The Sheep of His Pasture

John 10:11-18
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Jesus says that the good shepherd fights on behalf of the sheep, even at the cost, if necessary, of his own life. The good shepherd lays down his life. That trait is in contrast to the attitude of hired hands, people paid to watch the sheep but who are really in it for the money. Hired hands are only in it for themselves. When the wolf shows up, to eat and maraud and terrorize the sheep, what does the hired hand do? The hired hand gets the heck out of town.

When Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” what he’s communicating in that word “good” is not merely someone who is absent some kind of moral failing; good versus bad. The word actually means “admirable,” “lovely,” “worthy of our admiration.” That’s the good shepherd, the one we deeply know who cares about us.

Who are the sheep in the passage? Well, we are. Of course, that’s not a particularly flattering picture if you know anything about sheep. It is meant to say something about the dependence that we have and the need that we have for a good shepherd, who cares for us. Who will, to use contemporary language, go the distance. Who will do whatever it takes to see that we are kept in the palm of his hand. Why? Because he cares for us and he knows us intimately and individually. We’re not just this sort of blanket of wool against the hillside. No. He says, “I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”

And how does Jesus know his heavenly father? The answer is, perfectly. Perfectly, in all of its wholeness. There is no lack. It is in that very same way that the good shepherd knows his sheep, those whom he loves, those whom he cares for. We are wholly dependent on him.

When Jesus looks out on the flock, he doesn’t just see this mob of sheep. He sees individuals whom he knows and loves. He sees Marie. He sees John. He sees Trevor.

We acknowledge and embrace God’s full knowledge of us, and love for us, in all our imperfections. If you come in to service on a regular basis, you know that one of the ways that we start our service is with the call for purity: “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid.” that’s how we start.

I hope for you that when you hear that calling, it is for you an act of relief.