The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for the Sheep

This past week I was at a pastors’ conference taking a class on “America’s Homegrown Religions.” We studied some of the unique religious movements and groups in America, with a special emphasis on the people who started them, the circumstances in which they started, the things that set them apart, and the common threads that tie them together. Almost all of them started around one person, one magnetic leader. Over and over again it’s the same kind of thing. You see that leader gathering people with the promise that with him or with her you’ll have true holiness, a true religious experience.

Today Jesus sets us straight. He tells us how we should look at the spiritual leaders we have. He warns us about what to watch out for. And he assures us that though our pastors and other church leaders are not perfect, he is our Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

In the tenth chapter of John’s Gospel, John records some words from Jesus that were mostly directed at the unbelieving Jews, but at the same time they are very much for believers of all time. Jesus is speaking with pictures, and the picture that he uses here is one that would have been quite familiar in Israel. Raising sheep has a long history there. They and their ancestors had been doing that since the time of Abraham, some 2000 years earlier.

Jesus said to them,

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired man, who is not a shepherd, does not own the sheep. He sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. Because he works for money, he does not care about the sheep.

In Jesus’ talk he identifies three different agents surrounding the sheep. There’s the shepherd, the hired man, and the wolf. The wolf is easy to understand. He’s the ever-immanent danger. Jesus describes what he does. “The wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.” In the first place, the wolf is the devil. The devil is a predator on the hunt. He’s a serpent. He’s a dragon. Peter calls him a lion looking for someone to devour. But wolves don’t usually work alone. There are others too. Satan’s evil angels are many, a great pack of wolves. And every leader who opposes the truth of God’s word is also a wolf. Jesus told the Pharisees, “You belong to your father, the devil.” Just as he lies, so did they.

Wolves aren’t always so easy to identify in our daily lives though. They wear sheep’s clothing. And I think that there are two different kinds of wolves too. When you look at teachers like the ones that have led various religious movements in America they aren’t all the same. Some are complete charlatans, people who deceive others for their own personal gain. Many cult leaders are like this. Their teachings are constantly changing, and everything they do gains for themselves power, wealth, or women. And yet so many people are devoured by these wolves. The other kind is that which is sincere, but in falsehood. Paul was zealous for God, but in his zeal he was persecuting Christ. And so a lot of well-meaning Christian people have made themselves wolves by not following the word of Jesus. They imagine that they are preaching people into heaven, but they are, in fact, scattering the flock.

The second kind of spiritual leader that Jesus describes is the hired man. The hired man is not a shepherd. He does not own the sheep. When he sees the wolf coming he runs away, leaving the sheep to destruction. Jesus says, “He works for money. He does not care about the sheep.”

This is different from the false teacher. He does not scatter the flock. He works for the shepherd. But he is a hired man, not just outwardly, but also at heart. You can probably all think of people you’ve known who are like this in the workplace. They’re there just for the paycheck. They take no pride in their work. They just do the bare minimum that is required of them until they can clock out and go home. Such men can be found in the church as well. The Pharisees could be both of those things. They could be wolves, or robbers as Jesus says earlier in the chapter, in so far as they burdened men’s consciences, twisting the word of God and demanding that they follow the traditions of men. And they could also be hirelings in so far as they were appointed as teachers of Israel, entrusted with the words of Moses and all the prophets, yet so often they had no real concern for the sheep of Israel.

And of course this is not just a problem for ancient times. How many church leaders are there today who aren’t scattering the flock by teaching false doctrine, but when trouble comes they are nowhere to be found? The ship begins to sink and the captain is the first one paddling away in a lifeboat. In fact, those who are true shepherds at heart may become hirelings, as their own sinful natures tempt them to laziness, greed, and pride. How sad it is for the sheep when in times of trial the ones shepherding them prove to be hired men at heart who abandon them to the wolves!

And this is a troubling thought to the sheep. There are so many opportunities to wreck your faith. The Devil wants to gobble you up. His false teachers, whether knowingly or unwittingly, can attack your faith and leave you scattered. Even the good leaders you put your trust in—how trustworthy are they really? Will they fail you completely when the wolves are at your gate? Is it any wonder that there have been so many different religious movements and groups? Is it any surprise that there are so many churches and denominations?

Jesus’ words here are certainly a warning. They are a warning to those who are called to lead in the church. “Watch your life and doctrine closely,” Paul wrote to Timothy. “Those who have been given a trust must prove faithful,” he says in 1 Corinthians. “They keep watch over your souls as men who must give an account,” Hebrews 13 says. God will judge the wolves who attack and scatter the flock. He will judge the hirelings who abandon the flock in a time of crisis. The Devil is already judged, bound at the cross for hell. Should not every pastor and teacher tremble at the responsibility our holy God has given them over his sheep?

Jesus is also here giving a warning to the sheep, to all his people. “Watch out for false teachers!” There were many lying prophets in Old Testament times, and yet it was not just the prophets but all of Judah that suffered destruction and captivity under Babylon. No matter how bad your leaders are, they are no excuse for your unbelief. Pointing fingers did no good for Adam and Eve. At whom do you think you can point to escape the judgment of hell if you have walked the road of lies away from Christ?

This is a powerful warning from Jesus. It shows just how weak and helpless we are. The sheep are no match for the wolves. What are we going to do? Jesus doesn’t leave us to doubts and fears. Instead, he teaches us so that, with a right understanding, we might have the greatest comfort. He says,

“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. I also have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

The other leaders were described in contrast to shepherds. There are those who seek to destroy, who are called wolves, or robbers. For these, the job is made much easier if there are no shepherds on guard. And there are the hired men, whose who act in self-interest, not, as shepherds do, out of care for the sheep. But to understand shepherds as a category, we really only need to talk about one. Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

What is this Good Shepherd like? He knows his sheep, completely, intimately, just as he knows the Father and the Father knows him, and he and the Father are one. In the Old Testament the marriage relationship between a husband and wife is often described with that word, “knowing,” but no husband and wife know each other as perfectly as Jesus knows you.

This knowing isn’t just a cold knowledge, a list of trivia. It’s knowing in love. Such love, that this Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He gives his life for theirs. I don’t think too many shepherds of literal sheep would do this. Sheep are just animals, after all. But is it any less of a wonder that Jesus, who is God from God and light from light, would lay down his life for us, mere creatures, creatures who have turned away from him and sinned against him time and again?

But this, what Jesus says here, is why you don’t need to fret and fear in this life, even when your leaders fail. The wolves may be stronger than you are, little sheep, but they are not stronger than your Lord Jesus, your Good Shepherd. This Good Shepherd laid down his life for you and took it up again so that he could shepherd you forever. He sends shepherds in his name and he preserves them in faithfulness in his word. And Jesus himself is the one who shepherds you with his word and sacraments. This is your green pasture and quiet water. This is your forgiveness, your life, your salvation.

So do watch out for false teachers. Watch for wolves who attack and scatter. Watch for hired men who have no love for the sheep. But don’t live in the fear of their lies or faithlessness. Instead, listen to the voice of your Good Shepherd. You know his voice. You know who he is. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. To him be praise and thanks and glory and honor now and forever. Amen.

— Pastor Seth Georgson