The Lord Is My Shepherd (Psalm 23 & John 10.11-18)

1"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. 7Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The 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. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. 13The 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— 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I 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. 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No 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."

This figurative, elegant, and instructive passage uses the image of Jesus as the Good shepherd as an illustration in caring. It repeats the imagery of the Shepherd used Some 600 years earlier in, the psalm written by King David – ‘The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 23). Once again we are confronted by an image of God that has become sentimental, kitsch and unrealistic. What do you think of when you hear Jesus saying, “I am the good shepherd”? If you’re like most people, you will visualize Jesus the way he’s shown in paintings, surrounded by a flock of adoring sheep, with one small lamb on his shoulders, and he’s smiling that easy smile that painters always give him, as if he’s saying, “He’s ain’t heavy; he’s my brother.” We think of him as talking to the sheep, maybe singing to them, maybe giving them bits from his lunch, petting them and making a fuss of them. The scene might be like one of those early summer evenings where the sun is setting on the horizon. The scene is tranquil and gentle, calm, lovely and reassuring. This image of Jesus as the Good shepherd is also false and unrealistic

There is some truth to the image. The sheep in the East are so tame and so trained that they follow their keeper with the utmost docility. The Eastern shepherds lead their sheep, while in our country we drive them. They give names to sheep as we do to horses, cows, and dogs. However, this not withstanding, as mental picture of God it is so sweet it makes me sick. It is not even close to what Jesus meant when he said “I am the good shepherd.” A painting of a serene and gentle shepherd might make us feel all warm and comfortable, but we were not saved by Jesus’ sweetness and gentleness. A man torn and bleeding and willing to die on a cross saved us. We were saved by a strong man, a courageous man, a man who proved when he laid down his life for us that he was the Good shepherd.

Our mental image is pointless if it does not convey anything of the reality of what Jesus meant. Jesus is the good shepherd because he sacrifices his life for the sheep (Jn 10:11-12). The test of a good shepherd is not what goes on when the sheep are happily grazing. It takes no brains or virtue to be nice to sheep that are ‘baa-ing’ contentedly while chewing grass. The test of the good shepherd is what he does when the sheep are attacked. The sheepfolds of the East are large enclosures, open to the sky, but walled around with reeds or stones or brick in order to afford a protection against robbers, wolves, and other beasts of prey. There is a large door in which the shepherd enters with the sheep. The door is for the shepherd and the sheep, while those who get in otherwise are robbers who seek to prey upon the sheep. In that unsettled country the shepherd had often to defend his flock either against robbers or else against other animals.

This rethought out good-when-it-is-bad-shepherd can tell us something about God and something about ourselves. It tells us that there is such a thing as right and wrong as opposed to preference and choice. I had an example of something that was wrong when I was began to receive a series of lewd text messages. They were blunt propositions to meet up with ‘sexy Sandra! Dress size 10-1!ready and waiting!’ I felt horribly uneasy and deleted them as soon as they came in. It was not until I checked my phone bill that I realised that I was being charged £1.25 for each of these messages. By this time I had received 87 and so I had a bill of over £100 for messages that I had not requested and did not want. I have my good name to consider and I did not like the fact that somewhere there was a record of me receiving these messages. I am a priest and a married man. There are right and wrong places for the sheep to go and there are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ things for us. When something bad happens I am glad for a God that is a good shepherd who will lay down my life for me. Jesus’ willingness to lay down his life does not refer simply and only to that horrible single day, when the Lamb of God(1) was slain. In reality, Jesus laid down his life every day willing to put himself out for the good of others. Jesus is our good shepherd but are we a good shepherd to those that God has given us to care about?