John 10:11-13 (NIV)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.”
Jesus draws a sharp line between Himself, the good Shepherd, and the Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the law to whom God had given responsibility for watching over and caring for His people.
The sharpest difference is that the true shepherd is willing to actually lay down His life for the sheep, to care for them and protect them no matter the cost to himself. The false shepherds, hired hands, run when they see a major threat coming, leaving the flock to fend for themselves.
This was already being played out in the real world. Jesus, in taking on the false teachings of the Jewish leaders, was defending God’s people from those teachings that would lead them astray, even to destruction. And He was standing strong, boldly confronting the threat, even though He knew that plans were being made even then to have Him arrested and executed, and even though these leaders had tried to organize the crowds to stone Him.
The leaders, on the other hand, were riddled with self-interest. When Jesus gathered a crowd, they were more concerned that they were losing influence than they were interested in what Jesus was saying and doing that caused the people to flock to Him. And when they had to choose between protecting their flock against the cruelty of the Romans and their own interests, their own interests won out easily.
Father, help us as your people to lead the others of Your flock, those entrusted to our care and our discipleship, exactly the way that Jesus leads us. Help us to stand firm, even in the face of danger or threats, to protect them. Keep us free from the rampant self-interest that so pervades our society today, so that we can be good shepherds, and faithfully protect Your flock, in Your strength, from all that threatens them. Amen.