A text – John 10:11-18
10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
10:12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away–and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
10:13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
A reflection:
This week of texts includes a couple of sheep and shepherd references. Jesus knew that his audience had experience with sheep, so he (and other Biblical writers and preachers) talked about sheep a lot.
In the case of this passage from John’s gospel, Jesus makes several interesting points about the shepherd.
First, the shepherd, not the hired man who works for an hourly wage, is the one most connected to the sheep. He or she is most likely to take risks to care for them, and the sheep, in turn, know the shepherd’s voice and follow it anywhere. There is a deep relationship between those who need looking after and the one who cares for them. There is recognition and trust.
Second, the shepherd has other sheep not of “this fold.” The shepherd intends that the sheep from elsewhere and the sheep he is now among will be one bigger flock under one shepherd. Jesus makes the point several times in his ministry that he is sent not only to the Jews, God’s chosen people, but also to the Gentiles. This was unbearable to the high orthodox Jews who believed they and they alone had a relationship with their God. They wanted exclusivity.
Third, the Father loves Jesus because Jesus is willing to lay down his life in order to take it up again. This giving up of his life, Jesus says, is a command from the Father, and he will do it of his own free will. His life isn’t taken by the Jewish authorities or the Romans. It is done for all humanity by a loving Triune God, to bring humans right up close to God forever.
Jesus wants his followers to know, even if they don’t quite get what he means at this stage, that he has come to live among us in order to make a right relationship possible between us and God. He empties himself of power and even his very life in order to be raised again after breaking a way through death.
This is quite a shepherd, who takes quite a risk, so that we all might be one forever.
A prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being our shepherd, for staying in relationship with us even through our lapses away from you, even though it costs you everything. Thank you for being willing to save all human beings through the generous gift of yourself. We are grateful sheep. Amen.
Short Dwellings in the Word by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison 