Why the Shepherd is Good: The Good Shepherd, Part 2 (John 10:11–21)

Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name”Text: John 10:11–21

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: November 12, 2023

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

It is amazing to think about how many of God’s leaders have been shepherds. We can think about King David, for instance, who began as a humble shepherd boy. When we call him a shepherd boy, though, we don’t mean that he was still a child; he had already grown into a young man tending his father’s flock.

We see this when David comes to visit the army of Israel. You’ll remember that the battle line was drawn between it and the army of the Philistines; the Philistines had sent out a giant of a man to challenge Israel’s fighters, mocking the God of Israel. David witnessed this and eventually told King Saul that he could fight Goliath. He based his reasoning on faith and his experience as a shepherd, explaining (1 Sam. 17:34–36):

Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.

Of course, the Lord indeed enabled David to slay Goliath, and a newly-emboldened Israel pressed forward and won the battle. It was the shepherd who led the sheep, as it were.

The Lord in His providence brought up many leaders from among the shepherds, like David. Shepherding is a picture of spiritual leadership in Scripture, both of good and bad leadership. As we began studying the parable of the good shepherd last week, we noted that the Pharisees were among the false shepherds leading Israel astray. However, Jesus Christ, the true shepherd, had come to lead God’s people to better pastures.

Jesus stands in contrast to the false shepherds: He is the good shepherd. In our passage, we’ll spend most of our time reading what makes Him so good. We’ll note three reasons why Jesus is the true Good Shepherd (vv. 11–18). We’ll then note the reaction of sheep to the Good Shepherd (vv. 19–21).

Three Reasons Why Jesus is the True Good Shepherd (vv. 11–18)

Verse 11 begins with Jesus identifying Himself as the Good Shepherd. As we noted, there are three reasons in this passage as to why Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He dies for the sheep, He loves them, and He lives for them. We’ll see this as we move along.

The Shepherd is good because He dies for the Sheep (vv. 11–13)

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 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. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.

Jesus is giving another “I am” statement, one He repeats in v. 14. He will use an emphatic personal pronoun while doing so — “I, I am the good shepherd.” He is contrasting Himself to all others.

He fulfills Scripture. Many OT passages anticipated the Good Shepherd. For instance, Isaiah 40:11 says, “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.” In Ezekiel 34, God condemns the false shepherds of Israel, and He says He will set His own shepherd over them, one who will do good for His people. This is what the people of God were to expect from their Messiah.

The New Testament writers continue this theme. In Hebrews 13:20–21, Jesus is identified as “the Great Shepherd.” Peter names Jesus similarly — “the Chief Shepherd” (1 Pet. 5:4). In Revelation 7:17, John identifies Jesus as both the “Lamb in the center of the throne” and the shepherd, a fascinating mixture of images! Here, though, we read that He is good, perhaps speaking of His nobility and dedication of character as a shepherd.

Jesus gives us a specific aspect of His goodness in v. 11 — “the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Here, that picture of the rugged youth David comes to mind, risking his life to rescue a lamb from the mouth of a lion or bear. There’s a sense of dedication, bravery, and protection in such an image, but there’s more in Jesus’s meaning.

Jesus is talking about dying. In vv. 17–18, Jesus says, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 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.” He’s making clear that He will die, but it will be on His terms.

Jesus will lay down His life as a sacrifice to protect the flock of God. John emphasizes this in places like 1 John 3:16, which says, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” He also makes the sacrificial death of Christ plain here.

This is an act of substitution. The text literally reads that He does this “on behalf of His sheep.” The preposition in the phrase, “for the sheep,” often means “in the place of” and speaks of substitution Again, in v. 15, He says He will “lay down My life for the sheep.” He also says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” He doesn’t just see His disciples as sheep in need of a shepherd, but as friends, and He lays down His life for them.

There are some who have tried to argue that Jesus’s death is nothing more than an example of the kind of sacrifices we should be willing to give others. It is that, but it is so much more. It’s an act of substituting one’s own self for the punishment of another. Jesus demonstrated that when He died on Barabbas’s cross — He literally dies in the place of the guilty.

This is because we each have a sin penalty. Scripture says, “The person who sins will die” (Exod. 18:20), and in the New Testament, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Thankfully, that verse doesn’t end there, for we continue reading that “the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus died as a substitute to atone and propitiate for the sins of His people.

This act of love is a strangely unpopular teaching. People do not want to see Christ’s atonement as for particular individuals. As one study notes,

The emphasis on particular atonement is seen in a number of passages (italics added): Christ “will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21); the Good Shepherd “lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11); Christ prayed only for “those whom Thou hast given Me” (John 17:9); Christ purchased the church of God “with His own blood” (Acts 20:28); God sent His Son, delivering “Him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32); Christ “loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). In each case the biblical passage suggests not everyone, but only the elect. Christ died for “His people,” “His sheep,” “the ones He prayed for,” “the ones given Him by the Father,” and “the church.”

This should be one of the most joyous and gospel-saturated truths in all Scripture. He didn’t die for the possibility of the salvation of random people; He died for His people! This has immediate application — it means that Jesus didn’t die for nameless, faceless people, but He died for me, and for you, too (if you believe in Him). What a marvel it is that folks don’t like this; it’s a wonderful act of love for us!

Jesus is the good shepherd who knows His sheep and lays down His life for them. He does this in contrast to the false shepherds. He speaks in the next verse of the one who is not truly a shepherd, but a hired hand. The King James Version and the New King James render this word “hireling.”

This is not a wolf in the strictest sense. A wolf cares about the sheep because they are a meal. The hireling, however, cares about money, not sheep. If sheep are lost under his watch, he isn’t worried, because it’s not his personal loss.

There are pastors who may, at times, appear good. However, when difficulty comes, they prove to be hirelings instead of shepherds. Perhaps they never engage in apologetics and polemics when spiritual questions arise. They don’t desire confrontation, to rock the boat and risk a paycheck. So, while they may be preaching to provide pulpit supply, they stay away from anything controversial. This means that they ultimately never care about the spiritual welfare of the flock, for true shepherds confront the wolves.

Without the care of a pastor or shepherd, the wolf kills or carries off a sheep into spiritual error. One of the chief marks of a spiritual wolf is that he also “scatters” or creates division within the body of Christ. This is why we confront sin within the congregation. Acts 20:29–30 says that wolves will come into congregations, sometimes even arising from our own number. Sins like gossip and slander attack the sheep and scatter the flock. We care about this because we’re not hirelings!

Jesus is condemning the Pharisees here. There are some of their number and of the Sadducees who have used their titles and positions to get rich off the widows and the poor of Israel. There are those who are also trying to convince people that Jesus isn’t really the Messiah. The Pharisees who know this is wrong should confront this, but they are afraid for themselves. Yet, if they want to be shepherds, then they need to face the danger. Thankfully, Jesus is a good shepherd willing to do just that, as He is doing in this moment.

The Shepherd is good because He loves the Sheep (vv. 14–16)

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 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.

We’ve already noted this with Jesus’s particular atonement for His sheep. Yet, this goes even further. We read here that Jesus knows His own sheep. In v. 27, He also says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” We already read that He calls us by name. This again shows us that He had individuals in mind when He went to the cross.

What does it mean to know? It’s a verb, an action. It’s the same term in Scripture to speak euphemistically of an intimate relationship between a husband and wife (cf. Gen. 4:1, 17, 25; 19:8; 24:16; and 1 Sam. 1:19). In this case, it speaks of an intimacy arising from loving care. We are each known by the good shepherd!

He parallels this in v. 15 to the knowledge He has of God the Father. We’ve already noted that there are a number of times Scripture identifies Jesus as God, such as the opening verses of this Gospel. We must understand this, the eternal inter-Trinitarian knowledge that the Son must have with the Father, if we are to understand the knowledge He is speaking of with us. He knows us in a way only God can, with our warts and all, and He still loves us!

As such, He again says that He lays down His life for us. As He told His disciples in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me but I chose you.” He knows us and shows His love toward us by choosing us and by dying for us.

We see this electing love in the next verse. Jesus says, “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.” If the fold containing His sheep is Israel, then these other sheep must be outside of Israel. They are the Gentile believers. If we think of His meaning as one of the sheep in the first century, then He also means He has sheep throughout time, too, that He will gather together — anyone who repents and places faith and trust in Christ.

True believers in Christ are grafted in with believing Israel. As Ephesians 2:13–16 says,

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

In fact, this is the same use of “one” in Galatians 3:28–29, which says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” We are all brought into the same fold, and fleshly divisions do not matter.

Not one of Christ’s sheep will fail to hear His voice. Some of us doubt at first, but we eventually hear the call of His voice and respond. Some Christians may be slow in missions and evangelism. Yet all of Christ’s sheep will be saved in the end. And that is because Jesus loves us, which we see in His death and resurrection (bringing us to the next point).

The Shepherd is good because He lives for the Sheep (vv. 17–18)

For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 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.

Jesus once again returns to the statement that He’s laying down His life. He does so in obedience, which is why the Father loves Him (not that He earns the Father’s love, but He lives in expression of that love). He, as a good shepherd, dies for the sheep.

Yet, it doesn’t end there. He says that He takes His life up again. Both ideas involve a unique authority, one that only God has. He chooses when He will die (no one takes His life from Him), and then He also chooses to live again. This is an authority that the Father gives Him.

And yes, Jesus is speaking of resurrection. This evidences that He can also give abundant life (v. 10), which He calls eternal life in v. 28. This is a promise to us, for Romans 6:4 says that, just “as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” He gives more love and grace to us because of the resurrection, and we can know that our shepherd is one who truly conquered death.

This is a great passage showing us who Jesus is. He is the good shepherd. So, how do sheep react to this? Let’s briefly consider that before we close.

The Sheep React to the Shepherd (vv. 19–21)

A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

I mentioned last week that a sheep pen or fold might have more than one flock of sheep in it. In the case of Israel, there are those who believe Jesus and those who don’t. There are those who are Christ’s sheep, and those sheep which belong to another flock. And we see here the mixed reaction of the crowd.

Some are not His sheep, so they recoil from His voice. They were saying that He has a demon. One of the signs of demon possession is crazy and irrational behavior, and as they said of Jesus in Mark 3:21, “He has lost His senses.” This here is more than a statement that He’s insane; they are saying the source of His claims is a minion of the devil. So, they conclude that He isn’t someone in whom to find any wisdom.

Yet, there are also Christ’s sheep. By God’s grace, they begin to reason differently. A demon could not and would not want to heal a man born blind, but they have undeniable proof that Jesus just did that in the previous chapter. A demon wouldn’t want to do good, but Jesus seems to fit the criteria of being good. Is He the good shepherd, as He said?

Conclusion

That is the question. Some of you may have been on the fence about Jesus. You can see that He does good for His sheep, and you’ve wondered about knowing such a loving and tender care. If you want to come into the fold, you need only enter through Christ. He invites all to come! Call upon Him and be saved!

If you have struggled with your own salvation, remember that Jesus had you in mind before the foundation of the world. He thought about you when He died on the cross. It wasn’t a half measure; He loved you and set out to save you, and He doesn’t fail in any good thing. See this teaching as a reminder of God’s glorious grace for you in Christ!