Jesus: The Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd.  I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  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, and one shepherd.  For this reason My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.  This charge I have received from My Father.”  -John 10:11-18 (ESV) [Read John 10:7-18]

“I am the good shepherd.”  In Greek, there are two words for “good”:  One is agathos which means morally good; the other is kalos meaning that the person described is morally good, but also winsome, genuine, filled with fidelity, love and power.  The word used to describe Jesus as the good shepherd is kalos—good through and through, in every way good, perfect, whole.  And He would (and did) lay down His life for His sheep.  It was not unusual at all for the shepherd to have to defend his flock with his very life.  David as a shepherd boy kept his father’s flocks and defended them from wolves and lions and attacks from robbers and thieves.  From his defense of the flock of his father, David built up a strong body and he was not afraid of going against the giant Goliath with a slingshot and five smooth stones.

Furthermore, Jesus knows His own for whom He lay down His life.  Just as the shepherd knew which sheep belonged to his flock and the sheep likewise knew their shepherd and followed him, so those who are in the flock of the Lord are known by the Good Shepherd.  Is it any wonder that John the Baptist exclaimed when he saw Jesus approaching the Jordan River, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!”  The Good Shepherd was also the sacrificial Lamb, laying down His life for His sheep.

In this lesson on the Good Shepherd, we have also an important truth on non-exclusiveness.  “I have other sheep that are not of this fold.”  For centuries the Jews had felt that they were the Chosen People of God, and, indeed, they were.  But they had forgotten the word of God to Abraham that spoke of him and his seeds (the flock of God) being as the sands on the seashore in number and a blessing to all mankind.  Here Jesus is including the Gentiles who will come to believe in Him as “not of this fold,” but coming into the fold because of their faith in the Lord.  It is only in Jesus Christ and through His message being accepted that the world can become one.  And it is the purpose for which Jesus came into the world:  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  The Good Shepherd gave His life for His sheep.  He lay down His life and He took it up again.  And through that gift and by that hope His flock can rest secure.  Praise be to God!