The Good Shepherd
It’s too bad that most of us today don’t know much about sheep or being a shepherd. But during the earthly ministry of Jesus, the people of Israel were very familiar with sheep and shepherds. Sheep, lambs, or rams are the most frequently mentioned animals in the Bible and are mentioned more than five hundred times.
Shepherds led their flocks away from home to find pastures of grass for them to eat and a clean, quite water source where they could drink. Shepherds spent all their time with the flock so they got to know each and every sheep. Likewise, each sheep knew their shepherd. The flock knew the voice of their shepherd and responded only to the one who cared for them. They ignored the voice of any other shepherd. Sheep cannot be herded like cows. They must be led by a shepherd, and the sheep follow.
Although being a shepherd was considered a lowly job, it was a vital one. And it wasn’t for the faint of heart. The dangers of the wilderness were real. Hungry wild animals wanted to eat a juicy sheep, and thieves wanted to steal them. During the day, the shepherd led his flock to find provisions for them. He stood guard to protect them from animals and thieves while they grazed and sipped water.
At night the shepherd led their sheep into a sheepfold, a pen probably made of stones, sort of like a corral. There was only one open space in the sheepfold, which was the door. At night the shepherd led his flock into the sheepfold. After he was sure each sheep was safely in the fold, the shepherd lay down in the doorway. With his own body as the door, no sheep could wander out. No hungry animal or thief could enter in. The shepherd kept his flock safe through the night. If they were a good shepherd, they would protect their flock even if it meant giving their own life to do it.
If other shepherds and flocks were in the area, they too came into the same sheepfold. All different flocks mixed and mingled within the fold. There was no reason to keep each group separate from the others, because each sheep knew to whom they belonged. In the morning, a shepherd would call for his sheep to come out of the sheepfold. When each sheep of his flock heard his voice, they followed him out. The other sheep who were in a different flock ignored the voice of every shepherd UNTIL they heard the voice of their own shepherd.
The shepherd who cared for sheep was a powerful analogy for Jesus and His followers. In John 10, we read where Jesus uses this analogy as He taught. Those who heard Him that day understood sheep and shepherds and knew exactly what He meant as Jesus said:
“Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus told them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them [a]meant.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:1-15
Jesus reminds His listeners that the shepherd enters the fold by the door. Anyone who comes over the fence is a thief. He reminds them that the shepherd is the one who lay down at the door of the fold. The shepherd calls his sheep and leads them out. The sheep respond because they know the shepherd’s voice.
Then Jesus brings this analogy into focus with another magnificent I AM statement. He tells them
“I AM THE good shepherd.”
It was crystal clear what Jesus meant. A hired hand would not fight to keep his sheep safe. But a good shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep. Jesus Himself was THE Good Shepherd who would lay down his life for His sheep. He knows His followers, His sheep. And His sheep knows THE Good Shepherd.
Here again in John 10, Jesus is preparing His sheep that the time was coming soon when He, and THE Good Shepherd, would lay down His life for the sheep.
In John 10:17-18 Jesus also wants them to understand that no one would take His life from Him. Jesus is clear that He would lay down His life of His own initiative. He had the authority to lay down His life, and He had the authority to take His life back again.
Even though we live in a complex world today, The Good Shepherd is still the same. How comforting to know that Jesus is my good shepherd and that I am one of His sheep! I only need to listen to and respond to the voice of my Shepherd. He leads. I follow.
Carla Killough McClafferty