Digging Deeper: The Door of the House

In John chapter 10, Jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd who not only knows all his sheep but who also willingly lays down his life for them. 

This image we’re given of the shepherd pulls together several different aspects of Jesus' identity and ties them to the imagery that the Prophet Ezekiel used in his messages about the coming Messiah.

First of all, Israel’s leaders were often called the “shepherds” of God’s people. Those who were good leaders were the ones who cared for and looked after the people, which was in contrast to the negligent leaders or shepherds who didn’t care for them at all. So Jesus fits the role of a good shepherd by caring for and looking after others.

This lines up with what Ezekiel says:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?

-- Ezekiel 34:1-2 

Second, the good shepherd was also an image for the Messiah, the Son of David, who was to one day rule over all of God’s people. Here in John’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself as the one in whom this promise is fulfilled, linking himself once again to the prophecies of Ezekiel which say:

I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.

-- Ezekiel 34:23 

Third, God himself was also known as the best shepherd of all the shepherds, who gathered his flock together and nurtured them. As the good shepherd, Jesus, whom John tells us is God in the flesh, is the one in whom God comes to be with his people. This again lines up with what Ezekiel prophesied:

“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

-- Ezekiel 34:11-12 

And so, when Jesus pulls these references to Ezekiel and identifies himself as their fulfillment, not only is he saying that he is a shepherd of God’s people (a leader), but he is also saying that he is the good shepherd (the Messiah) and even claiming to be the best shepherd (God himself). It’s this kind of talk that makes the Pharisees mad. They recognize the implications of what he’s quoting from… and they don’t agree with him.

However, Jesus also says that the principal trait of the good shepherd is laying down his life for the sheep. And this is what actually happens to him when he willingly lays down his life and is executed on a cross. By dying, Jesus reveals the lengths to which he will go to provide life for others. 

This is also one of the seven "I am" sayings in John's Gospel. The expression "I am" recalls the name of God, who is the "I AM Who I AM" who reveals himself to Moses in Exodus chapter 3. So when Jesus says “I AM the Good Shepherd” he is once again proclaiming through his careful choice of words that he himself is in fact God's Word in the flesh. 

Jesus also claims to be the gate by which the sheep enter the fold. Those who do not enter by the gate are there to steal and kill and destroy. They are there to harm the sheep, but those who enter by the gate are God’s own. 

In Jesus' day, shepherds would take their sheep to little caves in the sides of the hills at night to keep them safe. Surrounding the entrance to the cave, the shepherds would pile up rocks to make a little stone wall to keep the sheep in. But they would leave a little gap in the stone wall so that the sheep could be easily gathered into this little pen. Once all the sheep were safely tucked into their cave for the night, the shepherd would then lay his or herself down to sleep between the gap in the stone wall. That way if anything tried to come or go in the night, they would have to come or go through the shepherd. This is the image that Jesus applies to himself. He is the shepherd sitting in the gap in the stone wall, protecting his sheep from harm. He is responsible for who comes and who goes.

Jesus also says that the sheep will always recognize the voice of their shepherd, and they will come to him, but they will not respond to the voice of an impostor. This is true of both physical sheep in the pasture, and it is true in a spiritual sense with Jesus and his followers. Sheep always respond to the voice of their master. They recognize the voice and they trust the voice. If some other shepherd comes along, they won’t listen to that shepherd. But if they hear the voice of the shepherd that they know and love, they will come running to him. Even if their shepherd is standing on the other side of a canyon, and the sheep hear his voice from the other side, they will come running towards him and they will all one by one throw themselves off the cliff trying to get to him. That is why the shepherds always walked among their flock, in the very center of it. The true leader leads from within, not from beyond. And that is what Jesus does with us. He is with us, guiding us. He’s not off in some far distant place, hoping that we don’t walk off some cliff trying to find him.

Now when the people hear Jesus talking about sheep, they think he must either be a lunatic or demon-possessed… but a few people defend him, saying that demon-possessed man could never be able to heal a man born blind, like Jesus did.

Later that year, during the Festival of Dedication (Hanukkah), the Jews ask Jesus how long he is going to keep them in suspense. 

They thought that he might be planning to start a messianic revolution on the anniversary of the Great Maccabean Revolution (Hanukkah). 

They say, “Tell us if you are the Messiah or not.” 

And Jesus says, “I did tell you, but you didn’t believe me.” 

And he starts comparing himself to a shepherd again, saying that his true followers will recognize his voice (the people still didn’t understand who he was in their Maccabbean expectations of him). 

Jesus then proclaims, “I and the Father are one!” 

His opponents picked up stone to throw at him, and Jesus asks, “For which one of my good deeds are you about to stone me?” 

And they say that they’re not stoning him for the good things he has done, but because he just committed blasphemy. 

Jesus then reminds them that in the Books of the Psalms, God himself had referred to his people as “gods.” 

Jesus is like, “If that’s what God says about his people, then how much more appropriate is it to say that about the one whom God has set aside as his very own and sent into the world?” 

He asks, “Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 

Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days, and many people came to him and said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.”