I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep.
Whenever I read this passage I tend to get stuck thinking about shepherds and sheep. Jesus uses shepherd metaphors a lot, but knowing what I do about sheep and about the role of shepherds in his time . . .
Sheep are not too bright. We had sheep when I was growing up in Pennsylvania and I can attest to that. Unlike cows or horses, they can’t just be turned out into the fields to graze with the assurance that they will wander back to the barn at dinner time. They will simply keep wandering until someone - often the shepherd and the sheep dog - manages to get them all heading in the same direction. In our case, as we only ever had a couple of sheep at a time and did not have a sheep dog, we attached one end of a chain to a tractor tire and the other end around the neck of the sheep, which allowed them to move and graze, but not get too far away. We started out using cinder blocks, but one day Baby the Sheep decided to swim across the pond to get to Flower the Sheep, so we had to add more weight to the end of the chain. I mean, who knew sheep could swim? And - why did she swim across the pond instead of walking around it? Anyway, sheep easily go astray, and need someone to pay attention to them all the time so they don’t get themselves in trouble. I’m really not sure I want to be compared to a sheep.
Don’t get me wrong. I love sheep. When I go to a County Fair the first thing I want to do is visit the sheep barn. I love the way they smell, although most people don’t. It’s kind of an acquired thing. But still, adorable as they are, sheep are silly creatures, and not too bright.
Shepherds in Jesus’ time were really close to the very bottom of the social scale - right down there with tax collectors. They had a terrible reputation and very few rights in their social structure - they could not serve as witnesses in court, for example, and to buy wool, milk or a kid from a shepherd was forbidden on the assumption that it would be stolen property. Shepherds had a lonely life, living with the sheep more than with people. They were despised by pretty much everyone. Their job required them to stand between the sheep and danger. So why would Jesus want to be known as a shepherd? I mean, he does use the qualifier “good” but still . . .
Maybe it’s the whole “last shall be first” thing Jesus preached. Certainly it fits with Jesus spending his time with tax collectors and others who society despised instead of with the educated and elite. It fits with him knowingly putting himself in danger so he could keep carrying the message of salvation. It fits with the knowledge that he cares for each and every one of us, especially the lost ones. Keeping these things in mind, the image of Jesus as shepherd does work.
Lord God, just as it says in the Psalm, you are my shepherd. You watch over me, and guide me in the right paths. May I always pay attention and go in the way you lead, and not be led astray. Amen.
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