10:11-21 The good shepherd lays down his life

March 19, 2021

Read John 10:11-21

In the Old Testament God himself is the shepherd of Israel (Psalm 23:1; Psalm 80:1; Isaiah 40:10-11). The Messiah will be the personal expression of that, perfectly demonstrating God’s care for his sheep (Ezek.34:23-24). This, says Jesus, is fulfilled in him: “I am the good shepherd” (11,14). He is a compassionate shepherd, as seen too in the other gospels (Matt.9:36, Matt.18:12-14). However John has a distinctive emphasis that goes beyond this and which he repeats four times in this passage: Jesus is the good shepherd who “lays down his life for the sheep” (11,15,17,18).

No hired hand would be willing to do that (12-13) and even among sheep-owner it must have been a rare occurrence, for the death of the shepherd would then mean danger and probable death for the sheep. Yet with Jesus this was the characteristic feature of his shepherding because it was through his death that the sheep would be able to enter into his life and into a close relationship with him (14-15; 6:53-57). And through his death many others would hear his call to be part of his one worldwide flock (16; Eph.2:13).

It was the will of the Father for Jesus to die, and Jesus’s willingness to humble himself and become obedient to death was the cause of the Father’s declaration of his love for the Son (17a). The cross and the resurrection cannot be separated, as we see from Jesus’s emphasis here that he would take up his life again (17b,18b). Only by his resurrection would he be able to provide ongoing care for the sheep. But first he had to lay down his life for us, in order that we might enter eternal life. This he did freely and voluntarily – no one forced him – in obedience to the Father and for our sakes (18; Heb.12:2).