EXPLORE IT! - Luke 15:3-7

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

-- Luke 15: 3-7

Jesus uses shepherd imagery several times in the Gospels. This was language that people could relate to. People understood sheep. Sheep were everywhere in that culture.

And so in Luke 15 Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd who will seek out one lost sheep to bring them back into the fold. But this isn’t the only time that Jesus portrays himself as the good shepherd. He uses this kind of language in Matthew 18 and John 10 as well.

In John, Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd who knows his sheep and lays down his life for them. 

This imagery ties together several aspects of who Jesus is. 

First of all, the leaders of God’s people were traditionally referred to as shepherds much of the time. Good leaders care for people like a good shepherd cares for the sheep, but bad leaders don’t just like a bad shepherd wouldn’t care about the sheep. We know that Jesus fits the bill of a good shepherd because he cares for others.

Also, the image of the good shepherd is also a messianic image. The Messiah would one day come and rule over God’s people as a righteous king. And by declaring himself to be the good shepherd, using the same messianic language from Ezekiel 34, Jesus is identifying himself as the one who will fulfill these promises – he is the Messiah!

And finally, in Ezekiel 34, God himself is identified as the good shepherd who goes in search of stray sheep. God is described as having “come to” his people. And so, when Jesus says he is the good shepherd, he is not only declaring himself to be a good leader and the promised Messiah, but he is saying he is God himself – God has come to his people in the flesh!

Ultimately, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. That’s what Jesus says the good shepherd does. He not only seeks out the lost in order to bring them back, but he dies for them as well. And that’s exactly what Jesus does.