The Good Shepherd- John 10:11-18

 

Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18

There is an author named Philip Yancey who wrote a book called “The Bible Jesus Read”. It’s all about the Old Testament, which, of course, was the Bible Jesus read. Those were the Scriptures he studied and prayed with. They shaped his religious imagination. So, we will often miss what Jesus is saying if we don’t look into the Old Testament to see the images and thoughts that shaped Jesus’ teaching. I think this is true with the images of the shepherd and the sheep. … So, I want to just read a few of these passages for us. … Keep in mind as I read these that we are the flock of God being described here, as well. These are our spiritual ancestors. I invite you to hear yourself as a part of God’s flock in these passages.

When Joshua succeeds Moses and becomes the one to bring the people into the Promised Land, the book of Numbers says, 

“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep without a shepherd” (Num 27:16-17).

 The people are in need of a good leader and the image used is of a good shepherd.

Sometimes these images are used in a negative way. For example, In Zechariah we read, 

“Oh, my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!…” (11:17).

 In Ezekiel, God speaks to the prophet saying, 

“Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.”

 “…Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out” (Ezekiel 34:2-6,10-11).

“I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken” (Ezekiel 34:23-24).

 Keep in mind that this is long after David lived, so the reference to David here is considered a messianic prophecy.

In Jeremiah 23 we read a warning to the corrupt and unfaithful leaders, 

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! … It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord” (23:1, 2-4).

Ezekiel even describes these corrupt leaders and officials of Israel not even as bad shepherds, but as lions and wolves tearing apart the people saying, 

“Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain” (22:27).

 We hear this same message from the prophet Zephaniah, 

“The officials within [Jerusalem] are roaring lions; its judges are evening wolves that leave nothing until the morning” (Zeph 3:3).

 These are the creatures the shepherds should be rescuing the flock from!

And in Zechariah we read of the result of this bad shepherding and predatory abuse of the flock, 

“… Therefore the people wander like sheep; they suffer for lack of a shepherd. My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah…” (Zech 10:2-3).

The prophet Isaiah says that God will care for the flock, 

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep” (Is 40:11).

 And Jeremiah says, 

“I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:15).

And, of course, the most famous and comforting image of all the Old Testament shepherd images is Psalm 23, which we just read. There, God is the shepherd who leads the people to places of peace and restoration, and whose mere presence removes fear when walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

I know that was a lot to go through (and there was even more I could have included), but I think it is important to see the rich imagery that was shaping the minds of the people, and the mind of Jesus. We often think of Jesus speaking of himself as the good shepherd and we miss this rich biblical context that his original hearers would have known.

Jesus is describing himself as the good shepherd in contrast to the bad shepherds and the hirelings. All through the Old Testament, corrupt and unfaithful leadership are described as bad shepherds who take advantage of the sheep- They use them for their own gain- for the extension of their own ego- willing to use others as instruments for their own goals. They put their own safety before the safety of the flock. When it comes to risking their own welfare, they are unwilling to take the risk. … Jesus is not looking to take advantage of the sheep. In fact, he is willing to give up his life for the sheep (Jn 10:11). He is the good shepherd. The mark of true leadership is the cross- the mark of true love is self-sacrifice.

Jesus using this image of the Good Shepherd might also be a claim to be the messiah. As we heard, the new King David is set up as the shepherd of the people. And we might also see Jesus expressing his divinity in this claim as well, since God is also described as the good shepherd of the people. What God has promised to do for this flock is what Jesus is saying he will do.

So Jesus being the Good Shepherd isn’t an image that sits out on its own. It is a part of a long history, and Jesus uses this image to say something about himself. … He will gather the other sheep, the gentiles, and humanity will have the opportunity to live under the care of one shepherd as one flock. And while he is willing to lay down his life to protect this flock, he is also able to take up his life again and rise from the dead.

There is one last thing I want to say that stands out to me. In verse 16 we read about this flock that “…they will listen to my voice”. … There are plenty of voices out there that are happy to present themselves as our shepherds, when really they are just vying for our attention, our loyalty, our vote, or our money. We are in a world or screaming voices, and many of them are claiming to only want good for us, but when it really matters we find out they are hirelings who flee when the wolf shows up, or they are false shepherds who consume the fat and the wool of the flock.

I remember playing a game when I was leading a youth group once. We set up kind of simple maze with tables in the hall. Then we would ask for a volunteer, and we would ask that volunteer to select someone from the group whose voice they know well- they can recognize it. Then we would blindfold our volunteer, and it was the job of the voice they chose to guide them through the maze of tables. We would give them a minute or so to get the hang of it, then we would tell the rest of the youth group to try to throw them off course with their voices. The kids loved this part. Some would just say directions that competed- left, right, left, left. Some just screamed at the top of their lungs to drown out the true voice. It became very difficult for the person to get through the maze.

It was a kind of parable. We learn to listen to the voice of Jesus, but there are so many competing voices. We have to listen very carefully. This is the world we are living in. There are so many voices all wanting to direct us. It takes a real effort to quiet ourselves to hear that still small voice- the voice we recognize because it is the voice of self-sacrificial love, who is willing to lay down his life to protect us. As John’s first letter says, 

“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another” (1 Jn 3:16).

 We study the Scriptures so we can know his voice- We can’t listen if we can’t recognize the loving and powerful voice of Jesus. He says, 

“…they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). 

AMEN