A Story Awaiting the Good Shepherd
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Old Testament prophets, employ the metaphor of Israel’s leaders being shepherds and the people as being sheep. In both Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 34, the shepherds are condemned for how they treated the flock. They are accused of destroying and scattering the sheep and not attending to them (Jer. 23:1-2). The shepherds slaughtered the sheep, clothed themselves with their wool, but did not feed the sheep. The shepherds failed to strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, or seek out the lost ones. With such negligence, the sheep became fodder for wild prey (Ezekiel 34:1-10).
In both instances, however, the prophets sound a note of future hope. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”[1] This promise harkens back to the Davidic covenant when God promised to establish David’s throne forever through a “son of David” (see 2 Samuel 7:1-16). One day God would replace these false leaders with His promised Messiah.
Ezekiel has a similar hope of salvation. “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.’”[2] One who is familiar with the Gospels can hardly read these words without thinking of the parable of the lost sheep (see Matt. 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7).
In the Bible’s storyline, therefore, John 10 comes as a thunderous climax. When will God, the Good Shepherd, come and tend to His people? “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus declares. In contrast to the false and evil shepherds before him, Jesus says he will:
- Provide abundant life for his sheep (10:10)
- Lay down his life for the sheep (10:11)
- Know his sheep and be known by them (10:14)
- Gather all his sheep and makes them one unified flock (10:16)
- Sacrifice, voluntarily, his life for the benefit of the sheep (10:17-18)
That word “sacrifice” has an amazing ring to it, doesn’t it? We know that the Gospel of John (as well as Matthew, Mark, and Luke) highlights Jesus paying the ultimate sacrifice by willingly dying on a Roman cross for the benefit of his sheep. How do they benefit? The Old Testament gives us dozens of examples where a lamb (or goat or bull) is sacrificed to pay for the sins of individuals or the community. In a mixing of metaphors, Jesus the Good Shepherd became the sacrificial lamb who laid down his life for us. God “made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”[3] Jesus took on our sin. We can receive his righteousness.
Jesus demonstrated sacrifice by being our substitute. Though we cannot imitate his sacrifice for sins, he too calls us to lay down our lives for others (see John 15:13 and 1 John 3:16). Also, how can church leaders imitate the Good Shepherd in the way they tend the flock of God (see 1 Peter 5:1-4)?
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Je 23:5.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eze 34:11–12.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), 2 Co 5:21.