The Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21)
I still remember one of my first jobs, which was memorable for the wrong reasons. My boss was a rather difficult person to work for. Whenever the boss was around, the office would be tense. The boss was temperamental, with the tendency to get angry and impatient. My colleagues and I were always on eggshells, for fear of upsetting the boss, who would berate and belittle us. The boss was not very competent either, leaving us messes to fix. We were subject to all sorts of unreasonable tasks, just so the boss could look good to the bigger bosses. A self-interested, self-serving boss can really take the joy out of work.
A number of us may have had to deal with bad bosses. We may have been hurt by their mean and unkind words. Our consciences may have been troubled by their unethical conduct. We may have been betrayed by their backstabbing, or burnt out by their overbearing demands. Some of us may dread going to the office tomorrow. Bad bosses are just one example of bad authority. In our fallen world, the abuse of authority is sadly all too common.
Besides bad bosses, there are oppressive governments, crooked politicians, corrupt policemen, harsh parents, and unfaithful husbands. The church, also, is not without its own blemishes. We hear of domineering leaders lording it over people or unscrupulous, manipulative leaders taking advantage of the very ones they should be caring for. Some of us have been hurt by abusive authority. We still bear the scars.
Not surprisingly, authority is increasingly viewed with distrust and suspicion. We question or even reject authority. Some of us doubt if there can ever be such a thing as good authority. We heartily agree with the famous saying, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Do we view authority as a necessary evil? We submit, but only because we have to. We do so reluctantly and unhappily.
It may surprise us to learn that God also complains about bad authority. He is on the side of those who have suffered under abusive authority. In the Old Testament, God constantly calls out Israel’s leaders for misusing their authority. God describes them as self-serving shepherds who fleece rather than feed the flock. In Ezekiel 34, God says, “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered. (Eze 34:2b-5)”
God cares for His people too much to let bad shepherds go on harming them. He promises to take action: “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep” (Eze 34:11b-12a). God also promises to raise up a king from David’s line to shepherd His people: “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd” (Eze 34:23).
This prophecy from Ezekiel helps us to understand our passage. Last week, we heard from John 9 how Jesus healed a man who was blind from birth. Not only were the man’s physical eyes restored, but he also gained spiritual sight to believe in Jesus. The man went from seeing Jesus as a man to a prophet to the Lord who is worthy of worship. This should have been reason to praise and thank God. Instead, the religious leaders reviled the man and kicked him out of the synagogue.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who calls us to follow Him.
In John 10:1-21, Jesus confronts the bad authority of these religious leaders. He refers to such bad authority as “thieves and robbers” (Jn 10:2, 8, 10). They come only to steal and kill and destroy (Jn 10:10b). But the cure for bad authority is not no authority; it is the good authority of God himself. In stark contrast to the thieves and robbers stands the One who is truly worth following. In another one of His “I am” statements, Jesus says in John 10:11, 14, “I am the good shepherd.” This is the big idea of our passage: Jesus is the Good Shepherd who calls us to follow Him. He is God Himself come in the flesh. He is also the promised King from David’s line. Jesus is the perfect authority we need. Our passage gives us three reasons why we ought to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd knows and is known by His own (Jn 10: 1-6)
Look at John 10:1-2. Using a figure of speech, Jesus likens the Jewish religious leaders to a thief and robber who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way. This means they are unauthorised leaders who have no right to lead. People should not listen to them. The true shepherd, on the other hand, is the one who enters by the door (Jn 10:2). Because the sheep truly belong to him, he does not have to sneak in to steal someone else’s flock. He enters the sheep pen in the right and proper way. In those days, a pen would contain sheep belonging to different flocks. A shepherd would have to identify his own flock and lead the correct sheep out. Skilled shepherds could recognise their own sheep. They would give names to each animal based on their individual traits, for example, “Long-ears”, “White-nose”, “Black spots”, etc. To a good shepherd, each sheep is unique. He knows each one. As John 10:3 says, He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows and loves all who belong to Him.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows and loves all who belong to Him. Look at John 10:14 — “I am the good shepherd. I know my own.” If we belong to Jesus, then we can be assured that He knows each one of us personally and intimately. To “know” goes beyond just having an intellectual knowledge of someone; it means to love with genuine affection. This is what it means to be a Christian — not only that we have come to know God, but more fundamentally that we are known by God.
Beloved, what comfort it is to know that Jesus knows us! He knows us personally, deeply. He knows our every sin and struggle. He knows our flaws and faults. He knows our joys and sorrows. He knows our desires and our fears. He knows our hurts and pains. We are often afraid of being known by someone else. We may be content with superficial relationships because we fear being vulnerable. We are worried about what someone will think of us if they truly know us.
But Jesus is the good shepherd who knows us and still chooses to love us. He calls us individually, each one by name. Are we weak, tired, discouraged, and fainthearted? Do we struggle and stumble? We can go to Jesus just as we are. No need to try to look good; no need to put up a false front. Jesus knows us and invites us to come to Him. So, do not distance ourselves from Jesus. We are secure in the Good Shepherd. He who calls us will also keep us safe until the end. Not one of Jesus’ sheep will be lost. Look at John 10:4 — When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them. The Good Shepherd will not fail to bring out all His own — every single one of His sheep. As Jesus said of the Father in John 6:39, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”
Middle Eastern shepherds did not use sheep dogs to drive the sheep from behind. Rather, the shepherds called and their sheep followed. Jesus leads from the front. He does not call us to go where He Himself has not already gone before. He is our trailblazer and pioneer, going ahead to open up the way for us to follow. Jesus endured the cross for the joy that that was set before Him. So, we will share in His glory. Though we suffer with Jesus now, we shall be glorified with Him. Whatever trials we endure in this life, be encouraged to see them in light of the Good Shepherd who has gone before us. He is leading us to the green pastures of the New Heavens and New Earth. Jesus is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.
The Good Shepherd knows His own. Fellow elders, as under-shepherds who serve the Chief Shepherd, let us follow His example of knowing the sheep. Know every member of GBC by name. Members, help the elders to know you by making yourself known to us. We hope to open our lives to you, and pray you will also invite us into your lives. Be patient with the elders as we seek to know you. Let us also seek to know and be known by one another. Get a copy of the membership directory from the church office and pray through it. This will help us know and care for one another.
The Good Shepherd knows and is known by His own.
The Good Shepherd is also known by His own. The sheep hear His voice (Jn 10:3). In John 10:4-5, we also read that the sheep follow Him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus repeats this in John 10:14 — I am the good shepherd … and my own know me.
How do the sheep recognise the shepherd’s voice? The promise that God would come to shepherd His people is linked to the promise of a new covenant. God’s people broke the old covenant because their hearts were sinful. Sinful hearts do not desire God. But God can change our hearts and draw us to Himself. He says in Ezekiel 36, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” God causes us to be born again — to be born of the Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit regenerates us, we can recognise and respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd. The Spirit enables us to hear and follow Jesus. Thanks to the work of God’s Spirit in God’s people, Jesus’ call is powerful, effective, and irresistible. True disciples will trust and obey Jesus’ word.
This encourages us to be faithful to God’s word as we make disciples. If Jesus’ sheep hear His voice, then we can trust God’s word to work among God’s people. We do not have to resort to clever strategies or methods in the hopes of producing a response. Our job is simply to faithfully teach God’s word so that the sheep can clearly hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. There will be fruit because the sheep will hear His voice.
The Good Shepherd is the only way (Jn 10:7-10)
John 10:6 says the people were puzzled by Jesus’ figure of speech. So, in the remaining verses, Jesus makes it plain who He is referring to. As before, Jesus tells the truth about Himself. He says in John 10:7, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” The other Gospels speak of entering God’s kingdom. Not only is Jesus the shepherd of the sheep, but He is also the one through whom we enter into God’s kingdom — into His peace, provision, and protection. “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (Jn 10:9)”
Jesus is the only way. No one comes to God the Father except through Jesus, because only the Son can show us the Father. The only way we can know God is by knowing and believing in His Son, whom He has sent. Beware of imposters who lead us astray. Jesus says in John 10:8, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.” In Jesus’ day, many claimed to be the messiah. Political revolutionaries and military leaders said they could free Israel from the oppressive shackles of Roman rule. But Jesus’ true disciples will not buy into false gospels selling false hopes based on worldly power. False saviours always overpromise and underdeliver. It will not end well for us if we trust in them. As John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
Some hope in worldly power. But consider the destruction caused by godless governments led by despots like Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot. More recently, I was appalled to read that the junta in Myanmar was still ordering attacks against its own citizens, even after the earthquake. In a fallen world, human authority left unchecked tends to degenerate into authoritarianism. Hopes set on worldly power will finally fade and fail. What false gospels and saviours are we tempted to trust in to provide for us, to protect us, and to give us peace? What we trust in will end up ruling our lives.
The Good Shepherd is the only way. So, do not seek for saviours elsewhere. Hear Jesus’ glorious promise in John 10:10. He has come that we may “have life and have it abundantly”. In Christ, our hope is found. In Him, we can have eternal life now. We can experience the blessing of knowing God as our Father, who will never fail to care for His beloved children. Beloved, when we are tempted to find our joy in other things or to seek pleasure in sin, remember Jesus has given us abundant life. Be satisfied in Him, who has so generously given us Himself.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for His sheep (Jn 10:11-21)
Listen to John 10:11 — “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” In New Testament times, a shepherd’s job was tough. He had to protect the flock against all sorts of dangers in the wilderness — whether from predators or from the harsh environment. Nevertheless, shepherds were not expected to die for their flock. But Jesus goes above and beyond. He is the Good Shepherd who is worthy of our complete confidence. His goodness is supremely shown in His self-sacrifice. He lays down His life willingly; it is not forcibly taken from Him. Jesus says in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down…”
In a world where so many use authority to grab what they can for themselves, Jesus uses His authority to give to others.
In a world where so many use authority to grab what they can for themselves, Jesus uses His authority to give to others. Recall Jesus’ words to His disciples in Mark 10:42-45: “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Authority is designed by God to help those under it to thrive and flourish. Many of us are in positions of authority as elders, deacons, CG leaders, Bible study leaders, husbands, parents, teachers, team leaders, bosses. How are those under our authority doing? Be honest. In what ways can we use our authority to give for the good of others?
Jesus’ humble self-sacrifice does not merely give us an inspiring example to follow; he dies for the sheep. It is the language Isaiah 53:5-6 uses to describe God’s suffering Servant: “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
We are runaway sheep. God made us for His glory, yet we have rebellious strayed from Him to live for ourselves. The Bible describes our refusal to worship God as sin — we have missed the mark of God’s holiness and glory, as transgression — we crossed the line set by God between obedience and disobedience, and as iniquity — our nature is bent away from God. God is right to judge us. We deserve His wrath. But God, in His grace and mercy, sent His only Son to save undeserving sinners like us. Instead of crushing us for our sins, God poured out His wrath on His Son, who died in our place. Because Jesus died the death we should have died, our sins can be forgiven if we trust in Christ alone to save us. Our guilt and shame can be washed away. We can have peace with God.
He has promised to be with us until the end of the age. So, when trials come, look to Jesus. Draw near to Him for He has drawn near to us.
The Good Shepherd gives His life for the good of the sheep. Unlike Him, the Jewish religious leaders and other false teachers cared only for themselves. They are like the hired hand in John 10:12 who flees at the first sign of trouble. But not Jesus. He cares for His sheep because He knows His own and His own know Him. Beloved, Jesus will not love us less because of our sins. How can He, when His very purpose in coming was to save sinners? Jesus will not leave us in tough times. He has promised to be with us until the end of the age. So, when trials come, look to Jesus. Draw near to Him for He has drawn near to us. He is full of compassion and steadfast love. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who fulfils these words 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.”
Maybe some of us think God is like a judge pardoning an offender on the condition that he behaves well and follows certain rules to avoid further punishment. But, this is not the gospel. Jesus did not take away our sins just to put us on probation. No, Jesus gave His life to make us His own. He has brought us into a new relationship with Him. Look at John 10:15. Jesus says our bond with Him is as strong as the bond between Him and his Heavenly Father. Jesus says, “I know my own … just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” If Jesus has joined us to Himself, our union with Him is as secure as God the Father’s love for His Son and the Son’s love for the Father.
This is why Jesus laid down His life. It was not ultimately because of us, but because of the mutual love between Him and God the Father. Look at John 10:17 — “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” This does not mean the Father loved the Son only after His death on the cross. Rather, what Jesus means is that the Father’s love for Him is most clearly displayed through His death and resurrection. By dying and rising, Jesus obeyed the charge He received from His Father (Jn 10:18). The Father is pleased by the Son’s sacrifice, for He came to do His Father’s will. Because the Son was obedient even to the point of death on a cross, God the Father has highly exalted Him by raising Him from the dead. Hence, Jesus has authority to take up His life again. Jesus has conquered sin and death. He is the resurrection and life. Therefore, we can have abundant life in Him.
Jesus stands ready to receive all who repent and believe in Him.
Jesus stands ready to receive all who repent and believe in Him. His heart is open wide to save sinners from every nation, language, culture, and background. Jesus says in John 10:16, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Jesus came to save both Jews and Gentiles — both the religious and the irreligious, those trusting in their own morality as well as those broken by their immorality. Jesus must bring His other sheep also. He cannot fail in His purpose to unite all peoples in Himself.
The church is this new people of God. We are one flock under one Shepherd — united with one another in Christ. So, love one another, especially those who are different from us. Forgive one another. Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, to which we were called in one body. We are younger and older. We come from different nations, ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. We have different views, opinions, and preferences. Yet, our unity in diversity reflects Jesus’ heart for the world. It displays God’s glory and the power of His gospel to bring different people together. Beloved, Jesus has called each of us individually by name to belong to Him together as one flock. We may be different in many ways, but the one thing that truly matters is the one thing we have in common: We have heard and obeyed the voice of the Good Shepherd. Only by believing the gospel can we truly come together as one. May we continue to unite around the truth of Jesus’ word and His gospel.
How will we respond to the Good Shepherd? Jesus polarises public opinion (Jn 10:19-21). Some think He is crazy; others are not sure. What do we think of Jesus? His words divide, but we cannot remain undecided. We must make up our minds. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is the perfect authority we need. He knows and is known by His own. He is the only way. He lays down his life for His sheep. Will we hear His voice and follow Him?