Jesus Our
Shepherd
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:11
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
John 10:14
A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalms 23:1
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Isaiah 40:11
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Jesus was the good shepherd to whom the porter openeth, who knows the sheep, calleth his own by name, and leadeth them out. He it is who is stronger than the thief and the robber, those who enter not in at the door, but climb up some other way. The Pharisees were not able to discern that this parable was spoken against them, the professed leaders of the people, pastors of the flock. Jesus presented himself in contrast to them, and when they reasoned in their hearts as to what he could mean by the parable, he said: "I am the door of the sheep. . . . By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Christ presented himself as the only one in whom were qualifications for making a good shepherd. He is represented as the "Chief Shepherd." Peter writes, "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Again he is called the great Shepherd. "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever." "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep."
T. S. T.
December 4, 1893
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Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has given his life for the sheep. Every soul that will submit to be ransomed, Jesus will bear from the pit of corruption or from the briers of sin. He bore our sins, he carried our sorrows. Jesus takes the soul, sinful and polluted, upon his shoulders, and joyfully bears it to the haven of safety. Not a solitary soul would have entered the fold of Christ if the divine Shepherd had not made a personal effort to save that which was lost. He came to save that which was lost. He tasted death for every man. One sheep lost was enough to start Jesus out on the search to bring it back to the fold. Now will not those who have been borne on the shoulders of Christ to the fold, work for others as does the shepherd seeking for the lost sheep? Jesus expects nothing less than this of his co-laborers. At the same time he opens before his disciples the danger of their falling into temptation, and desiring to be first in the kingdom of heaven. Many give no heed to this precious lesson. He plainly states that the principle to control the life of a Christian is love toward God and love toward his fellow men.
YI December 30,1897
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But when it is found, does he act indifferently? Does he call the sheep, and command the straying one to follow him? Does he threaten and beat it, or drive it before him, recounting the bitterness and discomfiture and anxiety that he has had on its account? No; he lays the weary, exhausted, wandering sheep on his shoulder, and . . . returns it to the fold. His gratitude finds expression in melodious songs of rejoicing, and heavenly choirs respond to the shepherd's note of joy.
. . . For "joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine" (John 10:14). Just as a shepherd of earth knows his sheep, so does the chief Shepherd know His flock that are scattered throughout the whole world. . . . "And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God"
(Ezekiel 34:31).
IHP 25
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The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. A lost sheep never finds its way back to the fold of itself. If it is not sought for and saved by the watchful shepherd, it wanders until it perishes. What a representation of the Saviour is this! Unless Jesus, the Good Shepherd, had come to seek and to save the wandering, we should have perished. The Pharisees had taught that none but the Jewish nation would be saved, and they treated all other nationalities with contempt. But Jesus attracted the attention of those that the Pharisees despised, and He treated them with consideration and courtesy. . .
LHU 212