Who Is Your Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd

4.21.24 [John 10:11-18] River of Life (4th Sunday of Easter)

The Jolly Green Giant. Mr. Clean. The Brawny Man. You know these images and who they represent. Frozen & canned vegetables. Cleaning products. And paper towels. But it’s not just that these images represent a company or a product. Mickey Mouse, Mario, and the Michelin Man do that too. But the Jolly Green Giant, Mr. Clean, and the Brawny Man convey something more than just the name of a company. Each strikes a powerful pose. And that’s intentional. Because each company wants you to believe with their product you will have more power on your side. Eat your veggies and you’ll grow big and strong. Use this spray or this sponge and there’s nothing you can’t clean. Only Brawny paper towels are strong enough to stand up to the messes you have to tackle.

Companies choose powerful images for a reason. They thought long and hard about how they want people to think about them. And it’s worked, hasn’t it? Images are powerful memory hooks.

The image Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel is a powerful memory hook, but it’s not a marketing gimmick. It’s who he is & what he does.

Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. There may not be a more powerful and comforting illustration in all of Scripture than this one. It’s an image that some of us learned from little on and it has grown with us. Jesus is the good shepherd. It’s a powerful memory hook for us, isn’t it?

But some of its power is rooted in another section of the Bible. In Psalm 23, David was inspired by God to portray the Lord with this same picture. The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores and refreshes my soul. He guides me the right way.

So it’s easy for us to think of our relationship with the Good Shepherd like a spiritual tour guide. He makes all the arrangements. He knows all the good spots. He’ll show me the right way. He won’t lead me astray.

And all of that is true. But none of that is Jesus’ point here, is it? If you look carefully again at the text, you’ll notice that the only time that any of the sheep move at all is because something terrible has taken place.

So the Good Shepherd is much more than a buddy who takes you for a walk. The Good Shepherd is much more than a spiritual tour guide or the guy who knows all the good places to eat.

In fact, if we were to try to modernize and summarize the work of the Good Shepherd in John 10, we wouldn’t describe him as a companion or an adventure guide. He’s a bodyguard. Do you see why that matters?

The hired hand will be happy to take you for a stroll in the meadow. The hired hand might know the nicest spot to wet your whistle. The hired hand might promise that he or she will take good care of you. But (Jn. 10:12) when he sees the wolf coming, he makes what we call “a business decision”. He abandons the sheep. He lets the wolf attack the flock and scatter it. And even after the wolf has taken down its mark, he does nothing to guard and keep the rest of the flock. He runs away and leaves them to fend for themselves.

And Jesus is upfront about why this happens. (Jn. 10:13) The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. To this hired hand, these sheep are just a job. The way he makes his living. When this job threatens to put an end to his living he’s leaving. The sheep just aren’t worth it to him. It’s business. Never personal.

Which makes sense in a secular sense. If you’re married to the hired hand, you don’t want him losing his life at work for some sheep.

But remember, this is an earthly image that shows us a spiritual truth. The spiritual truth is rather simple. There are many hired hands who want us to follow them but it’s just business. Never personal. These voices are happy to tell us where to go and what to do but will run away when their interests are threatened. There are many who just see us as a number, and don’t know us by name. There are many who see us as someone to be leveraged rather than led. There are many who will make business decisions rather than kingdom choices. You do not want to place your life, your eternal destiny, in hired hands.

But we do just that, don’t we? We follow the guidance of too many hired hands who do not really care about us. Who will run away when trouble comes our way. To them we’re just business. Never personal.

Maybe we’ve seen that with our careers. Companies love to talk about being a family and making sacrifices. Then, when the quarterly figures come in or the company gets sold off or new management comes in, you find out that the family you’ve been making sacrifices for has hung you out to dry. Should we really be surprised when the people who have hired us act like hired hands? Work is good, but it can never be your Good Shepherd. Listen to his voice & see your work for what it is. Many layoffs and buyouts have exposed our careers to be poor shepherds. Hired hands.

But we still follow hired hands far too frequently. How many of us let recreational matters dictate what we do and don’t do, where we go and where we don’t go? Whether it’s our kids’ team, hiking, hunting, golfing, pickleball, or gym crew—anything we choose to spend time with or on. None of those are wicked activities. They’re fun. They’re good. But ask yourself this. When this thing infringes on the most important thing—the needs only my Good Shepherd can supply—how do they react? Does your golf foursome bristle when you demonstrate and encourage them to keep a tight rein on their tongue? Does your kids’ team get it when you say, we can’t be there for games on Sunday morning? Do your hiking buddies roll their eyes when you marvel out loud about all that God has fashioned and made? Your gym buddies might call you if you’ve missed a few sessions. Will they do the same when you’ve fallen into temptation and are weighed down by shame? Recreation is good, but it can never supplant your Good Shepherd. Listen to his voice and see your recreational activities for what they really are.

In an age of so much unrest and uncertainty, it’s no surprise you’ll find plenty of hired hands in the political realm. Politicians and pundits are always telling you that they’re the only ones you can really trust. But greased palms aren’t the only hired hands. It’s the celebrity influencers, the podcasters, and even our friends and family that keep us fixated on every single political rumbling and cultural shift. The best of these are little more than hired hands. The worst of these are wolves looking to devour the frailest of the flock. The fact that we live in a country where we can have political discourse like this is a good thing, but it cannot replace our Good Shepherd. Listen to his voice and see this world for what it is.

Listen to your Good Shepherd. Do you hear him? Do you know him?

He knows better. He knows how hired hands tend to have an almost hypnotic power over us. He knows how hired hands make promises they can’t & won’t keep. He knows how it will all ultimately turn out for us. That’s why he keeps warning us and calling us. He knows us.

He knows that when the wolf attacks, the hired hands will run for the hills. He knows that when the wolf attacks, we won’t be able to run far or fast enough. He knows that we need him to step in.

So that’s what he does. Did you hear him? Do you know what he’s done? (Jn. 10:11) The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He doesn’t make a business decision. He makes a kingdom choice. It’s not just business. It’s personal. We are his own sheep. So he willingly and joyfully sacrifices himself for the sheep, for us, because it’s not just a job to him, it is his life’s calling.

So that’s what he does. Did you listen to his voice? Do you know what he’s done for you? No one takes his life from him. He laid it down of his own accord. In this moment, Jesus is addressing the hired hands who would soon hire one of his disciples to betray him. Jesus was telling them, point blank, you will kill me, but only because I’ve chosen to allow it. I will die, but only because I choose to. And when I choose to, I will rise back to life again.

This is crucial for the flock. Do you hear what Jesus is telling you? Do you know what he has done for you? Yes, he died on the cross for your sins. Yes, he sacrificed himself so that we no longer had to fear God’s righteous wrath. Yes, his heel was struck so that the Devil’s head would be crushed and all his accusations silenced.

But our Good Shepherd did not stay dead. If he did, the flock would be in danger now. Sheep need a Shepherd. So he takes his life up again that he might take us under his wings again. We are his own. He purchased us with his holy, precious blood. We are precious in his sight. Why would he sacrifice his life and leave us to wander?

Instead he leads & protects us. He guides & corrects us. He defends us against predators and he refreshes us. He unites us with sheep of various kinds of wool and he loves us and leads us all together. We are not just cared for, but we know that he cares about us, too. It’s not just business. It’s personal. He’s our Good Shepherd.

And it doesn’t need a marketing gimmick. It’s who Jesus is and it’s what Jesus does. But being the Good Shepherd is about more than striking a powerful pose and lifting some lambs on your shoulders. Jesus is more than the Jolly Green Giant. He’s not just an image of power. He’s also dependable and devoted. Remember it’s personal.

Like another spokesman: Jake from State Farm. You’ve seen the ads. They’re unavoidable. What’s the point? Jake from State Farm is a depiction of a good neighbor. What does that mean? He’s there.

Jesus is more than a good neighbor. He is the Good Shepherd. He isn’t just there on the scene when something bad is happening. He’s always there. Always alert. Always ready to do whatever it takes to take care of you. He’s protecting you. He’s defending you. He’s leading you through the valley of the shadow of death, with his rod and his staff, to the table he has personally prepared for you. Like the Good Shepherd, Jesus is there. For you. Forever. Amen.