Parable of the Good Shepherd

“Most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice…I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:1-4; 9, NKJV) [Read John 10: 1-30]

Jesus Himself is the main character in this parable. He is basing this story about himself on familiar Old Testament teachings. What is numbered for us as Psalm 23 would have been very familiar to His hearers: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” The Lord as Shepherd of the sheep (his followers) was also given in Ezekiel 34 and 37, in Jeremiah 23:1-4, and Zechariah 11:4-17. He tells his disciples as well as the Jewish leaders whose animosity toward Jesus was growing daily, that he is the Good Shepherd, the Door of the Sheepfold. In this beloved parable, Jesus pictures a common practice in Palestine of that time (and even today), that of the shepherd leading his sheep, the sheep knowing the shepherd and his voice, the shepherd knowing the best grazing lands and the proper entranceway to the sheepfold. Complete trust existed between shepherd and sheep.

It was time for Jesus to declare that He is the Good Shepherd as predicted in Psalm 23 and in Ezekiel 34:23 and 37:24. “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd” (Eze 34:23). “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes and do them” (Eze. 37:24). The perfect shepherd, in the line of shepherd David who became King of Israel, was now among them, ready to establish His kingdom, unlike that kingdom of David which was imperfect, the new Shepherd was ready to establish the Kingdom of God, and to be the Door of the Sheepfold, knowing every sheep by name and every sheep knowing the Shepherd. What a beautiful story of what happens to the believer! Jesus is the Shepherd of His sheep—all those who call on His name. He knows His sheep by name. Remember the gospel song we often sang: “There’s a new name written down in glory—and it’s mine, I know it’s mine!” That song comes to my mind as I think of my own conversion experience, the day I decided to hear my Shepherd’s voice and follow Him! There is no other entrance to the fold except through Jesus Christ. He is the Door. We can go in and out and be satisfied. He shepherds us daily and holds us securely within His care. Praise be to God!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, September 10, 2010