Jesus the good shepherd
John 10:1-21
In chapter 9 we saw the bully tactics of the religious leaders towards the man whom Jesus had healed and his eventual excommunication by them. In our text, Jesus contrast himself as the good shepherd, seen thru the daily activities of a shepherd. Ezekiel 34 also presents the same contrast.
Verses 1-6, presents the morning activity of the shepherd calling his sheep from the sheepfold, which represents Judaism. Jesus is building his flock. The good shepherd comes with the proper credentials. He came fulfilling scripture and he comes presenting proof as to who he is. He calls his sheep by name from within the sheepfold. We see in the gospel some within Judaism recognized who Jesus was, and then he leads his sheep out of the sheepfold. Jesus is establishing a new order, the church.
In verses 7-10, presents the daily activity of the shepherd of feeding and caring for his flock and Jesus is pictured as a door. Not as a door as we recognize, but in the sense of access. Psalm 23 is a good picture of this section. We see Jesus as the door of salvation (v7-9a). Acts 4:12 states “there is no other name whereby we must be saved”. He is also the door of nourishment in our daily walk, as seen in the phrase “in and out” and he is the door to an abundant life.
Finally in verses 11-18, we see the night time activity of the shepherd as he protects his flock. Notice that the shepherd does not take his sheep back to the fold of Judaism but protects them where he has led them to. The shepherd dies for his sheep and Jesus came to the cross to die for us, to protect us. We see also that he knows his sheep, here we have eternal security. John 17:12 “those that thou gave to me I have kept and none of them is lost”. Then we see the shepherd gathering other sheep. This is a reference to Jesus going to the Gentiles, you and me, and bringing us into his fold, the church.
This section closes (v19-21) with a division concerning who Jesus is? The question to us is this: Is Jesus your shepherd or are you looking elsewhere. Accept Christ today as your Savior.