The Good Shepherd

John 10:11–18 NRSV

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Full disclosure: I have never been a shepherd. I am not a farm boy. I am not really what one would call the “outdoor type”. I know what hard work is and I can do that if called upon, but I do not like it nor do I like what comes with it. The smells, the sweat, the dirtiness, all those things that come with being a farmer or a shepherd. It is just not my “thing”.

Yet the image of the shepherd is pervasive throughout the scriptures. In the First testament there are a number of passages that speak of shepherds and the flocks that they are to lead and of whom they are to take care. There are bad shepherds and there are good ones. In the Second Testament there is the good shepherd image that Jesus uses to describe himself. All these images would have been familiar with the audience that Jesus was speaking to, but how familiar are they to us today? How many of us understand what Jesus was talking about when he called himself the good shepherd?

When I was in seminary, we were told that in order to understand the Second testament (what we refer to as the New testament) we had to understand the First testament (aka the Old). There is a lot of truth in that statement. Jesus, Paul and the writers of the letters in the Second testament did not have this resource that we have today. All that they had was the First testament. And did they ever use it. Jesus referred to the law and the prophets and even to the writings of the psalms and proverbs of the First testament when he spoke. When he used the First testament in his teachings, those listening were sure to know of what he was speaking. They knew the imagery and they were sometimes able to catch the meaning of what Jesus said, though sometimes they did not. They also knew what shepherds were as they were around them all the time. So, when Jesus begins to speak of being a shepherd, the people understood what shepherds were and what they did.

There are a lot shepherds in the First testament. Jacob was one: he tended flocks for his father-in-law and then his own. Moses was caring for the sheep when God called him from the burning bush. Perhaps the best known shepherd of the First testament is David. He was called in from his care of the sheep when he was anointed to be the new king after Saul. It is in this capacity, that of a king, that we find the most important image of a shepherd.

In the Ancient Near East, kings were spoken of sometimes in the imagery of shepherds. They were to care for the people whom they led and make sure that they took care of all their needs. Some “shepherds” were good while others were, well, not so good. But they were all considered shepherds of the people who were considered the sheep.

In Ezekiel 34 we find a condemnation of those leaders that were considered bad shepherds. They are condemned because they have not led the sheep. They have taken the resources that the sheep needed and used them for themselves. They have not cared for the sheep and in the end the sheep were scattered by the wild animals that came.

But there was hope in this scripture. We are told that God will be the one who will be the shepherd. God will take care of those who are sick, those who are trampled, those who are hungry. God will be the shepherd who does what is necessary to care for the sheep.

This is in the same vein as psalm 23. There David says that the Lord is his shepherd. Even though he is the king, the one who is the shepherd of his people, he considers the Lord his shepherd. This one will care for all the sheep’s needs and will lead them in the darkest valley. There they know that the shepherd cares for them and will call them by name.

So, when Jesus begins to speak of shepherds taking care of the sheep, of the shepherd being the gate and of leading the sheep to care for them, of the sheep knowing the shepherd because they know his voice, the people listening had an understanding about what Jesus was speaking.

And then Jesus begins speaking our text for today. There are at least three sermons in this text but I will only preach one of them. The reason there are so many sermons here is that Jesus has a lot to say packed into a few verses. So let us look at some of the parts of this passage.

A good rule of thumb when reading the scriptures is that whenever there is something repeated in the text, pay attention to it. The first example in the text is that Jesus is the good shepherd. In our understanding, good can be mediocre or something that is not that great but is still better than average. But in Greek the term can mean noble, model or beautiful. It takes on a whole new meaning when those terms are applied to the shepherd. Jesus is what a shepherd should be, a model for those who look to him to follow. And the good shepherd is one who knows the sheep. This knowing is not a knowing of the mind, a knowing about someone or something. Rather this is a knowing that is relational. A knowing where the two parties are in such a relationship that they are on an intimate level with one another to the point that they care enough for each other to even lay down their lives. This knowing comes on the level of covenant, a level where the stronger takes care of the weaker.

Which brings us to the second repeated part of the passage. Jesus says that the good shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep. This is unlike a hired hand. This person will not face the danger of wild animals or of perilous terrain to save the sheep. Why not? Isn’t caring for the sheep what the hired hand is getting paid to do? Well, yes. But the hired hand does not have an investment in the sheep. The sheep are not the hired hand’s and that is known. So, when danger comes, the hired hand will abandon the sheep and leave them to the dangers that come whether wolves or other predators. This would be similar to a contractual relationship. An “if you do this, I will do that” kind of agreement. These hired hands would be similar to the “bad shepherds” of Ezekiel 34.

The second “lays down his life” statement is in, again, the relational vein. As Jesus knows the Father, so Jesus knows the sheep. Because the sheep are his, he is willing to lay down his life for them. He has invested his time and energy into these sheep and is willing to fight to the death for them. They understand that he knows them and they feel safe when the shepherd is nearby. They follow the voice of the one who calls them knowing that they will be led to, as the psalmist says, green pastures and waters of rest.

The next two times Jesus states that he lays down his life, it is because he is willing to do so. And this is not a martyrdom where Jesus’ life is taken. No, he lays it down willingly and no one takes it from him. Further, if he can lay down his life, he is able to take it up again. This clearly points to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus later in the gospel. That Jesus does this is showing that he is in God’s will and that he is willing to subordinate his desires to those of the Father’s. How much are we willing to make ourselves available to the Father’s will? Are we willing to go out and reach those who are outside of our church? Are we willing to reach out to the least of these as Jesus calls them?

Those are interesting questions. I believe that the expectation is given by what Jesus tells the crowd in verse 16. There he states: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd.[1]” Here is a tricky statement. Who are those sheep who do not belong to the fold? Are they other Jews who are not the following Jesus at that time? Or are they the Gentiles who do not know Jesus? Most commentators believe that Jesus is speaking of the Gentiles, or at least that is implied by John. Whomever it is, they are to be called into the fold because they are to follow the good shepherd. As shown with the hired hands and their willingness to flee, there can be only one shepherd. And those who follow the shepherd’s voice will be of one flock. There may be Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Non-denominational, etc. but they are all part of the same flock if they claim that Jesus is their shepherd. They may have differences (and hey what family does not) but they are all one. Jesus calls us together through the power of the Holy Spirit. But there are others who are not in the fold but of the flock that we are to reach out to. This requires us to do the mission work that Jesus calls us to do. Though it may be scary and it may be hard, we know that we are to do that because we are called by the one who was, and is, willing to lay down his life for us.

The good shepherd leads us where we are to go. He does not follow and drive us with his rod and a sheep dog, but he leads. We who know his voice are to follow wherever he leads even if that leads us to some uncomfortable places. Even if it calls us to get sweaty and dirty. We are to go where he leads because he knows us and is willing to lay down his life for us. Willing to lay down his life for sheep who will go off on our own, who will wander from the path, who think that we know best.

There is a video that some of you may have seen that illustrates what sheep can be like. A sheep is stuck headfirst in a ditch. A boy is trying to pull the sheep out by its hind leg and eventually gets the sheep free. Rather than snuggling up to the boy to express thankfulness as we would expect a sheep to do, the sheep jumps the ditch and begins to bound away. And in its bounding, it winds up straightaway, once again, in the ditch. We are like that sheep. We try our best to go our own way away from God who has pulled us up out of the ditch only to find ourselves right back in the same predicament. When will we learn that it is only in submitting to the good shepherd that we will have life and that life more abundantly? Hopefully we will learn sooner rather than later. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.