Jesus the Shepherd
a sermon based on John 10:1-10
by Richard Gehring

            There are many times throughout Jesus' ministry when he dealt with important theological issues by using agricultural imagery.  The region of Galilee where Jesus grew up, and where he focused much of his ministry, was indeed a rich farming area.  Wheat and grapes grew plentifully in the fields and vineyards there.  The area around the Sea of Galilee itself was conducive to growing figs, dates and pomegranates.  And the drier areas around the edge of Galilee supported olives and sheep.  Many of these products find their way into the stories and other teachings of Jesus. 

            In today's text, Jesus compares himself to a gatekeeper, one whose voice is familiar to the sheep for whom he cares.  He “calls them by name” and “leads them out.”  This, of course, is not the first time in the Bible that we find the image of the shepherd used for either God or a leader of God's people.  In fact, many of the great leaders of Israel were shepherds themselves.

            Jacob himself, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, was a shepherd.  He labored for many years under his father-in-law Laban in order to earn the right to marry Laban's daughters, Rachel and Leah.(Genesis 29:21-20)  His elder sons were tending his sheep when they threw their young brother, Joseph, into a pit and sold him to slave traders headed to Egypt.(Genesis 37:12-28)  Several centuries later, Moses was also tending sheep for his father-in-law, Jethro, when God appeared to him in the burning bush and called him to lead his people out of their slavery in Egypt, and into the Promised Land.(Exodus 3:1-12)

            And, of course, David was also a shepherd.  He was watching the flocks of his father, Jesse, when the prophet Samuel came along and anointed him to be king over Israel.(1 Samuel 16:11-13)  His feats of killing lions and bears that threatened the sheep prepared him to face Goliath in battle and defeat him.(1 Samuel 17:34-36)  His skill at playing the lyre, cultivated by many hours of practice while tending sheep, endeared him to his predecessor, Saul (1 Samuel 16:21-23), and led him to compose many hymns.

            Among the hymns attributed to David is the 23rd Psalm.  This is one of many times that God is referred to as a shepherd.  The prophets frequently speak of God in such terms, often contrasting God as the one shepherd with the many shepherds that have led the flock of Israel astray.          

            In the New Testament, then, Luke tells us that the very first people to hear the good news of Jesus' birth were shepherds.  Angels appeared to them as they were watching their flocks near Bethlehem and revealed to them the glorious news that the Savior and Messiah had been born that very night.  They were the first ones other than Mary or Joseph to lay eyes on the child in whom God dwelt in a unique way.(Luke 2:8-20)

            These various images of shepherds throughout the Bible tend to give us a very positive view of those who tend sheep.  There is a sort of romantic aura around them, as though being a shepherd were a very special calling.  But even though the people of Jesus' time shared some of these romanticized ideas of shepherds, they didn't have very high regard for the people in their midst who actually were shepherds. 

            One might compare it to how people react today to cowboys.  Old Westerns starring John Wayne or Clint Eastwood are still very popular on video.  But many in our modern urban society regard contemporary farmers and ranchers as backwards and uneducated.  Likewise, in Jesus' time there was a big difference between the ideal of the shepherd associated with great leaders of the past like Jacob and Moses and David and the actual reality of the shepherds who lived and worked among them.

            Sheep were a very important commodity in biblical times.  They not only provided wool for clothes and mutton for food, they also were required for the necessary sacrifices in the temple.  Ironically, though, the sheep were probably more welcome in the temple than many of the shepherds themselves were.

            Being a shepherd was a dirty and difficult job.  Shepherds had to deal with all the sheep manure, the blood from wounds the sheep might receive, the afterbirth of lambing.  They had to work long hours, especially during the winter months when the sheep were generally out in open pastures.  During this time, someone had to keep an eye on the sheep 24 hours a day.  They had to make sure the sheep didn't wander off.  They had to ward off attacks by wild animals.

            Because of the many demands of their jobs, shepherds were simply unable to attend to every detail of the law.  Thus, many regarded them as ritually unclean and outside the law.  So, even though some of the sheep they tended would end up in the temple as sacrifices, the shepherds themselves probably were not allowed in the temple area.

            As a result of this stigma, the profession tended to attract some of the more undesirable sorts of characters.  Because it was very difficult be both a shepherd and a good Jew, one often had to choose between the two.  Those who chose to become shepherds essentially were rejecting the law.  This fact only served to reinforce the stereotype of shepherds as unruly, immoral, disreputable people.

            When Jesus compares himself to a shepherd, I think he has both of these contrasting images of shepherds in mind.  The image of the shepherd evokes images of the idealized vision of Psalm 23.  It echoes the promises of the prophets that God would be the one true shepherd to lead the people back on the right path.  But the details that Jesus provides, with all his talk about thieves and robbers, and the sheep recognizing their shepherd's voice—these reveal that Jesus is aware of the real work of average shepherd.  His  knows about and identifies with the concrete, down-to-earth reality of the common laborers who were generally rejected by society.

            In Jesus these two opposing pictures are brought together.  Jesus the Good Shepherd affirms that the menial work of the shepherds is indeed a model for the work of God and God's people.  He asserts that their position, although low in the eyes of most people, is a high one in the eyes of God.  He claims not only the mantle carried by Jacob, Moses and David, but also proclaims himself to be in solidarity with the shepherds of his own time.  There are at least three characteristics of Jesus' ministry that are exemplified by his role as the Shepherd.

            First of all, the Shepherd provides guidance to the sheep.  Now, I don't have much firsthand experience with sheep, but I'm told that sheep are rather difficult animals to herd.  If one of them decides to bolt, which they often do for no apparent reason, the rest of the herd soon follows.  It requires a steady, patient hand to keep sheep together and headed in the right direction.         In fact, it is really not much of a compliment that the followers of Jesus are, in essence, compared to sheep.  Many farmers will tell you that sheep are probably the dumbest of all domestic livestock.  Besides running away for no apparent reason, they are easily lost and can be quite stubborn.  Indeed, it seems at times that the flock is an apt metaphor for the church.  We finite and weak human beings who make up the church are too often running in different directions, losing our way in a confusing world and stubbornly resisting the leading of Jesus, our Shepherd.

            Jesus says that sheep recognize the voice of their shepherd and will follow him over a stranger.  He further contends that he knows his sheep and his sheep know him.  Sheep follow the shepherd not because of threats or intimidation, but because they have a relationship with the shepherd.  Christ calls us, though, to be more than mindless sheep.  When we listen to the voice of the Shepherd and follow him, we not only go where he tells us.  We also follow his example.

            Secondly, the Shepherd also provides protection to his sheep.  Most of the year, a shepherd in Palestine in the time of Christ would take the sheep out to the pasture during the day and then return them to the sheep pen at night.  The gate to the sheep pen was an opening in which the shepherd himself would often sleep, keeping the sheep from wandering out and insuring that no wild animals or thieves would enter in.

            Jesus picks up on this imagery by calling himself "the gate" or "the door" depending on your translation.  No one, he says,enters the sheepfold unless he allows them to.  Those who attempt to climb over the walls of the pen are thieves and robbers, intent on stealing or harming the sheep inside.  But Christ the Gatekeeper stands in the gate to protect his sheep from harm.

            This, of course, does not mean that nothing bad will happen to us if we are really a part of the flock.  There are many dangers that exist in the pastures and beyond the walls of the pen.  Sheep can open themselves up to harm if they do not follow the guidance of the shepherd.  And even those who do follow the Shepherd's leading can find themselves the victims of numerous perils.

            But the sheep of Jesus the Gatekeeper are constantly under the watchful and protective eye of the one who has already laid down his life on our behalf.  The Shepherd whom we follow is the one who willingly and voluntarily gave up his life and then rose again.  And no matter what threats we may face, we should be able to take them on without fear.  After all, our shepherd has already conquered the greatest threat of all:  death itself.

            Finally, then, the shepherd is responsible for the daily care and feeding of the flock.  The shepherd gives guidance and protection to the sheep not merely in order to assert his power and authority, but rather for the general wellbeing of the sheep themselves.  The shepherd genuinely cares for the sheep and wants to nurture and nourish them.  As Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."(Jn. 10:10)

            In order for the shepherd to be an effective guide and provide adequate protection to the sheep, he must be in regular contact with them.  He must be involved in the day-to-day care of the flock—feeding them, nursing them to health and providing them with what they need to grow and thrive.  A Good Shepherd must be one who does these things on an ongoing basis.

            As members of the flock of the Good Shepherd, we are offered all of these things.  But it is too easy for us to refuse or ignore the daily nurture that is extended to us.  We often have a tendency to think that we are self-sufficient, that we don't really need the shepherd.  Then, when things go wrong, we wonder why he isn't protecting us, why we haven't been guided in the right way.  But we are assured that the True Shepherd will never abandon us.  If we are lost, it is because we have abandoned the Shepherd.

            If we feed daily through spiritual disciplines such as scripture and prayer, then we are strengthened to face whatever difficulties we encounter.  We will still face difficulties, for even the Shepherd cannot keep us from every harm.  But if we have been fed and nourished by the Shepherd's hand in good times, then we will likely find it easier to be guided by him in hard times as well.

            In the final analysis, our society is probably not much different than the one in which Jesus lived and taught.  We, too, often encounter contrasting, even contradictory images of Jesus the  Shepherd.  Very few people in our nation will actually speak openly against Jesus.  The vast majority still claim to be Christian.  Yet many still think that it's "naive" or "unrealistic" to live according to the teaching and example of Christ.   Those who turn the other cheek are called cowards and unpatriotic.  Those who practice sexual abstinence outside of marriage are considered prudes or freaks.  Those who practice simple lifestyles are labeled fanatics or hippies.  Yet all of these are things that were taught and modeled by Jesus himself.

            The invitation and the challenge before us, then, is to be the sheep of the Shepherd's flock.  Let us seek his guidance and walk in his way.  Let us accept and recognize the protection which he offers.  Let us allow ourselves to be nourished and fed in his pastures.  And let us not be afraid to admit and act as though we are the sheep of the Shepherd.