The Shepherd

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.  Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.  And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.  And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken. 

Ezekiel 34:20-24

Jesus is the Messiah and God.  Once we accept and embrace His divine nature, our worldview shifts.  We read the gospels in an entirely new light and through a new lens.  His words are no longer the teaching of a mere human prophet, teacher or wise sage; they are the words of God.  John records an account of a time and place where Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and God in a variety of ways.  Because it is vitally important to our faith, we must not miss His claims.

In chapter 10 of John, Jesus describes Himself as the door for the sheep, the entry point to the kingdom of God, the Good Shepherd, and the owner of the sheep.  We are very familiar with Jesus’ words establishing these points, and while it is quite accurate to compare us with unruly wandering sheep, ideally owned, known and led by our Lord and Savior, in the context of the Old Testament, His words contain greater depth than we may initially see.  As Jesus spoke in the temple to religious leaders who knew the Old Testament much better than we do, they likely heard messages that we overlook.  Let’s consider Jesus’ words in the context of the prophets.

While in the temple Jesus says,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” John 10:7

“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.”  John 10:14-15

For this reason the 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 10:17-18

A little later, as He walks through the temple, religious leaders ask Jesus to tell them plainly whether He is truly the Messiah.  Jesus responds saying, “I told you, and you do not believe” (John 10:25).  Before looking at the continuation of His statement, let’s pause for a moment to consider this beginning.  How had He told them?

People in that setting at that time knew the Old Testament much better than we do.  As Jesus spoke about sheep, shepherds and the owner of the sheep, his listeners would have heard Jesus referring to statements made by the prophets, and they would have interpreted Jesus’ statements in the context of what the prophets had said.  For some of the Old Testament context, I encourage you to read Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34 and 37. 

Through the prophets, God claims ownership of the sheep.  They are His sheep and He has appointed shepherds to take care of His sheep, but the shepherds are abusing the sheep, misappropriating resources intended for the sheep and because of the bad shepherds the sheep leave the pasture.  Jeremiah writes,

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.  Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.  Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply.  I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1-4

Ezekiel writes,

The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?  You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.  The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.   So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered;  they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.  Ezekiel 34:1-6

He concludes this section writing,

I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.  And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.  Ezekiel 34:22-24

Three chapters later Ezekiel returns to the theme of sheep writing,

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.  They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.  I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”  Ezekiel 37:24-28

I added italics to statements of God claiming ownership of the sheep, referring to them as “my sheep” and “my flock.”  The sheep belong to Him.  God owns them and He appoints shepherds to care for His sheep.

Through the prophets, God rebukes the shepherds He had appointed, the religious leaders at that time.  He explains in detail that they had been abusing His flock, they had misused the authority God granted them, they had used His blessing for their own benefit and pleasure, and God was not happy about it.  Through Ezekiel, God continues explaining that He will appoint a new shepherd referred to him as “my servant David.”  Ezekiel lived hundreds of years after David, so this refers, not to David himself, rather to a David-like ruler, the One who would come through David’s lineage.

Given the context, let’s reconsider Jesus’ full statement.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”  This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  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, one shepherd.  For this reason the 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 10:1-18

Through the prophets, God foretells the coming of a shepherd who will love and care for His sheep forever.  Jesus presents Himself as that shepherd.  Then He goes further in two directions – He says Gentiles will be included in His flock and He suggests that He is God.  In contrast to the hired hand who does not own the sheep, Jesus knows His sheep, He cares for His sheep, He loves His sheep, He protects His sheep, and provides them lush pasture and life abundant.  By creating this contrast linked to ownership, Jesus presents Himself as the owner of the sheep, which in the context of the prophets makes Him God.

Jesus’ phrasing and imagery likely reminds the religious leaders of God’s previous indictment of all the bad shepherds, and by declaring Himself to be the Good Shepherd, He strongly suggests that the religious leaders listening to Him are not good shepherds, making them bad shepherds worthy of God’s rebuke.  In the context of the prophets, the terminology is clear, and given their familiarity with the prophets, the message would have been clear to them. 

Further, Jesus claimed to have authority over life.  We each can kill, but only God can create life.  Jesus says,

For this reason the 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 10:17-18

Jesus has the authority to resume His life after death.  He has the “authority to take it up again.”  This is a claim of possessing authority that only God possesses, thus a claim of being God.

Shortly after Jesus says that, His listeners ask Him to tell them plainly whether He is the Messiah, Jesus says that He just told them, yet they do not believe.

Then He goes further.  He had just explained that He is the Messiah, the new David, the anointed One who was to come, and He followed that by claiming to be God.  In response to their question, He continues explaining that He is God, and He does this in two ways.  First, He claims ownership of the sheep.  Through Jeremiah and Ezekiel, God explains that He is the owner of the sheep.  God says they are “my flock” (Jeremiah 23:1) and “my sheep” (Ezekiel 34:5-6).  As Jesus continues, He says the sheep are His, which in the context of the prophets, places Jesus in the role of God.  And just in case they missed the reference, Jesus goes further saying “I and the Father are one,” an unmistakable statement of divine nature.  Here is His continuation:

“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  I and the Father are one.”  John 10:25-30

After hearing this, the people listening to Jesus search for stones to hurl at Him (see v.31).  Jesus asks why do they want to kill Him.  They say He blasphemed because He, presumably a mere man, claimed to be God.  Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6 and then explains that God the Father sanctified Him and sent Him into the world, and He is the Son of God, and He urges them to consider the works He performed in the Father’s name as evidence of who He is.  He continues saying, “the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:38).

The religious leaders shift from looking for stones to seeking to arrest Him, but Jesus leaves the temple and travels across the Jordan River to the place where John the Baptist had been preaching.

What does this mean for us?

Jesus explains that He is God in a variety of ways.  He claims to be owner of the sheep, He says He has authority over life, He says “I and the Father are one,” and He says “the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”  But they do not hear.  They simply cannot see that He is God.  They see Him as a blasphemous man who was either crazy or demon-possessed, but certainly not God.  And those are really the options we are left with.  Was He a madman during His earthly ministry or is He God? 

Who do you see Him to be?  May you know in your deepest being that He is God, and may you read His holy word through that lens.  Amen.