THE PARABLE OF THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK

(John 10:1-16, 27-29)

1 “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”  6 Jesus used this figure of speech[1], but they did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full[2].

11 I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 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. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also.  They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

A CONTRAST BETWEEN JESUS AND THE PHARISEES

The imagery of a shepherd, his sheep and a sheepfold was familiar to his listeners.  God was the ideal Shepherd of Israel (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 23:1; 80:1; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 31:10) who set human leaders or “shepherds”, like Moses and David, over Israel.  The parable applies immediately to the false shepherding of the Pharisees who had no concern for God’s sheep, as seen by their attitude toward the blind man that Jesus healed (10:21).  Cast out of the synagogue, Jesus welcomed him into his fold.  His listeners did not understand the parable (verse 6), so Jesus explained it using the two pictures of the gate and the good shepherd.  The “watchman” or “gate-keeper” (RSV) has no significance.

JESUS IS THE GATE OR DOOR

In Palestine, the “sheep pen” had only one entrance.  The shepherd would often lie across the gap at the entrance to the sheepfold and become the door, and the only means of access.  Using this image, Jesus taught that the only way to be a member of God’s family was through himself.  He claimed an exclusive right to grant entry to the kingdom of God: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (verse 9).  Jesus later made a similar claim: “I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6).  Only through Jesus can we enjoy a relationship with God (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).  To reject Jesus is to say to God that we would be our own shepherd.  In this picture-story, Jesus challenged two beliefs that were important to Judaism: each Jew considered that he was a member of God’s kingdom by virtue of his birth as a descendant of Abraham, and that this honour was exclusive to his own people Israel. 

JESUS IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD

God promised Israel that he would hold to account self-interested leaders and appoint one true shepherd i.e. Christ (Ezekiel 34:23-24).  Twice Jesus makes an absolute claim to be the promised Shepherd of God’s people (verses 11 and 14).  He fulfilled OT prophecies and was not a self-appointed Saviour.  The Greek word translated “good” has the idea of beauty, attractiveness, and excellence, as well as moral goodness.  Since he knows his sheep “by name” (verse 3), he gives individual attention to each believer.  Jesus gives us an unqualified assurance that he personally knows his sheep in the same way that God the Father and God the Son know each other (verses 14-15).  This is an extraordinary statement!  For Jesus to completely know us as undeserving sinners, and yet offer us his unconditional love is an amazing reassurance of his grace.

Jesus’ description of believers as sheep is unflattering.  Sheep, as well as shepherds, are a problem.  They are defenceless, wilful animals, likely to wander into danger or foolishly follow the crowd, unable to care for themselves, and in need constant protection and care.  Sheep without a leader are in a difficult position.  Jesus loves his flock with a self-giving sacrificial love.  Five times, he refers to his death for the benefit of the flock (verses 11-18).  He loved his sheep and chose to “lay down his life” for them as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). 

Jesus offers “pasture”, or salvation, that includes provision, rest, security, and eternal life.  He seeks the lost sheep (Luke 15:4, 7).  Moreover as the “great Shepherd” (Hebrews 13:20) and the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4), he is the model for human leadership: “Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28-29).  Similarly, Peter encouraged elders or overseers to tend or care for God’s flock with the right motives, and be “examples” and models for people to follow (1 Peter 5:1-3).

Consider his assurance of protecting power: “No one can snatch them out of my hand or out of my Father’s hand” (verses 28-29 c.f. Romans 8:38-39).  The sheep belong to Christ as the Father’s gift to him.  Their eternal life is “given”, not earned.  They find eternal security in the ability of Jesus to keep them safely, not in their own ability.  No one, not Satan nor any wolf, is strong enough to take any of the flock from the “hand” or power of the Father, or from Jesus’ hand.  The basis of our salvation rests in God, not in us.  Here is a firm basis for faith.  This promise of eternal security encourages holy living, not careless living.

THE MARKS OF A TRUE SHEPHERD

This parable suggests guidelines for those in church leadership, especially under-shepherds, or those with pastoral responsibilities.  Jesus models a consistent commitment and a self-sacrificing devotion to the welfare of his flock.  His leadership allows the sheep to daily “come in and go out” (verse 9) i.e. it provides freedom within his overseeing care.  He provides true security in the sheep-pen, or Christian fellowship, and on the hill pastures of life.  There is a danger that the professional shepherd becomes merely the “hired hand” who “cares nothing for the sheep” (verse 13) but more for personal ambition, reputation and tangible rewards.

Formal titles, status, and office, mean little in genuine shepherding.  Three times Jesus told Peter that self-giving love for Christ is the all-important qualification for Christian service (John 21: 15, 16, 17).  The eastern shepherd did not drive the sheep, but went before them, leading them.  Significantly, the butcher drives them!  A church leader should live a life for others to follow, setting an example from the front.

THE MARKS OF A FALSE SHEPHERD

In a backward glance at Israel’s history, Jesus saw many “wolves” that had plundered the flock and “scattered it” (verse 12).  The wolf is the natural enemy of the sheep and is a suitable symbol of the spiritual enemies of believers (Acts 20:29).  In the OT (Ezekiel 34, Jeremiah 23:1-4 and 25:32-38), there is a stern condemnation of faithless shepherds who exploited God’s people for personal gain, and selfishly cared for themselves rather than for the flock.  False teachers, imitation messiahs, and spiritual impostors, do not have the same commitment to the welfare of the flock, as does the Owner of the sheep.  They are ferocious “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15).

The parable has a wider application to any person who claims to be the Shepherd whose voice the flock should exclusively hear.  False shepherds, like the Pharisees, were “thieves and robbers” (verse 8) who exploited the sheep, and burdened them with their own misguided interpretations of Scripture.  The “thief” (verses 1, 8, 10) steals the sheep and does not lead them.  In an unhealthy church one or two domineering individuals appoint themselves as leaders and “lord it over” (NIV) or “rule over” (TEV) others, demanding unquestioning obedience as their right (1 Peter 5:3).  Any spiritually abusive authoritarian leadership with dogmatic rules is the “stranger’s voice” (verse 5).  Believers need to evaluate all who claim pastoral authority and have positions of pre-eminence. 

Jesus alone is the spiritual leader of his people.  Sometimes it is difficult for believers to discern between the voice of God and the voice of the self-seeking shepherd.  Jesus gives us one means of assessing false shepherds: “My sheep listen to my voice” (verse 27 c.f. verses 3, 5, and 16).  The sheep know and love the voice of the Shepherd by the Holy Spirit.  There is another test in this parable: Jesus offers life while the false shepherds offer death.  Jesus is positive and constructive while Satan is negative and destructive.  Jesus offers a new quality of life, full and enjoyable, based on a personal relationship with him: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” or “have it abundantly” (RSV) or “have life in all its fullness” (TEV).  The idea is an overflow or abundance of all that sustains life.  In contrast, the “thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”.  Satan, the “thief”, who is behind the false shepherds, seeks to kill the sheep with false teaching.

ONE FLOCK WITH ONE SHEPHERD

Israel was God’s people-sheep.  Jesus’ mention of the “other sheep that are not of this [Jewish] sheep pen” anticipates the inclusion of the Gentiles or non-Jews in the family of God.  Jesus brings together the “scattered children of God and makes them one” (11:51-52; c.f. Matthew 28:18-19).  It may also refer to the future re-gathering of dispersed Israel (Ezekiel 37:21-24; Micah 2:12).  God’s love in Christ is for the whole world (3:16-17) with no special national privileges (Romans 10:12; Ephesians 2:14).  The reference to “one flock and one shepherd” (verse 16) does not describe a monolithic one world church based on ecclesiastical power politics, a large bureaucracy, and a human leader. 

“One flock and one shepherd” describes the Church with both Jewish and Gentile believers in a worldwide “body” with Christ as the Head, regardless of their denominational affiliations and cultural differences (Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:11-22).  There are different folds in different cultures but there is only one flock of God centred on the Shepherd.  Sometimes we believers try to define God’s people as those who think as we do.  However, Jesus defined membership of his Church not in doctrinal terms but simply as “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me” (verse 27) i.e. obedience and loyalty to himself.  God’s people have a “unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3) i.e. a spiritual unity based on Christ.

FOR REFLECTION

• Many people-groups have not heard of Christ the Shepherd and the flock is incomplete.
• The word “pastor” (Ephesians 4:11) is the Latin word for “shepherd.”
• “My sheep listen to my voice”.  Take time to be quiet in God’s presence, practice a disciplined listening or reflection, and sharpen your spiritual perception.
• Am I in Christian service to satisfy my own needs or do I honestly follow the command of Christ, “Take care of my sheep”? (John 21:16, c.f. verses 15 and 17).
• Only the love of Jesus is unconditional and without limits.  We cannot expect ultimate love from anyone other than Jesus, no matter how helpful another person may be.
• How may we discern false spiritual leaders who take the place of Christ in our lives?
• The verbs “listen” and “follow” (verse 27) are in the present tense and refer to repeated or habitual activity.  The sheep are not passive.
• All of us are in some position of leadership at work, within family, at church, or among friends.  How well do I look after those in my care?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we pray for the shepherds who guide, guard and nurture the flock of God, as well as community leaders.  May all believers be good shepherds to others.  Amen.

Jim Peacock M. A. (Hons), Diploma of Education.