The following was written by my good friend Jamie Binegar! She’s such an insightful writer. Enjoy!
The Good Shepherd
John 10:11
“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
When we think of shepherds, we think of Precious Moments-esque characters in long robes with a staff, playing the lute, sitting on a green hillside and watching sheep graze. And all is at peace with the world.
Here’s what we don’t realize. Shepherds didn’t have an easy job by any means. They had to constantly fend off predators, like wolves, so not one sheep would be hurt. They had to know and keep track of literally hundreds of sheep. Not just, like, 12, like we always picture. Hundreds. And they had to do this at all hours, even into the night. Them, alone, with a bunch of sheep, all day. Sounds fun, right?
I would NEVER want to be a shepherd. Of course, what I want to do with my life involves shepherding, to a certain degree. But my “sheep” will actually be able to talk back. Or else I’d go nuts and start talking to animals.
This is the incredible thing about Christ. In this chapter of John, He calls himself the good shepherd. And we say, sweet!…But what does that mean? Well, here we go.
He gives his life for his sheep. Which I believe we take for granted a lot. A lot. I think we forget exactly what this means. He gives his life for us. Jesus’ entire existence is forour protection, our safety, our comfort, our nourishment, our ability to be one with God. Us, us, us. He didn’t just die for us. For every moment Jesus has existed – which is forever, frontward and backward, by the way – His big concern has been his sheep. He stays with us day and night, to fend off our enemies, to make sure every last one of us is safe, is known, is taken care of. He has not once left his flock.
Now compare this to what he says in the next few verses. “A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock” (v12, NLT). Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? All the things we’ve put our trust and hope in, the things of this world that we thing are taking care of us – once trouble hits, they flee. They falter.
You see, a hired hand doesn’t care about the sheep. He’s just in it for the money. He has no relationship with the sheep, he doesn’t know each of them, they aren’t dear to him. But Christ knows every single one of us. In v.14, some of the meanings of the Greek word forknow are to feel, to be aware of, to understand. Christ is aware when we feel pain or when we’re in danger. He feels it with us. He understands it. And so he gives his life to save us, day after day, struggle after struggle, so that we will not scatter from the flock. He will never run away out of fear, or falter like the earthly things we put our trust in.
And that is why he is the good shepherd. We can trust him. Don’t ever feel like he isn’t aware of your pain. He’s already running to help you.
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