I Am: The Good Shepherd

I am the good shepherd. John 10:11

I love studying the bible. I see new things and learn new things each time. The passage in John 10:1-18 is a rather long one to copy into this blog, so I would encourage you to read it for yourself. In it, Jesus uses the analogy of the Shepherd and The Gate to tell about himself. As we have been seeing throughout his teaching and ministry, he speaks in parables leaving his listeners the space to contemplate his meaning.

This passage of the Good Shepherd is so comforting to believers that I had always assumed that they were his audience. We find in these verses: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father”. There are in these passage a sense of belonging and knowing and protecting and leading for those who follow Jesus, I did not pay as close attention to the words of warning and discernment which were spoken to his audience: The Pharisees.

You see this passage comes right after the healing of the blind man. You know the one who said, “I once was blind, but now I see.” He was questioned by the Pharisees about Jesus. They were confused and angry that the healing was done on a Sabbath, breaking their laws. It indicated that Jesus was a sinner, yet he healed, so by what power?

It was after the formerly blind man got kicked out of the Synagogue, that Jesus found him and resumed a conversation with him and the man worshipped Jesus. Then Jesus says something offensive which the Pharisees near them listening overheard. He said,  “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

And THEN comes the parable of the Shepherd and the Gate. You see, so much of the passage of the Good Shepherd is in contrast to the dangerous elements around the sheep. There is the thief that tries to enter the sheepfold by a way other than the door. While the Shepherd uses the door. The gatekeeper opens the door because he is the true caretaker. And the sheep are his and he is caring for them. Jesus says he IS the door. He says “if anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go out to find pasture.”

I found it helpful to learn a little bit about this image from a time and place I am unfamiliar with. Apparently, it is at night that most predators would threaten the sheep. So, the shepherds would lead the sheep into a sheepfold to protect them. It was sometimes a cave or overhang that had been partially walled off, or a ring of stonework, which the sheep would be herded into at night. In any case, the wall would have a gap in it just big enough for the sheep to enter one by one and when all of the sheep were safe, the Shepherd would then sleep in the gap, blocking the entrance, protecting the sheep from predators, and thereby become the door or gate.

So, he continues, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Then, again a contrast: He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

So the Good Shepherd is in contrast to the thief, the hired hand and the wolf. There is a warning that there is a difference in teachers and teaching…from the blind and those who see. And perhaps a warning to those who, because of their beliefs or traditions – in this case healing on the Sabbath, would lead people away from the work of God. And he sums up his work:

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

He knows he will die for his sheep. He knows he will do it to defend them from the enemy who comes to kill and destroy. He speaks to his mission of the cross AGAIN. He knows it, but in this passage we see also his authority to overcome death by his resurrection. That’s coming too!

I think today, maybe we don’t want to think of ourselves as sheep. We have heard the gullible, and mindless being called “sheeple”. Maybe this parable offends some? I think that while we may have intellect and experience and gifts of many kind, when it comes to dealing with our sin, with an enemy set against us, with many things out of our control, we are helpless. We need help – Jesus is uniquely able to be that help to us. He is able to provide us pastures, water, rest, protection, and ultimately: life. That’s the Good Shepherd.

Finally, I thought you might enjoy this little video of the Shepherd calling his Sheep. “The sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:4