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John 10:14
I am the good shepherd, and know mysheep, and am known of mine.

Psalm 23:1
A Psalm of David. The LORDis my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 80:1
To the chief Musician upon ShoshannimEduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellestbetween the cherubims, shine forth.

giveth.

Genesis 31:39,40
That which was tornof beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it,whether stolen by day, or stolen by night…

1 Samuel 17:34,35
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: …

2 Samuel 24:17
And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
This phrase foreshadows Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross. Unlike a hired hand who might flee in danger, the good shepherd willingly sacrifices Himself for the safety and salvation of the sheep. This act of laying down His life is a voluntary and redemptive act, highlighting the depth of His love and commitment. It connects toIsaiah 53, where the suffering servant bears the iniquities of others. Additionally, this self-sacrifice fulfills the typology of the Passover lamb, whose blood was shed for the deliverance of God's people. Jesus' death is not just an act of martyrdom but a purposeful atonement for sin, aligning with the New Testament theme of substitutionary atonement found in passages likeRomans 5:8 and1 Peter 2:24.

Jesus begins with the divine declaration, “I am,” echoing God’s self-revelation inExodus 3:14. By repeating this name (also inJohn 8:58 andJohn 14:6), He unmistakably claims deity. He is not a mere messenger; He is the LORD Himself who comes near.

• The same speaker who says, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) now identifies Himself as shepherd, rooting our confidence in His unchanging, eternal nature.

• Because He is the “I AM,” every promise that follows is certain—His character guarantees His care.

Calling Himself “the good shepherd” links Jesus to the Shepherd imagery woven throughout Scripture (Psalm 23:1;Isaiah 40:11;Ezekiel 34:11-16).

• “Good” is moral excellence in action: He tenderly leads (Psalm 23), seeks the lost (Luke 15:4-7), and knows each sheep by name (John 10:3-4).

• Old Testament prophets condemned faithless leaders, yet promised God Himself would shepherd His people (Ezekiel 34:23). Jesus fulfills that promise in person.

The goodness of this Shepherd climaxes in sacrifice: “The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

• This is voluntary. Jesus later says, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord” (John 10:18).

• It is substitutionary.Isaiah 53:5 foretells, “He was pierced for our transgressions,” and Jesus affirms, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

• It is final and sufficient. On the cross He declares, “It is finished” (John 19:30), echoingMark 10:45, where He gives “His life as a ransom for many.”

The object of His sacrifice is clearly defined: His own flock.

• Jesus promises, “Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me… I will never cast out” (John 6:37-39). His death secures eternal life for every believer.

•Ephesians 5:25 applies the same truth to the church: Christ “loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”

•1 Peter 2:24-25 reminds us that by His wounds we are healed and returned “to the Shepherd and Overseer” of our souls.

John 10:11 is a concise portrait of Jesus: the eternal “I AM” who personally shepherds His people with perfect goodness and lays down His life to save them. Because He died for the sheep, we can live each day in confident trust, knowing our Shepherd’s love has already met our greatest need and will faithfully guide us home.

The word "good" means that which is fair, and is in a physical sense that which is in its own nature excellent, and in a moral sense that which is beautiful and noble. St. John uses the word only inJohn 2:10, of the "good wine," and in this chapter here and inJohn 10:14;John 10:32-33. (Comp. Note onLuke 8:15.) The passage of the Old Testament referred to above has prepared our minds for this thought of Christ, especially Psalms 23;Isaiah 40:11;Ezekiel 34:11-16;Ezekiel 34:23;Ezekiel 37:24. He is the Shepherd who is ideally good, fulfilling every thought of guidance, support, self-sacrifice that had ever gathered round the shepherd's name. No image of Christ has so deeply impressed itself upon the mind of the Church as this has. We find it in the earliest Christian literature, as in Tertullian (Works, vol. i., p. 371, in Ante-Nicene Library), or Clement of Alexandria (Works, vol. i., pp. 149, 462, A.N. Lib.). We find it in the very earliest efforts of Christian art, in painting, embroidery, and even statuary. (See Kugler'sHandbook, Italian Schools, Lady Eastlake's Trans., 4th Ed., pp. 5 and 6.) It comes to us naturally in our hymns and prayers. The pastoral staff is the fit emblem of the Bishop's work, and the Pastor is the name by which the humble way-side flock thinks of him who in Christ's name is appointed to be their guide. . . .

(3)The functions and responsibilities of the veritable Shepherd,and the relation of the Shepherd to the flock.Verse 11. -I am the good Shepherd. The word here rendered "good" means more than the "true" (ἀληθής) or the" veritable" (ἀληθινός); more thanἀγαθός, good, in the sense of being morally excellent and inwardly fulfilling God's purpose that the sheep should be shepherded. The wordκαλός suggests a "goodness" that is conspicuous, that shows and approves itself to the experience and observation of all. Thus the Lord fills up the meaning of the first parable by emphasizing another element in it. There may be many shepherds worthy of the name, but he alone justifies the designation (cf.Psalm 23;Isaiah 40:11;Isaiah 53;Ezekiel 34;Jeremiah 23.). This imagery has inwrought itself into Christian literature and art. The earliest representations of Christ in the catacombs depict him as "the good Shepherd" (Tertullian, 'De Fuga.,' c. 11; Hermas, 'Sire.,' 6:2); the earliest hymns and latest minstrelsy of the Church dwell fondly on the image which portrays his individual watchfulness, his tender care, his self-sacrificing love.The good Shepherd layethdown his life for the sheep; not only does his work with his life in his hand, but he deliberately lays down his life and consciously divests himself of his life, and is doing it now. The Shepherd dies that the sheep may live (cf.1 John 3:16;John 15:13). Elsewhere Jesus says, "The Son of man gives his life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). The thought is very grand, and is a strange addition to the claim to be the Shepherd of Israel, and gives intense pathos to the language of our Lord to Simon Peter (John 21:6), "Shepherd my sheep." The further development of the parable shows that in the metaphor he regards his death as no disastrous termination of the Shepherd's function, but as an event in his career. Hence it is not just of Reuse ('Theol. Chretien,' 2.) to contend that our Lord does not here suggest a vicarious or propitiatory death on his part. This is a veritable death, which secures the life of the sheep, and does not arrest the Shepherd's care (see vers. 17, 18).

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