Anchor My Faith

The Illustration of the Shepherd and His Sheep

Scripture: John 10:1-3

We ended the previous lesson with the conclusion that the Pharisees were spiritually blind because they could not see Jesus as their Messiah as he stood before them. The fact that the blind man could see spiritually because of belief and that the Pharisees could not because of unbelief pointed out that Jesus divides humanity into those who are born spiritually and those who are not. In this respect it was “for judgment [that] Jesus came into the world.” Jesus is not judging, but others judge him and decide whether to believe or to reject him.  In this lesson we will start a new section about Jesus claiming to be the good shepherd.

^{Jn 10:1} “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”

“Truly, truly” does not necessarily indicate the beginning of a new discourse at a time different from chapter 9 but is an indication of some deeper teaching that Jesus is going to do that extends from the discourse about the blind man. Because of the power Jesus demonstrated in providing the blind man with physical sight, he journeyed along the path of faith from seeing Jesus as just a man to seeing him as a prophet to seeing him as the Son of Man to believing he was the Son of God. This faith journey was the process of removing spiritual blindness and gaining spiritual sight. Those who gain spiritual sight through faith are referred to as sheep and in this section, Jesus will draw a parallel with the actual presence of a sheepfold with the shepherds and their flocks. Evidence that this discourse is connected to the discourse on the blind man is found in John 10:21, where we read, “Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

A footnote in the ESV Study Bible, Copyright 2008 by Crossway Bibles, describes the sheepfold as follows: “The sheepfold was commonly a courtyard near or beside a house and bordered by a stone wall, in which one or several families kept their sheep, although caves and other natural formations were also used. Such sheepfolds may or may not have a formal door and would be guarded at the entrance by a “gatekeeper” (v.3), who would be hired to stand watch, or by the shepherd himself.”

When taking the sheep to pasture, the shepherd would enter the sheepfold through the door and call his sheep and they will follow him out. But there are others who desire to steal some of the sheep, who would be blocked at the door, climb in by another way. Jesus calls these thieves and robbers. ^{Jn 10:2} “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

Since most of my readers have little or no experience with sheep, the best way to understand the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep is to consider the relationship between one who has several dogs. These dogs know their owner and respond to his call to them. The owner would also know his dogs when they are with others. The kind of relationship one would have with their dogs is in a way like the shepherd and his sheep. A mountain shepherd, and even a shepherd’s dog, will know a single sheep among hundreds from other flocks.

Once the shepherd is allowed into the sheepfold and he identifies his sheep and leads them out, then what happens? We will find out in the next lesson.

Conclusion

Using the example of our relationship to our pets in this lesson, I wondered about that relationship in comparison with our relationship with Jesus. Which do we enjoy more, spend more time with and do more things together? If you were somehow separated from each, which would you miss the most?