I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:12)

When we meet someone for the first time, we usually ask some friendly questions such as their employment or their place of origin. The stranger will reply ‘I am …..’ and we accept what he says about himself because we know that he knows best how to answer those questions. In a higher way, when Jesus says ‘I am …’, we know that he is telling us about himself. And he knows who he is and he knows what he wants and he knows what he is going to do.

 

This particular ‘I am’ saying of Jesus is probably the best known. Yet at the time when Jesus used it, some people would be surprised. One reason was that shepherds were not popular. Another reason is the use of the adjective ‘good’, because it is a claim to distinction. Jesus did not say that he was one of the good shepherds, but that he alone was the Good Shepherd. It would not take much for listeners to realise that he was making a claim to deity because God was the true shepherd of Israel who provided them with many blessings. Connected to that claim would be an intimation that he also was a king, because it had been common for rulers to regard themselves as the shepherds of their subjects. So while we may initially regard the use of this description as benign, in reality it was not.

 

I would like us to consider this saying through four points. They are (1) The Shepherd Predicted, (2) The Shepherd Provided, (3) The Shepherd Punished and (4) The Shepherd with Power.

 

The Shepherd Predicted

In the Old Testament there are a few references to Jesus as the shepherd. For example, In Micah 5:2, there is the prediction that he will be born in Bethlehem. And a couple of verses later it says what he will do: ‘And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.’ That prediction says that the One born in Bethlehem would have divine strength, that he would provide security because he will rule the earth, and he will provide peace.

 

Another example is found in Zechariah 13:7: ‘“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.”’ That prediction says that God’s shepherd will be a man, but a man who can beside God, and yet he is going to be struck by someone.

 

Those predictions must have seemed contrary to one another. One said that the Shepherd would have universal authority and the other said that he would face God with a sword. We can easily imagine an Old Testament believer reflecting on those two predictions and wondering how they could be harmonised. All he could do was wait and see what would happen.

 

In addition to prophecies about Jesus and what he would do, there are also pictures of how he would act. One of the most graphic is Psalm 23 which describes how Jesus as a shepherd deals with his people after they have become his sheep. Sometimes, he takes them to the green pastures and quiet streams of spiritual refreshment; at other times, he takes them to the dark valleys where danger lurks, but still he takes them safely through.

 

Then there is a picture given in Isaiah 40:11: ‘He will tend 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.’ That description highlights the gentleness and tenderness of the ways by which Jesus leads his people through this world to the heavenly city. His sheep experience his comfort and his strength, his care and his protection. This description was a message of good news that the prophet was to deliver to a people who needed divine help. And what a wonderful promise he was given to convey to those requiring God’s deliverance and restoration.

 

The Shepherd Provided

We know who was described by those two predictions. Jesus fulfilled both these prophecies, one at the beginning of his earthly journey and the other at the close of his life. But how did he come to be the Shepherd?

 

God the Father purposed that this would be the role that his eternal Son would perform. We are aware that when a person with great skills is identified, he is given special preparation that will enable him to function at what he will be good at doing. God the Father always knew that the best choice for the shepherding task would be his Son, so therefore it was arranged that this would happen.

 

The first requirement was that his Son would have to become a man. So he was born in Bethlehem. There must be some significance in that the angels appeared to shepherds to tell them about the birth. One suggestion is that those shepherds were looking after the animals that would be sold at the temple in Jerusalem for sacrifices. Another suggestion is that shepherds were kind of outside of society and so was the newborn baby. Maybe it was a reminder that shepherds need a Shepherd and they found him in the manger. 

 

Jesus, as we know, lived his life in Nazareth. While it is the case that, wherever Jesus could have lived, he would have been among lost sheep, the inhabitants of Nazareth where about the most distant. Nathaniel, the man who spoke the truth, lived a few miles from Nazareth and his opinion of the place was that nothing good could come from there. Every day of his life, whether as a child, adolescent or adult, Jesus lived among lost sheep. He saw their behaviour and heard their conversations, and he participated in the synagogue services and worked for them in his carpenter’s shop. After thirty years among them, did he still want to go and find lost sheep?

 

The answer is that he did, and his travelling to get baptised by John is evidence of it. And there we not only see the determination of Jesus, but we also see the delight of the Father when he commended his Son for his past years in Nazareth and about his future years of service. The Father rejoiced that the Shepherd, his chosen Shepherd, wanted to seek for lost sheep. Jesus was the good Shepherd.

 

The Shepherd Punished

Jesus says in this passage from John 10 that he would lay down his life for his sheep. It was the case that sometimes the cost of protecting the sheep from wild animals could endanger the shepherd. David, when he was looking after his father’s sheep, had to fight off a lion and a bear. But Jesus was not referring to an unintended consequence when he spoke about losing his life.

 

Rather he was referring to the action described in the prophecy of Zechariah that we mentioned earlier. In that prophecy, God speaks about what will happen to the Shepherd, but he speaks to a sword. Indeed, he commands a sword to awaken, which suggests that it had been in its scabbard until the time for usage arrived. It is an illustration of an incredible divine transaction. The sword is a reference to divine justice, and it could have been used against the sheep, people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb, Boaz, David and Solomon.  Or it could have been used against Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, Tamar, Ruth, Abigail, and Bathsheba. Why did it not deal with them? Because the Father knew that one would come who would take their place. Maybe we can say that the scabbard in which justice rested was the other attributes of God such as his longsuffering, his mercy and his love.

 

When and where did the sword show itself against the good Shepherd? At Calvary on Good Friday. On the cross, the good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep because he had to be the sacrifice that would pay the penalty for their sins. He bore the fulness of the divine wrath against the lost sheep, but which was not heading towards them anymore. It was a terrible experience for the good Shepherd as he discovered the meaning of forsaken. He was forsaken, but he had to go into the lostness of the lost sheep in order to rescue them from perishing. He found himself in the uncharted country, the area that has not been mapped by anyone. 

 

I suppose we could say that when Jesus cried on the cross, ‘It is finished,’ he was indicating that he had come through the attack by the sword. The penitent criminal and the believing centurion were very different kinds of lost sheep, but they were found literally at Calvary by the good Shepherd. The sufferings of Jesus amazed them, but so did the dying of Jesus. He did lay down his life for his people, including them. Jesus on the cross was the good Shepherd delivering his people.

 

The Shepherd with power

Although Jesus knew that he would die for the sheep, he also knew that he would gather them into his fold. He told his listeners that he had other sheep that were not of the fold of Israel (vv. 15-16). Instead, those other sheep were Gentiles that would come to believe in him. How did that come to pass?

 

On one occasion, after Peter had confessed who Jesus was, Jesus told his disciples that he would build his church. He would do so after his resurrection and ascension. Indeed, we could entitle the Book of Acts as ‘Jesus Gathering Sheep’. Because he has supreme power, he is able to turn the hearts of sinners to himself. That is one reason why he was promoted to the highest place in heaven, to gather in his people. And in the Book of Acts, we read about three thousand on the Day of Pentecost, and we read about the Ethiopian treasurer, Cornelius the soldier, Saul the persecutor, Sergius Paulus the politician, Lydia the businesswoman, Damaris the Athenian, the Philippian jailor and others. They were all found by the good Shepherd.

 

How did the Good Shepherd bring them in to his flock? Jesus tells us in this passage that he calls them. The way that he calls them is through the gospel in which he tells them of his Father’s love and invites them to trust in him and receive the pardon of their sins. This call by Jesus is a personal call in which he addresses us as individuals, a penetrating call because it goes beyond our ears into our hearts, and a persistent call which he gives to us repeatedly. Sometimes, a sinner responds quickly with repentance and faith whereas another sinner may take years to do so. Whatever the time they take, when it happens it is always a powerful call from Jesus that overcomes the spiritual deadness of such a sinner.

 

Part of the Saviour’s intentions is not only what he will do in this world, but what he also will do in the next. Because in the world to come he will still be the shepherd of his people. There is a wonderful verse in Revelation which says that Jesus will shepherd his people and lead them to the fountains of living water. The sheep there will be perfect, and they are not taken there because they are thirsty but because they love to be saturated with what God can provide.

 

So we can see that Jesus is the good shepherd. The word translated ‘good’ has the idea of attractive to look at, of something that is very beautiful. We are invited to look at the grace of the Good Shepherd, the one who was predicted, provided, punished and given power. Jesus is always beautiful to behold in whatever way he is revealed to us in the Bible.