I Am The Good Shepherd Series

Nobody enjoys feeling like they’re just a number. But this tends to happen when you deal with a big organization, like a bank or the government. It feels like to them, you’re just another account number, just another taxpayer. Sometimes the bank will send you a nice letter, “We really care about you, and we’re grateful for your business”—but it’s the same letter they sent to 100,000 other people! What do they know or care about who you are?

But each of us has a name. Each of us has a personal history, a complex story of where we’ve come from and what has shaped us. We have our own weaknesses, and some strengths, and there are hopes that we cherish for our lives.

How good it is then, that Christ know us and cares for us! He knows us by name, knows us as individuals. He knows our struggles and temptations, our deepest needs and fears. Even though we belong to a worldwide church which is past all counting, to a numberless multitude of believers, Christ knows his people—He knows each one.

For Jesus is our good shepherd. John 10 paints a beautiful portrait of how Christ is devoted to the pastoral care of his people. That is what a pastor is, after all—a shepherd—and Christ is the best and most effective pastor that there will ever be. For Christ was willing lay down his life for the sheep. Because of him, we can go in and out and find pasture.

In our text, we look at one of the ‘I am’ sayings of Christ, “I am the good shepherd” (10:14). And again we see what makes him the best and most effective pastor of the church: “I know my sheep, and am known by my own.” Christ is well acquainted with each of his believers, having a personal knowledge that means He can save us and care for us. Christ in turn invites us to know him and trust him more. I preach God’s Word to you on this theme,

I am the good shepherd:

1) Christ knows his sheep

2) Christ’s sheep know him

1) Christ knows his sheep: Part of the shepherd’s task was physical. He would carry those who were weak, he would fend off enemies, and search for the lost. It was a physical job, but it was also verbal. One thing that comes out clearly in John 10 is how a shepherd would speak to his sheep. At times there could be many noises to startle the sheep. Maybe a loud crash of thunder that sends them into a frenzy, or the roar of a distant lion that makes them panic.

But above the din, there came the shepherd’s voice. He shouts out warnings, he calls with encouragements. And his sheep listen. For the sheep are used to his voice; they can recognize and respond to it.

A bit earlier, Jesus describes this work of a shepherd. He says, “The sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (v 3). To appreciate what Jesus is teaching, we should know how close a bond there could develop between a shepherd and his sheep. As he tended that same group of animals, year after year, he got to know his sheep well—and they got to know him!

For example, sometimes there would be more than one flock staying in the same enclosure at night. As they milled about and then lay down to sleep, the sheep belonging to the care of the different shepherds would all be mixed together. But when morning came, it was time for them to go out to pasture again.

So the shepherds would stand outside the fold. And looking at the sheep, outwardly they would be hard to distinguish—just a mass of fuzzy wool and beady eyes. But the shepherds would call out in a way that was recognizable. And the individual sheep would gather to the one they knew, the one they trusted. It sounds strange to us, but a shepherd might even give names to his sheep. ‘He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.’

Like human beings, probably all sheep are essentially alike. Probably every sheep is timid and easily frightened. Yet each sheep has its own characteristics, and a good shepherd knows this. One of his sheep is afraid of heights, one gets nervous around running water, and some always need to have the other sheep nearby. A loving shepherd recognizes these traits in his sheep, and he cares for them accordingly.

Years ago, when I worked on the family farm, we had hundreds of cows. We didn’t give them names, but they did have numbers, worn on thick bands around their neck. And over many months of working closely with the same cows, you would notice certain characteristics. We knew #142 was feisty, that she would use her body to push around other cows, and sometimes even people. We knew that #250 was very calm, no matter what was happening around her. Some cows were fast milkers, others took a long time—and it was good to know these things.