“I am the good shepherd”: what John 10 says about a leader who knows his sheep by name
In the hills of ancient Israel, a shepherd did not drive his sheep from behind. He walked ahead and called, and the sheep followed his voice.
Jesus used that picture in John 10: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
The door
Jesus spoke these words after healing a man born blind, in John 9, and clashing with religious leaders who had thrown the man out of the synagogue. The contrast is pointed: some leaders harm the flock; the good shepherd cares for it. Jesus first describes himself as the door of the sheepfold. Anyone who climbs in another way is a thief and a robber. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Knowing by name
The shepherd “calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out”. The sheep know his voice and follow him; they will not follow a stranger. The picture is of a relationship as much as authority. The shepherd knows each sheep, and the sheep trust him. Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hireling, who works for pay. When the wolf comes, the hireling runs away, “because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep”. The good shepherd stays and lays down his life.
Other sheep
Jesus says he has “other sheep” who are not of this fold, and he must bring them too, so that there will be “one fold, and one shepherd”. Many readers see this as a reference to people beyond Israel, including Gentiles. The passage echoes Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd”, and Ezekiel 34, where God condemns the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves instead of the flock and promises to shepherd his people himself.
One flock and the voice
Jesus also says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” The passage is often read for assurance at funerals. The image of the shepherd has shaped Christian ideas of leadership. The word pastor comes from the Latin for shepherd. John 10 challenges church leaders to know their people, protect them and serve them rather than use them.
Sheep follow a voice they know. In a world full of competing voices, the passage asks a simple question of every believer: whose voice do you recognise, and whose do you follow?
