Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.” (John 10.11-18)
For a number of decades now, the Fourth Sunday of Easter has carried the name “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Prior to 1970, the title was affixed to the Third Sunday of Easter. In both instances, the reason for the name was the same–the gospel for the day centered on the image of the Good Shepherd as found in Chapter 10 of John’s gospel. Published in 1970, the current Order of Readings, commonly called the lectionary, takes the first eighteen verses of that chapter and divides them–unequally–among the three cycles (Year A, B, C), allowing us to ponder the image of the Good Shepherd after Easter each year at this time.
A familiar one to anyone who sits in the church pew, the image in itself is dated, at least to the majority of listeners since few people in our country raise sheep any longer. Even fewer have experience with an agrarian society, such as Judea was in the time of Jesus. So, the image of a shepherd for city dwellers requires some study or some expansion. A far better image for our times, in my opinion, carrying the same tonality and theme would be that of a dog lover.
However, we take the scriptures as they are, accepting that they were written in a particular historical context, while holding on to the belief that they contain a truth that is timeless, regardless of the age in which a person lives. So it is with Chapter 10 of John’s gospel, the first part devoted entirely to Jesus’ likening himself to a good shepherd, an image that certainly was relatable to the people of his time who saw shepherds as an everyday occurrence.
Even if we’ve never laid eyes on a sheep or a shepherd, I think the passage still speaks powerfully to us because we don’t have to know anything about sheep to know what Jesus is saying about himself and what he is saying about us. Again, that is the timeliness and the timelessness of the sacred text, speaking to us in much the same way as it spoke to the listeners who first heard Jesus speak the words.
As we look at the passage today, it is impossible to miss the contrast that underlies the text, clearly built into it to emphasize something very important. That contrast is between the good shepherd and the hired hand, both men doing the same job–looking after the sheep–but each one doing it in a very different way. In short, Jesus draws a sharp distinction between good and bad, a continuous theme in John’s gospel, much the same as light and darkness.
Right at the start, Jesus identifies himself as a good shepherd. And he doesn’t leave us guessing what he intends the phrase to mean. He immediately defines a good shepherd for us. “A good shepherd,” he says, “lays down his life for the sheep.” It is the principal characteristic of the good shepherd, the singular trait that qualifies him as good. In fact, Jesus repeats the qualification five times in this short passage, in each instance referencing the laying down of one’s life for the sheep.
Whatever else the shepherd might do, this is what he has to do if he is to qualify as a good shepherd. Everything else is secondary. Of course, it is easy to see how all other characteristics pale in comparison because, in the end, laying down one’s life is the ultimate sacrifice. There is nothing that supersedes putting one’s life on the line.
In other words, Jesus sets the bar as high as it can be put. And he is able to do so because he knows–and his Father in heaven knows–it is precisely what he will do in the near future. He will lay down his life for his sheep, the image often used in the Hebrew scriptures to denote the people of Israel. So, when Jesus speaks the words, we have only to think of the cross on which his life ended to understand what a good shepherd looks like.
We also can learn a lot about the good shepherd by way of the contrast that is provided by the hired hand, defined by Jesus as someone who works for pay. There is more here than Jesus simply pointing to the obvious. It is found in the conjunction “and.” The hired man works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
Put that way, the contrast could not be clearer. The good shepherd is willing to sacrifice his own life for the sheep, while the hired hand has no concern for the sheep. In fact, as Jesus points out, the hired man is the first to run for cover when he sees a wolf coming after the sheep. Rather than stay to protect the sheep, he “leaves the sheep and runs away,” allowing the wolf to catch and scatter the helpless sheep. It does not present a pretty picture of the person who only does a job for the money.
Vivid and candid, the contrast works exceedingly well, accentuating the self-sacrifice of the good shepherd and devaluating the self-interest of the hired hand. It praises self-giving behavior and condemns selfishness. As Jesus lays out the differences, it leaves no doubt as to the other-centeredness of the good shepherd and the self-centeredness of the hired hand.
Almost always, there is a want on the part of preachers to put before the public the image of the good shepherd, praising his self-sacrifice and promoting imitation of his character. Such a presentation aligns easily with the text, Jesus making much the same point, wanting his listeners to know that his focus is on others, not on himself. Calling others to the same high standard is well within the parameters of the text.
However, the reality is that few of us meet the standard put forth by Jesus. If we’re honest, he’s in a class all his own. By definition, the good shepherd lays down his life for others and Jesus is speaking literally here. He means suffering death so that others might be saved. You just don’t find many people willing to be nailed to a cross for the sake of others, not then, not now.
As a result, the tendency is to water down the notion of laying down one’s life, reinterpreting it in terms of making personal sacrifices on behalf of others. Again, such an interpretation can be validly argued, but it has to reckon with the fact that there is a wide chasm between giving up some time for a person and giving up one’s life for a person.
For what it’s worth, I find more benefit in looking at the hired hand because, frankly, I think that’s where most people live for better or for worse. Generally, people are motivated by self-interest and self-preservation. If we want to move away from that posture–and Jesus certainly asks us to give it a try–then we need to look long and hard at the hired hand, recognizing we share a lot of the same DNA.
Once we can make that acknowledgement, then there is a possibility that we take steps towards changing our ways, at least to some discernible degree. Not that we will become another Jesus–none of us ever escapes the full weight of sin–but at least we won’t live out our lives like the hired man who, from all appearances, is solely directed by reward points, or as Jesus says, only works for pay.
Put in the context of doing the work of Jesus–after all, that is what a follower does–we may want to look more closely at our motivation, peeling away the veneer of dishonesty that we often hide behind. Do we do the work of Jesus because of our deep-down concern for others–as the good shepherd does–or do we do it because we’re getting paid?
I’m not talking about a paycheck here, although many people do get paid for the work they do in the church. Admittedly, Luke says that when Jesus sent out his disciples he told them that the workers were due their wages, referring to a meal for their stomachs and a roof for the night. But does that become the motivation or are we impelled by something more, by a genuine desire to do good, regardless of whether or not we are paid?
The fact of the matter is that there are many forms of payback, a paycheck simply the most obvious. Receiving praise or recognition qualify as a form of payment, especially if they are the primary reasons for our doing the good things we do. Would we do the same good works if nobody noticed? Would we be motivated to stay on the path of Jesus if we never received any gratitude from the people we help or if our good deeds went completely unappreciated?
Digging deeper, it becomes more interesting when we ask ourselves if our good deeds are done solely without self-interest or if we’re doing them because of our desire to gain entrance into heaven. Put simply, if we’re doing it for the cash back rewards of heaven, then we are little different than the hired hand. We’re still looking out for our self-interest over and above the work we’re doing for Jesus.
Asking ourselves these kinds of questions allows us to see how empty of self-interest our service to others is and to determine how total our other-centeredness is. When we are able to say that our actions are fueled by nothing other than the well-being of others, then we are moving from a hired hand to a shepherd. Frankly, it is not an easy journey.
One of my favorite stories–maybe you’ve heard it before–is about a man who was walking down the road when he met an angel who was carrying a lighted torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other hand. Puzzled, the man asked the angel where he was going. The angel replied, “I’m taking the torch to burn down heaven and I’m taking the water to extinguish the fires of hell. Then we will see if people are doing good only because of their desire for heaven or because of their fear of hell.”
I love the story, even if it is unsettling, because there is a great truth tucked into it. It challenges us to uncover our true motivation in following the way of Jesus. If it is a desire for heaven or a fear of hell, then we are still in the hired hand mode, looking for cash back rewards. When we can say neither motivates us, only the well-being of the sheep entrusted to us, then we have moved toward the good shepherd mode.
–Jeremy Myers
Sunday Brunch 