Jesus the Good Shepherd
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Jesus the Good Shepherd
Jesus the Good Shepherd
Intro:
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 1957 The Shepherd and Flock
1957 The Shepherd And Flock
In our country we do not realize the intimacy of a shepherd with his flock as they do in Syria and in parts of Southern Europe. It was my daily delight every day for many weeks and a dozen times a day, to watch a shepherd who had this almost incredibly close communion with his flock. Many times have I accompanied him through the green pastures and by the stream. If my shepherd wished to lead his sheep from one pasture to another, he went before them, and he was usually singing.
He led them with a song or with a sweet, low, wooing whistle like the call of a bird, and the sheep raised their heads from the herbage, looked at their guardian and guide, and followed on. I have heard his song and his low birdcall by the watercourse, and have seen the sheep follow his course over the rocky boulders to the still waters, where they have been refreshed. At noon he would sit down in a place of shadows, and all his flock crowded around him for rest. At night, when the darkness was falling, he gathered them into the fold.
We must realize an intimacy like this if we wish to understand the shepherd imagery of the Old Book. The communion is so intimate that the shepherd knows if one of his sheep is missing.
—J. H. Jowett
A major theme throughout all the bible is that of God being a shepherd. Psalm 80:1 says:
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
This shepherd motif reaches it apex with Jesus saying in John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
So the question is what are the qualifications of a good shepherd? What standard does God set as the Good Shepherd in sending Jesus Christ?
David writes in Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Charles Spurgeon wrote, “We must, of course, remind ourselves that we are not in the country where these words were written; we must, in thought, go to the East in order to get the full meaning of them.” We don’t understand the work of a shepherd because shepherds are not an occupation in our times. We understand business man, CEO, lawyer, police, or even firefighter, but shepherd is not an occupation that we truly understand. So for God to use these terms to describe His relationship with His people we need to understand the job description of a shepherd, and David who was once a shepherd of sheep and the became King and shepherd God’s chosen people understood the job requirements of a good shepherd and lays them out for us. The first being the good shepherd provides.
The Good Shepherds Guides- “He Leads me”
The Good Shepherds Guides- “He Leads me”
In the Old Testament is was God who was the true shepherd of His people. We can God as a shepherd as He guided the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Promise Land. God led them through the wilderness to the promise.
But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.
There is a great contrast between God the true Good Shepherd, and those who are false shepherds, that rather then leading the people to rest and green pastures, they lead they to destruction.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?
“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
These false shepherd who were supposed to lead the people to God and to life, made the sheep prey. These false shepherds were condemned by God for leading His flock astray into all kinds of Idolatry and evil wicked acts. This nation that God had said in Leviticus “Be Holy for I am Holy”, had now become detestable. Even to the point that God says,
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Even the peoples sacrifices were detestable to God. These sheep were lost and all that awaited them was destruction and death. The picture painted is one that no hope, but God is a God of grace and mercy, and His response to these wicked shepherds is one of love for His sheep.
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
Jesus’ statement, “I am the Good Shepherd” is the fulfillment of God seeking and searching for His sheep to lead them back to God. We can see this in Jesus coming to this world. Why did Jesus come?
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus came to reveal God the Father and guide those lost sheep to God and in return into eternal life. At the time of Jesus’ coming the were in great darkness . Even the religious leaders were in darkness. This is seen in Jesus’ exchange with Nicodemus when Jesus says,
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Jesus, first as Good shepherd leads His flock from darkness and judgment into the light of salvation. Before Jesus says “I am the Good Shepherd”, He first states that He is the gate to the sheep pen, meaning that He is the only way to enter God’s fold. There is no other way. Jesus is the way and guides us who believe, who come to the light, to God and to life. It is only through Jesus that we can be made right with God.
Jesus leads His sheep. There is no other voice that is the true voice of the Good Shepherd. Jesus makes another statement saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father except through me.” Jesus leads His people to God and to eternal life.
My Favorite Illustrations Jesus, the Shepherd
Jesus, the Shepherd
Many years ago Dr. and Mrs. Leo Eddleman were missionaries in Palestine. He told me about seeing many flocks mingled at a watering place. When one shepherd was ready to leave he simply walked away, making a certain sound. Immediately, his sheep separated themselves from the others and followed him. His sheep followed him because they knew his voice.
Jesus if the Good Shepherd who “goeth before … and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice” (John 10:4).
“He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
How do we are believers know the path that we should travel? It is through the life and teaching of Christ. How do we honor God? We live a life following the example of Christ.
The Good Shepherd led by example. What amazing Grace and love the God has for His people that He gave us an example on how to live for His glory, and that came through Jesus.
John chapter thirteen shows this model that Christ lived.
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus led by example for His followers. God has not called us to anything that Christ has not done.
The Good Shepherd Protects His Flock- “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
The Good Shepherd Protects His Flock- “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
The Rod and the Staff of the Good shepherd guides the sheep and protects the sheep from predators. There is great comfort and protection thats when We as believers know we are on the right path, the path that leads us to God the Father.
There is assurance that comes from have a Good Shepherd who had the tools to protect you from danger. The tools of the shepherd are a rod and staff. The tools of Our good shepherd are His word and His Holy Spirit.
David says of the word of God that it is;
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
God word guide us. We don’t have to wonder around in the darkness, because we have the word of God that lights the way as continue to trust is our Good Shepherd.
Jesus the Good Shepherd, is the Word Made flesh (Jn 1:14), and it is Jesus who leads us to God the Father. And all this comes through Jesus coming to this world and providing Himself for our salvation.
The Bible is clear that before Christ, we were all lost. Paul writes,
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
This is not a pretty picture that is painted for us before Christ. Yet Christ came to answers this very problem that we had. Jesus says,
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Good Shepherd seeks the lost Sheep
The Good Shepherd seeks the lost Sheep
A Good Shepherd seeks out His lost sheep and that is exactly what Jesus came to do. Jesus tells this parable,
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
When the World stood in condemnation God sent His only begotten son to save it. Not only did Jesus come to this world, but He is the way. Without the provision of Christ on the cross there wood be now way for the lost sheep. There would be no door for the sheep to enter the fold. There would be no hope of salvation, but God has provided through Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd who laid down His very life for His sheep.
The Good Shepherd Provides-“I shall not want”
The Good Shepherd Provides-“I shall not want”
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Our greatest need God has provided for in Christ Jesus. Jesus said, “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” This statement is the ultimate example of “put your money where your mouth is.” It is also the apex of salvation history. It is only because of Jesus Christ laying down His life that their is salvation. Our Good Shepherd has provided His very life so that we might have life.
The greatest predator that we had was sin. Our sin was waiting at the doorstep to overtake us, but as the apostle Paul writes,
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
God is a God of mercy, meaning He doesn’t give us what we deserve.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
God is also a God of grace and gives us what we don’t deserve.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As we read in Paul’s writing God sent Jesus because of His “great love with which He loved us.” The Good Shepherd loves His sheep with is the motivation for Him laying down His very life.
The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott “The Love of God Does Not Send Anyone to Hell”
The Love of God Does Not Send Anyone to Hell”
Themes: God: Love; Hell; Jesus: Death
“The love of God does not send anyone to hell. The love of God, with arms extended on a cross, bars the way to hell. But if that love is ignored, rejected and finally refused there comes a time when love can only weep while man pushes past into the self-chosen alienation which Christ went to the cross to avert.”
Conclusion:
What an amazing statement that Jesus not only make, but fulfills in His death on the cross. Jesus is the only Good Shepherd because He was the only shepherd who could seek and save, guide and protect, lead to everlasting life, and lastly lay down His life for his sheep.
There are many shepherd that God uses, but there is only one who fulfills the role Good Shepherd and that is Jesus Christ. No other could lay their life down to save the lost, only Jesus.