I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD
JOHN 10 VERSES 11-21
What is your image of Shepherds? Do they have a beard? Wear woolly jumpers and have a shepherd’s crook in their hands? Maybe one man and his dog is the only time you have ever seen a shepherd. We all have this stereotypical idea of what a shepherd is like and the truth is it bears no real resemblance to reality. At the time of Christ shepherds were despised and treated as outcasts. A shepherd was considered unclean and anyone who came into contact with him would also be considered ceremonially unclean. Shepherds were not allowed to be witnesses in court nor were they allowed to be part of the elders who sat in judgement. Amazing then that God the Father choose shepherds to be the ones to whom the birth of the Messiah would be announced first. So when we come to Christ Jesus saying ‘I Am the Good Shepherd’ we should first and foremost realise that it was a scandalous ascription to place on oneself. It is in fact a striking imagery for Christ to ascribe to Himself and one which is somewhat lost to us today.
CONTEXT – remember the context of these words spoken by Jesus. He has healed a man born blind and this has a resulted in an altercation with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day. In defence He had first spoken of being the door into the sheep pen and He now takes this imagery further by ascribing to Himself the title ‘Good Shepherd’ in contrast to the false shepherds and hirelings (the religious leaders). So the context of these words is a healing miracle and the religious leader’s charges against Him. As you can see from verses 19-21 there is further division between the people after Jesus has spoken.
VERSE 11 – THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Read verse 11. Jesus here speaks of Himself as the ‘Good Shepherd’ and of the voluntary laying down of His life. Let us take each of these separately and seek to understand what He means by them.
The Good Shepherd – the OT is replete with men of God who were shepherds. Abraham, Moses, and David were all shepherds. In the writings of the prophets there are constant references to both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ shepherds. Listen to these words from Jeremiah 23.1-3. God speaking through Jeremiah condemns the false shepherds who have scattered His people and then promises in verse 3 that one day He (personally) will gather the people like a shepherd gathers the flock. Again listen to these words from Ezekiel 34.12,15. Once again God promises to gather His people like sheep and to provide pasture and rest for them. Probably the most familiar OT passage concerning the Good Shepherd is Psalm 23, turn with me to it for a moment. I believe we have here a picture of Christ and that a proper understanding of what this Psalm is speaking about will help us understand what Christ meant when He said ‘I Am the Good Shepherd.’
I want you to note first of all that in this Psalm it is the Good Shepherd who does everything. Note how He leads to pastures green and still waters. He, alone, restores the soul and He leads in the paths of righteousness. The first 3 verses speak of what He does for the one who has a personal relationship with Him. Did you note that at the very beginning of the Psalm – ‘my shepherd’ – this is not a man writing from ignorance but one writing from within an intimate relationship with the Lord. Then in the last 3 verses there is the protective concern of the shepherd for the sheep. Even walking through the valley of death the psalmist does not fear because this shepherd is with him and brings him through death to the banqueting table which he, the shepherd, has prepared. This table the shepherd has prepared and furnished with riches in the very presence of the enemies of the sheep. I think that is significant and we overlook it so easily and miss a great spiritual lesson. The shepherd has prepared a table in the very presence of the enemies of the sheep. This table provides the means of anointing and blessing for all the days of the sheep’s life and when that life ends it is in the house of the Lord that the psalmist will dwell.
‘Laying down His life.’ How did the shepherd prepare a table in the midst of the enemies? Friends listen to me here. The second sentence of John 10.11 says this ‘The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’ The answer is by laying down his life for the sheep. How did Christ prepare a table in the midst of our enemies – sin and death, by laying down His life at Calvary. John 10.11 and again in verses 15 and 17 Jesus speaks about laying down His life for the sheep. Three times Jesus repeats this assertion. He wants His hearers, and us, to understand that His death is not a victory for His enemies. His death is a voluntary sacrificial death. On numerous occasions in the gospels we read how Christ avoided capture and execution. It is not until ‘the hour has come’ that He lays down His life. This is not suicide but an act of obedience to the divine will of the Father. It is in fact an expression of the love of the Son for the Father and for us. It was not Judas, Caiphas or Pilate who decided the time of Christ’s death. It was Christ Himself. I think we should also note that the word which John uses here for life is the word ‘psyche’ which elsewhere is translated as ‘soul.’ Jesus uses a word which speaks of much more than just physical existence and physical death. It speaks of the totality of life – the physical, the mental, the emotional and the spiritual. It speaks of the eternal nature of man’s life. He is going to voluntarily lay this all down for His sheep. He, the good shepherd, is ready to sacrifice his total self for the sake of the sheep.
Verses 12-13 Hireling/Good Shepherd. In contrast (verses 12-13) the hireling is not prepared to endanger himself for the sake of the sheep. His attitude is self preservation. It is not that he doesn’t do his job, he does up to a point. He tends the sheep but when danger comes his concern is self. Jesus is here contrasting His own attitude to that of the religious leaders with whom He has just clashed. They are hirelings whose concern when danger arises is self-preservation. Friends there are a lot of hirelings about in Christianity. Men and women whose concern is not the welfare of the sheep placed under them but their own promotion and image. Listen to what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5 verses 2-3. The hireling worked for wages and that was his chief concern. The shepherd however, was prepared to lay down his life for his sheep. Why? Well we are given the answer in verse14. The shepherd ‘knows’ the sheep and the sheep ‘know’ the shepherd. To ‘know’ is much more than head knowledge. It denotes a personal intimate relationship one with the other. It describes mutuality. The sheep are owned by the shepherd and they are loved individually by the shepherd and that is why He is prepared to lay down His life for them.
Verses 14-16 Sheep and Shepherd. Verse 14 harkens back to verses 4 and 5 where He spoke about the sheep recognising and responding to His voice. To support this assertion of intimate relationship Jesus likens His relationship with the sheep to that of His relationship with the Father, verse 15. Then in verse 16 Jesus speaks about ‘other sheep’ from another ‘sheep pen.’ What could this possibly mean? Well again this is where it is important to remember the context in which this conversation is taking place. Jesus is in Jerusalem and is speaking to the people who have witnessed the healing of the man born blind. Also present are the Pharisees, who have excommunicated the man from the synagogue. The hearers of these words are therefore Israelites. Therefore the reference to other sheep from another sheep pen is a reference to Gentiles. Christ came first to the people of Israel and after His death, which He has referred to three times in these 10 verses, the gospel will be taken out of Jerusalem to Samaria and then to the ends of the earth. So these other sheep are in fact you and I. These ‘other sheep’ are called in exactly the same way as the sheep from within the fold of Israel. They hear and recognise the voice of the shepherd and they become part of the one flock guided by the one true shepherd who lays down His life for them.
Verses 17-18 – laying down of life. In these two verses Christ again speaks about His voluntarily laying down of His life for the sheep. He adds this time that when He has laid it down He will take it up again. A clear reference to the resurrection. Please note what He says in verse 18. He alone has the authority to lay down His life and to take it up again and this authority came by the Father’s command. Jesus wants them, and us, to understand that the cross will be no accident but part of the divine plan for the Shepherd and the means of salvation for the sheep. The cross was no defeat for Christ and the resurrection was no afterthought by God. They were His divine will for the Son. You see anyone can lay down their life but Christ alone had authority to take His life back up again. Christ was no helpless victim in all of this but willingly and obediently fulfilled the will of the Father in this.
Verses 19-21 Division. Well we only have to read these verses to see the controversy created by what Christ has said (and by the healing miracle). It is interesting that of the four gospels is the only one which does not have an account of Christ exorcising demons but has religious leaders accusing Christ of being demon possessed. What blasphemy and what proof of their spiritual blindness. By their own words they condemn themselves. Christ caused division by His words and His actions, and He still does today.
APPLICATION.
So what are to learn from Christ when He says ‘I Am the Good Shepherd?’ I believe that the significant thing about this Shepherd is that He is also the Lamb of God slain to take away the sins of the world. Three times in these 10 verses Christ speaks of laying down His life. He voluntarily went to the cross for you and for me so that we might hear His voice and answer His call. He laid His life down that He might take it up again and so defeat death, not for Himself, but for us.
Secondly, we must turn to Psalm 23 and learn from there the provision and the protection that He brings to us as His sheep. We must be His sheep to know that provision and protection. We must with the psalmist be able to say ‘the Lord is my shepherd’ before we can go on to experience, to know and to speak of His provision and protection. It is through His death that we know the forgiveness of our sins and it is through His resurrection that we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil. Why? Because He is with us and when we have gone through that valley where do we find ourselves? In the place of anointing and blessing, even in the very presence of our enemies. Friends please do not take that lightly. Please do not fail to grasp the enormity of that sequence. He has prepared a table of anointing and blessing in the presence of our enemies so that we might know His mercy and goodness all the days of our life. How awesome a God is Christ? Remember from a few weeks ago how Christ described our enemies as ‘thieves and robbers.’ In the very presence of those ‘thieves and robbers’ He provided a table of blessing – how? By laying down His life in order that He might take it up again.
Finally, there is only one question for each of this morning: Is the Lord my Shepherd? No one but you can answer that today. He came and laid down His life for you. He rose again that one day you too might be raised from death to life eternal. Do you know Him as the Good Shepherd and does He know you as one of His sheep? This morning that can become a reality in your life if you come to the Shepherd who is the doorway into the sheep pen.
AMEN.
