Richard Burgess
Too often people get distorted or plain wrong ideas about God. Right from humanities earliest days when the serpent suggested to Adam and Eve that God was not as good as what he had revealed himself to be, the enemy has sought to distort and destroy the true knowledge of God.
One of the ideas that the enemy has sought to put into our minds is that God is hard and harsh, a tyrant who threatens and demands, but whatever we do it is not enough, and so our guilt (and we all have it, because we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory) becomes an increasingly intolerable burden. No amount of religion, no amount of confession, no amount of going to church, no amount of good works, is able to bring full relief.
The leaders in Jesus’s day acted in this way, laying heavy burdens on people, making demands that they couldn’t possibly fulfill, thus keeping them from God and his blessing. Which is what makes chapter 10 in John’s gospel about the Good Shepherd so fascinating.
Context they say is everything and no more so than here. In the previous chapter, we see Jesus giving sight to a man who had been born blind by spitting on the ground, making mud and putting it on his eyes then telling him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam – staggering! It was the best day of his life. Suddenly the world was all lit up, he could see shapes and colours. He could see who had healed him. The Pharisees though were not happy about it and his explanation of it, more so because it was a Sabbath – as if God doesn’t do things like that on the Sabbath.
On that day two healings took place: a physical healing and a spiritual one! After his sight is restored, Jesus says to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” To which he responds, “Who is he Sir, that I may believe in him?” To which Jesus answers, “You have seen him; and he is the one speaking to you.” His response? “I believe, Lord!” and it says he worshipped him! Suddenly his spiritual eyes were open and he knew who had healed him and spiritual light and colour flooded his soul. It was doubly the best day of his life.
The story of the Good Shepherd interprets the sign that Jesus has just enacted in restoring sight to a blind man (9:35-41).
There’s a lot going on here, here are four things to note:
Firstly, the world is not as it should be. There’s a pen for safety. It has a gate or door. There are wolves and false shepherds who deceive, demand, and destroy. They are not all they appear to be.
Secondly, the Pharisees are supposed to be shepherds, those who lead, care for, heal, protect, and nourish the people. But instead they have no time for the former blind man and kick him out, wanting nothing to do with him or the One who has just healed him – they are working out their image of God. So Jesus responds to them with this teaching that points out the difference between a true shepherd and those who are not
Thirdly, Jesus uses an “I AM” statement (10:7,11) which would take them right back into the Old Testament Revelation of God to Moses, “I Am that I Am”. Not only that, Jesus had declared not long before healing the blind man, “Before Abraham was, I Am”! In their minds blasphemy.
Fourthly, Jesus connects it to a familiar image, a shepherd and his sheep. An illustration rooted in the Old Testament Revelation of God.
The shepherd analogy was used way back in Genesis 48:15 where Jacob says, “The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day…bless these boys” and in Genesis 49:24 when Jacob speaks prophetically over Joseph “by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you.”
The shepherd’s analogy is then used regarding judges, kings, and others who lead God’s people, and frequently they are chastised by the prophets for failing to do their job. There were good shepherds but all too frequently bad shepherds. God says to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 34:2,“Prophesy against the shepherd’s of Israel…” because they were feeding themselves rather than the flock, failing to guide and protect, to heal the sick and wounded, to seek out the strays or go find the lost. Not only that, what they did was with force/violence and severity/cruelty.
Bad shepherds, Good Shepherd. Israel had many bad shepherds, but God, Yahweh, was the Good Shepherd. Ezekiel 34 goes on to speak about God as the good Shepherd who searches for his flock and rescues them, who cares for them and provides for them and protects them. Isaiah says in chapter 40:11, “See the Lord GOD comes with strength… He protects his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads those who are nursing”. And in Ezekiel 34:23, God says, “I will establish over them one shepherd… He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.” Then in Revelation 7:17 we read, “for the Lamb who is at the centre of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Six things…
- Jesus identifies himself as God, the Good Shepherd who was to come.
- Jesus embodies what it is to be the true Shepherd, a true man, the perfect Israelite, the fulfiller of the Law, the true leader of Israel. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus went around “preaching the good news of the kingdom, healing every disease and sickness…” They brought all the “afflicted, suffering from varying diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptic, and the paralytic. And he healed them” (Matt 4:23-24). He went after the poor, the broken, the wayward, the bound, the lost… He forgave sins, he healed the sick, he delivered the bound – he gave life and hope.
- Gives his life for the sheep – Jesus says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:11,15) – in contrast to those who are hirelings. The Shepherd becomes the Lamb – he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He left heavens throne and took on human flesh – was very God and Very Man, lived the life we should have lived, was crucified on a cross and rose again. A full atonement he has made, which means no more guilt or condemnation.
- Other sheep I have (10:16) – a shocking statement… They thought that God was their God and they were his people in a way that excluded others. But God had always desired that all may come, that there should be one fold and one shepherd.
- The sheep hear his voice and follow him (10:27). Sheep know the shepherd’s voice. He doesnt need to be harsh or severe. Likewise, the Good Shepherd, his voice is not harsh or severe. It is not demanding or driving. Whose voice are we listening to? Are we listening to ourselves, culture, the Flesh or Satan.
- Security (10:28,29). The Shepherd provides security.
Most famously we have an extended metaphor of the shepherd and his sheep in Psalm 23, where David says:
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever. (NKJV)
You might want to read that again, stop and meditate on it listening to the voice of the Spirit in it. Listen to him calling, leading, feeding and refreshing your soul, knowing his presence in the valley knowing he will lead through safely.
Guilt is a major issue in our world… a major issue for the non-religious and religious… No human form of religion can atone – all they offer is a transactional relationship whereby things are done to appease God, but it’s never enough. They increase the weight. An impossible task.
The Gospel though is the opposite. Jesus has done it all. Jesus plus nothing equals everything!
With him, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep, there’s salvation, forgiveness, cleansing, healing, deliverance, renewal, provision, help, hope…
• A bruised read he will not break, a smoking flax he will not quench.. The God of the Bible is no bully. The devil is the one who seeks to snuff you out.
• He leads, he doesn’t drive his sheep… If you are being driven, it is not God.
• He love and cares, he doesn’t treat his sheep harshly.
God himself has done all that needed to be done for you to be forgiven and come to know him.
God loves and cares for you like no other.
The Word 4 Life 