Brooklands Gospel Centre
Dundonald, Northern Ireland
Worthy is the LAMB that was slain
Revelation 5:12
The Good Shepherd in Action
The central chapters of John’s Gospel are interconnected and developed in a very interesting way. The central theme is the activity of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd. This study follows His involvement in word and action as He establishes His credentials as the One sent to accomplish the Father’s will by ‘laying down His life and taking it up again’. We commence with the failure of the shepherd’s of Israel in chapter nine and conclude with the astonishing episode of washing His disciple’s feet in chapter thirteen.
“The blind man answered and said, a man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed
mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash, and I went and washed
and received sight…Jesus heard that they had cast him out (of the synagogue); and
when he found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God…and he said,
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.” -
Here we have the story of a blind man who finds the Saviour and has his sight restored.
Or we could say that he was a lost sheep in the fold of Israel, who is found by the
TRUE shepherd -
Instead of these shepherds of the nation recognising and rejoicing in the restoration of one of their ‘sheep’s’ eyesight, they put him out of the synagogue, disgraced and disowned. These religious leaders were more concerned with their traditions and status than the Word of God. They assumed that they were pleasing God, while all the time their minds were closed as to who Jesus really was. They saw their position as leaders of the Jewish flock threatened by the actions and teachings of the young rabbi from Nazareth.
But the excommunication of the newly seeing man from the synagogue led to him being found by the Good Shepherd who had just given to him not only physical sight but would give an even greater blessing, SPIRITUAL SIGHT! When he met his benefactor face to face, he obviously did not recognize Him. He had met Him, heard His command “Go wash”, but couldn’t see Him. And so he has to ask “Who is he that I might believe?” What an unforgettable experience to hear the words “Thou has both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee”. He was seeing for the first time, face to face, the Son of God, Messiah of Israel, and Saviour of the world!
The prophecy against the shepherds of Israel detailed in Ezekiel 34 is summarised in verse 4. “The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and with rigour have ye ruled over them. And they were scattered because there was no shepherd.”
This story is a living parable. The thieves and robbers are direct references to the false shepherds who treated this man so disgracefully. In contrast, the heart of the Good Shepherd went out after this disfigured and sick sheep, giving him not only his sight but also Life in abundance.
As we enter chapter 10 and listen to the familiar words; “Verily, verily, I say unto you” our first question is; whom is the Lord speaking to? The final words of chapter 9 give us the answer; “YOUR sin remains”. So He is continuing to address the same people, the religious hierarchy of Israel referred to above. He accuses them of an improper entry into the fold in contrast to His own entry by the door.
This is therefore a pivotal chapter in that it introduces a dispensational change, summarised in chapter 1:17. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”.
The “the door into the sheepfold” (v1) is referring to the gate of a winter sheepfold. This was a communal enclosure in which a number of flocks were kept in safety during the long winter nights and was guarded by a gatekeeper. The “porter” also referred to as a “hireling” (v12). The shepherds would come for their flocks and be admitted by him, he obviously would open to the bona fide shepherds. The Lord was clearly signalling that He had the proper credentials to be admitted as the true Shepherd into the fold, which was Israel. The Old Testament Scriptures right from Genesis to Malachi abound in prophetic references to the coming of such a One. Details of His proper ancestry through the patriarchs, kings and prophets, the place and nature of His birth are all well recorded.
We might ask, in this context, Who is the porter? It seems He is referring to John
the Baptist, the introducer of the Shepherd to the nation as “the Lamb of God”. And
as He emerges from the Jordan waters at His baptism the heavens are opened, the Spirit
of God descends and authenticates His divine credentials -
As we move to verse 7, the Shepherd refers to another sheepfold door, not guarded
by a porter but by Himself. It is a reference to the summer sheepfold. A stone built
pen the entrance to which is an opening without a door. When night comes, the shepherd
counts and inspects his sheep as they pass under the rod (Ezekiel 20:37). He lights
a fire and then positions himself across the opening and becomes the door of the
sheep. This Shepherd, however, lifts the natural to the supernatural and continues
“by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture”.
He has come not only to bring security to the flock, but liberty. He will do it by
“laying down his life for the sheep”. We grasp the pathos of this as He continues
“therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it
again”! This is a preordained agreement within the Godhead, planned from eternity.
But not just for the salvation of Jewish sheep! True, it was among them that the
good news of eternal life would be preached first as referred to in Matthew 10:5-
We need to pause here and contemplate the verb “have” that He uses for both sets of sheep. Twice over in verses three and four He calls His Jewish sheep “his own” saying that He knows their names, that they will hear His voice and follow Him. The verb “have” indicates prior ownership, the divine plan of election. Four times over in the following Olivet discourse in chapter 17, verses 6, 9, 11 and 24, He refers “to those whom thou hast given me”. It is well for us to remember that God is the first cause of our salvation and in chapter 6:44 we have this truth reinforced “…no man cometh to me except the Father which sent me draw him”.
Verse 18 is the high water mark of this discourse. “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of myself, I have power (right/authority) to lay it down, and I have power (right/authority) to take it again, this commandment have I received from my Father”.
What a statement! Unparalleled in all time and beyond human comprehension. In speaking
out these words with all that they implied the Good Shepherd signalled the way by
which He would fulfil His Father’s will, expressed in the best known verse of Scripture.
Let us marvel again at what it says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life” -
The title of this study is ‘The Good Shepherd in Action’, so it is therefore not
surprising that He now illustrates that He means what He says. How best can He demonstrate
it? He allows the deepest sorrow and heartbreak to enter the little home in Bethany
with an illness that led to the death of his close friend Lazarus. His sisters Mary
and Martha were beside themselves with grief. “Lord”, they chided in succession,
“if thou hadst been here my brother had not died” – John 11:21-
Death could not keep its prey,
Jesus my Saviour.
He tore the bars away,
Jesus my Lord.’
This episode was a precious foretaste of the certainty of His own resurrection when He would become the first fruits of a mighty harvest.
It is not surprising therefore that we find the Good Shepherd as guest at the table of the united family in Bethany in chapter 12. What a reunion that must have been! For a visitor to that supper, who was not familiar with the previous events, to be told that the man Lazarus sitting there in perfect health and looking as he always had been was in recent times dead and decaying for four days in a tomb would have been extremely difficult to believe. But this is a demonstration, however limited, of what abundant life in Christ brings. Not only satisfying in the present but assurance of being like Him and seeing Him as He is for all eternity; sinless and deathless. We listen to His own assurance “because I live you shall live also”.
As we join in spirit in the celebrations in Bethany we could say that it is not only
a house of Feasting, but also a house of Favour, their Lord was present: this makes
it too a house of Fellowship, full family relationships have been restored; but soon
it would be a house of Fragrance! Let us observe it again as though we had been there;
“Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very precious. And anointed
the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with
the odour of the ointment” -
We conclude this study with a brief reference to the following chapter 13. In one
sense we move from a consideration of the actions of the Good Shepherd to that of
the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13), demonstrating a foretaste of His present ministry;
washing the feet of His disciples. Recently I have pondered the implication of verse
12 “So when he had washed their feet …” twelve pairs of feet! How long it would take
their Master to do this is uncertain, but possibly at least one hour and on His knees!
What devotion. I wonder, too, what the inner thoughts of the disciples were as they
waited their turn? We certainly know Simon Peter’s reaction and the profound lessons
we learn from it. But what of Judas? It seems clear from the context that he had
his feet washed. Perhaps as it took place he did not fully realise the full implications
of what was to follow. It was only after receiving the sop (v27) that Satan entered
into him and propelled him relentlessly to the betrayal of the One he had followed
for over three years and to suicide. What an awful end. From the intimacy of ‘heaven’
in the upper room to the eternal darkness of a lost eternity. Looking at this event
what practical lesson can we learn? We recognise that while the laying aside of His
garments speaks of His humility and grace in incarnation, it surely directs our minds
to the right hand of the Majesty on high where He ministers to us with intercession
and advocacy. Intercession for the frail ability of our humanity, and advocacy, when
we sin and truly confess it. There is however the underlying truth of cleansing from
the defilements of the way on a continuous basis. However, we ask ourselves, what
did their Master mean when he counselled, “If I then your Lord and Master have washed
your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example
that ye should also do as I have done to you.” -
We must too, remember that one day soon He will appear as the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). That will be the consummation of all that He, in His grace, has called us to be and do for Him.
DREW CRAIG