The Good Shepherd
John 10:11-21 9/28/2025
It is instructive the ways that the Bible compares people to sheep.
It is not flattering to us. Not in the least.
Dr. Bob Smith, former professor of philosophy at Bethel College used to say, “The existence of sheep is obvious evidence against the theory of evolution.” There is no way that they could have survived.
As I pointed out last week, sheep do not exist in the wild.
Sheep are pact animals, alone they are scared and vulnerable. Predators make them run or panic.
They get lost. They get stuck. They are not good at finding their own food. Sheep need a shepherd. People, like sheep, need a good shepherd.
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd.
Throughout His gospel, John has been telling us of the events and teaching of Jesus, the Son of God.
In chapter 1 we learned that Jesus is God Himself who has come into this world to save us.
He came as a human, in our human history, speaking human languages, so that we could understand Him.
He shows us that He is God in the flesh by doing miracles and teaching truth with authority.
He identified Himself as God by claiming an intimate relationship with the Father.
He has identified Himself as God by claiming to be the source of life everlasting. Only God can be that.
He identified Himself as God in saying things like “I Am the Bread of Life.” (6:35)
As we have read thus far in John’s Gospel, Jesus is challenging the religious authority of His day.
And the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, hate Him for this.
They like their rules, their own self-righteousness, the power they have over the lives of others.
As we saw last week, they are the bad shepherds, just like Israel has had before.
In fact, through most of Israel’s history, their leaders have led poorly and have not obeyed the Lord.
Ezekiel 34:1-16 See the contrast between the leaders of Israel and what God is going to do for His sheep?
We still see this contrast today.
So many bad shepherds, political and religious leaders, who lead people astray.
These leaders, influencers, religious figures are interested not in the truth but in their own gain.
They do not really care about people. They want power, influence, affirmation, and money.
In contrast to these kings and priests, bad shepherds, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus is God Himself, come to shepherd His sheep.
I. The Good Shepherd gives His life for His Sheep. John 10:11-18
Jesus continues His presentation of Himself as a shepherd by saying, “I Am the Good Shepherd.” This is the fourth of the seven “I Am” statements by Jesus in the Gospel of John.
Jesus is again emphasizing that He is God Himself.
Now, God has arrived as the “Good Shepherd,” in contrast to all those bad shepherds that Israel has had.
Jesus says this twice, in verses 11 and 14, each time emphasizing a different quality of the Good Shepherd.
First, Jesus the Good Shepherd is presented as vastly different from all the bad shepherds, the “hired hands.” How is Jesus different from the other shepherds?
We learned in verse 8 that they all were “thieves and robbers.”
In verse 10 they are called thieves who come to “steal, kill, and destroy.”
Now, in verse 12 they are depicted as hired hands who flee at the first sign of danger.
The hired hand lets the wolf come and scatter the sheep.
Why? Because he doesn’t care about the sheep. They are not really his. (vs. 13) They are strangers and the sheep do not know their voice. (vss. 1-5) But Jesus is not like those bad shepherds.
Why? Because He really and truly cares for His sheep, His people.
How much does Jesus care for His people?
So much that He lays down His life for His sheep. (vss. 13 and 15)
In Ancient times a shepherd would see the wolf and charge with his rod and staff in hand, maybe a sling.
It was dangerous. He needed courage and great love for the sheep.
This is, of course, metaphorical language for actual events, what Jesus would actually do for those He loves.
What would He do? What is it that He has now done?
And the answer to this question is really the heart of the Gospel.
This is the center of what Christians believe.
This is the message that has been changing lives all over the world for 2,000 years.
We, you and I and every other person on this earth are sinful and rebellious against God.
We love ourselves more than others. We are greedy, self-serving, and arrogant.
We are prepared to listen and follow after the first person who tells us what we want to hear.
We are easily deceived and led away from God by others who we think we like better.
God tells us clearly in the Bible what is right and wrong, and we just think we know better.
And when we do wrong and make a mess of things, we quickly blame others and not ourselves.
The Bible says that we all deserve to suffer and die for our sins.
But Jesus, our Good Shepherd, charges in and He came to this earth to suffer and die in our place. Jesus chose to be arrested as a criminal, to be beaten, and to be crucified in our place.
We deserved that death.
We deserve to pay for our sins.
But, if you are Jesus’ sheep, if you trust Him as your Savior and Lord,
He takes your punishment on Himself. Romans 5:6-11
Jesus is our Good Shepherd because He lays down His life for His sheep.
And Jesus is our Good Shepherd because He knows His sheep. (vs. 14) This is no surprise by the time we get to this verse.
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, calls us by name, (vs.3) and we know His voice (vs. 5)
He knows His sheep because He has been sent by the Father who knows all things. (vs. 15)
The Father and Son have this intimate relationship, and Jesus has been sent to rescue the Father’s sheep.
And He has “other sheep.”
What can Jesus mean? Well, this is a little picture of God’s redemptive plan.
Jesus came to rescue God’s flock, Israel. This was the promise through Ezekiel.
But there has always been more to this promise. Others from outside Israel would also be gathered in.
The “other sheep” here are non-Jewish sheep, Gentile sheep, Swedish sheep…
And German sheep, and Indian sheep, and African sheep, and Chinese sheep… every nation on earth.
In fact, for the past 2,000 years Jesus has been largely gather His non-Jewish other sheep.
And He is delaying His return until every last one of His sheep can believe and be gathered.
This is the main thing that God is doing in this world, saving His people so we can have eternal life. He is doing this because He has been given the authority and commandment from God the Father. (vs. 18) His resurrection proves that He is God, the Risen Lord, and has this authority from the Father.
He died, but He did not stay dead. So we will die, but we will not stay dead.
Because of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, anyone who believes and follows Jesus will live forever.
But, just in case you missed this fact, not everyone believes this. I fact, most people do not.
II. The Good Shepherd causes division in the world. John 10:19-21
These three verses reveal so much about people in this world.
The revelation does not surprise anyone who is paying attention to current events.
Jesus causes division. People will not agree about him.
It is astounding, even today, after 2,000 years Jesus is as controversial as ever!
No other human being in all of history is like Him in this respect.
Sure, Trump is controversial today, but in 100 years no one will care.
Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden were all momentarily controversial, but not so much any longer. Henry VIII was extremely controversial. Now no one cares.
Everyone still cares about Jesus.
Just try this out at family thanksgiving, “Do you believe what Jesus said 2,000 years ago?” See what happens. No, maybe not.
Why is Jesus so controversial?
Why is Jesus claiming to be “The Good Shepherd” so divisive?
It is all because of who He really is.
If He were just another crazy nut, people would write Him off and be done. But it is not that easy.
In fact, this little conversation represents what still persists today.
Some people will say crazy, excessive, ridiculous things about Jesus or those who follow Him.
“He has a demon and is insane.”
People will say anything to get Jesus to shut up.
They do not want to hear what He has to say.
Even today many people want those who follow Jesus and speak His words to shut up.
They do not want to hear it so they will call us crazy, judgmental, uneducated, racist, Hitler, whatever… People will do this because the last thing they want is to have to actually discuss the claims of Christ. They do not want to talk about sin and salvation and the possible need of a Savior.
But then there are others who are not so quickly hoodwinked.
No, they hear the talk about “crazy Jesus and crazy Christians” and they say, “Wait a minute.” Jesus is healing people, caring for people.
Would a demon open the eyes of a blind man?
Jesus really is not acting like a lunatic.
In fact, it is the people opposed to Him who are more lunatic-like. These followers of Jesus are not acting like crazy people.
This is the great dilemma that the followers of Jesus present to the world.
Satan and all his lies and servants have no answer for it.
This is why Paul lived as he did and wrote Romans 8:35-37.
And against the Kingdom of God in which Jesus Christ rules in the lives of His disciples, His sheep… All the efforts of this cruel, power-hungry world are futile.
God is in control, and He knows what He is doing.
I think of Paul’s words written 2,000 years ago.
You can see the truth of it still today.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31