The Good Shepherd

Introduction

In Israel even up to recent times, at night, many different shepherds would keep their sheep in the same sheepfold, an enclosed area surrounded by a fence or a wall with a single gate.

There would stand at the gate one of the shepherds or an attendant, and there was only that one way in or out.

In the morning, when it was time to take the sheep out to pasture, all the shepherds would gather at the gate, it would be opened, and they would call the sheep, by this time all mixed up together, and walk out to their particular pasture land.

The sheep would know which shepherd to follow by the sound of his voice, and he would lead them, all the while calling out to them, to his pasture.

Ideally the pasture would have a water source nearby, a quiet pool, or perhaps a small stream running from a spring, and there would be plentiful grass on which the sheep could graze.

Historical Context

Jesus here is speaking to Pharisees and Jewish people who were openly hostile to him . And they claimed to be the shepherds and guardians of the people.

He had just healed and given sight to the man born blind, and the Pharisees and rulers, those worthy shepherds, when they heard the story of this man, threw him out, calling him a sinner:

They knew very well everything Jesus was saying about shepherding and sheep. But they didn’t like it, they didn’t want it, and they were perfectly happy throwing this man to whom a miracle had been given out of the temple.

They were trying to find another way in, any way but the one way that God had provided in Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

It’s not the first time. In Ezekiel 34 we hear: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and the hurt you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with forced and with ruthlessness. 5 And they were scattered and they were as food for all the animals of the field

Most of all, none of them had any idea about sacrificing themselves for the souls under their care.

And God’s people—stubborn and following their own desire—would wander into belief in Molech, or Baal or any number of crazy, false kinds of spirituality.

It’s still true today. , Satan is perfectly happy for you to be spiritual as long as it’s the wrong kind — universe, vibrations, manifesting, even science and technology, evolution and a belief in the inexorable progress of men. faith n your works— as long as that path leads somewhere else, he’s ok with it, because it leads to destruction and death.

Sometimes we don’t want a good shepherd either, do we, when we’re wandering off

When we’re doing things we know are wrong, that lead away from Him and not toward Him

We don’t want him to find us there, don’t want him to see, because like Adam and Eve in the garden, we saw that we’re naked and are ashamed, because we didn’t live up not only to His expectations, but even to ours.

Scary thought- our hearts accuse us, satan accuses us, and rightly, and we’re afraid to make our way back, but lose our way, or get caught in the briars and brambles and the traps set for us, and it leaves us vulnerable, alone and afraid.

God’s Response

And what is God’s response? Does He go looking for us and yell at us and punish us and condemn us for wandering away?

No:

English Standard Version Chapter 34

“For thus says the Lord GOD: wBehold, I, I xmyself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ya day of clouds and zthick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples aand gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on bthe mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 cI will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. dThere they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 eI myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, dand I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 fI will seek the lost, gand I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak,

And He did. He came in the Flesh, and He walked among us, and He willingly went to the Cross, and He laid down His life for you. And after a little while He rose for you

And He sent you the Holy Spirit so that you could know Him and the Father, and become a part of the Greatest Story Ever Told.

He is the Good Shepherd , searches to the ends of the earth to find His sheep.

And this you need to know, No matter how far away you may try to get away, Jesus seek you out.

He will call out to you. He will search over hill and dale, in briar patches and brambles, in crevices and cracks until He finds you and he doesn’t stop, because He loves you, and you are His wandering child.

This is not just any shepherd. This is the shepherd who laid down His life for you, Who fought the forces of death and hell for you.

And no matter if our hearts accuse us being unfaithful, stubborn, wandering sheep, He is greater than our hearts, and His word is the final word. Forgiven. Loved. Redeemed, Rescued.

And He throws us over His shoulder and carries us home, rejoicing.

Don’t you think there are other people out there that need the good shepherd as much as you do?

We have the kind of good shepherd who will, despite what they do, if they hear his voice and start bleating out for him, he’ll come find them too.

And He’ll throw then over his shoulders, and carry them home.

Close

Dog Story: Caleb and the little girl—He know where she needed to be

Jesus —He knows where you need to be.

With Him. The good shepherd.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 10

I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me,