Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
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John 10:1-16
The Shepherd and His Flock
“I tell you the truth, the one 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 one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the 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, but the Pharisees 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 came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They 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.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own 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.
In this passage, Jesus uses a couple of different metaphors about keeping sheep to illustrate the nature of his relationship to his followers. The passage can be a little confusing to modern readers, because the various metaphors don’t exactly match up, even though they all have to do with sheep. But that gives us an opportunity to think about the way the Gospel of John was compiled.
From the earliest days of the church, it has been understood that when the apostles collected the teachings of Jesus into the books we call “the gospels,” they took great care to record those teachings very accurately. But it has also been understood that the apostles never claimed that the things Jesus did and said were recorded in exact chronological order. In fact, there are documents from the early church that tell us that.
With that being the case, it makes sense that when they collected those stories and teachings of Jesus, the apostles would have grouped together teachings that shared common themes. That would have been especially true of the Gospel of John, because it was published twenty or thirty years after any of the other gospels. To those who compiled this gospel (probably the disciples of the apostle John) it would have made sense to put together these blocks of material that used shepherding metaphors, even though combining the shepherd and sheep-gate metaphors might be a little confusing to us.
We should probably note that this idea of a shepherd as a metaphor for leadership among God’s people was widely used in traditional Jewish thought. As you probably remember, David was considered to be the greatest leader in the history of the covenant people, and he had been a shepherd before embarking on his career as a warrior and king. And of course, the most beloved of all the psalms, Psalm 23, starts with the famous words, “The Lord is my shepherd.” This same metaphor appears in several other places in the Old Testament, too.
One of the things that makes the shepherding metaphor work so well is that sheep are known to be sort of clueless. And that makes them vulnerable. Sheep need the guidance and protection of shepherds to find food and water, and to avoid being eaten by predators. So this metaphor of a shepherd expresses the understanding that those of us who follow Jesus really need his spiritual guidance and protection if we’re going to be in right relationship with God. Trying to be righteous enough to please God on our own won’t work.
The two metaphors in this passage each give us something interesting to think about in regard to our relationship with him.
In one part of this passage, Jesus calls himself the gate for the sheep – the only way for the sheep to reach the safety of the fold. In our time, people outside the faith are uncomfortable with our claim that Jesus is the one and only way to God. But if we believe that Jesus was God in human form – and that’s what our theology teaches us – then we probably have to accept that he knew what was talking about when he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me.”
In another part of today’s reading, Jesus says he is like a good shepherd. His sheep recognize his voice and find comfort and peace in his protection. Those of us who follow Jesus sort of instinctively recognize the truth of what he says and we trust in it. In my experience, those who really commit themselves to studying and thinking about the life and teachings of Jesus reach a point where those things become a lens through which they see everything in their lives. And there really is comfort and peace in that.
Jesus also contrasts himself to other ‘shepherds.’ Presumably he’s talking about the Pharisees, the high priests and the other Hebrew religious leaders of his time – and maybe even to the religious and civil leaders from Israel’s past. Jesus says he looks after the sheep with genuine care and concern, unlike the others who are thieves and robbers. These other shepherds are only in it for the money, he says, so they run away when danger appears, and leave the sheep to fend for themselves. Jesus, on the other hand, has a deep personal commitment to the protection of the sheep. He would prove that by laying down his life for them.
We should also note that at the end of the passage, Jesus says he has “other sheep that are not of this sheep pen” – followers who will come from beyond the bounds of Israel. Those followers from the gentile world will be brought together as one flock with one shepherd. By the time the Gospel of John was published, the mission to the greater world was well underway.
Our reading for today reminds us of the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15, in which Jesus compares himself to a shepherd who searches tirelessly for a single lost sheep until he finds it, and then celebrates its rescue. Isn’t it great to think that the maker and sustainer of the universe considers you and me so important that he’s willing to work tirelessly to make sure we’re safely in his flock?
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for the comfort and assurance that you are always with us, guiding and protecting us. Help us always to be listening for your voice, and responding in obedience and imitation of Jesus in all that we say and do. Amen.
Every Blessing,
Henry
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