The Good Shepherd

May 20

I Samuel 15

Psalm 63:1-5

Proverbs 14:5-7

John 10

The Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.  And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.  For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.  No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down….My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish—ever; 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 10:11, 14-18, 27-30 LSB

There is so much rich theology in John 10 that a quick devotional reading cannot possibly do it justice.  I urge you to please study this passage in more depth on your own.  Jesus introduces Himself in this passage as the good shepherd.  His audience would have been very familiar with shepherds.  In modern times, we have romanticized the shepherd as a quiet soul, gentle, caring, perhaps an artist, but in Biblical times shepherds were not esteemed.  They were at the bottom of the social ladder.  They lived isolated lives out in the fields with smelly, dumb animals.  Instead of portraying Himself as a king, a religious leader, or a ruler, He chose to identify with the lowly shepherds.   Jesus described the shepherd lovingly caring for his flock, even being willing to lay down his life for his sheep.  Jesus wanted them to understand that they were not going to take His life, He was going to lay it down willingly, offering Himself as a sacrifice.   He had the power to stop them.  He could have called 10,000 angels to defend Him or, for that matter, He could have just spoken a word and the Jews who were accusing Him along with the Roman soldiers would have dropped dead.  They had no power over Him.  He allowed the events to happen exactly as they did so that He could be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  (John 1:29) 

Jesus made the point twice in this passage that His sheep know Him.  They recognize His voice because they truly know Him and He knows them.  He clearly says that He has given them eternal life and they will never perish.  No one can snatch them from His hand.  God has given them to Him and no one can take them away from Him.  This is a very comforting passage because it assures us that those who have been saved can never lose their salvation.  Just as we did nothing to earn salvation, we can do nothing to keep it.  When we ask Jesus to save us, believe in Him and ask Him to be our Savior, He begins working in us to sanctify us and increase our faith.  The One who purchased our salvation is capable of delivering us to His Father.  If it was up to us, we certainly would lose it, but thankfully, His righteousness covers our sinful hearts and purifies us.  Up until this time, God’s offer of salvation had been to the Jews.  But in this passage Jesus explained that there were sheep in another fold that He wanted to bring into His flock.  He was foreshadowing the gospel being presented to the Gentiles and that the Jews and Gentiles would become one flock of believers with one shepherd, Jesus.