Jesus The Good Shepherd
JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD
JOHN 10:11-21
With Jesus as our good shepherd, we can feel secure in his loving care and enjoy his provision.
Now we come to the specific identification of Jesus with the shepherd. The proof that he is the good Shepherd is shown not by any outward office or external display of strength but by the fact of his sacrificial love for the sheep. There is a clear contrast between him and those whose supposed work of shepherding is done not for love but for financial or other reward. When it comes to the crunch, they do not really care about the sheep. Jesus, on the other hand, has such a knowledge of his sheep and such a love for them, that he is prepared to lay down his life for them. Not all his sheep are to be found within the fold of Palestinian Judaism. He will unite his flock which is at present scattered all over the world.
The secret of all this is not that Jesus will accept a martyr’s death which he cannot avoid. It is rather that he lays his life down voluntarily and with a specific purpose. He lays it down in order to take it up again. This is a fulfillment of his Father’s command and a reason for his Father’s love. Once again his claims bring division and a charge of demon-possession and madness (cf. 7:43; 9:16). Once again a gap opens between those who have written him off and those who will consider the evidence.
Notes 10:11: “good”—the particular word used here (kalos) suggests a moral beauty and attractiveness. This is shown to every generation in his love to the death for us. The figure of the shepherd was applied frequently to God in the Old Testament and also to such leaders of Israel as Moses and David. It is not by itself necessarily a Messianic title. 10:12: “wolf”—there is no need to try to identify this precisely. The point at issue is the different attitude of the true and false shepherds. The point, so far as Christian ministry is concerned, is well made in 1 Peter 5:2-4. 10:14f.: the relationship between Christ and the believer is derived from the relationship between the Father and the Son (cf. 15.9; 17:21; 20:21). 10:16: “one flock”—the KJV translation “one fold” could be seriously misleading. The people of God is one, even if denominational and other differences exist. The “other sheep” may in the first instance be the Jews of the Dispersion but the thought of the Gentiles lies in the background.