In Need Of Shepherding

In Need of Shepherding

Read: John 10:7-16

“I am the good shepherd.”

John 10:11

“God’s investment in us is so great, He could not possibly abandon us.”

—Erwin Lutzer

IN WORD Anyone who has ever worked on a farm with sheep will attest to this fact: Sheep are stupid. They wander off without any sense of direction; having thoroughly consumed the foliage in one field, they must be driven to the next or they will not eat; they often do not recognize danger when it is present, and even when they do recognize it, they do nothing in defense; and they get lost easily. Of all God’s creatures, they are some of the most vulnerable and simple. And this is exactly the image Jesus uses for us.

Anyone who has ever been a shepherd will attest to this fact: It is servile, thankless labor. It is a task that most would avoid doing, if they could (which is how David got stuck with the job as the youngest of eight brothers). It offers no rewards in the eyes of the world, and it is lonely work, offering a man no companionship outside of his flock. And this is exactly the image Jesus uses for Himself.

IN DEED The sheep’s relationship to the shepherd is one of absolute dependence. It is one of protection. It is one of long hours together in the same field. It is one of constantly being guided or rescued by the rod and the staff. When a sheep wanders off and gets stuck in a ditch (which happens a lot), the shepherd must search for it, find it, pull it out, and compel it to come back. If he does not, it will die in its predicament. But a good shepherd always does.

This picture that Jesus chose to describe His relationship with us may be foreign to most members of modern Western civilization, but it was a strong image for His hearers. It was a promise that regardless of their predicament, He would take the initiative to keep them in the fold; that regardless of their vulnerability, their welfare was entirely in His hands. The sheep-shepherd relationship is a humble picture, but it is a comforting and compelling illustration of us and our Savior. Think about it the next time you’re stuck in a ditch.