The Good Shepherd Today
John 10:11-21
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
John 10:19 A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed.
A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”
The good shepherd is one of the well-known images of Jesus. You can see this image in so many stained-glass windows in churches. This good shepherd passage unites the topics of Trinity and the church’s ministry with theological ethics. The big news in this passage is that there are sheep outside of the church who are not a part of the flock. It is the church’s main mission to comply with Jesus. The church is expected to go out and fulfill the mission of spreading the Gospel throughout the world.
This Gospel text develops a well-known theme from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The imagery of what a shepherd does is well developed in the Old Testament. The story of King David, once a shepherd, who became King is a common Sunday School lesson for children and a great story for adults to learn. When David was the King, he was the shepherd for the Hebrew nation. That is why he is an echo of what Jesus did. David did wonderful things for his people. Jesus not only did outstanding things for the people in his day, but He continues to take care of us.
The Good Shepherd Jesus Christ laid down His life for us because He wanted to ensure that we understood God’s message of the forgiveness of sin and the acceptance of all people into the family of God. Jesus leaves with His church with the task of searching for those who are not in the “flock” yet. All people of all nations and races are to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Since Jesus cannot physically be with us, it becomes the church’s task to continue this task as a mandate from Jesus. We are the hands, feet, ears and eyes for Jesus. We must continue His work as people from our past has.
Unfortunately, many of Jesus’ churches have become social clubs for the membership. In many churches, if you are not a part of the biological family that runs the church you may not be an accepted member of the church. Many churches are just not friendly to strangers. These people forget we are all kissing cousins because we can trace our biology to Noah. Every person who enters the doors should be accepted as family because they are no matter how distant the relationship is.
Today it is sad that acceptance is getting worse because we must be weary of strangers due to all the violence that has been occurring in churches from outside people. There is some internal strife because churches must get criminal clearances for volunteers who work with children because of some incidents that have occurred over the years. The church, which should be a safe place for all to worship Jesus, and a place of total acceptance, will find it difficult to become that again. The members of the congregation can make the church a safe place to worship God again. It is up to them to do this. We must push evil out of our churches and never let in again.
We must become like sheep who follow its shepherd. For the sheep to survive, they need the shepherd. Out on their own, they would perish. In the Middle East, the sheep are not aware of where the oasis or water filled wadis are located. They do not know where their predators are and if found; they are too slow to run away.
Satan is a predator of people. Evil inclination from Satan surrounds everything that humans try to do. The only way to be protected is by having God on your side. We accomplish this by allowing Jesus, the good shepherd, to be our guide and teacher. How do we follow Jesus? Simple, follow what He says in the Scripture. Be alert for evil people but condemn a visitor. Better is to welcome them and learn about them. If they are evil, you discover that quickly. If they are not, we should welcome them as a child of God. We are God’s children, and we must always remember this.
