“I AM” the Good Shepherd
Jason Skeens
“I AM” the Good Shepherd:
BIBLE 323
May 4, 2012
Introduction
Prior
to the exile, God set prophets, priests and kings as shepherds over
Israel. Physical shepherds guide, protect and feed their flock. Israel’ shepherds were to shepherd
spiritually by holding the nation accountable to the word of God. Instead of obeying God, the shepherds turned
apostate. Through the prophet Ezekiel,
God indicts the shepherds (Ezekiel 34:1-10). The shepherds had clothed and fed
themselves by fleecing and slaughtering the sheep (Ezekiel 34:2-3). They ignored the sick, injured and lost
(Ezekiel 34:4). Instead of protecting
God’s people they allowed them to become prey for the pagan nations (Ezekiel
34:6-8). God cast His verdict. God would deliver His sheep from the
shepherd’s hands and shepherd the people Himself (Ezekiel 34:9-16).
My Servant David
God’s promise to shepherd His people
would be fulfilled through His servant David:
“Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and He will
feed them; He will feed them Himself and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My
servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken” (Ezekiel 34:
23-24). God’s servant David would do
what the prophets, priests and kings had failed to do. He would bring the scattered sheep of Israel
back to God, feed them, protect them, guide them and rule over them. God’s
servant would be born from the line of King David. He would replace Israel’s prophets, priests
and kings to reign as their one Prophet, Priest and King.
The setting
The leadership of first century
Israel was just as wicked as its predecessors, but different in form. A corrupt council, known as the Sanhedrin,
governed Israel and answered to Rome.
The Sanhedrin was never instituted by God to lead Israel. Their existence illustrates the sense of
autonomy Israel had taken in governing themselves. They had forsaken God’s rule and submitted to
man’s rule. It was under this context
that “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David” (Matthew 1:1) was born.
Use of “I AM”
God’s servant-shepherd was born in
Judea by a virgin less than six hundred years after Ezekiel’s prophecy. However, many years prior to the prophecy He spoke
to the reluctant leader Moses. He called
Moses to lead His people out of bondage from Egypt. When Moses asked for His name He responded,
“I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
Furthermore, He told Moses, “This is My name forever, and this is my
memorial-name to all generations” (Exodus 3:15).
It would be Jesus the Christ who
would identify Himself as the incarnate “I AM” to Israel. While similar expressions are commonplace in
our society, its use is limited in the New and Old Testament. “I AM mostly represents the speech of the
heavenly Father or of the Son. The
overtones of deity that we find in its use in the Old Testament are not lost
when we turn to the New.”[1]
The overtones of deity are anything
but subtle when Jesus declared, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was
born, I am” (John 8:58). There was no
confusion amongst the Jews if Jesus was claiming to be God for they
subsequently attempted to stone Him for blasphemy (cf. John 8:59). This revealed the extent of the evil of
Israel’s leadership; if given the opportunity to kill God, they would do
so.
The Good Shepherd
After Jesus escaped
from being stoned, He healed a man born blind from birth (John 9:1-7). Jesus told the man “that for judgment I came
into this world, so that those who don’t see may see, and that those who see
may become blind” (John 9:39). The
Pharisees were listening and must have perceived Jesus was implying that they
were spiritually blind. They asked Jesus,
“We are not blind too, are we” (John 9:40)?
Jesus responded, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since
you say, we see, your sin remains” (John 10:40-41). Spiritual pride had blinded the Pharisees
from seeing Jesus for who He truly was.
In response to the Pharisees’
arrogance, Jesus launched into a discourse, which clearly separated His
leadership from theirs. Jesus’ “good
shepherd” discourse is a face-to-face indictment against the Pharisees who He indicated
were blind sinners (John 9:40-41). In the discourse He again uses the “I AM”
declaration to bridge His work as the shepherd with the reality of His
deity. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down
His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). “The
Greek text literally reads, “the shepherd, the good one,” setting Christ the
Good Shepherd apart from all other shepherds.
Kalos (good) refers to His
noble character (cf. 1Tim. 3.7; 4:6; 2Tim. 2:3; 1 Peter 4:10); He is the
perfect, authentic Shepherd; in a class by Himself; preeminent above all
others.”[2] According to Jesus, the current and past
leadership of Israel were “thieves and robbers” (John 10:8). They came to destroy the sheep but He came to
give them abundant life (John 10: 10).
Israel’s shepherds were actually wolves
who fed themselves on the sheep. God had
promised, “the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver
the flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them” (Ezekiel
34:10). While the evil shepherds sought
to feed themselves on the sheep, Jesus the good shepherd will lay down His life
for the sheep to save them. This was not
an obligated or accidental sacrifice, “His love for them made it a voluntary sacrifice.”[3] “And by His death, far from exposing his
flock to further ravages, He draws them to Himself (12:32).”[4]
Jesus repeats, “I am the good
shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me, even as the Father knows Me and
I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”(John 10:14-15). Jesus emphasized in these verses that His
sacrifice for His sheep is in intimate act.
These are some of the tenderest verses in the Bible. The intimacy that the Triune God shares is
beyond human comprehension. Yet, Jesus
expresses that He shares a similar type of intimacy with His sheep. This is another example of how Jesus is a
shepherd unlike any other.
One Shepherd, One flock
“I have other sheep which are not of
this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will
become one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:16). Jesus clearly fulfills the prophecy from
Ezekiel that one shepherd would lead Israel (Ezekiel 34:23). Subsequently this also fulfills Messianic
prophecy “that all peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him”
(Daniel 7:14). Jews and Gentiles alike are
placed in one flock under the care of Jesus.
Response
Jesus’
identification as the good shepherd divided His listeners. Jesus always divides people into two
categories: believers and
unbelievers. After the discourse, an
argument arose (John 10:19): “Many of
them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him? Others were saying, “These are not the
sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon
cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?” (John 10:20-21). Some of the Jews correctly discerned that if
Jesus were insane or possessed He wouldn’t be able to perform the signs He
did. Others remained spiritually
blind.
Nevertheless, why were they divided? I believe there are at least four reasons. First,
Jesus was claiming the Jehovistic “I AM” (John 10:11,14). Second, Jesus emphasized His death (John 10:
11,15, 17, 18). Third, gentiles were
being included into God’s redemptive plan (John 10:16). Finally, Jesus claimed He had authority to
resurrect Himself (John 10:18). To
paraphrase, Jesus was saying He is Jehova God, who is going to die and
resurrect Himself to bring both Jews and Gentile under His care. This must have sounded insane. The Jews were
expecting the Messiah’s role to be the immediate and physical establishment of
the kingdom of Israel. They did not
anticipate that the Messiah would be God in the flesh that would die for the
sins of the world.
Conclusion
God loves His sheep so much that He
has determined that they will not be like Old Covenant Israel. God has
determined that His sheep will hear His voice and follow Him only. While they were wandering their own way
toward destruction, He stooped down to lift them into His arms. He carries them on His strong shoulders and
has determined to never lose them. They
are His forever. “My sheep hear My
voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give eternal life to them,
and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John
10:18-19).
Bibliography
Carson, D.A. The Gospel According
to John (Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company)
Macarthur, John. The Macarthur New
Testament Commentary: John 1-11 (Chicago, IL, Moody Publishers)
Morris, Leon. Jesus is the Christ:
Studies in the Theology of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Towns, Elmer. The
Gospel of John Believe and Live, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, ed. Mal
Couch and Ed Hindson (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers,
2002)
[1] Leon Morris, Jesus
is the Christ: Studies in the Theology of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan,
Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.), 109
[2]
John Macarthur, The Macarthur New
Testament Commentary: John 1-11 (Chicago, IL, Moody Publishers), 432
[3]
Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John
Believe and Live, Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series, ed.
Mal Couch and Ed Hindson (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2002), 101
[4] D.A. Carson, The
Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company) 386
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