To Be or Not to Be A
Christ Follower
Inspired by John 10:14-21
April 26, 2026
While we are focused on
chapter ten of John this morning, it is useful to set the stage with the stuff
of chapter nine…
Jesus healed a man born
blind.
The Pharisees interrogate
the healed man.
And then Jesus makes this
statement to the Pharisees…
“If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you
claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
Now, there’s a sermon. Not today’s sermon though.
Today’s sermon is about hearing. The stuff in chapter nine was about
seeing, being healed of blindness, from birth.
And chapter ten is about recognizing the voice of Jesus.
I am sure the other senses, taste, smell, and touch can have their
sermon points too.
But let’s get tone for how to follow the voice of Jesus.
First, Jesus tells this abbreviated parable.
The other gospels are loaded with parables while John is focused much
more on signs, miracles, and such.
So, when Jesus speaks figuratively in John, it gets my attention.
So, in this chapter ten, Jesus declares himself to be the gate.
And before I go further, allow me to situate ourselves.
In Jesus parables it is tempting to think of “The Kingdom of God” or
even being “saved” as the right to enter the Heaven after we die.
I think Jesus, in his parables, and in this teaching we read today, is
saying that the sheep who know the voice follow, now, and in the present, and
now, in the present enjoy good pasture.
About right now I suspect you are thinking “Mike, you are speaking in
figurative, parable-like words”
And so, just like Jesus explained his parable, I will try to explain my
evasive idea.
Jesus makes this statement…
I came that you may have life and have it abundantly."
So, that word “abundantly”…let’s anchor that to a couple of other Jesus
situations in John…
Chapter two…the wedding at Cana. The wine runs low. Jesus, reluctantly,
turns water into wine, abundantly. And, the best, as was stated…
“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine
after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till
now.”
Yet another idea of abundance of Jesus comes from John 6… Jesus feeds
five thousand…
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to
his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let
nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them
and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over
by those who had eaten.
So, I offer those two miracles as description of
abundant life…the best wine later and more than enough left over after everyone
is filled.
But, how do we recognize that in our own lives,
in the present, when we see all of this disaster taking place in the world?
Please note, things were not hunky dory at the
time of Jesus. As I mentioned last week, food was scarce. Rome wielded a heavy
sword all around, tax collectors taking advantage of people. The people Jesus
was talking to probably had more problems than we do today.
So, this abbreviated parable about sheep that
hear and recognize the voice of the shepherd is somewhat of an insult to the
Pharisees, the religious establishment.
Just like in chapter nine Jesus was calling the
Pharisees blind. Here he is making the case that they were the thieves.
My, that must have felt insulting to the
religious establishment.
The voice of Jesus, in John, is the accumulation
of witnessed signs, miracles.
The wedding at Cana, The clearing of the
money-changers at the Temple. Those were people who were takig advantage of
people coming to the Temple to be right with God.
Jesus healed a man at a pool.
He feeds those five thousand.
He healed the man born blind.
Word gets around.
These signs and miracles are the voice of the
shepherd…leaving the people to think “the Pharisees, the religious
establishment did not provide for us. They took from us.”
So, who did they then choose to follow…the voice
of care…in the here and now.
Yes, there is a lot of Jesus teaching about how
to behave toward neighbors, enemies, and such. But also, and especially in the
Gospel of John, we have much comfort from Jesus.
Just as I mentioned some signs and miracles
witnessed in the day of Jesus and recorded in this Gospel, you too, if you take
time to think about it, have had similar signs and miracles in your own
personal lives.
Answered prayer.
Anticipated healings.
Unanticipated blessings such as babies.
Things that get reported here in this room when
asked for “happy things”.
There are many voices clamoring about in our
heads.
You are not good enough. You are not wealthy
enough. You are not pretty or smart enough.
There is the voice of the devil speaking to us in
our emotional and spiritual deserts; tempting us with power, glory, and all
things if only we surrender to him.
And for sure, those voices, that devil, they want
to deny you abundant life in the present, the here and now.
Fanny Crosby wrote this hymn “Jesus is Calling”
1 Jesus is tenderly calling you home,
calling today, calling today.
Why from the sunshine of love will you roam
farther and farther away?
Refrain:
Calling today,
calling today,
Jesus is calling,
is tenderly calling today.
The voice of the devil is about power, wealth,
vengeance, self-serving conditions but only so long as you surrender to the
devil. And, those conditions will only deplete over time.
It’s much like some people who live on a credit
card, making only minimum payments each month while interest builds upon
outstanding balance. Their actual living conditions deplete over time.
The voice of Jesus is about having life and
having it abundantly, in the here and now, present life.
I am not a prosperity preacher. I do not mean to
say that if you have faith God will make you financially successful.
But I do believe that Jesus intends to make you
joyful, even in the midst of your enemies, be they spiritual, emotional, or
cultural.
Listen to the voice of Jesus, enter his gate.
