Lesson 7

THE SHEPHERD

Table of Contents

– The Door
– The Shepherd
– My Lord and My God

Scriptures Cited: Psalm 23:1-6; John 10:1-9; John 10:10-14; Acts 20:28; Colossians 1:13-19; Colossians 2:9; Matthew 1:23-25; Isaiah 9:6; John 20:25; John 20:28; Isaiah 64:8; John 10:27

Psalm 23:1-6
¹ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

THE DOOR

This is the second lesson of our three-part “series” dealing with the parable that Jesus gives in John chapter 10. As always, it is important to pay close attention to what is written in the scriptures, engaging our minds and spirits with the Spirit of God through His word.

In the first lesson “The Door“, we focused on John 10:1-9, where Jesus clearly states that He is the Door.

John 10:1-9
¹ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. ² But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

³ To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. ⁴ And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

⁵ And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. ⁶ This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. ⁷ Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

⁹ I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Here we saw that Jesus is the door. But there is a shepherd who comes in through the door to speak to the sheep (v.2) – and the sheep hear His voice.

In this lesson, we will continue reading the parable in John chapter 10, starting with verse 10.

THE SHEPHERD

John 10:10-14
¹⁰ The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

¹¹ I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

¹² But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. ¹³ The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

¹⁴ I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Keep in mind, in the first lesson we saw Jesus saying “I am the door”, and we learned that God Himself is the shepherd who comes through the door (Jesus) to speak to the sheep. But now we see Jesus telling us that He is the good shepherd. How can this be? In this lesson, we will look at some scriptures in which we can see that Jesus is God.

One of the first verses that comes to mind is in the book of Acts. As Paul was traveling to Jerusalem, he gave this instruction to the Ephesian elders:

Acts 20:28
²⁸ Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

There are a few key things to notice here in how Paul is speaking about the church. First, Paul refers to the church in Ephesus as “the flock”, which is another reference to the followers of Jesus as His sheep. Secondly, and more important for this lesson is that he calls it the “church of God“, but then continues by saying “which He hath purchased with His own blood“. This leads us to wonder: How does God, a Spirit – have blood?

Let’s get further understanding of this from what is written in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 1:13-19
¹³ Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
¹⁴ In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

There is so much in this passage of scripture, that I’m just going to let it speak for itself. I suggest reading it again to comprehend all that this scripture is saying. But if we continue on to the next chapter, we also read:

Colossians 2:9
⁹ For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

The “him” referred to here is Jesus. This verse tells us that the fullness of the “Godhead” dwelled in Jesus, bodily. I hope we are beginning to see more clearly how Jesus is the shepherd, by not only being the image of the invisible God, but also having the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him.

If that wasn’t enough, we can simply go back to the birth of Jesus where it is told to us plainly who Jesus is.

Matthew 1:23-25
²³ Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

²⁴ Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: ²⁵ And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.

We can also go to the prophesy given by Isaiah about this “child” and “son”.

Isaiah 9:6
⁶ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

MY LORD AND MY GOD

Now that we have gone through multiple scriptures from multiple books throughout the Bible, let’s go back to the book of John where we first started. In chapter 20, we see Thomas saying that he would only believe in the resurrection of Christ if he sees the print of the nails in His hands, putting his finger in – and thrusting his hand into His side (John 20:25). When Jesus shows Himself to Thomas, it is written that he responds:

John 20:28
²⁸ And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

This statement is incredible on its own. But it’s worthy to note that if Thomas was in error by saying this, Jesus did not rebuke or correct him in any way for responding like this.

So with all this being said, it leads us back to Psalm 23 where we began our lesson…

Psalm 23:1
¹ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Here in Psalm 23, we see that it is the LORD who is our shepherd. As previously mentioned in “The Way of the Lord” lesson, the Bible uses the word “LORD” (in all capital letters) in place of the Hebrew word “YHWH” or in English, “Jehovah”. The word YHWH in the Old Testament is understood to be the name of the One True God and Father (Isaiah 64:8).

If we look at this verse in Psalm 23 and keep the original name, it would read: YHWH is my shepherd; I shall not want. Knowing that the Old Testament tells us that YHWH is our shepherd – and then we see Jesus in the New Testament saying “I am the good shepherd“, it further reveals to us who Jesus truly is.

John 10:27
²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: