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In John chapter 10 Jesus is answering questions and dealing with misunderstandings. The Jews who had kicked the man born blind out of the synagogue weren’t ready to be taught; they believed they were the authorities. When they heard Jesus pronounce His work of judgment, namely that He came into the world so that those who see may become blind (9:39), they clearly saw that Jesus couldn’t talking about them. They asked, “Are we also blind?” (9:40) and everything about shepherds, sheep, thieves and robbers and doors and death has followed.

First, Jesus used a figure of speech (verses 1-5) that they didn’t get. Then Jesus called Himself “the door” (verses 7-10) that they didn’t use. Now Jesus calls Himself “the good shepherd” (11-18) and they don’t follow.

Jesus calls Himself “the good shepherd” twice, verse 11 and verse 14. Both assertions seem to introduce different aspects of His work and His motivation. In 11-13 the emphasis is on His relationship with His sheep and in 14-18 the emphasis is on His relationship with His Father. In 11-13 He contrasts His shepherding with a hired hand and in 14-18 He compares His love for the sheep with His love for His Father. In 11-13 He lays down His life because He is faithful and in 14-18 He lays down His life because He is authoritative.

Last Lord’s day we considered in context that the Shepherd’s sacrifice is intentional, substitutionary, personal, and effective. This morning we’ll see all those things in the flow of the paragraph with special attention on the Shepherd’s motivation for sacrifice.

A Sacrificial Contrast (verses 11-13)

Jesus came so that His sheep would have life and have it abundantly. He came so that they their lives would be spared, not so that His would be spared. Not everyone cares enough to sacrifice for the good of others. He came because He cared for His sheep and He cared to death.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. (John 10:11–13, ESV)

Jesus uses the “I am” formula and says, I am the shepherd the good . He is not good compared to bad, He is good compared to good. He is the ultimate good and He explains His character as the good shepherd based on His willing sacrifice.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep . We’ll see more about this next week in verses 17-18. Verse 11 by itself shows that He did not have His life taken from Him. His death was no accident, no “Uh oh” in it. He was not merely willing to lay down His life, He intentionally set it down.

He did so for the sheep . His sacrifice wasn’t only in their place but also on their behalf. He died not only so that they didn’t have to die but also so that they could have abundant life. It was His life for theirs.

This is what makes Him the good shepherd. Something about His sacrifice is good and Jesus develops the picture by a contrast between a shepherd and a hired hand .

When the going gets tough the hired hand gets going. The shepherd lays down his life and the hired hand lays down his tracks getting away. He who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees (verse 12). Being a shepherd involved leading and feeding and also included protecting. Wolves were just one of the occupational hazards shepherds met.

The wolf is a customary enemy of the sheep while the sheep is a customary meal for the wolf. We don’t expect a battle between the wolf and the sheep but there should be a battle between the wolf and the shepherd. Of course, a battle like that could get messy; it might mean that someone gets hurt. So the hired hand leaves…and flees , as if one of those verbs by itself wasn’t enough. He leaves , he “abandons” his post, and he flees , he “escapes” and “takes flight.” He doesn’t bother to give two-weeks notice. The only thing left to watch is when the wolf snatches [the sheep] and scatters and wipes his mouth off with a napkin.

Jesus explains the motivation for abdication in verse 13. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep . It isn’t that he doesn’t care about anything, it’s that he cares for himself. It’s just a job, a paycheck to him. (Maybe sheep-watching was the original “burger-flipping” illustration from fathers to their lazy sons.) He’s invested in himself so it’s no wonder that he protects himself. If he was a fisherman’s apprentice, he’d be the first one off the sinking boat.

He cares nothing for the sheep . They don’t matter to him, he’s not concerned about them but about his money. If he’s dead then his money won’t do him any good.

The next section will expand on why Jesus cares for His sheep. But we can see already that no ownership and no relationship lead to no sacrifice. It’s not exactly the same, but how well do you take care of the carpet in a rental house compared to when you own your own house? How well do you take care of it if you’re renting from your best friend who lives next door? Ownership and relationship change attentiveness and sacrifice. Jesus is “the shepherd the good” because He has both.

A Sacrificial Cause (verses 14-18)

Jesus repeats His identity as the good shepherd, He repeats that He has a relationship with the sheep, He repeats that He lays down His life for them, and He adds a pivotal motivation. It’s not just a job to Him. He’s not a Shepherd for hire. The Shepherd’s sacrifice isn’t His occupation, it’s an overflow of His love.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (John 10:14–18, ESV)

We’ll only make it through verse 16 this morning but, Lord willing, we will finish the paragraph next week and look at the reaction in verses 19-21.

Jesus said, “I am the door” twice (verses 7, 9) and He does the same with “I am the good shepherd.” Unlike the hired hand, I know my own and my own know me (verse 14). This is good, but not new. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd (verse 4) and know it well enough to disregard the voice of a stranger (verse 5). Even more encouraging is that the shepherd knows and identifies his sheep. He calls them by name (verse 3) and knows them well enough to know when they are all with him (verse 4).

But, really, how close can a shepherd be with his sheep? Even if the illustration portrays a first-century shepherd with a dozen or so sheep, it’s not like the sheep are his family. That is, however, what it’s like for the Good Shepherd.

I know my own and my own know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father . The hired hand works for compensation. The shepherd works from connection.

Who is more unified, more aware of each other, more connected than the Trinity? Who could be closer than the three Persons who are one God? “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). This is the Father and Son with different words. If nothing else, they’ve been together for a while. Yet we know that what keeps them together is infinite love.

It ought to startle us that this Shepherd knows His sheep like the Father knows His Son. We’re not startled by the omniscience, but there’s more at stake than omniscience. The omniscient Shepherd knows everything about the thieves and the wolves and hired hands. His knowledge of the sheep is His care for His sheep, His love and willing attachment to His sheep.

How much does the Shepherd care? And I lay down my life for them. Jesus taught a few chapters later than “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life” (John 15:13). That’s also why a husband gives himself up for his wife because “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). That’s why God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die (John 3:16). Do you believe that He knows you and cares enough about your life to lay down His life? Do you own that the Shepherd loves you with a love analogous to the love that the Father has for His Son?

As if that isn’t startling enough, Jesus states that the analogy goes two-ways. He does not leave the relationship one-sided. It would be overwhelming if all He said was, I know my own just as the Father knows me and I lay down my life for the sheep . But how about, my own know me just as I know the Father ? Our love for the Shepherd is analogous to the Son’s love for His Father. We do not claim that our love is perfect but it is no less personal. Our knowing is not infinite but it is not ignorant. The love is mutual. Our relationship with the Shepherd moves in orbit by the same gravitational pull as the love between the Trinity.

The Father and Son are the only two mentioned in this passage. Yet John already told us how the Spirit blows new life (3:5-8). It is the Spirit who opens eyes and draws men to the bread of life (6:63). It is the Spirit who becomes an overflowing river of living water in the hearts of believers (7:38-39). A Trinitarian unity is both the comparison and the cause of the unity between the sheep and their Shepherd. The hinge of the relationship is the death of the Shepherd.

Verse 16 almost doesn’t belong. The transition would work between verses 15 and 17. Jesus takes the opportunity to provoke the Jews more (even though they didn’t understand this point either). Jesus speaks generally about the identity of His sheep, known like the Father knows the Son.

I have other sheep that are not of this fold . “Fold” returns to the picture in verse 1: “sheepfold.” The fold is distinguished from the flock, fold being the the fenced area and flock being the sheep going in and out of the fenced area. In this illustration, the fold appears to contain a few flocks out of which the shepherd calls His own. There are also other sheep who will be called from other places.

Though Jesus doesn’t spell it out, who was He talking to? He was talking to the Jewish religious leaders, especially the Pharisees. He was still in Jerusalem. He appears to call Israel the fold out of which He calls His flock. He also then has other sheep among the Gentiles. Jesus expands His scope of pasture to the nations.

First of all, the Jews should have known this. God’s promise to Abram was to bless all the nations of the earth through him (starting in Genesis 12:1 and said explicitly in Genesis 22:18). The Psalms are filled with “nations” talk, with nations worshiping. For example, consider Psalm 86:9.

All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.

The Jews perpetually misunderstood their privileges. God chose them to be His people as a nation. God also chose His people from within the nation. Not all Jews are true Jews. This is why John wrote that “he came to his own and his own received him not” (John 1:11). What about His sheep hear His voice and follow? His own—the Jews—did not hear Him but His own—sheep among the Jews—did hear Him. The man born blind heard Him, the Pharisees didn’t. God’s will was (and is) to make many believing children (John 1:12-13).

All who believe throughout the whole world will be saved and men will be saved throughout the whole world because Jesus has other sheep. He is continuing to gather His people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. He is still calling His sheep.

I must bring them means that they are not yet following even though He does already know them and own them. In other words, there are some who will hear His voice that don’t yet. They will listen to my voice . Why? Because He must bring them. They are His sheep, given to Him by the Father, the ones He laid His life down for.

So there will be one flock, one shepherd . This doesn’t mean that God’s promises to national Israel are abandoned. It does mean that the Gentiles who are saved are not second-class sheep (so Ephesians 2:11-16). We own the relationship and the security of being sheep of the good shepherd no less as Gentiles. If we hear His voice then He is ours.

Conclusion

This global good news about the good shepherd follows a Trinitarian arc. It is His story for His glory. God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit are moving. The Son who took on flesh, the Son who sacrificed for His sheep, the Son who calls His sheep by His Spirit is accomplishing His design.

The trouble that we aren’t only threatened by wolves, we are wolves at heart. We are not threatened by death that we don’t deserve. The Shepherd delivers us from enemies without and within. The one who could judge took judgment for us. He didn’t do it as a mercenary. His shepherding services aren’t for hire. They are an overflow of His love for His Father onto His sheep.