The analogy of God as the Shepherd and humanity as the sheep was ancient when Jesus spoke it, going back to Genesis. King David used that analogy eloquently in Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Jesus applied the analogy to His own ministry, His own life and death, and we treasure the knowledge that Jesus will always be our Good Shepherd.

What we miss in looking at just these five verses is that they appear in the context of an argument between Jesus and the Pharisees. All the Hebrew rabbis had laid claim to their role as a shepherd for the descendants of Abraham, but they all had failed. The sinful nature of humanity prevented even the best of the Old Testament saints from being the perfect shepherds the people needed. The Pharisees, being far from saints, abused their leadership role and argued in arrogant defiance that Jesus was an unfit and unworthy shepherd. They had no idea what the characteristics were of the true Good Shepherd.

This arrogance and ignorance was demonstrated in their reaction to the miracle recorded in John 9. Jesus had healed a blind man by putting mud on his eyes—on the Sabbath day—and the Pharisees were certain that this act of making and lifting mud was "work", and so violated the Fourth Commandment! Ha!

Jesus argument in return was to draw a clear line between those who would exploit the sheep and those who would care for the sheep. The distinction was compelling to many of those listening, and verses 19 through 21 tell of many people who believed in Jesus because of his explanation of the Shepherd that God had always intended the people to have, and because his healing of the blind man demonstrated that he was not just another religious zealot attracting attention.

In fact, what Jesus describes does not sound like what we expect from our leaders, and it offers us a dramatic illustration in how we are to follow God and to live out God's Love toward others:

A good shepherd would expect no respect.
Being a shepherd was a tough job, usually given to someone near the bottom of the social strata. Those who could afford it would hire foreign workers to care for the sheep. We know King David had been a shepherd, and that was because he was the youngest of Jesse's sons and had been considered to be the least significant.

A good shepherd worked outside normal society.
There was no opportunity for a social life or normal contact outside of the shepherd community, because shepherds were always away in the wilderness, finding meadows and water. They were outcasts in the Israelite theocracy because they had no opportunity to participate in the religious rituals necessary to be considered clean. And could they set aside their sheep on the Sabbath to observe a day of rest? Not a chance!

A good shepherd accepted a very hard lifestyle.
Being a shepherd required diligence around the clock for weeks at a time. Sheep have no common sense and no protective mechanisms, so a shepherd was always finding one that had wandered away or somehow was in danger. That meant living and staying with th e sheep, out in the elements, without normal human comforts and companionship. It is no wonder the youngest sibling usually got that job.

A good shepherd accepted danger.
In addition to having no common sense and no defenses, sheep also had the distinction of being quite tasty. That placed sheep at the top of the menu for all the wild carnivores of the region. Bears and lions would attack any human standing in the way of a delicious meal, so the shepherd had to be brave, resourceful, and fierce if any of the sheep were to be left—and if he were to survive.


When the Pharisees made their claim to being shepherds for the people of Israel, they certainly did not accept the danger, the hard life, the isolation, and the rejection that goes with the position. They wanted the title, the glory, and the association as ones who would be loved for their benevolence, somewhat like the corporate CEO who stages events so he can be associated with the "ordinary people" of his company. Jesus was gracious to refer to the Pharisees as "hired hands", for many were no better than sheep rustlers.

In contrast, Jesus accepted all that went with being the Good Shepherd. He gave up the praises of angels to accept the scorn of angry crowds. He gave up heavenly palaces to walk back and forth across Judea. He gave up his life for us; only the Good Shepherd would do that.