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.

One of the most endearing figures in the Bible of the relationship of God to His people is the figure of being a Shepherd to Sheep.  The Jews well knew the allegory of David's 23rd Psalm, and many others also. Now Jesus uses this same figure to describe Himself in relationship to His followers.  He is the good shepherd.  This is another allusion to Jesus’ divinity.  The Church is His sheep.

Some commentators insisted that the only reason God ever bothered to create sheep at all was to have an illustration of what Christians are like.  People are so often like sheep. They follow the crowd, are dependent, dumb, have a tendency to desert what is good for them believing something is better just on the other side of the fence.  They are fearful, timid, stubborn, and often stupid.  They need a shepherd to care for them.  We need Jesus to care for us. In the nation of Israel much of the economy was based on farming, fishing and raising sheep.  So, Jesus was able to convey significant truths to this culture with the Shepherd and Sheep parable.

The New Testament also speaks of leaders of the Church as shepherds and people as flock.  It is the duty of the leader to feed the flock of God, to accept the oversight willingly and not by constraint, to do it eagerly and not for the love of money, not to use the position for exercise of power but to be an example to the flock.  These teachings are in I Peter 5:2-4. “ 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

John 10 is a continuation of Chapter 9 where Jesus addressed the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees (John 9:41)., following the healing of a blind man on the Sabbath. In continuing this theme, Jesus speaks about a good shepherd and his sheep. He uses this pastoral context, knowing this would have been well-known to His audience.

I was reminded that the Old Testament gives examples of both good and bad shepherds. The Lord Jesus used this title to help people appreciate that He is the loving, caring, Saviour of the world.

Thought for the Day!  As the Good Shepherd Jesus does not just have a general knowledge about sheep, Jesus loves and knows each sheep personally.

This week we will see how the qualifications of a good shepherd demonstrate the works of Jesus.

Dale