The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd
Jesus Gives His Life For Us
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
This notion of the shepherd dying for the sheep is a foreign or seemingly irrational concept for most today. A typical response would be, “Then what would happen to the other sheep?” It is a parallel to obedience. Still, we reason, “Surely God would not want me to live for Him in a way that it might cost my life! If that happened, I would not be any good or use to Him anymore.” So we deduct that Jesus would never expect us to be obedient to death.
The Good Shepherd intends to die for His sheep.
In Exodus 22:13 it says, “If it be torn in pieces, let him bring it for a witness.” In other words, bring a piece of the sheep to the owner, so that you could verify the fact that you had struggled to save the life of that sheep.
If the wolf or the lion came after the sheep, the sheep could not persuade the shepherd to defend them. The shepherd must voluntarily protect the sheep.
Against leaders who sacrifice nothing, against leaders in war who call on others to sacrifice, we have a Savior who not only risked everything, but Who gave everything.
When Jesus died, He was not just throwing His body up there, He poured out His soul for the sheep, Jesus felt it all, the curse of sin, the hurt of hate, and the pain of nails. He felt every excruciating agony that the sin of the world could put upon Him.
If a minister and a ministry is not from love, then the net effect is that the minister and ministry are both hirelings. He is a false shepherd, who does not really care about the sheep.
Because Jesus died for us, He is very approachable, especially for those who are wounded.
To those who are crushed, burdened, wounded, hurting and dying, there is something very wonderful about a Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.
He relates to us by experience. He has been there.
He gave His life for the sheep precisely so that we may be His sheep.
Hebrews 13:20a “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.
He constitutes His flock by His own death. The Shepherd dies; the sheep live.
“All we like sheep have gone astray.” In one respect, he is himself a sheep, He is the Lamb of God, the sacrifice.
His life is a model for other shepherds/pastors, and leaders.
Christ’s example demonstrates and should establish the kind of pastors the church has today.
1 Peter 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight of them, not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy lucre but out of a ready mind,
Jesus Transforms and Unites the Flock
John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold and one Shepherd.
Jesus draws from the sheep pen of Judaism, and the larger world of the Gentiles. He will draw them in, and they will come together to constitute one flock with one Shepherd. All this is made possible by His death.
When all of this life is over, all Jews and Gentiles who have followed Jesus the Shepherd, will be in one place together, and He will be at the center.
John ends this section with an inclusion.
You start off with a theme and come back to the theme at the end so that you are invited to think of everything that has come in between in the light of that theme.
People still argue about who Jesus is, God or a demon!
Despite these false religious leaders who can criticize and make rules and ravage the flock, Jesus actually transforms people. He dies and gives them new life.
Biblical Christianity is not simply a matter of recruitment, or of effectively socializing people into the congregation. It is not simply a matter of getting people to feel comfortable.
It is a matter of transformation.
Jesus gives abundant life. He transforms people. It’s not just a religious club that people are recruited into by signing up in a certain statement of faith. Christian believers are given a new life with meaning and it is clearly seen in a new lifestyle.