Our Good Shepherd

John 10: 14-15, 17-18, 28

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In John Chapter 10, Jesus gives us this illustration of himself as a good shepherd. He says this

I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me (just as the Father knows me and I know the Father). And I lay down my life for the sheep. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. (John 10: 14-15, 17-18)

This is God’s word. What a beautiful picture of Christ as a good shepherd and we as his sheep. He presents himself as the shepherd who’s willing to lay down his life for the sheep, to protect them against any sort of enemy that threatens them and threatens their lives. We ourselves maybe can think of various enemies in our own life, people that would like to hurt and destroy us or destroy our reputations. But especially we maybe, perhaps can think about the great enemy, the evil foe, the devil, who seeks to destroy us. Now he presents himself in an opposite light. He tries to present himself as the one who’s giving us good things and bringing us true happiness. And present God in a bad light. God has all of these rules and commands because He hates you and He doesn’t want you to be happy. Really, what is the devil’s desire? The devil doesn’t want to see you happy forever. The devil is just tempting you, leading you astray to disobey God and His Word and his commandments. To bring you to hell. That’s his game. He’s not concerned about you at all. He just wants to tear you away from God.

Yet, what a comforting picture Jesus presents in Himself as He is the good shepherd who so loves the sheep that He’s willing to give his life for them. And we think of the way in which Jesus did that. How Jesus went to the cross to suffer the punishment that all of our sins deserve. Know the devil was holding our sins above us. You deserve punishment for these sins. But Christ went to the cross and laid down his life to take away that threat of the devil. So the devil can’t hold our sins in our face and accuse us. Rather we can point to Christ and say he is the one that laid down his life for us. There is nothing you have anymore against us, nothing more that needs to be paid for. It’s been paid for in Christ.

But on the other hand, what good is a dead savior? We can think about that picture of maybe that heroic shepherd that takes on the wolf and he dies in the process to save the sheep. But what good is that, shepherd, if he is dead and can’t protect the sheep, right? Maybe he holds off that enemy, or maybe he even destroys that one enemy. But what about all the rest? What are they going to do to the sheep?

We’ll take comfort in this. That Shepherd is not a dead shepherd, but he’s a living one, as Jesus said, that he has the authority to lay down his life, but also the authority to take it up again. And that’s exactly what he did. You see, Jesus is the living shepherd, the one who continues to watch over us and protect us from all evil that threatens us, threatens to steal us away from him. We think about Jesus very own words just a few verses later when he says this.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:28)

Now what comfort that presents to us of our living savior, our living shepherd, who protects us against the evil one. That he promises I give them eternal life and no one can snatch them out of my hand. Yes, what an awesome shepherd we have. One that lays down his life for us as a sheep, one that continues to watch over us and protect us and bring us home to the eternal pastures of heaven. Amen.