“I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”—verse 11.

The Scriptures assign many very beautiful and expressive titles to our Lord  as descriptive  of his relationship to his faithful. Amongst the most beautiful and impressive of these is the Good Shepherd, or more literally, the grand Shepherd, the ideal Shepherd. Likewise  amongst the various names applied to the Lord’s followers, the term “sheep” is the one most familiar as well as one of the most fitting. Surely it would never occur to the natural man to use such an illustration. In illustration of what we mean, note the fact that the barons and lords of England have adopted various signets, coat of arms, etc., on many of which animals or animals’ heads appear. Did anyone ever see a sheep’s  head  on  one  of these?  We think not.  If we  could imagine any earthly lord as adopting a symbol of a sheep, it would surely represent a surly- horned ram. Lions’ heads, tigers’ heads, eagles’ heads, and  nondescript  heads  of ferocious aspect, dragons, etc., are what are usually chosen. This represents the natural mind and  the desire that the natural man  has to  appear strong and  ferocious  and to intimidate others.  He who represented himself as the Good Shepherd and his followers as sheep had a very different idea of the whole matter from that of the natural man, and we who have become his followers should take note of this, and, appreciating it, should cultivate more and more of the sheep-like nature in our relationship to him as the Shepherd.

The  Door into the Sheepfold

The parable of our lesson divides itself into two  parts,  representing Jesus first of all  as the door into the sheepfold and secondly as the Shepherd. The fold described  in the  parable  is a place of safety, rest, and protection from prowling beasts and from robbers. There was but one doorway into these folds, and it was supposed to be guarded by a porter who would  know the true shepherd and admit him and  no other.  Our Lord declared  himself to  be the true Shepherd  of Jehovah’s flock, the only one to whom the porter would grant admission and the only one, therefore, who had the right to control the sheep and who alone could provide for their safety. The porter who could thus discriminate between the true and the false was the Law Covenant. Those who could not answer the law, who could not fulfill its demands, could not substantiate their claims to being the Shepherd, the Messiah. However, our Lord did meet the demands of the law fully, completely—”in him was no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” He was already holy, harmless, and separate from sinners. He is thus identified to us as the rightful Shepherd. Others had come in his name,  professing to be the  Messiah—false Messiahs—and had endeavored to attract the sheep; but our Lord declares of them that they were fraudulent, “thieves and robbers,” who were merely assisting to steal the sheep,  and  who were  actuated not with a desire to profit the sheep but by personal, selfish ambitions.

There was but one way to become the true Shepherd  of the  Lord’s flock and to  have a right to lead his flock—out to the green pastures and still waters of truth and grace and into the rest and security of the fold. That way was the way of the cross—to give himself a ransom for all. This our Lord did and thus he became the door to the sheepfold,  opening up  a new and  living way, or more correctly,  a new way of life.  Nevertheless,  this  is not the  making  of a new door into the fold, but the opening of the door which had previously been closed.  The  door was the law, which could not open except by obedience to the law; and  now our Lord Jesus,  having kept the law, has made it possible for all of his true sheep to  enter  in by the  same  door,  by the keeping of the law—not, however, the letter of the  law,  which  would  be  impossible to  us,  but its spirit. Thus the Apostle says of the true sheep and their entering into the fold, “The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit”— Romans 8:4; because our Shepherd has made an appropriation of his grace on our behalf which makes up for us all that we lack. So long as we are his and are striving to walk in his ways, every deficiency is compensated out of his abundance.  To  him the  porter openeth,  to  him the  law and the prophets bear witness.

“But They  Understood Not”

It is supposed that this parable was uttered in the hearing of the man  born  blind,  who  had been expelled from the synagogue, and  in the  hearing also of the  Pharisees,  who  had  so  much to do with his expulsion. No doubt the man was feeling discouraged, downcast, because of his excommunication from the supposed fold of the  Lord’s  people.  The  presumption  then  is that the Lord gave this parable to illustrate the fact that he had not really been cast out of the Lord’s fold, but merely out of a human organization by those who had  no  power  in respect to the matter. Our Lord would have him and the Pharisees and his disciples and us see that there is no flock of the Lord except that of which he is the Leader and Shepherd; that there  is no way into that flock except through him, through the work which he would accomplish by his sacrifice and through our acceptance of the same by faith. Verse 6 says the hearers understood  not the meaning of the parable, therefore the Lord repeated it in slightly different terms, proclaiming himself as the doorway by which any could  enter into divine favor as  members  of the  Lord’s flock. Thus the man who had been cast out of the synagogue  might  perceive that  he really had lost nothing but that on the contrary he had  been  assisted  toward  the  right  door  of the true fold, in which rest indeed could be obtained. Now he was invited to see that the Lord alone was the avenue to rest and salvation and to the spiritual  refreshment of divine  instruction. Others had selfishly sought to steal or to destroy the sheep, if thereby they could advance their own personal interests; but he, as the true Shepherd, instead of seeking his own welfare, was seeking the welfare and advantage of the sheep that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

What a lesson for us! The Master did not say that he came to deliver the sheep from eternal torment,  but that he  came to deliver them from death.  He does  not say that they already have a life which they must spend somewhere either in joy  or anguish,  and  that  he  had  come  to assist them, so that it should not be  spent  in anguish;  his  language,  on the  contrary,  teaches that the sheep could have no life except through him, the Life-Giver; that he had  come to give back in due time by restitution processes, to as many as would receive it, the life which was lost by father Adam’s disobedience—human life. Yea, he declares that he intended to give life more abundant than that which was lost! How could this be, if father Adam was  perfect and  as such had everlasting life according to divine arrangement? We answer that the life which the Lord proposes to give to those who are his sheep of this Gospel age, this  little flock, is a still  higher form and degree of life  namely,  immortality,  inherent  life. These  he  proposes to  make partakers of the divine nature by giving them a share  with  himself  “in  his  resurrection,”  the “first resurrection.” —Philippians 3:10.

He Gave His Life For Us

This is the central point of our lesson. The  Good  Shepherd,  so far from  self-seeking,  gladly laid down his life for the sheep, and it was by virtue of thus purchasing the sheep by his own precious blood that their eternal life is possible; without his purchase there would  be no flock, and it is by this that he becomes the Shepherd of the flock.  How clear,  how  beautiful  the thought, “Ye were bought with a price!” —1 Corinthians 6:20.  No one  else  could  give this ransom for us, no one else could purchase us or grant us life everlasting, no one else, therefore, could legally become our Shepherd or be able to lead  us  into the  rest  and  peace  of God,  into the knowledge of the truth and ultimately into the  heavenly fold,  the  rest that  remaineth  for the people of God. Worthy the Lamb that was slain to receive,  glory  honor,  dominion,  and power!

“The Sheep Hear His Voice”

The tales told respecting the shepherds of eastern countries and their flocks are remarkable and illustrate well our Lord’s declarations of this parable. Let us examine a few of these that we may sympathetically enter into the spirit of the Lord’s words.  Those who  heard  him were familiar with these facts. One writer says:-

“It is one of the most interesting spectacles to see the number of flocks  of thirsty sheep water at a fountain. Each flock in obedience to the call of its own  shepherd  lies down  awaiting its turn. The shepherd of one flock calls his sheep in squads, and when the squad has done drinking, orders it away by sounds which the sheep perfectly understand, and calls up another squad. The sheep  never make  any mistake as to who whistles to them or calls them.  In a flock  of hundreds of thousands each individual sheep has a name, knows it and is known by it. The Greeks had a similar custom. The names frequently correspond to certain defects, as for instance, ‘Torn,’ or ‘Broken-legged,’ ‘One Eye,’ ‘Curly Horn,’ ‘Bald head.’  As  lambs they are taught to answer to their names by patient drill, being led back and forth from the rest of the flock and not allowed to go to their mothers for food until they respond  properly to the  calls. The shepherd never drives his sheep in the East,  but goes  before them, they follow him,  they run after him if he appears to be escaping from them  and  are terrified  if he is out of their sight or any stranger appears instead of him. He calls for them from time to time to let them  know that he is at hand, they listen and continue grazing, but if anyone else attempts to produce the same peculiar sounds they look around, startled, and begin to scatter. A Scottish traveller changed clothes with a shepherd, and thus disguised began to call the sheep; they remained motionless; then the true shepherd raised his voice and they all hastened to him in spite of his strange garment.”

“He Calls His Own Sheep by Name”

The foregoing illustrations help us to appreciate this statement and assist us in applying it to the true sheep of the Lord’s little flock.  “The  Lord  knoweth  them that  are  his,”  and  it  is also true that those who are his know him.  “He goeth  before them  and the sheep follow him,  for they know his voice and a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers.” The voice of the Lord is the voice of justice, of truth, and of love, and all who are his sheep are expected to be able to discriminate between his message and the various false messages which more or less particularly represent the  adversary,  who  seeks to  mislead the flock, using human instrumentality to accomplish the  purpose.  We  have the  Lord’s assurance that none of the true sheep will  be satisfied  with  the false  Gospel;  it will  not  appeal to their hearts, and equally we have the assurance that the true sheep will be satisfied with the true Gospel, because it will satisfy their longings as nothing else will do.  This  is an  important point to keep before our minds. It indicates to us the importance of becoming fully, truly, emphatically the Lord’s sheep, of entering into covenant relationship with him and thus making sure his protecting care and instruction.

“I Know My Sheep”

It becomes an important question then as to how and when we become the Lord’s sheep. Are all the wise and the learned, the rich and the great, the Lord’s sheep? The Apostle  answers, No, and says further that not many of those will be found  amongst the sheep—not many wise, not many great, not many learned, not many noble, not many rich, but chiefly the poor of this world, rich in faith. —1 Corinthians 1:26-28; James  2:5.  Are  all  of the  poor then the  Lord’s sheep? We answer, No! These different flocks do in a general way indeed hold the  name  of Christ; surely not many of them give evidence  of  being  his  disciples,  his followers.  Many  of them know little about his Word, his voice; many of them know nothing about his leading into green pastures and by still waters of divine truth and grace, many of them  know  nothing about the real fold with its rest and peace and protecting care. Their lack in these respects shows that they are not of the true flock whom the Lord is leading, though true sheep of the Lord may be found in each denomination. Wherever they may be, if they are his, they are being led and being fed and know him and know his voice, his Word, and are dissatisfied with the husks of human tradition.

“The Hireling Fleeth”

Many, indeed, might have been glad  of the honor of being the  Shepherd,  the  caretaker of the Lord’s flock, but the test, the cost, was too great for them.  We  may well  suppose that  many of the angels would have been glad to occupy  such  a position—but would they  have  been willing to undertake it at the cost involved? Many amongst men have coveted the office of a shepherd both before our Lord ‘s Day and since; but while none of them could have bought the sheep, since all were under condemnation, we have no reason  to suppose  that  any of them would have been willing to purchase them at the cost of his all. The Lord’s words seem to imply this. Only the true Shepherd was willing to make the sacrifice and to lay down his  life for the sheep. We may remark here that while there is but one Shepherd of the Lord’s flock, he, in his absence, has made provision for his flock,  that he would give them  pastors and teachers who were to feed the flock of God and to watch for their souls,  for their lives, to  protect their interests.

It is in line with the Master’s teaching that we find that he expects  all who  would  be worthy of this position of feeding this flock, shepherding them, must have his spirit,  his willingness to lay down their lives for the sheep, and in their defense, as his representatives, to protect them from the adversary and his various snares and machinations; and from the wolves in sheep’s clothing who would make merchandise of them that they might bring them into bondage, into human pens separate and apart from the true fold opened  by the true Shepherd,  and  who would feed them upon the husks of human tradition, instead of leading them to the green pastures of “present truth.” As the true sheep know the true Shepherd and are  known  by him, so the true Shepherd should know the true under-shepherds, and they should know the sheep intimately. Those who utter a voice or call of their own cannot be recognized by the true Shepherd or by the true sheep; the faithful under-shepherd will speak not only the words but also in the tones, in the manner of the true Shepherd.

How comforting the assurance of verse 14, “I know mine own and mine  own  know me,  even as the Father knoweth me and I know the Father!” —Revised Version. What a beautiful description we have here of the precious relationship between the Lord and his own! The comparison between his knowledge and that of the Father  is forceful,  and  as our  Lord elsewhere pointed out, they that know not him, know not the Father. How important from the divine standpoint is knowledge, not merely head knowledge, but heart knowledge, intimate acquaintance with the Lord and his glorious plan!

One Flock and One Shepherd

An important truth is set forth in verse 16: There is only the one fold now provided for the Lord’s sheep, and in it all of his true ones of this Gospel age find rest and  peace through faith and obedience. This is the little flock, to whom it is the Father’s good pleasure to give the kingdom. Many have supposed in the past that this little flock which will receive the kingdom glory, honor, and immortality will be the only ones ever recognized of the  Lord  as  his  sheep, that all others will be consigned to purgatory or to eternal torment. The erroneousness of this view is abundantly shown in this verse where our Lord distinctly declares that he has other sheep not of this fold, others who have not yet entered into its rest of faith which we have entered, hoping for the glories of the kingdom beyond. Let us have a good view of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of divine  love  and  provision  in Christ:  that the whole world was lost in sin and death through father Adam’s disobedience, and that the whole world was redeemed by the precious blood of Christ!  Let  us see that as yet only a special  class  has been called out of darkness into the Lord’s marvelous  light  and  into the  privileges  of the present sheep-fold conditions!  Let  us  note that the  great  mass of mankind  are without God and have no hope In the world, because their eyes are blinded and their ears are stopped, and they know not of the grace of God and have not yet received of the blessings!

Let us hearken also to the declaration of the Lord that in due time all the blind eyes shall be opened and all the deaf ears shall  be  unstopped!  Let  us  hearken  to  his  declaration  that the little flock now being selected are to constitute his bride and joint-heirs in the kingdom and that then, through him and his glorified bride, the blessing of the Lord shall be extended to every member of the race. The Sun of Righteousness shall  shine  forth  with  healing  in his  beams, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. Then the gathering of the sheep  of the  other flock will begin, as recorded  in John  10:16.  At that time the  present flock will  have  passed beyond the veil into the kingdom and its glories. Then the  present fold  will  be at an  end  and there will be no use for such a fold in the future, for thieves and robbers will  not  be  permitted then —”nothing shall hurt nor destroy in all my holy  mountain  [kingdom].”—Isaiah  11:9. Then the great adversary will be bound for a thousand years that  he  may  deceive  the  sheep  no longer until  the thousand  years are finished. Meantime the whole world of mankind will be under the instruction of the Lord and his bride  class,  and  the  knowledge  of the  glory of God shall fill the whole earth. —Habakkuk 2:14. The effect will be a test of humanity, and some will come gladly, voluntarily, into accord with the Lord  as  his sheep  and  be accepted to  his  right hand, to his favor, as the kind  upon  whom  he  is pleased  to  bestow  everlasting  life. Others under the same favorable conditions will manifest the  goat-like,  the  wayward  disposition  and be gathered gradually to the left hand of disfavor as of those who  have the spirit of the Adversary, which cannot be favored  of the  Lord. These ultimately,  with  Satan,  at the close of the Millennial age, will be utterly destroyed in the second death. Their punishment will be everlasting, because their death will be everlasting; they will never be resurrected, theirs will be the second death—symbolically Gehenna, destruction.

None will deny that throughout the Gospel age there is a large class who has never heard of the only name given under heaven and amongst men whereby they must be saved and who, therefore, have never had an opportunity of becoming members of the Lord’s flock. That they have gone to heaven without knowledge of the “only name” is unscriptural as well as unreasonable and that they have gone to eternal  torment without  an  opportunity for salvation is equally unscriptural and unreasonable. That the  Lord  intends to use the very elect  little flock of this Gospel age as his priests during the Millennium, to carry his mercy and favor to all of these and to give them an opportunity of becoming members of the human flock to whom he will be pleased to give eternal life, is both reasonable and Scriptural.

One Flock, but Not One Fold

Our Common Version declares, “There shall be o n e f o ld and one Shepherd,” but this is not borne out by the Greek text, which is more properly rendered in the Revised Version and in the Diaglott—”There shall be one f lo c k and one Shepherd.” This is in full  agreement with the Apostle’s statement—Ephesians 1:10—that in the dispensation  of the fullness of times  he might gather together in one [literally, under one head] all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. Ultimately all of God’s creation will be under the headship of this great Shepherd, who is now the Head of the Church, the little flock, and who in the future will be Head over angels also and over restored humanity.  The flock will  be one,  but the sheep will be of various natures on various planes of being; as it is written, “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” many apartments, many planes, but all harmonious, grand. The highest of all these planes, the plane of glory, is that  to which the  Lord  has  invited  the  little flock, the Bride class of this  Gospel  age. Let  us  hear  his voice,  let us follow in his footsteps,  let us  make  our calling and election sure!

R 4157 (1908)