In John 10 Jesus compares us to sheep and he speaks of the religious leaders of his day as hirelings who will run away at the first sign of trouble. The good shepherd is not like that at all, however. Instead of running away, the shepherd will die to protect the sheep. The hired hand doesn’t care about the sheep, only about himself, but the good shepherd is different. He knows the sheep by name and they recognize him and his voice. 

Of course, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep. He knows us and cares for us. He was willing to and, in fact, did lay down his life for us. He didn’t throw himself between us and a bear, but in dying for our sins on the cross he did come between us and the roaring lion who is trying to devour us.

Jesus even says that this sacrifice of laying down his life is a reason his Father loves him. Of course, his life would not be laid down permanently because he would take his life back in the resurrection. He also explained that no one was taking it from him. If it had been taken from him by force it wouldn’t have been a sacrifice.

The final thing Jesus told his Jewish listeners was that they were not his only sheep. He explained that he had other sheep that were not part of the nation that had been God’s people. We can be grateful that through Jesus both Jews and Gentiles are able to be part of the same flock of sheep and that we don’t have to depend on hirelings. We must still watch for false shepherds and religious leaders who try to lead us away from our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Don’t let anyone lead you away from the shepherd who died for you.

​In 1 Peter 5:4, as Peter addresses the shepherds of the church refers to Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. He gives the elders teachings on how to lead the church and promises that they will be rewarded if they do so faithfully. Christ will give a crown to those who, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;  not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” 

Christ left a perfect example and expects the shepherds of the local congregation to follow his example and be examples to the flock. The other members of the church should follow their example as they are following Christ’s. We often fail in this. We see the godly way that faithful leaders live and we admit that they are good godly leaders to be admired, but we don’t take the next step and follow them in the speech and behavior that we find honorable. 

Christ as the Chief Shepherd doesn’t force the shepherds and he doesn’t force us. The shepherds also are told not to be domineering over the flock. How can they get us to follow without being domineering? Only by showing the example, encouraging us to follow them, and warning us of the dangers that we face if we don’t. We must willingly follow. We can’t say that we love Christ and are followers of him and fail to follow those who are tasked with overseeing us. 

How can we claim Christ as Chief Shepherd while disregarding the shepherds that he is the chief over? We can’t, at least not with any level of believability. Are you following those shepherding your soul so that they can give answer on the day of judgment with joy and not with sorrow. Are there areas of your life that you have refused to turn over to the Chief Shepherd? Are we waiting for someone to tell us what to do or are we following the examples of those who are following Christ or following Christ ourselves?