Last week we discussed in verses John 10:7-10 how Jesus is the Doorway. In the next verses (John 10:11-18) Jesus is now stating that He is the good shepherd. This is a continuation of Jesus speaking.
God is often described as the shepherd of Israel, and similarly, the patriarchs, Moses and David were shepherds. Leadership in Israel meant shepherding, and ungodly Israelite kings were called false shepherds. In these verses the superiority of Jesus’ work is given. Not only is His devotion to the sheep such that he is willing to die for them while others flee from danger; he also knows them deeply. Let us take a look at these passages.
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. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Verse 10:11 provides the key to our passage and another one of the famous “I Am” statements of this Gospel. The good shepherd does not just lie across the opening of the pen to frighten away dangerous predators; if necessary he lays down his life for the sheep. Unlike the “worthless” shepherd of Zechariah 11:17, the good shepherd makes the supreme sacrifice.
The word halos (good) emphasizes genuineness, value, and truth. This verse shows us how the good shepherd differs from other shepherds. They might risk their lives for the sheep as David did in fighting off lions and bears, but they would never intentionally die for the sheep as the good shepherd will do. This passage describes substitutionary atonement for sin, the supreme sacrifice of Calvary.
The shepherd does not die for his sheep to serve as an example, throwing himself off a cliff in a grotesque and futile display while bellowing, ‘See how much I love you!’ No, the assumption is that the sheep are in mortal danger; that in their defense the shepherd loses his life; and by his death they are saved. That, and that alone, is what makes him the good shepherd.
The good shepherd cares for the sheep in a way no hired hand could. We dare not equate the hired hand with the thieves and robbers described earlier. They are clearly evil; he suffers from poor motivation. Since the sheep do not belong to the hired hand, he will not risk his life to save them. He only wants his paycheck and will protect the sheep only when their enemies provide no threat to his own life and safety. Later in the New Testament Peter warned the elders of the church not to be like hired-hand shepherds who functioned with a mercenary attitude (1 Peter 5:1-7).
We also see that the shepherd relates to the sheep in trust and intimacy. What a comparison! The good shepherd knows his sheep in the same way the Father knows the Son. Not only that, but the sheep know the shepherd in the same way the Son knows the Father. Notice how often the Lord talked about laying down his life for the sheep, five times in eight verses, a phraseology unique to John’s Gospel. The third person statement of verse 11has now become first person: I lay down my life.
We will never be able to give our lives as Jesus gave His life for us, He died for us as our sin-bearer, nevertheless, there are other ways in which we can give our lives for others. We can give our time in order to help them. We can sacrifice things that we would rather do or rather have in order to serve and give to others. In other words, we must put others ahead of ourselves. Our primary desire must be for their spiritual well-being and comfort.
But who are these other sheep that are not of this sheep pen? Most scholars believe this refers to non-Jews, the Gentile believers who would become a part of the Lord’s people as the disciples preached the gospel in Acts. And in multi-flock pens, it becomes all the more important for sheep to understand their master’s voice. These various flocks, Jesus said, will be one because they follow one shepherd. This is a beautiful picture of the unification of genders and ethnic groupings through the Savior.
Jesus not only proclaimed additional sheep outside the scope of his hearers’ thinking; he also said that he must bring them to the one flock. Through the centuries the English text has occasionally substituted the word fold for flock, thereby giving the verse a different orientation. There are many folds (pens) containing other sheep that must be reached. But when the spiritual unity of Christ’s followers comes into correct perspective, there is only one flock, one body of Christ, with many denominations and affiliations.
The Lord emphasized that his death on the cross would not occur because earthly powers are stronger than the power of the heavenly Father. He would lay down his life willingly and at the time the Father required it. Substitutionary atonement is the heart of the gospel (Isaiah 53:6), and that certainly focuses the Lord’s words here. He would join the sheep from a variety of pens and he would die for all of them.