JOHN 10

⁷ So Jesus said again, “I assure you: I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. ¹³ This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep. ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, ¹⁵ as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep.

As noticed in our first word on this, the thought of Jesus as shepherd flows out of the shepherding context of Israelite history and culture. Some of Israel’s earliest leaders were shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And you may remember how impulsive Moses was transplanted from the palace to the pastures that he might learn how to care for people by taking care of sheep. David is a sheep-tender from the time we first meet him. He later will rule as God’s king-shepherd for 40 years.

For centuries to come, kings were considered to be shepherds over their nation-flocks. Some were good; too many were evil. You also can toss bad priests and prophets into that mix. Along with the king, it was their shepherding job to protect and feed and lead the people of God in the paths of righteousness and faithfulness. Their collective failure to do so is found in the accounts of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, so forth. Hear what Ezekiel preaches to these bad actors (chapter 34), noticing the stark contrast between bad shepherds and Jehovah, the good shepherd:

⁴ You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. ⁵ They were scattered for lack of a shepherd…
⁷ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD. ⁸ As I live” — the declaration of the Lord GOD — “because My flock has become prey and food for every wild animal since they lack a shepherd, for My shepherds do not search for My flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than My flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!… I will rescue My flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them…
¹¹ “For this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I Myself will search for My flock and look for them… I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day…¹⁶ “I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

So? So, if we hear the Lord speak of Himself in shepherding terminology then, we should not be surprised to hear Him do it later. The circumstances in the Israel of Jesus’ day were tragically similar to the state of things in Ezekiel’s day! Remember Matthew 9:36? Hence, we have the stark words of Christ in John 10 about thieves, strangers, hired hands, wolves…and the GOOD shepherd Who has come upon the scene to face them and free the sheep. (Keep in mind the context: Jesus has deliberately gone into the lion’s den of Jerusalem. Why? Well, for things such as this. It is only a matter of months before His enemies will try to permanently do away with Him. What does He do before that event? He heads straight toward the eye of the hurricane. So, expect tension and conflict to come out of His time in the chief city.)

So? So, in John 10, try not to envision an idyllic setting of contented sheep gently grazing around their smiling shepherd. Instead, think of the danger and confusion brought by mere pretenders. Then, hear Jesus announce Himself as the new sheriff in town. He has come to right the wrongs which had scattered the sheep away from their great shepherd-God, saying, “I AM the real deal, and you will know it by the way I treat you in contrast to these self servers. I know you. Trust Me. Follow Me. Listen to Me. I will neither use nor hurt you. These other guys are bad. There is nothing good about them. I am good. There is nothing bad about me. They led you astray. I will lead you to God. They lied. I will tell you the truth.”

Then, He goes about proving that out, to the point of the cross! (Not to mention the scorn and hate suffered in events leading up to that scene.) Very little that is mild and gentle about that! Rather, it is the shepherd-God in the flesh Who has interposed Himself into the reality of their times. His words are a statement of strength. Just as He had promised through Ezekiel centuries ago, Jehovah has come to set things right. He has come, not just to the world, but into our real worlds, to deal with whoever or whatever is hurting us. Here I AM, states Jesus, as both the Lamb and Shepherd God of Israel. Feature that! Would they grasp it all that day? No, nor perhaps do I to this day. But He is telling them and me about Who He is.  He simply wants them and Me to trust that, and enjoy life more abundantly (10:10) because of it. Good shepherds bring safety and life to their sheep. It is what they do.

Perhaps John 10 is less a picture of sweet Jesus (Luke 15 may lean that way) than it is a strong Jesus. Sheep were weak and timid, but shepherds were anything but. They were strong and courageous. They had to be. The welfare of the sheep demanded it. The last thing a predator or thief wanted to face was a fearless shepherd in rescue of HIS sheep. (It is to this that Jesus refers in 10:15,17, is it not?) Let us keep in mind that the good Shepherd is more than good. He also is great, as in the great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20) whom even death could not destroy (another enemy He chose to face head on I Corinthians 15:25,26. By the way, when is death ever called a friend of the believer? Just asking. And I speak not of the Christian’s confidence in the face of death, so forth. I speak of what I asked.) Nothing gentle about the Lord’s locking horns with death, by the way. You may want to look at Hebrews 13:20 again. I think I will, again.

FOR THOUGHT (The general idea of it all, right?) What has this to do with good (or bad) shepherding, eldering? Only everything! You may want to ask yourself:

1. Which model do I want to imitate as an elder: Ezekiel 34 or John 10? Or, per John 10, do I treat God’s sheep as would a hired hand or a good shepherd?
2. What could be some of the perils (or people) from which a good elder will seek to save the sheep on his watch?
3. How did the Good shepherd describe his work – as one who served or one who supervised? (That a shepherd had authority, leadership is beyond question. But how he used his authority showed what kind of shepherd he was, right? And, by the way, an elder who feels he must constantly assert his power actually has little and deserves less. To be effective, he must rule by moral authority not fiat. Though God clearly has delegated authority to him (I Peter 5:2,3), he must not confuse that with lordship. He must continually earn followership by the way he handles leadership. Once again, eldering is defined more by practice than position. More on that later, perhaps.)
4. Do you think Jesus looked at His shepherding position as being primarily relational or organizational?  We are so feverish about being “scripturally organized.” I know what we say and mean, but, again, scripture speaks of this elder thing primarily in terms of function, not position or structure. Look again at the concepts of shepherding, modeling, equipping,  and overseeing (which we are yet to examine), so forth.
5. Along with that, where do you suppose the Good shepherd would have placed His title/name on one of our well-intended but often ill-designed church organizational flow charts: top or bottom? Yes, yes, He indeed is the Head of the church, has all authority, etc.(Colossians 1:18), but did He ever talk about how He chooses to exercise that inherent power? Do you think Mark 10:43-45 is instructive about this?
6. Would the Good shepherd trust you with His sheep? Complete the following: “Jesus can trust me with His sheep because…”

What else is here that would help with good shepherding? More, for sure. Always is when Jesus is the discussion.

robert

JOHN 10 (The Good shepherd’s words about Himself)

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. ¹³ This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep… ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, ¹⁵ as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep…²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me.

(LUKE 15:3 So He told them this parable: ⁴ “What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, ⁶ and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!'”)

ACTS 20 (Paul’s warning words to the Ephesian elders)

²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God,8 which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ And men will rise up from your own number with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them. ³¹ Therefore be on the alert…

I PETER 5 (Peter speaks AS an elder TO elders)

¹ Therefore, as a fellow elder…I exhort the elders among you: ² Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will;2 not for the money but eagerly; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

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Shepherding is as old as dirt. Both Old Testament shepherding texts and contemporary shepherding form the context of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is the context of New Testament church-shepherding. All of that is the context for church-shepherding in our times. To our detriment, this concept is too often minimized in both elder selection and eldering itself. (Neither I Timothy 3 nor Titus 1 deal with it, so neither do we. Go figure.) Regardless, both the church and prospective elders should desire to know what shepherding means.

If we want to know what it means, we need to know what it is. In scripture, the shepherd metaphor is no mere side issue. It shows up more than 500 times. In the Old Testament, Jehovah speaks of Himself as the Shepherd of His people. Israel’s leaders are called shepherds (and false shepherds). And, of course, Jesus self-describes Himself in shepherd terms. It is the DOMINANT model for spiritual leadership. Without it, I may supervise but will I serve? I may take care of money but will I take care of people? Will I focus on being over or with people? Huge difference!

Certain things are always true about good shepherds:

1. They are NEAR the sheep. As much as possible, you want to be near the ones you love. No long distance shepherding. No Skype. No deliberate distancing akin to a corporate board. The shepherd is hands on – right there, all the time. Therefore, the sheep trust him. It is not an organizational but a relational thing. God’s people are no different. Time and closeness are signals that an elder really cares about the people whom God has entrusted to him. It also is the best way to detect any sickness, injury, or wandering away. Indeed, we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. That is why an elder must get behind closed doors! A good shepherd will be NEAR the sheep.
2. They are FOR the sheep. Sheep are skittish. Having many natural enemies, they are easily scared. But the shepherd will never hurt or misuse them. Beyond that, he will stand between his sheep and danger, to the point of death. He is their protector. Furthermore, he nurtures and tends to the weak and the wounded. That is not just a Sunday job. Nor can it be done from a church office. No sheep is ignored, minimized, or lost in the shuffle. On a church organizational chart, a good shepherd-elder’s name will be at the bottom as a servant, not at the top as a superior. Think on that. A good shepherd will be FOR the sheep.
3. They are AHEAD OF the sheep. That is Psalm 23, is it not? Read it in light of our focus. By nature, sheep are followers. They just assume the shepherd knows the best paths of protection and provision. As a good shepherd, an elder guides the people of God with sound judgment and clear biblical insight. Sheep cannot lead a shepherd. Likewise, the sheep of the Lord should not have to lead an elder. He knows the way to pray, think, walk by faith, study the Book, serve, love and conduct himself. These qualities are his right to lead fellow believers through the wilderness to the land of promise. He is no spiritual or emotional light weight. His leadership does not have to be constantly announced, but is cemented by what the Lord’s sheep see, hear, and feel. On that basis, the flock in his care readily follows. A good shepherd will be AHEAD OF the sheep.