I am the Good Shepherd
“I am the Good Shepherd” has a sort of comforting feel about it doesn’t it? But when Jesus says it in this passage his listeners may not have had the same response. They would have realised that he was saying something very significant; in fact, making a claim that no-one should dare to make.
Now I imagine you know that sheep and shepherds in the Old Testament were a well-known metaphor for the people of God.
For example, in a couple of weeks we’ll be reminded again of those words from Isaiah: “All we like sheep have gone astray. We’ve all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah was referring to the nation of Israel as he wrote those words, though we understand that they apply to us as well.
Today we often refer to Christian ministers as pastors. Ministers even refer to their congregation as their flock. So it’s still a common metaphor for God’s people.
But I wonder how you feel about being described as a sheep. Sheep don’t really get good press, do they? We sort of think of them as being a bit slow; a bit unreliable; likely to wander off like the lost sheep in Jesus’ Parable. It’d be much better to be thought of as a sheep dog, wouldn’t it? One of those clever muster dogs you see in the ABC series of the same name. [video clip]
But you know sheep aren’t necessarily as dumb as they seem. They actually have a built-in intelligence that allows the sheep dog to do such an amazing job of rounding them up. You see whenever they sense danger they naturally move closer together. They don’t have any natural defence against a predator so if they bunch together they feel safer. I guess if there are 100 of you together there’s only a 1% chance of being eaten by the predator, so it’s not a bad instinct. Not that sheep understand statistics. But you get the point.
Sheep are smarter than you may think; but still, they’re vulnerable, in need of protection. That’s why they need a shepherd. I’ll come back to that later.
As I said, sheep and shepherds is a recurring metaphor in the Old Testament for the people of Israel. They’re thought of as being God’s flock under the care of shepherds that God had put over them. David of course was the best known of those shepherds and perhaps the idea came from his role as a shepherd before being made king.
But when we come to this particular saying of Jesus his hearers would immediately have thought of a passage from Ezekiel 34. There God accuses the leaders of the nation of neglecting his people, in fact of abusing them, clothing themselves in sheepskin coats, keeping their feet warm in Ugh boots, perhaps, growing fat on the meat from slaughtered lambs, when instead they should have been feeding those lambs.
He says the sheep are scattered and in danger because the shepherds of Israel have failed to care for them, so God himself will come and seek out the sheep and care for them. He’ll appoint his servant David, that is, the promised Messiah, to be their shepherd to feed them and look after them.
So you can imagine their shock when Jesus announces that he is that good shepherd; when he says that unlike human shepherds when danger arises, he’ll stay and even lay down his life for the sheep. He’ll lead them out and the sheep will follow him because they know his voice. It’s an amazing claim isn’t it?
And where will he lead them do you think? Well, he’ll lead them to good pastures, as Psalm 23 says. He’ll feed them and guide them.
Notice, by the way, how Jesus broadens this idea of God’s flock: “16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” Suddenly the idea that the shepherd and sheep metaphor applies only to Israel is shattered. Now “the people of God” includes those of every nation: which is what God had promised to Abraham. All people will be blessed through Jesus.
But still, this idea of a sheepfold where the shepherd keeps his flock safe and from which he takes them out to feed remains.
So what’s the sheepfold now? It’s clearly not the people of Israel any more. No, it’s now the church, the new community that God has created for us. How do you come into this new community? Well, you come in via the gate (v.1). Those who come in some other way are thieves and bandits Jesus says. They’re there under false pretences. So what’s this gate? The Jews would have said it was being born into Abraham’s line. But Jesus has just knocked that on its head. So what is it? Is it baptism and confirmation? Is it adult baptism? Is it showing the signs of spiritual gifts? Is it a commitment to obey God’s law? No, it’s none of those human generated indicators is it? It’s there in v9: “I am the gate for the sheep.” Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, he says during the Last Supper. If you want to come into God’s new community of faith you have to come through faith in Jesus Christ. There are no other ways to enter. And when you enter you’re completely safe because you’re with Jesus, the good shepherd.
Now we all know that don’t we? But how much have we grasped the enormity of what Jesus is saying here? See what he says at the end of v14: “I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” Think about that. It’s not just that we’ve been welcomed in to this community of faith where we’ll be loved and cared for, comforted and encouraged, all of which is great. No, Jesus now knows us by name. Jesus allows us to know him. And we’re not talking about knowing him the way we know that acquaintance you catch the train with every morning or the barista you get your coffee from every day. He says he knows us and we know him the way the Father knows him and he knows the Father. There’s a level of familial intimacy implied there that should blow our minds.
Now, that knowledge on our part may still be like looking in a grimy mirror as 1 Corinthians 13 says, but still the idea is there and will become fully true in the life to come when we see him fact to face. But even now we have within us the ability to commune with the Spirit of God who dwells within us. Jesus says he will go before us and lead us, and again, during the Last Supper, he expands on that when he promises to send his Holy Spirit to be our new counsellor. His Holy Spirit is given to us to help us know where to go and what to do; to be our comforter and guide.
But let’s go back to where we started. Even if we don’t like the idea that we’re like sheep, there is some truth in it. As Christians we are vulnerable. We’re vulnerable to our own weaknesses and failings and we’re vulnerable to a world outside that’s fundamentally opposed to God’s rule. We need someone to protect us. Now of course that’s part of the problem with being told we’re like sheep. We don’t like to admit that we’re vulnerable; that we have weaknesses. That sort of idea is totally opposed to our cultural belief in personal autonomy, in self-sufficiency? Isn’t that one of the hallmarks of 21st century western ideology? I must have personal autonomy and agency in every area of my life. Well good luck with that!
C.S. Lewis in ‘The Great Divorce’ describes Hell as being like an empty city full of houses left vacant by people who’ve kept moving further out of the city because they couldn’t stand living near people who had different ideas to them. Therein lies the danger of our fixation on personal autonomy. It leads to a breakdown of community. We’ve seen plenty of examples of that over the past few years haven’t we?
By contrast Jesus has created a community where we’re meant to look after each other, to submit to one another, to see the other person’s needs as more important than our own. That’s about as countercultural as you can get in our modern world isn’t it? And if we’re to do that we might need to allow ourselves to show our vulnerability to others, to ask for help, to ask others to pray for us perhaps. We might need to share our personal struggles as well as our successes.
You see, this place, this church, is Jesus’ sheepfold: a place of sanctuary and healing; of feeding and building up.
But, having said that, we need to add that it’s not somewhere to hide away. The sheepfold was where the sheep were taken at night but then they were led out into the pasture for the daylight hours.
So in our case the church is a place to return to after venturing out into the world. Most of our life, in fact, is spent in the world; where we work; where we shop; where we enjoy life; where perhaps we join with others in community activities. For some that’ll mean taking the risk of identifying as a Christian with the possibility of pushback from people who have a twisted view of what Christians are like or what we think. For all of us it’ll mean being exposed to ideas that go against the things that God has revealed in his word - like the importance of personal autonomy. In some cases it might mean being exposed to ideas that challenge some of the traditions of Christianity, in some instances for good reason.
In each of those cases the church is meant as a place of safety and refuge; a place where we’ll be supported and looked after if we need it; but also a place where we can examine the ideas that we’ve met outside, to work out what might be true and what isn’t; a place where God’s values and standards are taught and reinforced.
But let’s not forget that the church is also to be a place where we can be enabled to enjoy life to the full (v10). You heard that as we listened to the passage did you? Jesus said “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” We need to be careful that our life together is about abundance rather than limitation. Too often in the church’s history its traditions have been about limiting rather than abounding. Too often the church has ended up being exclusionary rather than welcoming. Let’s make sure that never happens here.
That leads me on to say something about Jesus being the gate or the gatekeeper. This reference to the gatekeeper is probably a dig at the Pharisees, who thought of themselves as the gatekeepers of God’s law. Do you may remember in the previous chapter from last week, how at the end they rebuked the blind man for trying to teach them how to discern the works of God. Do you remember he made a sarcastic comment about how amazing it was that this man, Jesus, had opened his eyes and they didn’t know where he’d come from? And how did they respond? They put him in his place, quite nastily, by accusing him of being born entirely in sin.
But Jesus comes, not to keep people in order, not to set up a set of rules for people to follow, but to call people to follow him. In Jesus’ sheepfold safety is found in being with the shepherd not just being within the walls.
Again, this is a warning for us. People love to build walls to keep out evil but then the danger is twofold. First there’s the danger that you’ll exclude as many people as you keep safe; and secondly there’s the danger that you inadvertently include wolves (in sheep’s clothing) within your walls, and they’ll delight in devouring the sheep within. In fact the way they may do that is often through the systems that are set up to keep danger out: the rules, the systems of control that people in power love to set up.
Finally, a quick comment about gatekeepers. Gatekeepers can be good and they can be bad. You may already know that almost every church has its gatekeepers. Every new vicar is warned to watch out for them. But my experience is that gatekeepers aren’t necessarily bad. In fact we need to have godly people watching over the life of our churches. We need people who’ll work hard at ensuring that what we do is uplifting and nurturing and caring of our members. We need people who are encouraging the preaching of the gospel. We need those who’ll invite and welcome people into our midst so they too can experience what it’s like to be within Jesus’ home – to shift the metaphor away from sheep for a moment.
So, each one of us needs to be a gatekeeper. Let’s not just leave it to 2 or 3 to watch over our community. Let’s all take this as our responsibility as Jesus’ body here on earth.
So, what do we take away from this passage that we may well have read a dozen times before?
We can give thanks that Jesus has called us to be part of his people in this or some other place where he is worshipped as God’s Son and our saviour.
We can meditate on what it means to know and be known by Jesus in such a deep and intimate way as he describes.
And we can think about how we might imitate Christ in being a shepherd and a gatekeeper for his people?
