The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-28

The Bible is not just a collection of disconnected stories and lessons about God and people. While it has many varied stories, overall it is one unfolding story of God’s plan to rescue His creation from the ruin of sin. Hundreds of years before Jesus’ earthly ministry, God revealed the following through His prophet Ezekiel.

1The word of the LORD came to me: 2"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say even to the shepherds, “Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. 6My sheep were scattered...with none to search or seek for them….11Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep & will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, & I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered.” – Ezekiel 34:1-6 & 11-12

In this OT text, God told Ezekiel to announce that He was coming in person to save His flock since the pastors who were supposed to take care of His people were too busy caring for themselves to care for others. In John 10, Jesus announces the fulfillment of that prophecy by stating that He is the Good Shepherd who has come to seek and save His own.

Since we don’t do a lot of sheep herding here these days, a little background may help us understand this parable better. Jesus refers to two different commonly used types of sheep pens. One was used for open fields. The other was used in villages. Village pens were communal. Shepherds mingled their sheep in a common pen that was watched over night by a gatekeeper. The mingling was no problem, because in the morning the shepherd would come to the gate and call his sheep, who would only run to his voice. If an unfamiliar voice called his sheep, they would run away. In the field, shepherds built pens that were little more than a circle of rocks, perhaps with briars on the top. They did not have swinging gates. Instead, the shepherd himself laid down in the pen’s opening and thus became its gate. Hopefully, this helps clear-up possible confusion about our text, which has mountains of material to mine. Let’s limit our focus today to motivations, authority, and security.

Jesus declared that His motivation was His love for His sheep and His desire to give them abundant life. He declared that He loved His sheep more than His life, which was the exact opposite condition of the hirelings’ hearts. When the going gets tough, hirelings (fair-weathered pastors in it for selfish gain) get going the other way. Hardship reveals they feel they’re not getting paid enough to loose their lives for sheep. So, Jesus is in it for love and life. Hirelings are in it for themselves, and Satan is only in it to steal, kill and destroy. Yesterday, a few of us got to go crabbing on the Puget Sound. From the vantage point of the crabs, we were acting a lot like the devil. We were only offering them easy access to fresh chicken, because we wanted to steal them from their home, kill them on the shore, and destroy them so we could eat them. Never forget that no matter how tempting the pleasure of sin appears, the motivation for offering it is your destruction and the harm of those you love. I am so glad Jesus has come that we might have life and have it abundantly and that He has the authority He needs to give it to us!

Apparently wanting to emphasize the depth of His love for His people, Jesus emphasizes His authority and the reality that He is voluntarily offering His life to save and protect His sheep. The Good Shepherd is also the sacrificial Lamb of God that takes away our sin, but He is never to be mistaken as a victim of more powerful opponents. He is the victor who conquered death, sin and Satan to save His sheep from the same! This could be legitimately doubted were it not for His authenticating demonstration of His authority over these enemies - His resurrection. He said He had the God-given authority to lay down His life (easy enough to say in the face of enemies who appear able to kill you) and the authority to take it up again (not easy to say and even harder to do).

By assuring us of His great love and authority, our Good Shepherd gives us great security. He goes even further to make sure we know we are safe with Him. First, He says that He knows each of us personally. Next, He says that He always protects His own. Finally, He says He gives us everlasting life that cannot be lost. During His earthly ministry, Jesus called His sheep by name. Matthew, Zacchaeus, and even Lazarus all left their lives (and deaths) and came to Christ in response to Him calling them by name. We believe and follow Jesus home because we belong to Him. So, if we foolishly take our eyes off our Shepherd and get our wool dirty, it does not mean we are no longer His sheep anymore than your children breaking rules means they’re not yours anymore. We are His, and we are going home to be with Him forever. In the meantime, He shields us to come into God’s holy presence without being destroyed by God's holiness and to go out into a morally filthy world without being destroyed by its corruption. Thus, He provides spiritual nourishment and protection as we share His Good News with others so that His lost sheep in the folds around us can also hear His voice, join His flock and follow Him home.