WHY IS Jesus OUR GOOD SHEPHERD?
In John 10:11, Jesus says :I am the good shepherd.” It’s such a short statement from Jesus, yet it is filled with so much truth and encouragement. Why is Jesus the good shepherd? He is the only one who can truly protect and save His people - His flock.
Like a shepherd who protects, defends and saves his flock from attack, Jesus is the one who does that for us. A shepherd always keeps watch of his Sheep, and Jesus watches over us. More than that, He is with us always until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20) and will lead us all of our days as we trust in Him.
Why Do Sheep Need a Shepherd?
Without Jesus, we are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Without God’s initiation, we are lost, dead in sin, and alienated from Him completely. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” But there is hope in the same verse: “and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” We may have gone astray, but all of our sin has been laid on Jesus at the cross.
The well-known verse of the Lord being a shepherd is told in Psalm 23. It starts with “the LORD is my shepherd” and this psalm of David, (who also knows what it means to be a shepherd as he was one himself), shows how the Lord is a shepherd to His people. He makes His people (His sheep), lie down in green pastures and leads them beside still waters. It portrays how the Lord guides believers on the right path and that His rod and staff comfort them, even in the darkest of valleys. Shepherds would use their rod to fight off wild animals and their staff to help direct the flock.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd; He is fully God and fully able to protect and guide believers through all of life.
Shepherds were different from hired keepers who would run at the first sign of danger, abandoning the sheep and saving themselves. They run when the flock is in trouble, and they care nothing for the sheep (John 10:13). In contrast, the shepherd protects and defends the sheep at all cost, even risking his life. Jesus is our shepherd because He does that for us. He gave up His life and laid it down for us. Unlike a hired hand, Jesus will not abandon us because He loves us and saves us to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25).
Why Is Jesus Christ Our “Good” Shepherd?
Jesus isn’t just calling Himself a shepherd, but a good shepherd. This is extremely important. By calling Himself good, Jesus was claiming to be the promised Messiah. He says that “there is only One who is good” and that is God (Matthew 19:17; Luke 18:19).
Also, in Ezekiel 34 there is a prophecy pointing toward a greater shepherd who will rescue His sheep. The Sovereign Lord says that He will “search for my sheep and look after them” and “I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness” (Ezekiel 34:11-12). This chapter is filled with all that God would do in Jesus, who would fulfill this prophecy and is the promised hope and savior who will deliver Israel.
Jesus also uses the words “I am” to describe Himself when He says “I am the good shepherd.” In the Old Testament, God said to Moses “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). God is self-existent. There has always been and will always be an eternally existent, self-sufficient God.
Jesus said “truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). Jesus is giving Himself the same title as God. This may sound absurd or blasphemous to some, but only if it were not true. Can the claim that Jesus is the good shepherd hold true? The greatest evidence is found in the actions of Jesus. When we look at the cross, we see the good shepherd laying down His life for his sheep (John 10:11). He paid the ultimate price to save His flock by dying for them.
Only Jesus can be called “the Good Shepherd” because only He is good as He is God. Only He could accomplish what was required to save and rescue His people. No one else could fulfill the prophecies in the Old Testament pointing to a savior and shepherd for God’s people. Jesus knows those who are His, and His people know His voice; they hear it, they listen to it, and they ultimately follow it.
Following the Good Shepherd Today
What does this mean for us as sheep who follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd? What does it look like in our daily lives to follow the Good Shepherd in a world of wolves that attack our faith? What about some church leaders who oversee God’s people, yet are more like hired hands, not leading and protecting the flock?
It means that we as God’s sheep spend time knowing and recognizing the Good Shepherd’s voice as we listen to Him through prayer and what He has to say to us in the Bible. We trust that Jesus really is “I AM” and will always be there to protect us from the enemy and guide us through the darkest valleys in life.
As we see how the Bible promises a rescuer and a shepherd who will look after His own sheep, we can rest confidently as we have seen that promise come to fruition in the life and death of Jesus. Moreover, we have full assurance in who He is because Jesus did not stay in the grave, but rose from the dead and is now seated with God the Father. We can trust His voice found in the Word of God and that He will return again.
By His Holy Spirit we can live in a world of wolves and hired hands, knowing we have the Good Shepherd to protect and guide us. His kingdom will come, and His will be done on earth as in heaven. By His Spirit, we will have the wisdom, the discernment and the power to follow our Shepherd, wherever He calls us.
