SHEPHERDS GOOD AND HIRED.

John 10.1.4-5.11-13.16-18.30

1. "TRULY TRULY I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber."
"he who does not enter by the door..." Jesus once said about Himself, "I am the Door." (verse 7 and 9) (Psalm 118.19-20) (Isaiah 26.2) (John 10.7.9, 14.6).

This means that one who does not come from Jesus to pasture the sheep (people) but came from himself, "is a thief and a robber."

I have seen many "pastors" who preach the Gospel, but not everyone preaching and teaching in the name of Christ, but most of them preaching and teaching in the name of their denomination, tradition, doctrine, and whoever keeps them (pastors) on the payroll. These "teachers" do not enter the fold by the Door.

4. "When He puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice.
5. And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.'

The voice of our Shepherd Christ we can hear only from the Holy Scripture and when He talks to our soul. Many people repeating the Words of Christ and talk about His teachings and also often misinterpreting the meaning and essence of His Statements and Words. Such "pastors" never reveal their own agenda behind their words.

And so, the smart sheep do not follow deceitful teachings and pleasant words of strangers who call themselves "pastor," but follow the One Who speaks to them from the Bible.

11. "I am the good Shepherd, the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." This is true definition of true Shepherd, which is Jesus Christ fully fulfilled as He had said it Himself (verses 15.17-18). The one who is not willing to do this, cannot be a good shepherd.

12. "He who is a hireling (hired man) and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13. He flees because he is a hireling and is not concerned about the sheep."

These Words of Christ revealed the bitter truth that the hired shepherd (pastor for money) has not owned sheep because they are not his and as the consequence of it neglecting them, the only concern the hireling (hired pastor) has is only about himself.

Hired man concerns only about his pay, but the owner's concern is on things what he owned.

16. "And I have other sheep (Gentiles) which are not of this fold (not of the sons of Israel) (Isaiah 56.8) (John 10.16), I must bring them (Gentiles) also, and they shall hear My voice, and THEY SHALL BECOME ONE FLOCK with One Shepherd."

~ 1-16. One Shepherd: (Psalm 100.3) (Jeremiah 23.1) (Ezekiel 34.1-31) (John 10.1-16) (1Peter 5.4) (Acts 20.28-30).

~ 16. Other sheep: (Isaiah 14.1, 56.3.8) (Jeremiah 12.16) (John 10.16).

Here Jesus clearly reveal that He is the Pastor of all humankind, of Jews and of all Gentiles. If anyone says that Jews do not accept Christ and do not believe in Him, such person is a liar.

GOD knows very well who among Jews and Gentiles are His and who are not, so He knows His flock very well, and so His sheep know very well Who is their true Shepherds and Whom they shall follow.

17. "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lays down My life that I may take again.
18. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My Own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and have authority to take it up again. This Commandment I received from My Father."

Jesus sacrifice Himself on His Own Initiative, because His love for humankind is great and very special. Concerning His Life and Death, He does it according to His Father's Command, because His Life and His Death are in the hands of His Father, as well as His Own Existence.

This means what everything that Jesus ever said and done, His entire Life on Earth, all of these came according to the Will, Plan, and Power of His Father.

30. "I and the Father are One."

Jesus is GOD because He is perfect replica and mirror Image of His Father and shares with His Father the same Holy Spirit. But Jesus always submissive and subordinate to His Father as it should be, because His Father created Him, but no one created His Father.

Word "Father" by itself have much higher status than the word "Son" and define hierarchy of authority in Heaven and as well as on Earth.

GOD Father often called Jesus as His Son and not as GOD. Jesus on the other hand sometimes called His Father as GOD (John 20.17) (Revelation 3.12), showing that His Father always higher than Him. (John 14.28).