I AM the Good Shepherd
John 10:11-21
Today we will look at another one of the “I AM” statements in John’s gospel. The particular way that these two words are presented in the gospel are similar to the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14 for the name of Yahweh. We looked last week at “I AM the Door” which is closely linked to this statement that He is the Good Shepherd. Jesus spoke this parable against the Pharisees whom He called thieves and robbers who wanted to steal, injure, and kill God’s sheep.
Starting with verse 11, Jesus now identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. We mentioned in the study on the previous passage that as Yahweh, He is the shepherd David is speaking of in the 23rd Psalm. He is the one who nourishes, waters, and protects, and provides for the eternal security of His followers. Here Jesus adds one more element. He is the One who lays down His life for the sheep. When the sheep were out in pastures too far away from the sheepcote in the village, they would be sheltered in a rock wall enclosure in which there was only one opening. The shepherd would lay across this opening. Wolves and other predators who could not climb over this rock enclosure would have to deal with the shepherd before they could attack the sheep. The shepherd would have to be incapacitated or killed for the wolves to get to the sheep. David was a good example of the protection the shepherd offered. He had to on one occasion to kill a lion with his sling, and a bear on another (1 Samuel 17:34). He was willing to put himself at risk or even die for his flock.
Jesus goes on to compare himself to a hireling. A hireling was employed to help care for someone else’s sheep. They worked for wages. Some hirelings were probably pretty good workers, but not all. When put into danger where it was either their life or the life of the sheep, he would be tempted to run away. The predators would probably let him run as the sheep in the pen were utterly helpless. More than this, they were trapped by the very walls which should have been their refuge. It would be an easy matter for them to kill and feast on the sheep. The hireling might get fired and receive a bad recommendation, but it was harder to do background checks in that day. Even with background checks, it is all too easy for a bad worker to get employment elsewhere.
Jesus shows that the sheep are His. Therefore He protects them with His life. We think of the Psalm: “We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). Jesus says that He knows his sheep personally. It also says Hi sheep know him personally as well. Jesus does not just care for the flock as a whole, but also cares for each individual to the point He is willing to leave the ninety and nine to find the sheep which has strayed (Luke 15:4). He also says this reflects the personal relationship He has with the Father, and the Father with Him. Not only does Jesus care for the sheep, the Father cares for them also. He then repeats that He is going to lay His life down for the sheep. He is going to eternally protect His own by dying for them. By His death, His sheep will be eternally safe. What encouragement this offers. Twice Jesus calls Himself the Good shepherd, and twice He says that He will lay down his life for the sheep. This repeating of what Jesus says makes this all the more emphatic.
In verse 16, Jesus adds some additional information about who are His sheep. The Jews could relate to being God’s sheep pretty well. The Gentiles were not unless they came into the covenant God made with Israel. This was not easy to do, and sometimes it took several generations before Gentile descendants could come into full covenant relationship. Some like the Moabites were permanently barred. Circumcision and a commitment to obey the Law of Moses would also be required, But Jesus here makes a shocking break when He says that He has other sheep which were not of this fold. It is set up by using the strong Greek word “alla” which says they were not another flock of Jews but were totally different. These would include Samaritans, but also the Gentiles. Jesus says that He must lead them also. The “must” here is a word often used as a divine imperative. He is also their shepherd. What He has said about the Jewish sheep is equally true of the Gentile sheep. They belong to Him and have all the privileges and protection that the sheep He called out from the Jewish people. These shall be brought into the fold. So there will be one new and larger flock who will be led by Jesus, the Good shepherd. As they share a common shepherd, this becomes their unity. What matters is that the are all His people, and the sheep of His pasture and not where they originally came from.
In verse 17, Jesus goes back to the necessity of His death for His sheep. He first states that the Father loves Him and that He himself personally I going to lay down His life for the sheep. This love the Father has for the world in His giving of His only Son (John 3:16). Some recent theologians such as McLaren have seen the Father sending the Son as “cosmic child abuse and just cannot believe that a loving God would do that to His own Son. Yes, the text here affirms the Father’s love for the Son. But it also says that the Son was willing to lay down His life. Whatever argument people make on whether humans have free will or not, it is certain that Jesus, who is both God and man had free will concerning whether He would go to Cavalry. He had the authority to lay down His life. What would soon happen at Cavalry was not the result of bad luck or religious intolerance. Jesus was not a victim in that sense. Nothing went wrong; it went exactly as planned from the foundation of the world.
In verse 18, Jesus emphatically reasserts this. “NO ONE is placed emphatically first in the Greek sentence. The “me” is also the emphatic form of the pronoun. “NO ONE takes it from ME!.” Then the second half of the verse is even more emphatic in Greek. It begins with the strong adversative “BUT.” Then the emphatic personal pronoun “ego” “I” which is not grammatically necessary is used. The “me” is also the emphatic form of the pronoun. So it reads: “BUT I Myself lay MY own life down willingly.” Jesus completes this though by stating that He had received authority from God to do this.
Jesus then goes on to make an even more extraordinary claim. He also had the authority to take it back in the sense here of resurrection. He had also received authority from the Father to come back to life. This shows that Jesus had the right to do what no other human can do in his own will, power or authority. No one can resurrect one’s self. But Jesus could and did. This is, of course, a great mystery. It lays beyond unaided human understanding. No wonder that some of the Jews here thought that Jesus was either mad or demon possessed. Those who have not been enlightened by the Holy Spirit and called to be God’s sheep could possibly understand this. Some could still be puzzled how a possessed man could give sight to a blind man. But without the Lord, it is impossible to understand this personally. One could possibly understand theologically what Jesus is saying, especially when read with the message of the New Testament as a whole. But to believe this personally is quite another matter.
What a wondrous thing God has done! All praise to Christ Jesus. We in the church have several things we can take away from this. We have a God who knows us personally. We have a family relationship with Yahweh which is entirely underserved. He has called us, and by God’s grace we have listened and come to Him. Because the shepherd has died for us, we have been rescued. If we think about it, if an earthly shepherd was killed defending his or her sheep, the wolves would not stop from scattering and devouring the sheep. They would probably find them more succulent than us. But we are made eternally sure because Jesus died for us. Not only this, but Jesus acted on His authority to come back to life. He will be our shepherd for ever. He has rescued us from danger and will continue to do so,
Another thing we learn concerns those whom God has appointed to care for His flock. He has not called hirelings but pastors. There are certainly hirelings who call themselves “pastors” who are in the ministry primarily for personal gain. As long as it is safe to do so and the paychecks keep coming, they will do some good for the sheep. But these will flee and leave the flock to their own fate. The good pastor must have the same heart as the Chief Shepherd. We who are pastors must be willing to lead the flock of God in good times and bad. We must defend the flock with our very life. It is our job to lead the flock to green pastures and still waters. We must refresh them. We do this by the preaching and teaching of God’s Word and not our own opinions. We are called to “feed the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2). We must protect them in difficult times. If we have to lay our own lives down to protect the flock, we must understand that Jesus has promised and has the authority to raise us from the dead. We all must die anyway, so what better cause of death could we have? We shall all dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We listen to Paul who says “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Finally, as God’s people, we must remember that it is God who calls the sheep. Jesus said that He is calling sheep from all different nations, cultures, and economic statuses. Are we global in our outreach? When these people come under the shepherding of the Lord Jesus Christ, are we willing to admit them into our sheepfold, our church, or do we tell them that they should gather elsewhere. God wants one church drawn from all people into one flock. How well does our church reflect this? For many churches, it must be said, not well. Pagans call the church the most segregated hour in America. What kind of witness is this. All of God’s sheep who believe in Jesus Christ and are called by His name are to be admitted. It is true that we must also have discipline in the church. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). But wolves aren’t particular to one race or economic status. I do not say let everyone in willy-nilly. But I do say that all who are truly Christians need to be received into the churches of God with open arms.
