Study for week following Sunday 3rd May 2009

Home Group Study on John 10:11-18

The basic study is in ordinary type - the italic stuff is notes-use or ignore as you think fit!

What is a good boss like?

We're going to look at part of the famous "Good Shepherd" passage in John. This follows on from the story of the man born blind,which people suppose means he or his parents were sinners - Jesus heals him - , the man is hauled off to be investigated by the Pharisees. When the Pharisees suggest it might be Jesus who is the sinner, the healed man makes remarkable claims for Jesus, including that he must be from God, or he could do nothing. The man is thrown out of the synagogue, but when sought out by Jesus he believes. The Pharisees take offence at the suggestion that they might be blind. Then Jesus starts talking about being the Good Shepherd

Read John 10:11-18

What are sheep like and why do they need a shepherd?  they are not the cleverest creatures, they wander off and follow each other into scrapes, they make a lot of noise when upset, they are vulnerable, comical

What does the shepherd need to be like to protect the sheep - why is it important that they are his sheep and he is not a hired hand? (verses 12-13)

Do we like being compared to sheep?

Read verses 14- 15 again, what is this saying? How much is Jesus saying that people matter to him?

How might this contrast with the Pharisees idea of God's relationship with people?

Some ideas for the last 2 questions: We (or the Pharisees) might think of God existing in bliss and being disturbed by people who spoil his day by their behaviour, or perhaps even by their existence, and we'd better sort things out so he can go back to living in bliss and not be angry - but what is the alternative in these verses - that we actually participate in relationship with Jesus just as he is in relationship with God the father and that Jesus is going to lay down his life for the people of the world. Not much point in being a shepherd with no sheep, not much point in being a God who loves people without people to love.. 

In verse 18 we read of Jesus both laying down his life of his own accord and of having the authority to lay it down and take it up again. In John's account we are moving towards the assertion that Jesus  is one with the Father - later in this same chapter.

Would Jesus hearer's have read the Good Shepherd account as nice pastoral picture or something else? They were looking out for a King like/a son of King David who was keeping the sheep when called back to be anointed as God's chosen king.

See 1 Sam 16:11-13

God is also portrayed as a Shepherd in the OT - most famously in Psalm 23.

What about the sheep from other sheepfolds? How is Jesus vision bigger than his hearers' imagine?

Israel/people from other nations and religions, not just their place and time .....

Is Jesus vision bigger than we imagine? Are we culturally conditioned to exclude certain people?

How does Jesus regard them? What about people we just find difficult?

What can we do about this?

How can we live out being one flock with one Shepherd?