Living Faith

The Good Shepherd

By Tom Grove

In John 10:11-13, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then, the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Even though shepherding in the 1st century tended to be a family business, there came times when the flock got too large for a shepherd to handle by himself, so he would hire extra help. Many of these hired hands were transients who would move from place to place looking for temporary jobs. And so, when they took this job, many would do the least amount of work they could in order to earn their wage.

Because of this, these workers had no vested interest in the flock with which they were helping. This lack of interest would especially show when a predator approached the flock. While a shepherd would try and defend his sheep against the predator, the hired hand would flee, leaving the sheep vulnerable to the approaching predator.

It is this contrasting shepherd that Jesus presents to the crowd. They could see clearly that Jesus was drawing a distinction between

Himself and the Pharisees. Though the Pharisees were to be the shepherds of the people, they had abdicated their duty. The people, however, saw something different in Jesus. There was no pretense of superiority or abuse for monetary gain. I am the Good Shepherd, He declared, The good shepherd lays down His life for His flock.

Philip Keller tells a modern-day story of a shepherd’s passion to protect his flock. Just a few days after Philip moved into the Maasai territory in eastern Africa, a boy of about ten-years-old was carried up to our house. He had single-handedly tackled a young lioness that tried to kill one of his flock. With pure bravery, he had managed to spear the lion. The mauling he took almost cost him his life, and he was rushed to the nearest hospital 27 miles away where his life was barely spared.

A good shepherd is one who has so much love for his flock that he is willing to give up his life for them. And Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd. This is My mission here, to give up My life for you.

But there is one difference between Jesus laying His life down for humanity and a shepherd putting himself in harm’s way for sheep. The difference is that Jesus’s decision was not made simply when danger appeared. Instead, this decision was made eons ago. A

decision that, as time went on, always loomed on the horizon. And, as He spoke these words to the crowd that day, Calvary’s cross was becoming more visible in Jesus’s future.

And He says to us today, I am the Good Shepherd. I know you like no one else in this universe knows you. I love you like no one else in this universe loves you. I know the real you. And it is because I know you better than anyone else, that I gave up my life for you. I have such a passion for you that, if you would have been the only one, I would have stayed on the cross for you. Hear My voice calling you. See the path that I want you to walk. Come, be part of a new experience with Me.