"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."
photo Joe Walker 2008
One of the things which strikes me about the sermons I've heard over the years on the whole "good shepherd/ sheep" theme is that most urban westerners focus on what they see as the negative qualities of the sheep. I mean, I've heard lots of explanations of how sheep are foolish, stupid, ridiculous, unmanageable animals. Which may very well be the experience of urban westerners who have had contact with sheep.
There are really two problems with those kinds of sermons. First, they tend to focus most of their energy on the nature of the sheep, rather than the nature of the shepherd. And after all, is the story about the sheep, or is it about the nature of the "good shepherd"? Second, they tend to think that middle eastern flock management in Jesus' day was something similar to visiting an uncle's farm an hour outside of town, and watching with amusement as someone with a dog tries to herd a few lambs into a pen for the evening. That is not entirely the case. What we tend to forget is that sheep - flocks - are the wealth of the one who owns them. They are not a measure of wealth, they are the wealth. And the pastoral work involved is much more, shall we say, "free range", than the agricultural practices we might have in mind when we think of raising sheep in a commercial setting. But enough of that. I'll dig up some pictures and show you. If you have the time & energy, you can get a bit of cultural flavour adjustment from someone like Ken Bailey: Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes
But what of the good shepherd? It seems that the main theme of the story is the comparison between the good shepherd and the hired hand, and on this count the good shepherd has at least 3 qualities which are missing from the hired hand: commitment, care, and connection. (If I'm not careful, this will turn into one of the those dreaded '3 point sermons'...)
Commitment.
The hired hand does not own the sheep. Jesus says that this is the first point to notice about the hired hand. So the hired hand does really have an investment in the welfare of the sheep. As long as he gets paid his wages, and nothing too troubling happens, he is happy. He is not really committed to the sheep. When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he “leaves the sheep and runs away”. He sees danger, or difficulty coming, and he says to himself “If it comes down to a choice between saving your skin or saving my own skin, I think I’ll save my skin, thank you very much.” There is no commitment when the wolf comes. That is the first big test of the good shepherd versus the hired man.
Lack of commitment is one of the great modern spiritual diseases. New years’ resolutions are made to be broken and made again the next year. The test of commitment is that it sticks around when the wolf comes. Notice that Jesus does not say “if the wolf comes”, he says “when the wolf comes.” Commitment is not comfort.
The good shepherd owns the sheep, they are his personal possession – he has invested himself in their well-being. When trouble comes – when the wolf arrives – the hired man flees; but the good shepherd stays. Jesus had the opportunity to save his own skin, but he chose to save yours instead. When it came down to a choice of saving the sheep or saving himself, Jesus gave up his own skin. “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”. Jesus gave up his own skin to flogging by the Roman guards, to wearing a crown of thorns, and finally to having his skin pierced by the nails as he was hung on the cross. The good shepherd is committed to his sheep, even laying down his life for their sake.
Care.
Jesus tells us “The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.” Care is what gives our commitment its bite, its stability, its endurance. The hired hand might stick around for a bit because he has a job to do; or because he feels it is his duty; or because he is just in the habit of doing it. But eventually his motivation will become clear, and motivation will tell us whether he is a good shepherd or just a hired hand.
Jesus is very interested in our motivation for doing the things we do. The bottom line is this: the good shepherd is motivated by love – he cares for the sheep; the hired hand is motivated by something else – maybe in this case by his paycheque. We can do a lot of “good things” as we think of them, but they don’t impress God unless we do them out of the right motive. Because our motives are the spiritual engines that drive us. We can fool a lot of people with our actions. I can do a lot of good looking things, and people see the outside, but God sees into my heart, and sees my motivations. We can go through life motivated by self interest; by the pursuit of comfort and pleasure, by status and looking good in other people’s eyes; by fear. But Jesus tells us that the real motivation he wants us to have is “love”. The hired man does not care for the sheep, the good shepherd does care. When the wolf comes, the shepherd who loves the sheep will stay, the hired man who does not love will flee.
Jesus cares for his sheep – he loves them.
Connections.
What is the difference between a bunch of houses and a neighbourhood? Whether or not the people who live there actually know each other to any significant degree. It’s the difference between a group of buildings and a community. What does Jesus say about the relationship between the good shepherd and the sheep? “10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” Jesus is interested in making a personal connection with us, and he wants us to make a personal connection with Him – to get to know him for who he is, not just at a superficial level.
Sometimes we shy away from making that personal connection with God, with Jesus. When we look around, how many people are there of whom we could say “I know them, and they know me.”? We probably don’t have many people in our lives of whom that statement is really true. If we have someone in our life like that, it is probably because we have spent time with them, and we have talked with them. Spend some quality time with God – pray. You really want the inside scoop on someone - read their diary – all their secret thoughts. You can pick up God’s diary free from the Gideons – it’s called the Bible. Everything you need to get to know God is in there.
Sometimes we get to know people at a very superficial level, and we let them get to know us at a superficial level. Connection is based on commitment and care. If you trust that someone is committed to you, and that they really care, you will let them get to know you better, and if you are committed and you care about them, then you will take the time to get to know them.
Jesus is issuing us an invitation in this passage. He is trying to tell us that he is committed to us, and that he cares for us. Now are we willing to do the same - so that we might get to know him, even as he knows us already. To make a connection to God.
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