What did Jesus mean when he said ‘I am the good shepherd’? It would have been easier for the Jewish people who heard Jesus speak to understand. God had promised them a very special leader to help them, and one name for that leader was the shepherd. The problem for the people was though, that there had already been other people who had claimed to be the shepherd.

They had come and wanted everyone to follow them, and promised to free them from the Romans who ruled the land by rebelling and fighting against the Romans. Jesus was telling the people, I am not like those people. In fact he tells the people that those other leaders who had come before were thieves and robbers.

They had come to steal, kill, and destroy. That was what had happened in Israel. Those who had claimed to be shepherds had fought against the Romans; they had just caused death and destruction.

It is still happening in our world today with the those who try to get people to follow them to fight and use violence, people like Osama Ben Laden. We see the terrible results on our television news. They steal and kill and destroy. Jesus warns everyone, don’t follow people like that, people who are full of hate, they cannot save the world, the only results are death and destruction.

Then Jesus warns about another type of shepherd. The one Jesus calls the hired hand. You don’t have these people in Southend any more, but they still have them in London. They are bus conductors, and if you want to go on the bus, you have to pay them money for a ticket. Now there is nothing wrong with that. Lots of people we deal with, we pay them and they do things for us or give us things in return for money. The hired hand that Jesus talks about is man who is paid to look after the sheep.

Now although its ok to pay for things and for people to pay us to do things, the people who are most important to us in life, are the people who do things for us, not for money, but because they love us. On a special day like today we reminded of the people who have perhaps done the most for us, and they haven’t done it for money, they have done it because they love us. ‘Money can’t buy me love.’

Jesus is saying that the hired hand is ok until the going gets tough. But when the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he runs away. He doesn’t care about the sheep enough to risk his life for them. We are very foolish if we think that we can depend just on money get us through life, we need people who love and care for us more than we need money. Its so important that we remember and appreciate those who love and care for us.

Most of all, we need Jesus. Jesus said ‘I am the gate’ what did he mean? He meant that he had come from God, to open up the gate that would enable us to get to God. Sometimes we call it the life gate. In v 10 of John 10 Jesus said that he had come that we might have life, and have it to the full. Sometimes people think that eternal life is just life that goes on forever, but Jesus says that he came to give us life to the full.

The full life that Jesus wants to give us is a life that is not governed by hatred or violence, or desire for power. Nor is it ultimately governed by money or greed. It is a life that is motivated by love. Love is the greatest thing. The best thing that we have experienced in life is love, both the love we have received and the love we have given. It’s right and appropriate that we remind ourselves of the love we have received from our mothers. But you know God is the original source of all love.

He created us with the ability to love. He showed us what love was like in Jesus. Mothers know that love is sacrificial. They give of themselves for their children. But Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrificial love. Jesus is the good shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep. Jesus chose freely and willingly out of love to do that. No one took his life from him.

Our world is still in a terrible mess. Greed, hatred and violence make life miserable for millions of people. The only hope for our world, the only way that people will discover life in all its fullness, is as they recognise the voice of the good shepherd and choose freely to follow him, living by that motive of love, experiencing his amazing grace and bringing hope and grace to others..

Amen
 

Acknowledgement.

I lay no claim to originality in my sermons. They are an attempt to pass on the gospel message in a contemporary way and depend on the bible as well as others who have studied and written on the passages in question. In preaching from John’s Gospel, I acknowledge my debt to Roy Clements for his book Introducing Jesus and I have also used material from Readings in John’s Gospel by William Temple. PN Jan 04

Return to top of page