Comfort and Courage

Psalm 118:19-21                         Ezekiel 34:11-15                            John 10:7-21

Comfort and Courage

Someone once said in jest that he was glad God had chosen him before he was born because he surely would not have chosen him afterwards. Of course, this was meant as a joke…but it may reflect what some believe about faith and salvation…that God chooses the good only and not the bad. However, the Scriptures teach us that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for the ungodly. In other words, Jesus died for you in full knowledge of your every weakness, your wickedness, your self-centredness, and your sinfulness. 

The parable of the Good Shepherd emphasises the sovereignty of God over all things. Throughout the parable, nothing is left to chance. God guarantees everything from beginning to end, even the reaction of his sheep. When they are called, they cannot but respond to the voice of their shepherd.

The imagery should have been very clear to all who heard it because Jesus used well-known images from the Scriptures in his parable. John 10 is a masterfully woven tapestry, full and rich with many layers.

For example: the imagery of an entrance to the presence of God comes from as far back as Genesis 3:23-24 where the gateway or the door to Paradise/Eden was closed to prevent fallen man from partaking of the fruit of the tree of life.

In his Gospel, John used multiple metaphors to describe the person and work of Jesus in terms of a light that overcomes the darkness (a re-creation motif), water that quenches spiritual thirst and the bread of life (both possible allusions to the Exodus), the shepherd of God’s people, the gateway to God’s sheepfold, and, in his book on the revelation, the Tree of Life. Jesus is revealed to be not a way but the way, not a truth but the truth, not a life but the life…no one can gain access to the Father…no one can gain access to the sheepfold or to Paradise except through him.

The prayer of the faithful has always been for God to open or, indeed, to reopen to us the gates of righteousness so that we might go through them into the presence of the Lord to worship him. It is a plea for the reversal of the curse of Genesis 3. So, John presents us with an image of Jesus as the gateway to life.

The imagery of God as a shepherd was a frequent one in the Old Testament. Psalm 23 is probably the best known, and there are several references in the prophets, but the one I thought matches well with John 10 is found in Ezekiel: “…I myself,” God said, “will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day…I will feed my flock and I will make them lie down…” 

The meaning of this prophecy seems obvious and those who knew the Scriptures well ought to have understood Jesus’ words in terms of what God had said he would do for his sheep. It seems that in his parable, Jesus applied the prophecy directly to himself: as the shepherd, he would search for his sheep and seek them out, he would gather them and bring them in, he would deliver them, he would lead them to pleasant pastures, he would give them life even at the expense of his own, and he would establish them in one sheepfold. 

So, let’s look at this parable and the reaction to it, shall we? 

In verses 7-10, Jesus likened himself to the gateway or the door to the sheepfold. Some commentators have explained this in terms of the Ancient Near Eastern custom for a shepherd to sleep in the opening of the sheepfold. Anything or anyone wanting to enter the sheepfold would of necessity have to deal first with the shepherd. 

However, Jesus does not portray himself as a shepherd in a gateway. He says that he is the gateway that is opened by God the watchman. He has already said as much in John 6:65: “…no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.” In other words, the gateway or the door is only opened to those to whom it has been granted…the sheep who enter the sheepfold through the gate are those who have been given to the Shepherd by God the doorkeeper.

Because of this, I believe we ought to think through the implications of this metaphor when it comes to our witnessing to others. It is not us who are responsible for the saving of the sheep. To be sure, it is for us to speak the words of the Shepherd so that they might hear his voice…we must faithfully sow the seeds, to use another metaphor…but it is for God to grant access to the sheepfold through the gate he has provided. I find this comforting when my words seem to fall on deaf ears.

Then in verse 8, Jesus provided a contrast between himself and those who had come before him. Now, as he repeatedly endorsed Moses and the Prophets, it is hardly likely that he meant they were the thieves and robbers…rather, I believe, the thieves and robbers he was referring to here were more than likely the false shepherds denounced in Jeremiah and Ezekiel and elsewhere. 

The context of the passage seems to indicate that the objects of his remarks were the Pharisees and their predecessors…remember in John 8:44 Jesus called them children of the devil…in Matthew 12:34 he said they were a brood of vipers…and in Matthew 23:15 he denounced the teachers of the law and the Pharisees because they would make their converts twice as much a child of hell as they were. Strong words…but what else should one call those who deliberately lead people astray to eternal doom and destruction but thieves and robbers, children of the devil, a brood of snakes, and the spawn of hell? There are and always have been wolves who dress in sheep’s clothing…or clerical clothing, in this case. 

According to this parable, Jesus alone is the gateway or the door for the sheep and he alone is the true shepherd of the sheep. Those who would enter the sheepfold must both follow him and go through him…there is no other way. 

Then the second major contrast in this passage is that of the shepherd and the hireling. In this case, as the shepherd is said to own the sheep, Jesus was probably once more affirming that he and the Father are one. The hireling is portrayed as a person who has been given charge over sheep that belong to someone else. His is a salaried position, without personal investment or ownership and consequently, his commitment is but shallow. When any kind of threat arises, his care for the sheep is half-hearted at best or absent at worst. 

This, of course, raises an interesting question. Should we regard any clergyperson who shrinks away from defending the flock against any form of heresy as an uncaring and cowardly hireling? Are not all true shepherds of the flock of God to mirror the Good Shepherd who defended his sheep with his own life? Surely when it comes to the safety of the sheep, we ought to deplore spinelessness or apathy. 

Down throughout the ages, one major problem in the Church has been the inability or unwillingness of shepherds to confront the wolves…especially the wolves that pretend to be shepherds. Too many shepherds are and have been more concerned with keeping the peace, with maintaining their popularity, or with holding on to their salary and their pension plans than with the safety of the sheep entrusted to their care. 

The Good Shepherd and all true shepherds who have gone before us have set us an example. Running away for whatever reason simply means we don’t care for God’s sheep nor do we fear God, for that matter. “A false sheepfold is easily recognized because it does not exist for the sheep but for the reputation of the false shepherds.” (Commentary on John 10 in the Central and Eastern European Bible Commentary, Langham Publishing, 2022, 1199.)

Verses 14 through 18 can, in many ways, be considered a fundamental truth of the Gospel. Jesus likened the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep to that of his and his Father. The words “just as” and the word “know” indicate the intimate connection between Jesus and his Church. Just as the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father so the Shepherd knows his sheep and his sheep know their shepherd. Think about this for just a moment. The Shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know their shepherd IN THE SAME WAY as the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father.

The “knowing” is mutual and reciprocal. This interconnectedness can be seen when Jesus asked Saul on the road to Damascus why he was persecuting him when, in reality, Saul was persecuting the members of the Church. And when we follow this interconnectedness through to its logical conclusion, we must assume that the true Church universal is one despite our many denominational divisions because we are united to and by one Shepherd.

Keeping that in mind, let’s look at verse 16. Here Jesus mentioned other sheep who were not of “this fold”. No doubt, he was referring to the Gentiles and was suggesting that the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 would be fulfilled through him. Remember, God promised Abraham that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. 

Paul developed this thought in Galatians 3:8-9. “The Scripture,” he wrote, “foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” 

Psalm 22:27-28 states: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations.” 

In 7:14 of his book, Daniel said of the Son of Man, “And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.” 

Isaiah said in 49:6, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to (only) raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light to the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. The inclusion of these “other sheep” was not something new made up by Jesus or even later by the Church. Israel was chosen to be a light to the world so that other nations would be drawn to God. Bringing the Gentiles into the fold was God’s plan all along. 

In romans 11:17, Paul speaks of the Gentiles as wild olive branches being grafted into Israel, the domestic olive tree. In other words, the flock of God includes both those Jews and Gentiles who have entered the sheepfold through the gateway provided by the Father… through Jesus, the Good Shepherd who guarantees that he will bring in all his flock into the one sheepfold and they will be one flock with one Shepherd. 

That guarantee, Jesus said, would be sealed with his life. Jesus would lay down his life for his sheep. What is important to note here is that this laying down was orchestrated by the Shepherd himself. In verses 17-18, Jesus categorically stated that no one took his life from him, but he laid it down of his own accord. He said that he had the authority to lay it down and he had the authority to take it up again. As such, this act of self-sacrifice reveals his divine nature.

Why do I say that? Well because Jesus was not sacrificed…he gave his life freely…he had the power and the right to lay it down and the power to and the right to take it back up again. Here we once again see the interconnectedness between the Father and the Son, and, indeed, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave up his Son who gave up himself…the Father resurrected the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit, but the Son had the authority to resurrect himself. And as no mere man can sacrifice himself and resurrect himself, this declaration was a clear reference to his divine nature. 

However, his hearers once more misunderstood him. It appears that they thought that by stating that he would lay down his life he was going to commit suicide. Apparently, in that culture, any person talking about suicide was considered to be demon-possessed. But once more Jesus’ opponents were faced with a conundrum. How on earth could a demon-possessed man or even a madman open the eyes of one born blind?

The problem here seems to be a wilful misunderstanding and a misapplication of the Scriptures rather than a lack of knowledge of the Scriptures.  As we have seen, Jesus was clearly referencing Old Testament passages when he spoke this parable. But the Pharisees had already entrenched themselves in their own interpretation of God’s Word and therefore they were not able to hear his voice even when he addressed them directly. That is what false shepherds do. They uphold falsehood even in the light of the truth. They do so because their reputations or their livelihood depend on it…not because they care for the sheep. 

But for us who do hear and who do respond positively to the voice of the Shepherd, there is great comfort in this teaching. Here Jesus teaches us that the Good Shepherd chooses his sheep, and they are chosen, according to Deuteronomy 7:7-8, not because they are better than others, but simply because he loves them. He shows us that he is the one who initiates this salvific relationship…he is the one who calls…we simply respond. “We love him because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

This shepherd knows his sheep intimately…as intimately as the members of the Trinity know each other. And as we are closely connected to Jesus, so we are closely interconnected with everyone who enters the sheepfold through him as the Gateway. 

And then, I also think this teaching gives us great courage firstly, in reaching out to others in the name of Jesus because we know that if they are his they will respond…but then also, it gives us courage to stand up to those who seek to harm the flock of God by trying to lead them by a different way.  

We must always remember that this Good Shepherd who knows us as closely as he knows the other members of the Trinity,  and, according to Psalm 23, he is always with us, he provides for us even in the presence of our enemies, and he protects us with his rod and his staff.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2023