I Am the Good Shepherd

1. Introduction

The last few weeks, we have been looking t the I AM statements of Jesus: I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, and I am the gate. This morning, we are going to look at Jesus’ statement, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

Let’s look at what Jesus said in Scripture.

John 10:11–18 (NIV)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep 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 are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

There are three that are involved in this story: the Good Shepherd, the Hired Hand, and the sheep. Let’s start with the Good Shepherd.

2. The Good Shepherd

John 10:11 (NIV)

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

a. The role of a shepherd

If we look through the Bible, it didn’t take long before we had a shepherd. Abel, Adam and Eve’s second son was a shepherd.

Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Shepherd)

A SHEPHERD is One who took complete care of a flock of sheep. His task was to find grass and water for the sheep, to protect them from wild animals (Am 3:12), to look for and restore those that strayed (Ez 34:8; Mt 18:12), to lead the flock out of the fold each day, and to return the flock to the fold at the close of the day (Jn 10:2–4).

My experience isn’t so much with sheep. I haven’t spent the night out in a pasture with sheep, but I do have experience with taking care of different kinds of animals and nursing animals back to health.

A shepherd needed to nurse animals back to health. That might be putting ointment on the sheep so that the flies would stop bothering a wound, or it might be bandaging up a wound so that it could heal. It might even be fixing a broken leg.

I’ve experienced fixing broken legs. Now I’m going to start by saying that I’m not going to hang out my shingle for fixing broken legs. Fixing broken legs isn’t easy. The vet can do what the vet can do, but it takes time for broken bones to heal.

A couple times I took calves to a vet with broken legs. On one occasion, it just didn’t work. We had to euthanize the calf. On another occasion the calf’s leg healed only to break above the cast. It probably stepped into a gopher or badger hole. Both were costly ventures, so to make a short story long because of my low success rate at the vet’s, twice I decided to try to fix a couple of calves that got broken legs: one a baby and one about 500 pounds. The key was to make sure that the break was in place and that it would be unable to move or shift.

As a caretaker of animals, bad things can happen and it can be devastating, but you can’t allow your emotions to stop you from doing what you need to.

With the 500 lb heifer, I put her in the chute and lifted up the side panel and started to work. Before I did this, I got what materials I had and prepared them. I got some hard plastic for a splint, a clean worn out wool sock, and some hockey tape. Having her secure was important as well as making sure that the plastic for the splint would be the right length.

Then I put the sock on her leg, and put the plastic for the splint in place, and began the process of taping. I know that there is better materials for casting, but this is what I had. Now, I didn’t want it too tight to cut off any circulation, but it needed to by tight enough to stay in place. Once I was done, I let her out of the chute and she began to learn how to walk on the splint.

Now the waiting game started. It’s called patience. You can’t take the splint off every day to see if it’s going to heal. It needs at least 4-6 weeks, so I waited. She’d get up and go and eat, and she’d walk to the watering bowl. She even got to the place of jumping in the fresh straw.

I don’t remember but it was somewhere between 5-6 weeks that I decided to take the cast off. Back in the chute, and the process of taking it off began. Once it was off, I could tell that it was healed. I let her out and it wasn’t long before things were back to normal.

b. Jesus, the Good Shepherd

In 1 Samuel when David was going to fight Goliath, he told King Saul that he had killed a lion and a bear when they had tried to steal sheep.

Jesus said,

John 10:11 (NIV)

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus was speaking of His death. When Jesus came to earth, He knew what His purpose was. He came to love people. He came to lay down His life.

Isaiah 40:10 (NIV)

See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.

Isaiah 40:11 (NIV)

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

The Good Shepherd will fight for you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will never abandon you. He is for you. He is not against you. He watches over you. He will keep you from evil.

Psalm 23:1–6 (NIV)

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, 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 your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

3. The Hired Hand

From personal experience, I have worked with some great hired men. I’ve seen where they went the extra mile and sacrificed to make life possible around a farm.

My Dad told me about a hired man that fed cattle for him while he was recovering from a hernia surgery. The straw bales were easier to carry so the cows got less hay and more straw. Cold weather and poor feed don’t work well together.

Jesus said,

John 10:12–13 (NIV)

The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I can see Jesus’ point. It’s a lot easier to stand and defend something that is your’s from a wolf and possibly give your life than to fight for something that you have no vested interest in.

Jesus made it clear that He wasn’t a hired hand but He was not only willing but that He would lay down His life for the sheep.

4. The Sheep

Sheep and their shepherd had a special relationship. The shepherd cared for the sheep. He’d lead his sheep from the pen and take them for feed and water and then he’d return at night. By the way, Rachel, Jacob’s wife, was a shepherd.

a. Named

John 10:2–4 (NIV)

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Do you have a name for your dog or cat? Do they come when you call? I bet if I were to ask you the names of your pets, you’d be able to name most of them if not all of them.

When I was a child, we had names on our milk cows: Cocoa, Darkey, Browny, Reddy, Whitey, Vanilla, Strawberry, Shamrock, Bessie, Clara, Rosy. I’m sure they were given other names at times. As the numbers increased, we switched to numbers instead of names.

Our dogs: Lady, Chippits, Pepsi, Sparky, Scamper, Paws, and Claws, Fido

Horses: Prince, Fly, Flossy, Beauty, Queenie, Polly, Sally, Ruby, Sandra, Crescent,

Tractors: Just kidding

Jesus knows your name. When you call to Him, He will answer you. He will be with you in your time of trouble.

b. They knew his voice

The Shepherd would come and get his sheep in the morning, and he’d call his sheep by name and they would hear his voice and they would follow him. They knew his voice. They knew that he took care of them. They had been raised from birth, and they had been led, fed, and watered. They had been cared for and protected. I’m sure that they had been scratched behind the ears. They had been carried when they were hurt. This voice was more than familiar, it was their shepherd.

John 10:5 (NIV)

But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Do we know God’s voice? How can we tell the difference between God’s voice and the voice of a stranger?

We get to know God’s voice the more time we spend with Him. As we pray, as we listen in prayer, as we read God’s word, we get to know His voice as well as His heart. As we get to know God, we can distinguish between His voice and other voices.

In 1 Kings 13, we have the story of a young prophet from Judah that came to confront Jeroboam because Jeroboam had led the 10 Northern tribes to worshiping other gods.

God had told the prophet to go to Bethel and speak. King Jeroboam didn’t like what this prophet was saying so he reached out his hand and commanded that the prophet be seized. At this his hand shriveled up and he couldn’t pull it back. The altar that the prophet spoke against split in two.

The king pleaded with him to pray that his hand would be restored and he did. After this Jeroboam wanted him to come to his place for a meal,

1 Kings 13:8–9 (NIV)

But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here.

For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’ ”

He had heard the voice of God, so he started heading home. An old prophet heard about what had happened and went and found him. He asked the young prophet to come and eat with him, but the young prophet refused because of what God had told him.

The old prophet lied and told him that God spoke to him through and angel that He had changed His mind. While the young man sat at the table eating, the word of God came to the old prophet.

1 Kings 13:21–22 (NIV)

He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.

You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’ ”

As the young prophet was headed home, a lion attacked and killed him. When the old prophet found him the lion and donkey were standing by the prophet who laid dead on the ground.

This is a bit of a severe story, but it teaches us the lesson that if God speaks to us that we must obey Him.

c. They followed His voice

John 10:25–30 (NIV)

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me,

but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

I and the Father are one.”

This is a passage that is often used to defend eternal security, but I find one statement very clear, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Jesus told the Pharisees that they were not His sheep because they didn’t believe.

Nothing is more frustrating than having animals that hear but don’t listen. It’s so much harder to work with animals that don’t want to follow.

Lord, give us hearts that long to follow. If we hear but don’t listen, we deceive ourselves.

James 1:22–25 (NIV)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror

and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Those who follow Jesus’ voice have eternal life and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. As we remain in Him, He will remain in us. For us to be eternally secure, we need to listen to the voice of the Master. We can’t do whatever we want to do and expect to be saved.

Romans 8:6–11 (NIV)

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Let’s pray.

Benediction

Hebrews 13:20–21 (NIV)

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.