iShepherd

John 10:1-13

One Sunday morning after the service, a layman told the pastor, “Pastor, this church has been insulting me for years, and I did not know it until this week.”

The pastor was astonished and did not understand what was going on.

This man was from the city and had never been on a farm. He continued,

“Every Sunday we hear that God is our shepherd and we are his flock.

“Pastor, I did not know anything about sheep. Last week I had chance to visit the rural part of our country and I was introduced to sheep. Unbelievable, they are very stupid; even pigs are smarter than sheep. They are the dumbest animals that I can imagine. I don’t want to be called a sheep. And I refuse to come to church anymore.”

The man is right that sheep are not very intelligent. However, the allegory comes from the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

Psalm 23 is one of my favorite psalms: “The Lord is my shepherd.”

Therefore, I am his sheep.

In Isaiah 53:6, we read: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” One can find many quotes from the Bible presenting God as the shepherd and us as sheep. Even the pastoral title “pastor,” (hoviv) in Armenian, uses the imagery of a shepherd. The word comes from Latin, which means “feeder”.

If you ask the shepherds, (remember I lived many years in Kessab and Ainjar in the Middle East) they tell me that the cattle are driven and sheep are led. They are right. Whoever was raised in Fresno, or the countryside knows. Cowboys do not walk in the front of cattle like leaders. They drive the cattle to the pastures to feed them. But if you look at a flock of sheep, you will see that they need a leader to follow. They also need a protector in the back as well, to see if the flock is following the right leader. Sheep can be distracted easily and can lose their flock and their way to the flock.

“I am the good shepherd” (11). This language is the messianic language. Jesus knew that every Jew could identify with this concept. They heard it from Isaiah and other prophets. Not only biblically, but also practically they were familiar with the concept of shepherd and flock. Even today in the Middle East one can find shepherds exactly like those days. For those people the image of sheep and shepherd were not at all odd.

How about us who live in cities? We who are urbanized have even not seen any shepherds. Many of you have never smelt sheep and shepherds. By the way, they have a strong odor. How can this imagery make sense to our culture and society?

OK, if we have difficulty in identifying with this image, let me put it in a new terminology. “The Lord is my Football Coach” “I am the good coach”.

“The Lord is my Orchestra Conductor.” For an inner-city young man who is in trouble: “The Lord is my Probation Officer.”

Let us examine some important concepts that affect our daily life:

1- “I am the GOOD Shepherd.” (11)

Greek has two words for good: agahtos and kalos.¹ Agathos, from which the name Agatha is derived, describes the moral quality of a person. Kalos, means more. In addition to the moral quality, there is the quality of attractiveness, loveliness. Jesus is the GOOD shepherd. His goodness has the inner quality and the gentle lovely attractiveness on the outside. Indeed, Jesus has a unique approach to his flock. He has spoken with authority. He is the Son of God. On the other hand, his leadership as shepherd is gentle and kind. He is not weak. He is the strong shepherd. He is the best shepherd that one can have. But he is the gentle, servant- leader. He is the GOOD shepherd.

To be continued in the English sermon.

1- Barclay, William. “The Daily Study Bible” The Gospel of John Volume 2 p.62