

And we've just found people are really spiritually starving for that.

Kurt (Guest): Oh, that is true. And the Bible is so powerful. And I want to mention that if you'd like to share how these messages have impacted you, we'd love to hear from you. And we have a toll free phone number that we invite you to call to share your story. Here's the number, 1 877 772 1113. That's 877 772 1113. Or go to Today's Word radio.com. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Next time, Pastor Brett Mether challenges us to step out of spiritual darkness.

Brett Meador: Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness. Now Jesus is saying it again. Blind guys sit there in front of him. He says, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. And now he's going to bring light from the darkness of the blind man. This is pretty cool. You and I are the once blind, but now we see.

Kurt (Guest): Today's Word with Pastor Brett Mether is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in Westlin, Oregon.