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SOUNDING OUT:
The Shepherd and Sheep Analogy (Part III)
Jesus is the good shepherd
and sets the example for all who would follow.
John 10:11:
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep.
The phrase “giveth
his life” refers to more than just his ultimate
sacrifice on Calvary. It also refers to how he lived
his life before that. For the sacrifice of his death
to accomplish what God intended he had to be a lamb
without spot or blemish. He lived a sinless life, always
doing his Father’s will. His authority was exercised
in his service.
Matthew 20:25-28:
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that
the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,
and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will
be great among you, let him be your minister;
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your
servant:
Even as the Son of man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many.
Jesus ministered and gave
his life. The reason most people never saw Jesus as
King, was because they were looking for a Gentile King
who exercised lordship over people.
Matthew 2:6:
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the
least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall
come a Governor, that shall rule [feed his flock like
a shepherd] my people Israel.
Jesus was a shepherd King
like David. They, like true Biblical shepherds, cared
for and provided for God’s people. A true shepherd
gives because he is motivated by love. He follows the
example of the Lord, our Shepherd. (Psalm 23)
John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
All love is giving. When
people take they are thieves. When they use and abuse
others they are thieves and not true shepherds.
John 13:34,35:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one
another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one to another.
It is our love for one
another that allows us to give our lives in service
to God’s people.
John 10:12-13:
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose
own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth
the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep.
The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and
careth not for the sheep. [He has no investment. He
has nothing to lose. He’s just in it for the money
and cares nothing about the sheep.]
In Old Testament society
the hired laborer was not common. The family worked
the farm. The family group included slaves and relatives
who were usually paid in kind. Like Jacob who worked
for Laban and was paid with the speckled sheep. The
law provided for the proper treatment of the hireling.
They were in it for the money and were to be paid at
the end of the day.
Deuteronomy
24:14,15:
Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor
and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy
strangers that are in thy land within thy gates:
At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall
the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth
his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto the
LORD, and it be sin unto thee.
Job 7:1,2:
Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are
not his days also like the days of an hireling?
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an
hireling looketh for the reward of his work:
Remember the parable where
the householder hired servants for his vineyard in the
morning for a penny in Matthew 20:1-16? They were paid
at the end of the day and complained because others
who did not work as long as they did received the same
wages.
John 10 14-29:
I am the good shepherd, and know [ginosko]
my sheep, and am known [ginosko] of mine.
As the Father knoweth [ginosko] me, even so
know [ginosko] I the Father: and I lay down
my life for the sheep.
It would be unthinkable
for a son or a family servant to act like a hireling.
As part of the family unit they knew one another. They
have been through things together. The shepherds have
fought off beasts and thieves before.
Remember how David told
Saul of how he fought off the beasts who attacked his
father’s flock?
1 Samuel 17:34-37:
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's
sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and
took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered
it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I
caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing
he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out
of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear,
he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
The true shepherd would
risk his life. He would never give up. Even if the sheep
was already dead, and he was too late to deliver it,
he would still do whatever he could to save even a part
of the sheep.
Amos 3:12:
Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the
mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so
shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell
in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in
a couch.
If the threat from wild
beasts who would devour the flock was great, the shepherds
would group together and go out together against them
as Isaiah 31:4 tells us. That’s what we need today.
Shepherds who will fight for God’s
people not with God’s people.
Shepherds who will join together with other shepherds
to rid the land of the beasts who would devour God’s
people.
A hireling wont stay and
fight, after all, they are not his sheep.
John 10:16-18,
24-29:
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down
my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take
it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not:
the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness
of me….
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all;
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand.
If this is true regarding
the servants of God before the day of Pentecost, how
much more is it true of Sons of God today born-again
of God’s spirit? There is nothing and no one able
to pluck them out of the Father’s hand.
Jesus was the good shepherd
who gave his life for the sheep. He taught the allegory
of the shepherd in John 10 to teach people to recognize
his genuine ministry from the counterfeits. Jesus Christ
was the good shepherd who demonstrated and taught how
one ought to lead God’s people. We need shepherds
today with the same heart of service. Shepherds who
desire not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Our
God shall supply these true shepherds for his people.
How thankful we ought to be to be served by one.
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