The Lord Jesus is My Shepherd — Part 2 of 3
Yesterday we looked at the 23rd Psalm and talked about why we are justified in taking what it says about “the LORD,” and thinking of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We’re back to our question – ““What does it look like to have ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ written—not just on my tombstone—but on my life?” “What does it mean to be the person who can say the 23rd Psalm without hypocrisy?” “What is it like to have the Lord Jesus Christ as my shepherd?”
According to what Jesus teaches in John 10, having the Lord Jesus as my shepherd means …
To Be Known by Him
Tis is what Jesus is saying in John10:3, and again in verse 14.
3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
14“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
When Jesus taught this, he knew that his audience would have a whole set of mental images of sheep and shepherds and the relationship between them. These people saw sheep and shepherds every day. They knew what their lifestyle and practices were like. Today, most of us have very little direct knowledge of shepherding even in our own culture – and the images that we do have are probably quite different from those to whom Jesus was talking.
When I think of shepherds and sheep, when I think of the 23rd Psalm, when I think of the good shepherd – I usually think of a scene like this.
In reality, however, we should probably think more of a scene more like this.
This was the kind of life Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived. This is the kind of world the shepherd boy David lived in; and this is the picture that would have come to mind when Jesus talked about sheep and shepherds.
Here in John 10, Jesus draws from a couple of different settings. One comes from the village, where several families live and each has a few sheep. Each morning, the person assigned to watch after the sheep that day – usually a child – David was a shepherd boy – would go to the different family compounds, and the watchman at each compound would open the gate, call the sheep, and they would follow him. At night, they would return to the village, because the shepherd knew each sheep, he would make sure that each one was safely home.
During the warmer months, however, the shepherd and the sheep might not return to the village. They might spend the night in the field. But the sheep didn’t just roam around all night. There was a sheep pen, surrounded by a wall built from rocks that had been gathered from the field. Thorns were placed on top of the rocks to prevent predators from climbing over. There was an opening for going in and o out, but no permanent gate. Instead, the shepherd would sleep in the opening – the shepherd was, himself, the gate. So, you see, when Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep” in verse 7, and “I am the good shepherd” in verses 11 & 14, he’s really saying the same thing.
Those shepherds knew each sheep individually. Because the Lord Jesus is my shepherd, I know that he knows me as well. He cares for the whole flock, but he also cares for me. He knows exactly what my life is like, he knows exactly the temptations I face, the knows exactly the encouragement that I need to make it through the day, he knows exactly what spiritual gifts I have and how I can be use them in his kingdom . I am his sheep, and he knows me.
To have the Lord Jesus as my shepherd also means…
To Know His Voice.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.(John 10: 4)
Today is not my first day in the field with this shepherd. We’ve spent some time together, so I know him. I recognize his voice. I know the kinds of things he would say. So, when I hear another voice telling me something that he would never say, I recognize it as a dangerous, deceitful voice.
Of course, I have to make sure that I really know him. I have to know what he has said in Scripture, so that I know what he really would say, and not just what I want him to say or think he should say or that someone else told me he would say. If the Lord Jesus is my shepherd, I know him first through Scripture, and then I know him through my day-to-day experience with him.
To Follow Him
Notice that the good shepherd is out front; he is leading, and the sheep are following where he leads. If the Lord Jesus is my shepherd, then I’m going to walk in his steps, I’m going to follow where he leads. He will lead me, as the 23rd Psalm says, in “paths of righteousness” — this isn’t a goody two shoes kind of self-righteousness, but it’s treating people fairly, and trying to get justice for people who are being cheated out of a fair deal.
Jesus, the good shepherd, will also lead me to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength, to love my neighbor as myself, and even to love my enemies. If the Lord Jesus is my shepherd I will follow him; I’ll follow him all the way to the cross where he lay down him his life.
“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. (John10:14-15)
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