A shepherd was tending his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a dust cloud approached at high speed, out of which emerged a shiny silver Tesla. The driver, a young man in an Armani suit, Ferragamo shoes, the latest Polarized designer sunglasses, and a tightly knotted power tie, pokes his head out the window and asks the shepherd, “Hey! If I can tell you how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?”

The shepherd looks at the man, glances back at his peacefully grazing flock and then back at the man, “Sure.” The driver parks his car, connects his latest iPhone into the infotainment computer system of his car, pulls up a GPS satellite navigation system on the Internet and initiates a remote body-heat scan of the area. While the scan is completing, he furiously types and fires away unanswered e-mails on his phone, nodding along solemnly as he reads some of the responses.

Finally, the scan completes a 150-page report which the man pulls up on his phone, and scrolls all the way to the bottom to show the shepherd the final analysis: “You have exactly 1,586 sheep.” “Impressive,” says the shepherd. “Looks like one of my sheep is yours,” he says. He watches as the young man selects an animal and bundles it into his car.

Then the shepherd turns to the young man and says, “I tell you what: If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my sheep?” Pleased to meet a fellow sportsman, the young man replies, “You’re on!” “You’re a consultant,” says the shepherd without hesitation. “That’s correct,” the young man, replies, impressed. “How in the world did you even guess that?” “It wasn’t a guess,” the shepherd says. “You drive onto my field uninvited. You ask me to pay you for information I already know, answer questions I haven’t asked, and you know nothing about my business. Now give me back my dog.”

And this story reminds me of the situation Jesus finds himself in once again with the religious leaders as he’s walking and teaching in the temple in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication…The religious leaders—the Jews as John less than affectionately calls them—are like the man, the consultant in the sports car—brilliant, knowledgeable, and wise in their own right at their own craft, the Law—yet they haven’t the slightest clue about the nature of the role or the function—or anything—about what it means to be a leader of God’s people, in God’s eyes, a shepherd of his people…

Nor can they identify a true sheep of the flock of God from a false sheep that belongs to another flock—like the man in the story who grabbed and bundled the sheep dog into his car instead of a sheep. They think they are the true sheep of God’s flock.

And worse—they still cannot see that Jesus is the Son of God which uniquely qualifies him to be the Great and True and Good Shepherd of God’s flock even though he has been revealing himself to them as just that through many word pictures, and sayings, and even divine claims—and through undeniable miraculous works…

So, in their calloused rock hardened hateful hearts, they come to him again with a pretext in the form of a loaded question, seeking if at all possible to trap him in his own words because if he answers yes, he’ll be committing blasphemy according to their Law—the perfect grounds to seize and finally be rid of him once and for all…

“Tell us, plainly and clearly, are you the promised Messiah and Christ?!” And Jesus says, “You want to know whether I am the promised Messiah, then look to the words and the works that I have spoken to you and performed before your very eyes—they reveal to you with crystal clear clarity who I am—and that I have spoken all of them and performed all of them in concert with and authorized by, my Father, because I and the Father are One.”

And the question you need to ask yourself this morning is: do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus is the perfect Son sent by the Father to be the Savior of all those who would ever believe, including you? Do you believe Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep—by name—and will irresistibly draw you to himself by the power of the Spirit—and will absolutely protect and keep you for salvation by faith in this life—until he leads you into the greener pastures of eternal life?

You say, “Yes, yes, Amen, I do!” And the Good Shepherd says, “Good, I’m glad you do!” “Now here’s the test once again to determine whether or not you believe and are truly one of my Sheep because I know my sheep and they know me—and I know exactly what you are and precisely who you are, but I want you to be sure you do, are you ready?! Can you hear my voice?! Do you listen to my voice? Do you obey my voice?! Do you follow me and my voice, alone?! Because my sheep hear my voice, obey my voice, and follow my voice, alone.”