Jesus is the Good Shepherd

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.           John 10.11

 

A Good Shepherd is a person who takes good care of sheep.

 

What do you know about sheep? Did you know they aren’t very good at taking care of themselves? They need someone to help make sure they get food and water and don’t wander into danger.

God says we are all like sheep. And many of the leaders God gave His people were shepherds. Abraham had many herds of sheep when God made His promise to him. Before God used Moses to lead His people through the sea and desert, Moses kept sheep too. David took care of sheep before he led Israel as king. Chasing sheep was probably good practice for leading God’s people!

When Jesus grew up into a man, He was followed around by large crowds of people. They wanted to hear His teaching and have him heal them. One day, He was out in a boat when He noticed all those people were just standing on the shore waiting for Him to come help. To Jesus, they looked like lost sheep.

“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”

Jesus’ time had come to shepherd, to lead His people into God’s truth. Shepherds lead sheep where they need to go, for good grass to eat, clean water to drink, and a safe place to lie down and rest. In Jesus’ time, being a shepherd was a hard job. Sometimes one sheep would get lost and the shepherd would search for it. Sometimes a sheep would get hurt or would keep wandering off. Then, the shepherd would carry it until it was healed and it learned to stay near. Sometimes, a wild animal would steal a sheep from the flock to eat it. The shepherd would risk his life to save that sheep.

Jesus led the crowd’s hearts and minds to places where they would have peace. He would teach them how to stay with God. He would heal many of those who needed healing. He would keep His followers close to Him so they would be able to enjoy His presence and His love.

Jesus knew that sin and God’s enemies were like wild animals trying to take God’s sheep away from the flock. So, Jesus became our shepherd. He fought off the bite and death of the sin threatening to carry us away from God. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, gave up His life on the cross to save us, His sheep.

 

This Psalm shows how the Lord is our shepherd     Psalm 23

 

How are people like sheep and how is Jesus like our shepherd?

Why are you glad that Jesus is the Good Shepherd?