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The Good Shepherd
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” — John 10:11-18, NASB
After explaining to the Jewish legalists His role as the Door of the sheep and thus the only path to salvation, Jesus continues the sheep tending analogy of John 10 by outlining His role as the Good Shepherd. The teaching expands on the principle that sheep are wholly dependent on their shepherd for protection and contrasts the actions of a true shepherd with those of a hired hand. Here again Jesus equates Himself with God, emphasizes His necessary sacrifice for the deliverance of believers, and reveals that the gift of salvation extends beyond the borders of Israel.
As caretakers of wayward and helpless sheep, shepherds have large and varied responsibilities. They lead, protect, and provide for their flocks, duties that require a full and constant commitment. In the context of this passage, the costliest task of the shepherd is emphasized—to sacrifice himself if necessary for the welfare of the sheep.
Still addressing the Pharisees, Jesus associates Himself with the shepherd while likening them to hired hands. The shepherd is fully invested in the protection of his flock, even to the point of death, but an individual tending the sheep for a wage has only a superficial commitment to the task. Such false shepherds have no genuine concern for the welfare of the sheep and will abandon them in the face of difficulty or danger. This is a picture of the religious elites of first century Israel as well as the charlatans of all stripes that have deceived seekers of God’s kingdom throughout history. While the primary purpose of Jesus’s ministry on earth was to seek and save those who were lost, the hypocritical Pharisees—loath to embracing sinners, indifferent to their flock and absorbed with their own fiefdom—had no such inclination.
Sheep are understood to belong to the shepherd. Just as the shepherd knows his own sheep and they know him, God seeks His own and His own respond to His call. With the same certainty that the Son knows the Father, by way of the word of God true believers know and trust in Jesus. He rewards their trust through His atoning death, resurrection, and intercession at the right hand of the Father—He lays down His life for the sheep, and in doing so delivers to them a security that is assured and eternal.
Verse 16 is particularly significant because in it Jesus declares that access to the kingdom of God is not limited to the Jewish nation. Throughout its tumultuous history, Israel had proven itself a poor steward of the kingdom. By their transgression, the gates to salvation were thrown open, allowing entrance to all who respond to the gospel regardless of ancestry. The "other sheep, which are not of this fold" represent gentiles called to faith in Jesus, while the "one flock with one shepherd" illustrates the complete Christian church, comprised of both Jewish and gentile believers. Such a concept was outrageous to the Pharisees, and they thought Him possessed.
In verses 17 and 18 Jesus's predetermined atoning death and resurrection is affirmed. The fact that He has the power to lay down His life and then take it back up again authenticates Him as God Almighty. As illustrated numerous times in the gospels, no one takes His life from Him but He lays it down of His own accord. In His eternal counsel, God has determined that the Son will be the substitutionary atonement for humanity; the Father commands it, and the Son is obedient. Love for God means to be
obedient to His commandments, and it is explained that for this reason the Father loves the Son.
Christians belong to the Good Shepherd, having been bought at a very high price. Regardless of their ancestry and despite their sinful state, He calls them to His sheepfold and they respond. There He affords them complete protection and meets all their needs. While sheep usurped by false shepherds are abandoned, having been led to their destruction, God's chosen flock is attended always by the Good Shepherd and led through one Door to the green pastures and still waters of everlasting life. Through His word, He calls His sheep even now—may all who hear Him come and enter into His eternal protection.
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Most scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB)
