Three Years That Changed The World – Lesson 12

Jesus – The Good and True Shepherd

(Jesus in John 10)

This discourse by Jesus (John 10) probably continues in the same setting as John 9 where Jesus is addressing the Pharisees (and others). Jesus uses the comparison of a Sheperd to his sheep and the lesson would have been easy to comprehend for those who heard him speak, as it’s a common analogy used throughout Scripture. The Old Testament prophets spoke of the one who would come and shepherd his people. The Pharisees misappropriated themselves as that true shepherd.

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself, will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ezekiel 34:11-15)

John 10 contains the 3rd and 4th of the “I Am” statements made by Jesus (“I am the Door/Gate, I am the good shepherd) which was intentional. These “I Am” statements (there are seven of them in the Gospel of John) are crucial for understanding Jesus’s self-revelation in the Gospel of John and his role in God’s plan of salvation. They are not just metaphors, but profound truths about his divine nature and mission. As the True Shepherd, Jesus came to heal and seek and save those who were lost. Those who are his sheep will hear and respond to his voice and those who are not his sheep will willfully choose to ignore him. The True Shepherd (the shepherd of the sheep) – who calls and knows his sheep by name, shows care and concern for his sheep, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. The purpose of this discourse is to show who the True Shepherd is and expose the false shepherds. This will result in a major dispute with the religious leaders as Jesus makes a bold claim; “I and the Father are One” which was a declaration to those who heard that Jesus was God. Although this was rejected by the religious leaders, it didn’t make it any less true! Jesus will later declare in John 14:6; “I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by me”.