The Danger of a Distorted Voice | John 10:1-10

Read John 10:1-10

RAMP: READ / ANALYZE / MEDITATE / PRAY

R: Read the Passage

Read this passage, and then read it again and again.

But don’t read ahead! We’ll tackle the Good Shepherd next week!

This passage may be short but it is SO FULL.

A: Analyze

Journal your response to these questions:

1. What does this say about God?

There’s four ‘characters’ here — a thief  the Gate, the Man entering and the sheep. Spoiler alert — the Gate and the Man are the same. Jesus is flexing on us.

2. What does this say about you?

I hope this doesn’t come as a disappointment, but you’re the sheep.

3. Is there a command to follow?

How is the Spirit leading you to obey?

4. Is there a sin to repent of?

There could be a couple — be open and sensitive to the kindness of the Holy Spirit leading you to conviction.

5. Is there a promise to claim?

Yes, yes, yes, yes!

Nicole’s Notes:

To catch us up on the narrative of John, Jesus had been doing all sorts of miracles and had really been making the Jewish leaders mad. He was so good at getting their feathers ruffled, but don’t think for one minute that was His ultimate goal. He desired for them to get it, to see Him as the Messiah they had been expecting. Jesus wanted The Pharisees to know Him, and He had been explaining it and showing it in so many ways. But boy, some of them were just too determined to prove Him wrong that they couldn’t see Him for who He really was.

Right before Jesus calls Himself the Gate, he had just healed a blind man, reinforcing Himself as the Light — the One who enables us to SEE by revealing our blindness.

The Pharisees just kept following Him around, taking it all in and studying His every move. They caught some things and missed others. But get this — Jesus STILL taught them. He kept showing them and kept teaching them. He kept doing His work. Despite their negativity or misunderstanding, He kept doing His work. Their inability to understand didn’t distract or derail Jesus from His mission. He was confident in His assignment from God, and He just kept at it.

How many times are we like The Pharisees?! So many! We see miracle after miracle, watch as prayers are answered, experience Him changing our desires and our surroundings, and yet we are just so determined that we have a better way than His. We are so determined that His goodness just couldn’t include us. We are so determined that He’s answering everyone else’s prayers and blessing everyone else’s lives. I think there’s a word for us here — open your eyes to see what He IS doing right in front of you. He wants you to see Him for who He is.

As a reminder, there are four ‘characters’ here —a thief,  a Gate, a Man entering the Gate (the Shepherd) and the sheep. Jesus calls Himself the Gate in this passage, and in the very next (next week’s study), He’ll describe Himself as the Good Shepherd. Don’t miss the flex — Jesus is both the Gate (the way) and the Man (the shepherd). He is the way through and the one who leads us through. Jesus, He is just something else.

That fourth character is one we don’t like. But he’s real. Oh, so real. And he slides in from the outside, jumping fences and deliberately bypassing the way. Sheep who know the voice of the Shepherd know the thief’s voice is different and they know he’s a threat. But man, he’s sly and sneaky.

This passage says that the sheep will run from the thief’s voice, yet I know we have all followed after him — but why? If we are followers of Jesus, how can we be so easily distracted and led astray by the enemy? Because he distorts the voice of God in our life. Ouch. The enemy knows we trust the voice of our Shepherd, so why not use his oldest trick — the same one he used on sweet Eve in Genesis 3. We will think “did God really say?” Or “God, are you sure?” And before we know it, we’ve followed a voice that sounded just enough like our Shepherd’s to draw us away. Ever so slightly, but so real.

Two of the most powerful ways the enemy can distort the voice of God in your life is through:

1. distractions

2. comparison

A powerful quote from speaker/author/pastor Levi Lusko says. "The enemy can’t keep you from heaven, but he can keep you from living for heaven.” He can distract you from God’s plan, God’s purposes and God’s presence. And he can flash other people’s lives, callings, faith journeys in front of you, causing you to compare your life to theirs.

The enemy has some goals too — to kill, steal and destroy.

• He wants to kill your joy

• He wants to steal your purpose

• He wants to destroy your faith

When the enemy sounds just enough like our Shepherd, we MUST be diligent in seeking God.

A confidence in God’s voice is vital to your faith. And the only way to remain confident is to be in constant communication with Him.

Now keep in mind, the Pharisees listening at this point were mad at Jesus. He had literally just given them a piece of His holy mind a few verses before and they were not happy. So this was not a happy, warm and fuzzy teaching moment. This was Jesus teaching them in the middle of their tantrum.

And yet, as I said above, He keeps teaching them.

• In light of their confusion around His authority.

• In light of their anger toward Him for doing His Father’s work

• In light of their wrongly placed affections

• In light of their worship and submission to the devil (yikes! Read 8:42-59)

In light of all that, Jesus introduces Himself as the Gate. And in telling the Pharisees (and us today) who He is, He is telling them (and us) who they are and who they are not. In describing Himself as the Gate, He is revealing how significantly skewed their perspective had been. They had been seeing themselves as the way forward, as the most knowledgeable, as the most powerful, as the most righteous.

From their perspective,

• Their systems were better than Jesus’ healing powers.

• Their authority as religious leaders was greater than Jesus’ authority as the Son of God.

• Their ways of doing things were better than Jesus’ ways.

• Their approval of people was more justified than Jesus’ approval.

• Their glory was more important than Jesus’ glory.

• Their will had more standing than Jesus’ will.

Could you look at that list above and replace ’their’ with ‘your’ …? Yikes. I can.

There have been so many times in my life (even right now) where my perspective tells me that I’m better than Jesus. That I know more than He knows. That I can see what He can’t see. Even after watching Him perform miracles right in front of me, when I see Him restore sight and bring someone from death to life, I still think I know more and better than He does.

Father, forgive us for having such skewed perspectives.

Right in the midst of their mess, Jesus tells them He is the Gate… to what?

• Jesus is the Gate to salvation.

• Jesus is the Gate to eternal life.

• Jesus is the Gate to hope.

• Jesus is the Gate to healing, and not just temporary physical healing, but ultimate healing.

He’s also the Gate to all the things the enemy wants to take.

• Jesus is the Gate to joy.

• Jesus is the Gate to purpose.

• Jesus is the Gate to faith.

And there’s a warning — don’t miss the Gate.

If you miss the Gate, by either choosing a different path or choosing a different gate, you miss all the life and joy that comes from Jesus.

• If you miss the Gate, you live in darkness.

• If you miss the Gate, lies start to make sense.

• If you miss the Gate, you have empty hope.

• If you miss the Gate, this life is all you have

• If you miss the Gate, you keep thinking you’re the smartest and best.

There is one way in — there is only ONE TRUE GATE.

M: Meditate

• Meditate on Jesus being both the Gate and the Shepherd — He is the actual way and the One who guides along the way.

• Have you recently missed God working in your life? Think about what you have been praying for, and reflect on if God just may be answering those prayers.

• What has the enemy attempted to steal, kill and destroy in your life? If you’ve lived long enough, he may have already done some damage. Reflect on his tactics, but don’t spend too many of your thoughts giving him credit for what he’s done. Instead, take those thoughts to Jesus and thank Him for returning, renewing and repairing you!

• Are there recent experiences or circumstances where you have thought your ways are better than Christ’s ways? How do you know HIs ways are better?

• Have there been times in your life, even as a believer, where you have chosen other gates? Where have those gates led you?

P: Pray

Pray your notes back to God.

• Thank Him for being the Gate

• Thank Him for being the Shepherd

• Thank Him for caring enough about you, the sheep, to not only provide a way, but to BE the way He provides.

• Thank Him for not just leaving you to find the way on your own, but to shepherd you through life with care, kindness and love.

• Ask Him to forgive you for missing Him working in your life. Ask Him to remind you of His presence in time you may have missed it.

• Ask God to protect you from the enemy’s tricks, and thank Him for how he has restored you if the enemy has had a grip.

• Ask God to grow your confidence in HIS voice, helping protect you from the enemy’s trick of distorting His voice.

• Ask Him for forgive you for choosing your own ways, and for thinking your ways are better.