John 10:11 –
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.”
Jesus is talking to the people about sheep in a field and how they know their shepherd by his voice. This analogy is something the people of the time understand, since many were sheep farmers or knew of one. We look at analogies like this and although they make sense, we tend not to relate to them since few of us know farmers. I wonder what Jesus would have said today to relate to us? Come up with an analogy like this that would apply to today’s society.
The significance of this verse is great when you think about it. Jesus is illustrating what is about to happen to Him, where He is sacrificed for the flock’s salvation. He is doing what it takes to save the herd. Consider again the significance of this illustration. Jesus is willing to die in order to save us. That is huge! We must wrap our heads around the concept that He not only died for the sheep of the time, but for future sheep including YOU. Crazy isn’t it?
Now as you continue this chapter you notice many people don’t understand what Jesus is saying. He continues the analogy of the sheep noting that they do not understand the voice of others. They only can understand the voice of their shepherd. As they remain confused, his “sheep” understood Him. This again is significant since few of us really understand His love. We understand what He is saying and what it means, but the love misses us. I know it does me much of the time, I can understand it on a “logical” level but miss it on the heart level.
It is verses like this that grab me. Again I cannot relate to the analogy of the sheep, but start to wrap my head around this when I relate it to my children. When Jesus talks about the fathers love, it’s easy for me to understand as a father of two. There isn’t anything I would not do for them; I would sacrifice my life to save theirs without a second thought. I also start to understand His love when I don’t get everything I want out of life. He knows better than I what will help me grow. I realize when I am disobedient my “privileges” get slowly removed until I return to Him. We need to follow Jesus like sheep, granted not mindless, but without pause. I do think God wants us to understand Him well so we can explain His love to others.