"I am the good shepherd"

Close your eyes and imagine four people calling your name from different corners of a room. One of them is your best friend. Could you pick their voice? Almost certainly. We recognise the voices we know well.

In Jesus' time, several flocks of sheep were often kept together in one pen overnight. In the morning each shepherd called out, and only his own sheep came to him. They knew his voice. In John 10, Jesus says he is the shepherd whose voice you can trust, and it's a much bigger claim than it first sounds.

What you'll learn

• Why "shepherd" was such a loaded word in the Old Testament
• How Jesus compares himself with the thief and the hired hand
• What it means that the good shepherd lays down his life

Bad shepherds and a promise

In the Old Testament, kings and leaders were often called shepherds. David was a real shepherd before he became king, and he wrote one of the best-known lines in the Bible:

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1)

But many of Israel's leaders were bad shepherds. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God said they looked after themselves, not the sheep. They didn't care for the weak, heal the sick or search for the lost, so the flock was scattered. Then God made a promise:

"For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out." (Ezekiel 34:11)

Later in the chapter, God also promised to put one shepherd over his people, his servant David (Ezekiel 34:23). David had died long before, so this meant a new king from David's family.

Now look at what happens just before John 10. In John 9, the religious leaders throw a man out because Jesus healed him. Bad shepherds. Then Jesus goes looking for the man and finds him. John 10 carries on that very conversation.

The good shepherd

In John 10:1–18, Jesus draws some sharp contrasts. The thief sneaks in to steal and destroy. The stranger's voice makes the sheep run away. The hired hand looks after the sheep for pay, but when the wolf comes he runs. And then there's the good shepherd:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." (John 10:10–11)

Here's what makes this shepherd different:

• He knows his sheep by name. You are not a number to Jesus.
• He gives life to the full. Jesus isn't a thief who takes life away. He came to give the best life there is.
• He lays down his life. A hired hand cares more about his pay than the sheep. A good shepherd puts himself between the wolf and the flock.
• He does it willingly. No one takes Jesus' life from him. He lays it down by choice, and he has the power to take it up again (John 10:17–18). That points to the cross and the empty tomb.
• He has other sheep. Jesus has sheep outside Israel too: people from every nation.

In the same chapter Jesus also says, "I am the gate" (John 10:7, 9). He is the way in to safety and life.

Voices you follow

Sheep follow voices. So do people. Think about the voices you listen to: influencers, friends, streamers, ads, celebrities, even the voice in your own head. Try putting them through the shepherd test:

1. Does this voice actually know me?
2. Would it stick with me if it cost them something?
3. Does it lead me towards life, or take life from me?

Plenty of voices want your attention, your clicks or your money. Jesus says he's the voice that knows you completely and gave everything for you.

Key words

• Flock: a group of sheep.
• Pen: the walled yard where sheep were kept at night.
• Hired hand: someone paid to do a job, who doesn't own the sheep.
• Lay down his life: to give up your life willingly for someone else.

How this points to Jesus

God promised two things in Ezekiel 34: that he himself would come and search for his sheep, and that a shepherd-king from David's family would care for them. When Jesus says "I am the good shepherd", he is claiming to be the answer to both promises at once: God himself coming to look after his people, and David's true heir.

Think about it

Take it further

This week, pick one voice you follow a lot, online or offline, and give it the shepherd test. Is it leading you towards life? Your worksheet helps you compare the good shepherd with the thief and the hired hand.

If you'd like to, you could pray:

Jesus, good shepherd, thank you that you know me by name. Thank you that you laid down your life for your sheep. Help me to know your voice and follow you, and not the voices that take life away. Amen.