Jesus: The Shepherd Servant

Suggestion: to prepare the minds of your class to receive the full force of Jesus' lesson, help them see Jesus' points in the context of his country and his society "then." They were tied directly to agriculture. We are tied directly to technology. They were rural. We are urban. Think of ways to help them understand the mind set of the "then" audience. This is essential if the class grasps the fundamental lessons that were obvious "then" to those hearers but are not obvious "now" to today's hearers.

Jesus lived in, taught, and ministered to an agricultural society. In his lifetime, the greater majority of the Israelites in Palestine were poor. The small middle class was composed primarily of craftsmen and merchants. The wealthy were even smaller in number. Society directly depended on agriculture. The poor depended on the land to survive. If agriculture failed, the middle class had few customers. Agricultural failure immediately, directly impacted the wealthy.

Suggestion: you might wish to contrast the typical divisions of our society with their society. They had a huge poor class, a small middle class, and a smaller wealthy class. We have a sizable wealthy class and a huge middle class. Our middle class must be divided into "upper middle class" and "lower middle class." While we have many in poverty, the percentage of the poor in our society would not begin to compare to the percentage of the poor in their society. The multitudes who gathered to hear Jesus were composed primarily of the poor.

Four basic agricultural factors made a year "good" or "bad" economically. They were (a) the grain crops [was there enough grain to produce adequate bread]; (b) the olive crop [olive oil was basic in daily existence]; (c) the vineyards [could the grapes produce adequate, quality wine], and (d) the birth rate and survival of lambs [a family's prosperity was measured by the size of their flock].

Suggestion: again contrast common indicators of our prosperity with the common indicators of their prosperity. While they discussed crop growth and the number of lambs being born, we might discuss interest rates, return rates on certificates of deposit, and the rise and fall of the stock market. As an illustration, you might want to mention a few things that could have produced crisis in our society if the worst had happened with Y2K on January 1. Note that similar things could never have happened in their society. Example: consider the ways that crashing computers would affect water supply, sanitation, electricity, heat, food distribution, and the essentials to sustain life. Failed crops impacted their daily life, but they had little effect on water supply (a drought would produce parallel disasters in food and water), sanitation, or heat.

The shepherd served an essential role in the family's prosperity and society's well being. He led the sheep to adequate grazing. He led the sheep to adequate water. He protected the sheep from predators. He gave special care to weak or sick sheep. He gave special attention to the ewes as lambs were born. He recovered lost sheep.

His whole existence focused on the welfare of the sheep. He served the sheep. Their well being was all important day and night every day. He was a servant, but he was unique. Proper care of the flock involved much more than caring for a job responsibly.

A sheepfold was an enclosure [often small] with one entrance. A sheepfold allowed the shepherd to protect his flock better at night. By stationing himself at its entrance, he placed himself between dangers and the sheep. Because he led his flock through open country searching for grass and water, a sheepfold might not be available every night.

Suggestion: do as much as you can to help make your students understand the important role the shepherd played in the family and in society.

On occasions it was necessary for the shepherd to leave his flock for the night. A flock could stay in a large sheepfold with several flocks. A keeper tended/guarded the flocks placed in his care while their shepherds were gone for the night. If a shepherd must be away for more than the night, someone was hired to take the sheep to graze and drink. The hired person did a job. The shepherd cared about his sheep.

We have few roles in our society that are as "all life consuming" as was the work of the shepherd. The sheep were his life day and night. It required a very unselfish focus and commitment to be a shepherd.

Some basic lessons Jesus revealed about the nature and quality of his service are not obvious to many American Christians. Most of us live in a city. Our society is basically an urban society. The number of sheep we own does not determine our economic status. We have little knowledge of the life and work of a shepherd. Things clearly obvious to Jesus' audience are not obvious to us.

Suggestion: emphasize the fact that Jesus' use of the shepherd as an illustration of himself would quickly, readily declare things about Jesus' concern. If they believed that he was their shepherd, they understood the basic encouragement and assurance that he gave them. We often question, even reject, some of those basic encouragements and assurances because we do not understand the life and commitment of a shepherd.

Read John 10:1-6, 11-18.

Note these facts that Jesus emphasized:

1. The sheep know the shepherd so well that they recognize his voice. [verse 3]
2. The shepherd knows the sheep so well that he calls them by name. [verse 3]
3. Even when among other flocks, the shepherd leads [not drives!] his sheep out of the sheepfold. Because they trust him and his care, the sheep follow him. [verses 3 and 4]
4. A good shepherd will die for his sheep. [verse 11]
5. When facing danger, a hired person will save himself rather than saving the sheep. [verses 12 and 13]
6. Jesus willingly, of his own initiative, died to save his sheep. [verses 15, 17-18]

The obvious: Jesus wanted those he taught to understand (a) the nature and quality of his commitment to any person who followed him and (b) his willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice to save those who followed him.

The following questions are for thought and discussion.

1. In the reading, who are the sheep? Who is the shepherd? Who is dependent on whom? Who should lead and who should follow? In the context of Jesus' illustration what does allowing Jesus to lead mean?

   The sheep are Israelites who were God's chosen people since God gave Abraham a promise (Genesis 12:1-3) and non-Jews who will believe in Jesus (John 10:16). Jesus is the shepherd. Jewish and non-Jewish believers are dependent on Jesus. Jesus should lead; the believers should follow. He decides where we should go, what we should "eat," and what we should "drink." Our lives depend on following him. We know him and we trust him, so we follow him wherever he leads us.

2. List [at least] three obvious lessons of great importance to the people who listened as Jesus taught this lesson.
   1. In an uncertain world that could change quickly (and often violently), Jesus provided them certain direction. He could guide them through all the confusion and uncertainty that surrounded their existence.

   2. Their well being was so important to him that he would willingly die to protect them. If they would follow him, Jesus placed himself between them and danger. Likely, at the time of this lesson they were thinking about physical dangers. Jesus would protect them from their greatest dangers (dangers that they did not yet fully comprehend). He would protect them from Satan and from eternal dangers.

   3. He knew his followers so well that he knew them by name. His relationship with them was personal, not general.

   These are only three suggested lessons they saw. Use any that you see in the text.

   • He cares for them in his concern for their good, not in concern for his own good (as a man hired to do the job).

   • He calls them to follow him to give them life (in their poverty they had an existence, not a life). Following him would result in the discovery of life in its complete, fullest sense. [verse 10]

   • Jesus would sacrifice life for them because he chose to, not because he had not choice.

   • Their lives were too important to Jesus for him to run from danger.

   • By being their shepherd, he provided them comfort and strength that should give them a sense of definite safety and security.

3. List lessons about our relationship with Jesus based on understanding the life and work of a shepherd that are of obvious importance.
   1. A lesson concerning protection: He will protect us from forces on earth and in heaven that seek our eternal destruction.

   2. A lesson concerning provision: As the shepherd leads his sheep to places that meet their needs in sustaining life, Jesus will lead us to those things that will sustain our life with God.

   3. A lesson concerning Jesus' personal relationship with us: He knows us as individuals by name. We are not a number or a statistic. We are not a "face in the crowd."

   4. A lesson concerning our personal relationship with Jesus. Just as he knows us by name, we are to "know his voice." A relationship is based on what is supplied by each person in the relationship, not by a single person. Just as he knows us, we must know him so well that we trust him.

   5. A lesson concerning Jesus' commitment to us: He proved his commitment to us and our relationship to him by willingly, of his own choice, dying for us.

   6. A lesson concerning the security we feel in Jesus: Just as the sheep knew a good shepherd would protect them from danger, lead them to water, and lead them to grazing, we know that our good shepherd will protect us from dangers we do not even understand and lead us to the places that will meet our true needs.

How many of these things could be true if Jesus had not been the shepherd servant?

None of them.

Link to Student Guide Quarter 1, Lesson 11

Copyright © 1999, 2000
David Chadwell & West-Ark Church of Christ

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