I Am The Good Shepherd
John 10:11-16
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… “I am the good Shepherd.” There is an enormous amount of comfort, strength, and certainty for all of us in these words of our dear Lord Jesus. So, let’s spend some time this morning exploring that simple but profound saying word for word. “I am the good Shepherd.” And in our quest, we ask the age-old Lutheran question, “What does this mean?”
Without getting into the technical details of how languages work, that word “I” in this passage is emphatic. I am the good Shepherd, in contrast to all others. I, Jesus, whose name means “Savior.” I, Jesus, whose coming was prophesied from ancient times, the Son of the virgin, born in Bethlehem, baptized by John, the Son of God, sent from the Father’s bosom; I, Jesus, who have lived among you for these 30 years, but whose origins are from of old; I, Jesus, who have healed your sick and cast out demons and fed the 5,000; I, Jesus, who have welcomed sinners into My company, calling them to repentance and to faith in the Good News; I, Jesus, the Christ, who came from God and am returning to God: “I am the good Shepherd.”
And we notice that Jesus says I am the good Shepherd. He does not say, “I was,” or “I will be,” or “I could be,” or “I want to be.” He says I am. And we know the Old Testament significance of this emphatic phrase: I AM. Throughout the Gospel of John, in every one of the eight times that Jesus uses this phrase, He means it with all of the Old Testament force when Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” (Ex 3:14) “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (Jn 8:58) “I am the Bread of Life.” (Jn 6:35) “I am the Light of the world.” (Jn 8:12) “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jn 11:25) “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) “I am the true vine.” (Jn 15:1) “I am the door of the sheep.” (Jn 10:17) “I am the Good Shepherd.” (Jn 10:11)
Jesus declares, “I am,” and nothing can change that. “Believe it or don’t believe it, trust in Me, or don’t trust in Me. It doesn’t change the fact that I am.” This one word of Jesus stands immovable against the whole world, especially today’s world that thinks it can make up its own truth and its own god, make up its own right and wrong, make up its own path to salvation. The simple, profound, and eternal truth is that there is no other God. There is no other Lord. There is no other Savior, no other truth, no other reality. Only Jesus, who is the great I am.
In the Greek language, the word order is a little different. Literally Jesus says, “I am the Shepherd, the good one.” I am the Shepherd. Not “a” shepherd, but “the” Shepherd, as in “Yahweh – the Savior – is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Here Jesus identifies Himself as none other than Yahweh Himself, who promised in the Old Testament, “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.” (Ez 37:24) And again, “Behold, Yahweh GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. (Is 40:10-11)
The title “Shepherd” implies that Jesus has sheep to tend – human sheep, sinners who don’t deserve His help; sinners who, like sheep, have gone astray, each one turning to his own way; sinner-sheep who, on their own, would be lost forever; sinner-sheep who cannot survive without a shepherd but need to be led and guided and tended; sinner-sheep that don’t matter to anyone in the world, except to their Shepherd. To Him they are precious; to Him they are worth rescuing; to Him they are worth redeeming; to Him they are even worth dying for.
“I am the Shepherd, the good one.” Not the bad one… The bad one lies; the bad one leads them astray; the bad one fails to provide for them; the bad one abandons them in times of danger. Jesus is not the bad one, like the hireling, who cares nothing for the sheep. He is not the bad one, like most of the greedy priests and false prophets and self-righteous Pharisees who had gone before Him and who are still around today. Already in the Old Testament, God complained about the bad shepherds when He spoke to Jeremiah: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says Yahweh. Therefore, thus says Yahweh God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says Yahweh.” (Jer 23:1-2)
“I am the Shepherd, the good one,” Jesus says. Jesus is the one who has good in mind for His sheep, not bad. He always does what is right for them; He always does what is good; He always does what is helpful. He is the Shepherd who always tells His sheep the truth. He is the Good Shepherd, and He always leads His sheep on the right path.
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Now sin, death, and the devil cannot harm the good Shepherd, nor can they ultimately harm you, His sheep any longer. He is risen from the dead, and His words, “I am the good shepherd,” are just as true today as they were when Jesus first spoke them.
And as the good Shepherd, Jesus says, “I know My sheep.” You are His sheep who have been given to Him by His Father from eternity. You are the elect who hear the Gospel, repent and believe in Christ, are justified by faith, and are sanctified in love. You, His sheep, are those whom He will preserve in the faith through your use of the means of grace, and who will pray, struggle, bear the cross, and reach your heavenly goal with Him as your Shepherd and Savior.
Jesus the Good Shepherd knows who His sheep are because He foreknew all of them, yourselves included, from eternity. And it was His own Holy Spirit who called you by the Gospel, who enlightens you by His gifts, who sanctifies and who brings you into the sheepfold of the good Shepherd. He knows who His sheep are because He Himself, in unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit, made a commitment to you at your Baptism to be your God, to forgive your sins, and give you eternal life.
But more than that, He knows you, His sheep. He knows what each and every one of you is like. He knows the story of each one of us; He knows the good and the bad about us. He knows just what we need, and He knows the plans He has for us.
And, He says, “I am known by My own.” You see, you and I don’t have to wonder, “Am I one of Jesus’ sheep or not?” The Good Shepherd is known by His own. Do you know Jesus, as the Holy Scriptures have revealed Him to you? Do you hear His voice in the preaching of the Gospel and trust in Him as the good Shepherd? Have you been baptized in His name? Do you receive His body and blood in the Sacrament with a believing heart? That’s what it is to know Jesus.
But, as He says, there are some who have not yet heard His voice who will hear His voice. There are some who do not yet know Him and who will yet know Him. “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” Jesus is looking into the future with these words; He is looking at all that would happen from that day until the end of the world. He sees Himself, the good Shepherd, going out and speaking to His sheep and gathering them into His flock.
But how would He do this? He would do it through the ministry of the Word; He does it through preaching and teaching. As the prophet Jeremiah said long ago, “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says Yahweh. (Jer 23:3-4)
“I will set up shepherds over them.” You know that the word “pastor” means “shepherd,” and it is Christ who has given “some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph 4:11) The good Shepherd continues to gather and shepherd His flock through the ministry of the Word, and we have His promise that this work cannot fail. His flock will be gathered. His Church will be built. And there will be one flock, one Shepherd, one holy, Christian, apostolic Church, with Christ Himself as the Head, as the good Shepherd who comforts and counsels and corrects His sheep through the preaching of the Word, until He comes again in glory to gather His flock safely out of this world and to guide it into the new heavens and the new earth, the home of righteousness.
“I am the good Shepherd,” says the Lord Christ. He is all that we will ever need. He has given His life for us. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. He has promised to feed us with Himself through His Word and Sacramental gifts. He has promised that, even in this world of sin and sickness, He is our life amidst death, He is our health among sickness, he is our strength when we are weak, He is our hope amidst despair, He is our joy amidst sorrow, and He is our calm among all the fear that surrounds us.
Fear not and despair not, dear fellow redeemed. Christ is yours and you are His.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
