The Good Shepherd

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 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. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 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. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 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. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 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.”

19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus. (John 10:1-42, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

I loved watching Planet Earth, the nature/wildlife mini-series that aired on the Discovery Channel a few years ago. I was mesmerized by the astonishing sights and sounds of the created world, stunned by the level of beauty and complexity and diversity of God's handiwork. During one particular episode, I recall watching mother birds deliver food to their young. As the mothers swooped in with mouthfuls of fish, below them gathered thousands (or tens of thousands) of young birds, all eagerly waiting for their breakfast. They were all screaming at the top of their lungs, jostling and pushing, falling over and scrambling about in a giant mass of bodies. Somehow, unerringly, the mothers picked out the single voice of their own chick from the teeming, noisy crowd. I remember watching in silence, amazed by the near miraculous scene.

Perhaps, to a bird, all human voices sound alike. Yet, now that I'm a father, I know that I can recognize my own child's voice in a crowded room. Those of us who don't have much to do with animals on a daily basis are often startled at just how much animals can distinguish between different people as well as between other members of their own species. (I know this to be true of my Border Collie, particularly if I say the magic word: "Frisbee.")

Supposedly, even today, a shepherd in the Middle East will go into a crowded sheepfold and call out his own sheep by name, one by one. The sheep recognize his voice and come to him. I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised by this. After all, the shepherd spends most hours of most days in the company of his sheep. He knows their individual characters, markings, likes and dislikes. What's more, they know him. They know his voice. Someone else can come to the sheepfold and they won't go near him, even if he calls the right names. The sheep are listening for the one voice that matters, the voice they trust. When they hear it, he won't need a sheep dog to keep them in order. He won't walk behind them, driving them forward. He will walk ahead, calling them, and they will follow him.

…………

I take it that this chapter is simply a continuation of the conversation that began in the previous chapter, surrounding Jesus' healing of the man born blind. The first paragraph of today's reading (verses 1-5) is a parable, as John tells us in verse 6. And, as typically seemed to be the case, Jesus' hearers didn't understand the parable's message. In fact, the confusion is so great that Jesus has to give a three-layered explanation to his audience: one in verses 7-10, another in verses 11-18, and the last in verses 25-30. We need to examine each layer of explanation in order to fully understand what Jesus is saying to us in this opening parable.

As I mentioned above, we should keep in mind that this is a continuation of the conversation between Jesus, the former blind man, and some Pharisees (9:35-41). And, the question that dominated the whole of chapter 9 was this: Is Jesus from God or not? Is he a prophet or not? Is he the Messiah or not? And now here, in today's passage, we have Jesus issuing a parable about shepherds and sheep. What's that have to do with anything?

Well… In the Bible, the picture of the shepherd is frequently used to refer to Israel's leaders, particularly Israel's king. In our modern way of thinking, we don't typically think of leaders in quite that way. When asked to picture leaders, we typically think of such things as: brilliant and hard driving CEOs of big companies, of politicians with forceful arguments and political skills, or of athletes who come through in the clutch. Often such people sacrifice relationships, possess a "take no prisoners" attitude, and do whatever it takes to fulfill their ambitions. But in the Bible, the ideal king is pictured as a shepherd (Ezekiel 34), perhaps modeled on the shepherd-boy David, who became the king after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). In a world where they knew about the intimate contact and trust between a shepherd and his sheep, this was Israel's preferred way of talking about kingship.

This is the image that Jesus chooses to explain his own claim to be the true king of Israel. Before focusing on Jesus' claim to be "the good shepherd" (verses 11 and 14), we should notice that in verses 1-5 he doesn't mention himself directly. In these verses, Jesus is talking (abstractly) about the difference between true shepherds and false ones. Who are these false ones, these "thieves and robbers," these "strangers"?

Most people interpret the thief who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (verse 10) to be Satan. But, I'd like to offer a different interpretation. I, personally, believe that when Jesus mentioned "thieves and robbers" he had in his mind the religious and secular leaders of his day—the Pharisees and Sadducees and priesthood, the Zealots, and the Herod family. Each of these "leadership groups" were looking out for their own interests, and always at the expense of others. As we see over and over again throughout Jesus' ministry, these leaders tended to despise the poor and lowly, the outcasts and sick, women and children, and anyone "outside" of Israel. And, as we see over and over again throughout Jesus' ministry, he loved to embrace, heal, teach, and give hope to those who were hurting and searching and looking for God's salvation. So, in his discussion about true and false shepherds, Jesus is essentially posing the question: How will you tell God's true, appointed king when he comes?

And the answer he gives is that you can tell the true king the same way you can tell the true shepherd. The one who comes by the way God has appointed has the right to do so. Anyone can stand up, yell real loud, and rally together a group of followers. But the sign of the real king is the response that comes from the heart—when people hear his voice and, in love and trust, follow him. Jesus doesn't have to use coercive force to influence people; instead, he simply calls. He speaks and his sheep hear his voice and they follow him.

So, Jesus' parable of the first five verses is meant to say essentially this: "The fact that people are hearing me and following me—notably the man born blind—demonstrates that I am the one God has sent. I call people by name. They hear my voice and follow me. This demonstrates that I am sent by God as Israel's true king."

As you might imagine, this wasn't enough evidence for the religious leaders Jesus was addressing. So, in verses 7-10, he highlights another part of the shepherd's role—the gate or door. Supposedly, in many Eastern sheepfolds the shepherd will literally lay down at night in the gateway, to stop the sheep from getting out and to stop predators from getting in. In calling himself "the gate" Jesus seems to indicate the way in which he keeps his "sheep" safe, and watches over their comings and goings (Psalm 121). The emphasis is on the safety and the fulfilled life of the sheep. The shepherd has no business looking after his own interests. His priority is the sheep. Find a king like that, and you've found the Lord's anointed.

The promise of full life—abundant life, life full to overflowing—is as relevant for us today as it was 2000 years ago. Those of us who live in modern-day America have discovered how unsatisfying materialism really is, and we are looking for something more, something beyond. Many thieves have told lies and had deceived the sheep, stolen them and let them for dead. Today, Jesus' call is for his sheep to listen for his voice, and to find in him and him alone the life which is overflowing life indeed.

Lastly, Jesus explains that he is the true shepherd by emphasizing his willingness to sacrifice it all on behalf of his sheep. The definition of the true shepherd is that he isn't in it for his own profit. In fact, the supreme test of what he's in it for will come when a predator appears—a lion, a wolf, or a bear. You can tell the difference between the true shepherd and a false one by what they do. The false shepherd saves his life at the cost of his reputation. The true shepherd shows who he is by being prepared to die for the sheep.

Throughout the last several chapters of John's Gospel, we have seen Jesus facing death threats. Now he declares that violent death is not just a dangerous possibility; it's his vocation. And the best explanation of why is found not in abstract theological arguments, but in this very parable, this very down-to-earth picture of the shepherd and his sheep. The sheep are facing danger; the shepherd will go to meet it, and, if necessary, he will take upon himself the fate that would otherwise befall the sheep. In Jesus' case, it was necessary… and he did.

…………

Behind this entire chapter is the ancient prophecy in Ezekiel 34. There's a strange thing in that chapter. Sometimes the prophet speaks of God becoming the true shepherd of Israel. But then, later in the prophecy, he speaks of David—in other words, the Messiah—as the true shepherd, with God being God over shepherd and sheep alike. "Well, which is it?" we want to ask Ezekiel. "Is God the shepherd, or is the Messiah the shepherd?" He doesn't answer. He just points to the future. Only in this, the 10th chapter of John's Gospel, do we see how it all fits together. As Jesus finally says in verse 30: "I and the Father are one." God is the shepherd; the king is the shepherd. It makes sense in Jesus, and Jesus alone.

All this should make it clear why Jesus refers to himself as the "good" shepherd (verses 11 and 14). But our English word for "good" doesn't quite catch the full meaning of the word John has written here. For us, "good" can sound a bit cold or hard, merely moralistic. The word John uses can also mean "beautiful." This doesn't refer to what Jesus looks like. It's about the sheer attractiveness of what, as the shepherd, he was doing. When he calls, people want to come. When they realize he has died for them, they want to even more. The point of calling Jesus "the good shepherd" is to emphasize the strange, compelling power of his self-giving love.

PRAYER:

The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
    He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever. (Psalm 23, NLT)

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and my family and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Maine. As you may recall, we sent the kids ahead of us in order to allow them to spend time with their grandparents. Then, Kate and I flew up to rendezvous with them. We spent the first nine days on Matinicus Island, lounging around and enjoying the cooler weather. Getting out to the island is always an adventure, and this time was no exception. Due to adverse ocean conditions, we were forced to take a small Cessna flight to the island. Unfortunately, the only available airplane was rather small, so we were stuffed like sardines in the plane. On top of that, almost all of our luggage was in the rear of the plane, which made it "tail heavy." Translation: the plane was going to be hard to steer. It's never a good thing when the pilot expresses trepidation about the flight, which our pilot did. However, Kate told him to go ahead and chance it. She was ready to see her babies! So, we said our prayers and took off. The flight went perfectly, but the landing was quite scary. We hit the runway and literally bounced sideways. Since I was sitting in a rear-facing seat, I could not see what was going on. It took every ounce of my courage and self-control to not scream like a scared schoolgirl. Thankfully, we survived and enjoyed a beautiful reunion with our kiddos and family.