The Bryce Crawford Podcast - John 10: The Thief Isn’t Who You Think (EP 215)

Episode Date: August 7, 2026

John 10: The Thief Isn’t Who You Think (EP 215)

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What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Kroffer podcast. I'm Bryce, and today we are going to be talking about the devil and Jesus. Yes, we're going to be talking about it. We're going to be talking about what it means to have life to the full. If you got your Bibles, we're going to be in John chapter 10, baby. We in the Gospel of John. I love this gospel.

Now, some context, Jesus is using a figure of speech to share what he is like. and what the devil is like. And he shares it, and then people still don't understand. This happens oftentimes with parables. Jesus uses a parable, and a lot of people walk away, and then the disciples are like, what did you mean by that? And then he explains it. This is why it's very important. Before we actually read this, let me just say something. If you were someone who reads a chunk of scripture or a verse or two, and you wrestle with it, oftentimes if you just read the whole chapter, or you read the chapter before and the chapter after, it fills in the picture of a lot of the questions that we wrestle with typically. We're going to start in John chapter 10 verse one. Truly,

truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheep fold by the door, but climbs in by another way, fat man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So, Jesus again said to them, truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Verse 10 is what we're going to hyper fixate on. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Let's stop right there. So back in this time period when there was a shepherd of some sheep, the sheep would get so comfortable with the shepherd. Why? Well, number one, sheep are stupid animals without a shepherd. They're going to going to be led astray, they'll fall off, they'll get eaten by an animal, they'll go wander off, whatever.

Sheep are stupid, they need a shepherd. It's kind of ironic how we're called sheep. With that being said, when Jesus is using the imagery of there being a shepherd with the sheep, the shepherd at the time period would spend so much time with the sheep that the sheep would become so familiar with this man that they wouldn't be afraid of him, that they would know him, they would trust him to lead them, guide them, speak to them, call them in, call them out, put them back in, put them out, whatever it may be. So they knew that if there was anyone but the shepherd to come in, they would run.

They would flee. They wouldn't listen. They would get scared. Oftentimes get stiff and fall over. And what Jesus is saying, he's like, look, I am the door. He says, I'm the way. Again, it's so funny, I was like hinting back to so much parallels with John chapter 14 and John 10. He's like, look, I'm the way.

I'm the door of the sheet. If anyone enters by me, he will be safe and we'll go in and out and find pasture. You will find rest coming to Jesus. See, when we try to make anything else our God, or we try to have our own work around, whatever it may be, we don't experience the fullness of him. And Jesus is like, look, this is my character. I've come to give life. So, like, we oftentimes view Jesus, like, because a shepherd, he's calling the shots, right? He's leading, he's guiding, he's calling in, he's going in, he's going out.

He's leading the sheep everywhere. And so when we're allowing Jesus to be our shepherd, we are trusting that his way is better. We're trusting that he knows what's best for our lives. And so when we aren't letting Jesus be the shepherd of our life, we're saying, I don't think you know what's best for my life. And so we'll let what? Societal norms and what people think about social media lead our life? That is a poor gauge.

We're going to let people's opinions lead our life. Well, people can change their opinions in the matter of. or five seconds. So what's the case here? Jesus is like, no, I am the door. I'm the shepherd. He says, he does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in another way. That man is a thief and a robber. Who is he referring to? He is referring to Satan. And in verse 10, he says, look, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I come to give life and life abundantly. This is important. Maybe not Satan believe. But let's talk about...

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For Jesus, no, I've come to give life and life abundantly. Hey, real quick, before we keep going, I have an announcement I've been really excited to make. I'm officially announcing our ministry's biggest live event ever open heaven. It's happening Sunday, November 8th, 2026 at 7.30 p.m. at the pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. This is going to be a night centered around worship, faith, and genuine community. All of us together in one room, encountering God. in person. There's going to be live worship and really special moments throughout the night.

Tickets are on sale right now. Head to Brycecroffer.org slash tour or click the link in the description below to grab yours. And please only buy through my official site or that link. Do not buy from random resellers online. A lot of them are scams. I genuinely believe this is going to be a night people carry with them for a long time. I would love to see you there. All right, back to the episode. And then he says, the good shepherd. He says, I am that good shepherd. and the good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. That's exactly what the Lord does. You know, it's crazy how we want love so bad. We want someone to love us. We want something to love us. But true love is laying your life down for someone. That's what Jesus is. He says, the good shepherd

lays his life down for his sheep. But in reality, when we sin, we're laying our own life down, our own reputation down, our own consciousness down, our own satisfaction down, to be destroyed. and robbed and killed by that very sin issue or that very thing. And sometimes we have to take accountability with sin. Sometimes we put ourselves in that situation and we blame the devil. And it's like, stop blaming the devil as a cop out so that you don't take accountability. Like if you're setting yourself up for failure practically, take accountability for your sin. But it's crazy how like real love looks like God laying his life down for us.

but counterfeit love looks like oh we're going to try to find love in sin but really it destroys our life instead of it laying its life down for us and so that's a big indicator on why jesus is the answer because he has come to give us life and life abundantly that everything that jesus does every word recorded of jesus his life his character his existence who he is us being created by him was all to give us life and life abundantly. Jesus has our best interest at heart, but we think, oh, no, the porn that's let me down five weeks in a row, that has my best interest at heart,

or, oh, this person that I keep using for their body, they have my best interest at heart, or oh, this beer or these drugs or this thing that I can find escapism in, that has my best interest at heart. But if it had your best interest at art, then it would have only taken one time. Why is it that we call a hookup a one-night stand, but if it really would have worked,

It would only work. You would only need to do it one time. But if that was really a one night stand, it would have only taken one sex to do it, but it didn't work. And if beer would have really worked, it would have taken one, one beer, one sip, one pill. But it doesn't work. It only robs us, numbs us, calluses our heart. But Jesus has come to set us free. And the way Jesus gives us life and life abundantly is by laying his own life down.

The great exchange happened all. the cross where we receive life and life abundant through his life being laid down for our sake. That is the good shepherd. Jesus himself says, I will do whatever it takes to lay my life down for the sheep. The mark of a good shepherd, someone who defends the sheep at the cost of their own life. In the same way, Jesus, at the cost of his own, ransoms of us. us from hell so we can have eternal life, eternal satisfaction with him. That's the beauty of the cross.

He is the good shepherd. The cross is the door to eternal life. How powerful is that. May we not forget that truth. May we cling to Jesus as the good shepherd. I want to pray that we allow Jesus to be the shepherd of our life because we allow so many other things steer our life, guide our life. opinions, whatever's popular, but no, we need the truth. We need the good shepherd to guide us,

even when we are led astray by emotions, even we are led astray by distractions. Lord, Jesus, we love you, we thank you, that you are the good shepherd. We thank you that you know what's best for our lives. We thank you that you've laid your life down for us. Lord, we trust you. We love you. We ask that you guide us. Speak to us, Lord. Let us listen to your voice. Sometimes that means we need to shut up and just listen to your quiet still voice, Lord, would you lead us, guide us, protect us like the scripture's promise? And Lord, would your presence draw near to us? We love to feel you and experience you, God. And your truth matters most to us. But Lord, would you grant us the beauty of experiencing your presence as well? God, we love you. Thank you for leading us and guiding us.

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