Jesus is the good shepherd who loves and cares for His people.
The role of a good shepherd
Psalm 23 is probably the most familiar passage in the Old Testament that portrays our need for a good shepherd.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Psalm 23 NIV
There will always be times when we walk through the “the valley of the shadow of death“. We need a good shepherd who promises to always be there with us in those trying times.
The Good Shepherd, who is the guardian of our souls, fulfills the following three distinct roles:
He loves and cares for His People
The love relationship between Jesus and His people is reciprocated. His people know Him and will only follow Him. They recognize His voice, and only His voice, when He calls, and they come to Him. Those being saved come because they know Him and can rely upon Him; They trust Him.
He is willing to die for them
Jesus, the good shepherd over our souls, gives His people what they need most–a sacrifice for their sin. God will not acquit the guilty. Sin must be punished by death. So, Jesus willingly obeyed His Father’s will to die in the place of His people (John 10:15). Though He committed no sin Himself, God laid the sins of His people on His only Son so that they would escape His wrath (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus endured His suffering because He loved His people. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And He took great joy in them (Hebrews 12:2).
He unites His flocks together as one
Jesus is the good shepherd for ALL His people. The Jews commonly thought that they alone were God’s chosen people and objects of His love. But Jesus said, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16).
God’s chooses His people from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Revelation 7:9). So, Jesus will unite both Jews and Gentiles, and together reconcile them to God through Himself (Ephesians 2:14-18).
The danger of not following Jesus, the Good Shepherd
Beware of those who cause others to fall
Jesus sharpens the picture by contrasting His sacrificial service with the Pharisees, who are represented in this metaphor as “hired hands”. Their own self-interest controlled them. Jesus said, “The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it” (John 10:12).
Jesus denounced the ways of the Pharisees. In Matthew 23, He pronounced seven woes on them for their hypocrisy. For example, He said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to” (Matthew 23:13-14).
The spiritual condition of those led astray
Jesus Christ is the one and only Good Shepherd over the souls of His people. People are led astray when they deny the supremacy of Christ and total reliance on Him alone to save.
The Apostle Paul explained Israel’s plight. He wrote, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4).
Scripture is full of warnings about false teachings and those “hired hands” who promote them. Your eternal life depends on your knowing and following the truth. Christianity is all about turning away (i.e., repenting) from our old way of sinful living and placing all of our faith in the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for our sin, and God credits us with Jesus’ perfect righteousness.
Shepherding relationships that matter
The relationship between the Good Shepherd and His sheep
Jesus knows His people and His people know Him. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16). And the people of God will not follow anyone else. So, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” when Jesus asked him if wanted to leave Him too. Peter continued, “You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:67-68).
The relationship between Jesus and His Father
Jesus compared his relationship with His people with His relationship with the Father. He said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep. … The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (John 10:14-15, 17-18).
In other words, Jesus attributes His Father’s love for Him to His voluntary obedience to do His Father’s will. At Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter, James, and John that His soul was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. In private, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).
Jesus could have called down the angels to rescue Him from being sacrificed. Yet, he chose His Father’s will over His own. Consequently, His Father’s love for His Son must have peaked as Jesus submitted Himself willingly to the Father.
Entering into a relationship with Jesus, our Good Shepherd
Likewise, our Good Shepherd has called us to follow Him. Scripture says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Have you obeyed the Lord’s command? Are you willing to follow Him?
Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
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