I. OT Background to the Shepherd and the Sheep
One of the most frequent and fruitful metaphors for God’s leadership over and care for his people in the OT is that of a shepherd. 500+ times in the OT this metaphor is used. Normally, God either refers to himself (Ezekiel 34:31) or to one of his servants (Ezekiel 34:23) as the shepherd and the people of
The reason for the employment of this metaphor was because of the popularity and commonality of its reference. Shepherding was a common occupation in that time. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were nomadic shepherds. Moses was a shepherd before the LORD spoke to him out of the burning bush. David was a shepherd before he was crowned king. Sheep provided many resources that were valuable to the people of that time, including wool and skins for clothing and shoes, milk, and meat. Yet, this valuable commodity could not be cared for without a shepherd because 1) sheep have some of the smallest brain-weight-to-body-weight ratios of any land mammal, 2) they have horrendous senses of direction, and 3) they have virtually no defense mechanisms (teeth, horns, claws, etc.) against their natural predators. Shepherds were necessary to guide and protect the sheep because the sheep were stupid, misguided, and vulnerable.
Thus, when the LORD or one of his servants acts as a shepherd to the people of Israel, it is a metaphor used to not only highlight their intrinsic value in his eyes as creatures who belong to him, but also their need for a shepherd, because they are incapable of leading themselves and vulnerable against predators. Frequently, the actions of true shepherds is compared and contrasted with that of false shepherds. In Ezekiel 34 in particular, the LORD proclaims that he will judge the false shepherds who have in fact led his sheep to the slaughter and fed themselves on their meat, rather than guiding them and protecting them as he commands. What separates true (or ‘genuine’) shepherds from false shepherds is how they lead, where they lead, and what the shepherds are willing to do if a predator is found stalking the flock. Many of the priests of
III. Context of the Two I AM Sayings
The context for these two I AM statements (taken as two parts of one whole) is that of a wholesale attack by Jesus on the (false) spiritual leadership of the Pharisees. There were two mainline groups of Jews in the time in which Jesus lived: Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees were more numerous and more powerful than the Pharisees, but in order to achieve this power, they were forced to accommodate many of their beliefs to align with the Roman pantheon. They frequently showed more allegiance to Caesar than to the LORD. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were the more conservative, more zealous group, though they were less in number and influence. It was against this second group that Jesus levels his criticisms because they claimed to be the preserves of Torah and yet, their shepherding was not in the spirit of Torah.
The Pharisees claimed to be guides to the blind but in the closing verses of John 9, after Jesus heals a blind man, Jesus alludes to the fact that in one sense they are blind (because they have not believed in him) and in another, they can see and yet refuse to believe. Because of their cynicism, these Pharisees are deemed blind guides and false shepherds. Jesus casts himself as the enlightened guide (remember ‘I AM the Light of the World’) and the good shepherd, good meaning true or faithful (Greek: kalos).
IV. Jesus as the Good Shepherd (verses 3b-6, 11-19, 27-30)
Being a shepherd means calling your sheep. Jesus twice depicts himself as the good shepherd (as opposed to a false shepherd or even the hired hand). In verses 3b-6, he is calling to a flock of sheep and his own sheep hear the call and respond by following him. The picture is of the 1st century method of sheep keeping where many sheep from many different flocks (owners) would be housed in one communal pen. When the shepherd came to lead his own sheep out to pasture, he invented some unique call. The sheep that were his own would respond to the call, but those who did not recognize the shepherd and did not recognize his call would stay in the pen and refuse to follow. Jesus’ sheep hear his call and know that voice and follow him. The call is made to all sheep and the sheep that are his own are the ones that follow.
Being a shepherd also means leading your sheep. Shepherding was a great deal different in the 1st century than today. The methods of modern shepherding involve placing a shepherd in the rear of the flock and (with the aid of a dog or dogs) driving the sheep from point A to point B. Not so with the 1st century Jews. They trained the sheep to follow the shepherd or more simply, follow the sheep in front of them. The Jews knew the sheep to lack intelligence, but they had a very keen instinct to follow the leader. The task of the 1st century shepherd was to get the leader of the flock to follow him. It is in this context that we understand Jesus’ statements about being a shepherd.
One last thing to notice is that being a shepherd means defending your sheep. In the ancient world, a shepherd dying for the sheep would not have been unheard of, but it would have been rare. In a dangerous situation like coming across a hungry bear or a pack of wolves, the shepherd would have tried to salvage as many sheep as possible and scare the predator away, but to lose a few sheep would not be as bad as getting himself killed and then losing the entire flock. The amazing thing is that the Good Shepherd lays down his life to protect the flock, but then takes it back up again in order to continually and eternally lead the sheep as their resurrected and victorious Good Shepherd. His shepherd-ship is unending, even in light of the fact that he was crucified and died for our sake.
V. Jesus as the Gate for the Sheep (verses 1-3a, 7-10)
The pens in which sheep were kept were often below our modern architectural standards and so, the shepherd would himself be the door by sleeping in the opening of the pen. The shepherd calling himself the door or the gate could really only mean one thing: protection. By sleeping in the doorway and taking on the role of the door, the shepherd protected his sheep. In this way, by sleeping lightly and putting himself between any predator and his flock, he could protect his sheep while they were most vulnerable to attack. The night would have afforded wolves and bears a covering to hunt the sheep and though the shepherd needs rest of his own, he puts himself in position to guard the sheep even in the dark of night.
VI. Application
A. All Humans Are Sheep. The Question Is: Who Is Your Shepherd?
1) We are not intelligent creatures – You and I have made bad choices in our lives. Modern parlance calls these choices “mistakes.” I can live with that word, but often, we use it to avoid the word sin. The reasons for these sins are many: selfishness, greed, pride, love, lust, ignorance, laziness, etc. In the same way that a sheep has a miniscule brain and cannot help itself from getting into trouble, so we can make one mistake after another, commit one sin after another and before we know it, we wander headlong into real trouble. You have made mistakes, you are all sinners; I say this not to condemn or consign you to hell, but to explain to you your need for the Good Shepherd, one who will lead by laying down his life, a sacrifice that atones for your sins and takes them as far away from you as east is from west. The Good Shepherd defends, preserves, and in fact purchases the life of the sheep by dying for them, by becoming the Passover Lamb of God whose perfect blood signs and seals these precious sheep from any condemnation and judgment for sin. This Christ has done because you could not do it for yourself. You would not know where to begin because you do not know the way. Jesus as the Good Shepherd himself is the way, a metaphor we will look at later in chapter 14.
2) We have no sense of direction – Have you ever observed a sheep that is grazing. They eat grass which means that their faces are in the dirt most of the time. As they are eating, they are prone to wonder as they eat more and more grass. Without a shepherd, they might finally look up only to find themselves miles away from the flock with no clue as to how to find them. In the same way, you and I are very prone to live our lives with our faces in the dirt, pursuing whatever it is that we enjoy. Without Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd to lead and guide us, humans will go astray. Both human history and our own experience tell us that this is true. One the most ominous signs in our culture is the fact that no one seems to know what is right anymore. Moral relativism is the dominant ethical system of your generation; I want you to know that. In the future, a time will come when people will no longer be able to say that a certain activity or lifestyle is wrong or sinful and laws will be passed protecting these destructive acts because our society has so embraced them.
The Good Shepherd is calling you to evaluate who or what it is that you are following. No one is an original; everybody follows somebody. Who are you following? Where is it leading you?
3) We have no means of defense – This leads us to third point to think about. Sheep have no means of defense against their natural predators. Pitted against a wolf or a bear or a lion, a sheep is of absolutely no match. They cannot run fast enough to evade the predator and they certainly cannot stand up and fight. The Bible speaks about the many predators that stalk human beings. There is Satan, there is the fallen world and its influences, and then there is our own self. This unholy trinity is ever lurking and seeking to rip us limb from limb. Their traps are so seductive and so sly that most people aren’t even aware that they are being preyed upon. I’ve already asked you who it is that you are following; I ask you now: of what help will these people be when you find yourself in the jaws of Satan? Where will these so-called shepherds be when the world has told you its lies and you have at last found them hollow? To Which still waters and green pastures will the hired hands bring you when addiction and vice have destroyed your life?
The Good Shepherd Jesus Christ will not flee from you. He will stand and fight your battles for you. When you are endangered by Satan, by the world, and by your own sinful flesh, it is then that this Shepherd shines. In John 10:17, he states that he has laid down his life for his sheep. He has defended you and rescued you, little sheep, by putting himself in the jaws of the predator. This he did on the cross as a sign of his love and a sign of his grace for the forgiveness of your sins.
But he has also taken that life back up. He was resurrected from the grave. So even now, you are not defenseless. He stands even now to defend you and rescue you from whatever might cross your path tonight or tomorrow or next week or next year. The Good Shepherd has made a lasting covenant with his sheep. He will not leave them or forsake them.
B. The Greatest Gift You Could Share with anyone is the Leadership of the Good Shepherd
Look around you this evening as we go fellowship together. Look around you tomorrow as you walk to and from class. Who or what do people follow? And why do people follow these things? I want you to realize that no one is an individual; every one follows someone or something. Even those people in our society and on this campus that pride themselves on being “different,” even those people follow someone else’s definition of what “different” really is.
The human heart and mind was made for following. It was made for worship. The fundamental problem in our world is that we follow the wrong gods. We follow many gods:
Ø The god of popularity and influence
Ø The god of beauty and lust
Ø The god of friends and relationships
Ø The god of money
Ø The god of autonomy
Ø The god of power
Ø The god of sex
Ø The god of morality
Ø The god of intellectualism
Ø The god of entertainment
The questions we must ask here are 1) why do people worship these gods and follow these shepherds, 2) where will these shepherds lead us, and 3) what will happen when we come across trouble and pain and despair while following these shepherds?
No other religion, religious worldview, or form of spirituality envisions God coming to earth to die in order to save his own. No other religion believes in a crucified God. No other religion believes in grace. I offer to you and through you the fact that the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ came to gather his sheep, to die for them, to be resurrected for them and all this as gift of grace, having nothing to do with the worthiness of the sheep (what sheep is more valuable than a shepherd?), but having everything to do with the grace of the Good Shepherd.
Following Christ on this campus in the year 2007 has nothing to do with what kinds of music you listen to, what kind of movies you watch, what kind of clothes you wear or don’t wear, what kind of fraternity or sorority that you’re in or not in, or whether you’ve ever been to a bar or not. Following Christ has everything to do with the radical forgiveness and acceptance found in the grace of the Good Shepherd, who became the Lamb of God. It has everything to do with living a life dictated not by being “cool” in the Ethan Hawke sense (an actor and a writer?), but by being faithful to the Shepherd who is ever faithful to you. Now, being accepted by the Good Shepherd and being faithful to him will inform you as to the types of things you should:
A) Put into your mind through music or movies or what you are looking at on the internet when no one is watching,
B) Put into your body through what you eat and what you drink,
C) Put on your body through what you wear and how you look, and
D) Put into your daily planner through what you spend your time and energy and passions actually doing.
This is what it means to follow the Good Shepherd: to know that he has provided everything necessary for the sheep and that as a result, the sheep can follow without fear of perdition or predator and encourage other lost sheep to join the flock as we follow the Good Shepherd to greener pastures and stiller waters.
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