Wednesday in the Word...John 10:11-13...the Shepherd, the selfish, and the sheep snatcher

Today's Wednesday in the Word is John chapter 10 and verses 11 through 13 which read,

v.11 - "I am the good shepherd; 

the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

Jesus gives us the 4th "I AM" statement when He says, "I am the good shepherd;..."  A review so far is..."I AM the Bread of life."  "I AM the Light of the world."  "I AM the Door of the sheep."  "I AM the good Shepherd."  

The focus of the verse is on the word "good."  Jesus is the good shepherd and shepherds are good to their sheep.  The shepherd by nature of the position will sacrifice for his sheep.  He will risk himself to save the sheep from danger.  Think of the Biblical example of David and going up against the lion and the bear to protect his sheep.

Jesus distinguishes Himself from other shepherds and the hired hands that we will learn about in the next verse, by saying He will lay down His very life for His sheep.  We will see this again in verse 15, "...and I lay down My life for the sheep."  Remember that the sheep are those who call Jesus their Shepherd.  The sheep are not just sheep but actual human beings with souls.

This extreme action of Jesus, the good Shepherd is stated also in John chapter 6 and verse 51 which reads,

"I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."  

(underlined for emphasis)

Another time of explanation to what this good Shepherd will do is John chapter 11 and verses 51 and 52 which read,

Now he (Caiaphas) did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 

(underlined and bracketed for emphasis and identification)

John chapter 18 and verse 14 says,

Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews 

that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf 

of the people. (underlined for emphasis)

This good Shepherd is going to do 

a specific act for His sheep.

v.12 - "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, 

who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, 

and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them."

Hired hands act differently than the good Shepherd.  When danger approaches they start to think of themselves rather than the sheep.  The run the other way.  They don't run into the burning building, they run for the shelter beyond the yellow caution tape that says "Do Not Enter."  

There will be "wolves" that will try to hurt the sheep.  There will be individuals and groups that will try to harm the church, the children of God.  Shepherds are on the look out for them.  They see them coming and instead of running away, they direct the sheep to safety or stand the ground between the danger and the flock.  

I am an "under" shepherd of the good Shepherd along with the elders of the churches I have served.  Do I act like a hired hand when wolves approach or am I already on the look out for them coming?  Do I think of them more than I think of myself?  It is hard because while being an "under" Shepherd, I am also a sheep just like the rest of them.  The elders of the church have a heavy responsibility when it comes to protecting the flock that God has put before them.

The wolves will snatch and scatter.  They will scoop up the ones that are most vulnerable and divide up the rest.  I have seen the effects of this in churches.  Those most vulnerable (new believers) have a wolf approach them with some obscure doctrine to believe or ready to pounce on them as "not good enough for God" when they first sin after salvation.  Those scattered we call "cliches" in the church and instead of working as one unit, we create little camps that can turn on each other quickly because we are poised to do so.  The wolves know this and therefore this is one of their main strategies to take down a church.  It is the old "divide and conquer" but what happens is we end up conquering each other while the wolves just look on.

v.13 - "He flees because he is a hired hand 

and is not concerned about the sheep."

Jesus wants us to compare Himself with those who are leading the church at the time.  The religious leaders were not thinking or acting on behalf of the flock.  They were thinking about themselves.  They were the hired hands.  They were not willing to sacrifice for the sheep but ready to run when opposition came, like the Roman government, and some of them right into their open arms.  When the opposition came of greed, they ran into the arms of manipulating the system to get in on some of the action.  When the opposition came of pride, they ran into the arms of creating more rules of "holiness" than was in the Scriptures and imposing impossibilities on the people while creating loopholes for themselves.  What was Jesus willing to do?  John chapter 15 and verses 13 and 14 say,

"Greater love has no one than this, 

that one lay down his life for his friends.  

You are My friends if you do what I command you."  

(underline for emphasis)

The good Shepherd, Jesus, wants you to know that He has done something for you that no one else could do.  He, the sinless One, gave His life so that you could have eternal life.  Even us "under" shepherds can not do this for the sheep.  All we can do is share this information about Jesus so others will come into the flock and protect the flock from believing that anything or anyone else could produce the same results.  

Let's pray and let's pray for the elders of churches all over the world to be good "under" shepherds of God's flock.

"Heavenly Father, thank You for sending the good Shepherd.  Thank You for providing the Sacrifice, sufficient and satisfying, for Your wrath against our sin.  May we be overwhelmed today by what this good Shepherd has done and be more vigilant to read of what He says more than what anyone else might say.  Amen."

Pastor Adam