Talking John - Season 2, Episode 1 - "I Am: The Good Shepherd and the Gate"

"I Am: The Good Shepherd and the Gate"

Scripture: John 10:1-18

Description: Welcome to our next group of podcasts here in Talking John, where we will be discussing the “I Am” statements from the Fourth Gospel. We start with I am the Good Shepherd and the Gate from Chapter 10.

Questions to consider if you are using this podcast for study:

1. How does it change your understanding of Jesus to hear that “I Am” echoes the divine name (the God of “being” itself)? What difference does it make to you that Jesus uses that holy phrase and then attaches such everyday images to it (bread, light, gate, shepherd, vine, etc.)?
2. When you hear Jesus say, “I am the gate” and “I am the good shepherd,” what kind of protection or security do you long for most right now? Where in your life have you experienced God’s protection—not that trouble disappeared, but that you were held in the middle of it?
3. The group mentioned that in Psalm 23, “follow” can be better translated as “pursue.” How does it change things to imagine goodness and mercy actively chasing after you? Can you name a time when it felt like God’s goodness “caught up” with you even when you weren’t looking for it?
4. Jesus says his sheep know his voice and will not follow a stranger. In our noisy world, what helps you discern Jesus’ voice from all the other “thieves and robbers”? Are there particular messages, movements, or “Christian” voices you now recognize as a stranger’s voice rather than the Shepherd’s? What tipped you off?
5. The conversation named how anxious and divided our country feels right now, and how many people are scared. What does it look like, very practically, to “lean on the Good Shepherd” in a season of fear or confusion—personally, and as a church?
6. They talked about people who have deconstructed harmful forms of Christianity and feel like their faith is gone, when maybe it has actually grown. If you’ve questioned or taken apart parts of your faith, where do you sense Jesus as the gate—inviting you into a truer, healthier pasture rather than out of faith altogether?
7. Michelle described herself not as the shepherd, but as the sheepdog—barking, nudging, and helping the flock stay close to Jesus.In your own context (home, work, church, community), where might God be calling you to be a “sheepdog”—not the Savior, but someone who helps people stay close to the Good Shepherd?