John 10: Jesus, The Good Shepherd

INTRODUCTION

When we visited Italy we saw a very ancient statue of Jesus in the Vatican Museum. Jesus is pictured as a curly-haired, clean-shaven youth holding a lamb on his shoulders and grasping its legs.

In the catacombs where the early Christians buried their dead, Jesus was often portrayed in this way. In fact, most of the very early depictions of Jesus represent him as the Good Shepherd.

In Ravenna, Italy, we saw a beautiful mosaic from the early fifth century. It pictured a young-looking Jesus sitting on a stone surrounded by his sheep. They are all looking at Jesus, their shepherd. Jesus is patting one of his sheep on its cheek.

These believers in the first centuries after Christ were often persecuted for their faith. It comforted them to think of Christ as their Good Shepherd who would guide them and protect them from harm.

BACKGROUND

Several of the Old Testament heroes were shepherds.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were shepherds.

Moses was a shepherd for 40 years before he led the Hebrews out of the Land of Egypt.

King David had been a shepherd before he became Israel’s most illustrious king.

In the Old Testament, God is also called a shepherd.

Psalm 100: “We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.”

Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd…”

Isaiah wrote of the Lord:

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd,

he will gather the lambs in his arms,

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young” (40:11).

In Ezekiel 34, God says: “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak… (vv15-16).

In Matthew 9 we read of Jesus: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (v36).

One reason why God’s people are likened to sheep is because sheep are dependent.

Dogs and pigs and cattle and horses can survive in the wild better than sheep. Sheep need a shepherd.

Maybe that is why sheep are so affectionate—why there grows up such a bond between the shepherd and his sheep.

When we went to a little country church near Wayland, Iowa, one of our friends was a farmer who raised sheep. He never spoke of his cows or horses or chickens so affectionately as he did his sheep.

H. V. Morton, wrote a book about his travels in the Holy Land not long after the First World War.

He tells how on the roads of Palestine he often saw shepherds.

They came along at the head of their flock. Sometimes the shepherd was carrying an injured or sick lamb on his shoulders.

These sheep in Palestine were seldom butchered. They were mostly raised for their wool and their milk.

The shepherd was their constant companion from their birth and throughout the years of their life.

Morton wrote that there was a remarkable sympathy between the shepherd and his sheep. Shepherding was lonely occupation, and the sheep became the shepherd’s friends.

Sometimes the shepherd talked to his sheep in a weird sing-song voice—not a human language but a language the sheep understood.

Shepherds in the Holy Land didn’t use dogs to drive their sheep. All the guiding of the sheep was done by the shepherd’s voice.

They have dogs to protect the sheep from wild animals and thieves, but the shepherd always goes at the front, leading his sheep.

Morton saw two shepherds who had spent the night together with their flocks in a cave. The sheep were all mixed together. But when morning came each shepherd came out and stood some distance apart from the other. They began to call their sheep and the sheep sorted themselves out and each ran to its shepherd.

The story is told that once a shepherd awoke to see some renegade soldiers leading his sheep away.

The bandits had gotten his flock quite a ways away, beyond a ravine that separated the shepherd from his flock and the bandits.

The shepherd put his hand to his mouth and gave his peculiar call that he gave every day to gather his sheep to him.

The sheep, hearing their shepherd’s call, stopped, turned around, and ran down the ravine and up the other side, back to their shepherd. The bandits couldn’t do a thing to stop them. The shepherd quickly led them away to safety.

I. In John 10, Jesus tells us of the love of the Good Shepherd

A. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (v11).

I find that statement startling. I can imagine a conscientious shepherd risking his life for his sheep.

They might wander off and get into dangerous places in the mountains.

The shepherd was responsible for them, and it was difficult and dangerous work. David was a shepherd and he tells about killing a lion and a bear.

Jesus told a parable about a shepherd who left 99 sheep to search the hills for the one that was lost.

B. But I think that Jesus is the only shepherd that ever willingly “laid down his life” for his sheep.

Human shepherds may love their sheep. They may see in each one a unique personality. They may call each by name. But Jesus is the only shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep.

By this we see the love of the Lord Jesus for his people: he gave his life to save us from sin and despair and bring us to Glory.

II. In that same chapter Jesus tells us how his sheep—how you and I—respond to his call by following him.

A. “The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (vv3-4).

Jesus knows my name; he knows your name.

He knows all about you. He knows your joys and your sorrows.

He knows your needs and your limitations.

He knows your sins and failures.

He loves you and he calls your name. Hear his call. Come to him—your Shepherd, your Savior.

B. Jesus leads his people and they follow him.

To “follow Jesus” is to learn of him.

To “follow Jesus” is to obey him, to let him be our guide through life.

To “follow Jesus” is to trust him for safety in a dangerous world.

To “follow Jesus” is to belong to him—body and soul.

To “follow Jesus” is to make it our aim to please him in all that we do—because we love him and we know that he loves us.

To “follow Jesus” is to keep him always in mind. He is our constant companion.

III. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, gives his people abundant life.

A. Jesus says that the evil shepherds come only to steal and kill and destroy the sheep, but he says,

“I come that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (v10).

The abundant life that Jesus gives is so much better than the natural life that we are born with that the Bible calls coming to Jesus as coming out of darkness into light, from death into life, from bondage into freedom, being born again.

The abundant life that Jesus gives us is a life of hope, of purpose, of peace and joy.

B. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand” (v27).

“…they shall never perish…”: Our earthly life will end, but our death will be the gateway into a better life—a life of glory—a life of fellowship with our Lord Jesus for ever and ever. This is eternal life.

“…and no one shall snatch them out of my hand”: The Good Shepherd has a good grip on us. He’s not going to let us go.

CONCLUSION

The ancient Celtic Christians in Ireland and Wales were familiar with sheep. Here is a beautiful Celtic prayer that picks up on this theme:

“Fair, Jesus, you guide your straying sheep along lush and fragrant valleys,

where the grass is rich and deep.

You guard them from attacks by wolves and from the bites of snakes

You heal their diseases and teach them always to walk in the ways of God.

When we stray, lead us back;

when temptations beset us, give us strength;

when our souls are sick, pour upon us your love.”