Jesus, the Good Shepherd

Not long ago, I attended a public event at a local venue.  As my family and I waited in line with our tickets in hand, I noticed that the person working security looked familiar.  I saw the uniform first, and then when he turned to face the crowd I realized he was one of my former students from a martial arts club where I teach.  How awesome to think that this man had used some of the things we practiced years ago, in order to win a job working security.  I remember thinking that his job that day must have felt a lot like being a shepherd: constantly herding us visitors to the right and left.  Making sure that no one would dare sneak off into a room where they weren't allowed.  I was instantly filled with pride that this man was serving the community in this fashion.  It's so important to have trusted people overseeing 'the flock' sometimes, and there were hundreds of us at this event.  

I always loved how Jesus explained his own role through parables regarding sheep and the shepherd.  John 10:7-9 says this: "Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in, and go out, and find pasture."  

Jesus declares himself the Good Shepherd.  A term that has become a title for our Lord over the years.  Revelation says that God gives a lampstand to each church, and it is up to us to wield this responsibility well - to make sure our lamp gives off light to the entire community.  Jesus guards us similar to a security guard at times - checking on the flock here and there.  Guiding it like he would his own (because we are in fact his own).

Now let's contrast this by considering a question: have you ever been under the mantle of a bad shepherd?  It's an entirely different thing.  When you cannot trust your leader, and you cannot look to that person to have your best interest at heart, it changes how you live your life.  I remember years ago when I lived in the dormitory in college.  Each floor had one person (usually a fellow student) who also served as hall monitor.  This job required him or her to make sure no one was coming and going who might look suspicious, or who didn't live on that floor.  During my second year, it was essentially a free-for-all.  Our dorm monitor never left his room, and didn't care who did what.  As long as you didn't raise a fuss or complain to his boss, you could drink to excess and party all night long.  As you can imagine, this made for some difficult experiences from time to time.  There was no guarding of the flock; no guidance of any kind.    

If we continue further with Scripture, John 10:10 says: "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."   Of paramount importance in this statement is to discover who Jesus is referring to when he mentions the thief.  Some scholarship suggests that Jesus is talking about false teachers and false prophets.  Still others say that the thief in this story is really the devil himself.  I believe both of these interpretations are accurate, in that the inspiration for a false teacher is usually based on the devil's handiwork anyway.  

If you are old enough (like me), some of you may remember a group based out of San Diego, California called Heaven's Gate.  This little cult was the brainchild of a man named Marshall Applewhite.  He led thirty-nine people to their deaths by hosting a mass suicide one day in the privacy of their compound.  He promised them hope and salvation, if only they would follow him.  If memory serves, he handed out fruit punch laced with poison.  Thirty-nine people laid down in their beds that night, never to wake up again.    

I mention this story because it illustrates the type of 'thief' that Jesus was talking about in his parable.  Applewhite probably sounded convincing and kind.  He probably prayed on vulnerable people who were down on their luck.  And he definitely entered the sheep pen without going through the main gate … he found an alternate entrance.  It is a cautionary tale, and there have been many like it in recent times.  Occasionally, it is only in hindsight that we can be confidant calling something a cult.  You can always judge something by the fruit it produces - and the Heaven's Gate cult produced rotten fruit.  

In ancient times, shepherds played a big role in daily life.  The occupation survives to this very day in some middle-eastern countries.  Shepherds used to lay down in the doorway of their sheep pens at night, so no animal could get out, and no predator could get in.  Like a responsible security guard, nothing snuck by on their watch.  

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  Acts 4:12 says that there is no other name by which we can be saved.  He guards the pen and watches over the sheep.  He sleeps in the doorway at night.  Those who are born again and called to be saints for the church here on earth know the sound of his voice.  When he calls them, they follow, and they are happy to do so.  They understand that other teachers and shepherds may in fact not have their best interest at heart.  No bad fruit comes from what Jesus teaches.  

I implore everyone to enter through the main gate.  We know from Scripture that this path which leads to salvation is narrow, and not everyone will make it.  But for those who hear their shepherd's voice from outside the pen should follow it inside.  From that point forward, the wolves and other predators will all sound shallow and empty, as they have always been.  You will be safe inside the sheep pen, because it is Jesus himself who watches over you.  

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