Good leadership: John 10:1-21

Good leadership using the Good Shepherd Analogy in John 10:1-21 

We live in a world that is crying out for good leadership in all spheres, primarily in government. Many people have been disappointed by their leaders, whether local, provincial, or national. People want a servant-hearted, good leader who cares for the people, not about filling their bank accounts, serving only their families and cronies, but a leader who is for the people and who cares about the people and wants to improve their condition. 

In our passage, Jesus challenges the rotten leadership of the Israelites' religious class and describes them using the shepherd analogy: they are false shepherds, and he is the true good shepherd sent by God. He will show us what sacrificial leadership looks like in the passage that we will be going through. 

In verses 1-6, Jesus rebukes religious leaders through a figure of speech. They just kicked out a man from the synagogue who was blind, and Jesus miraculously healed him, and he likens them to thieves who do not enter the sheep pen through the gate but instead jump over it. 

Jesus uses an Old Testament imagery of a shepherd in Ezekiel 34:1-31, which is a rebuke of the false leaders who were the shepherds of God’s people. They had failed to take care, feed, and protect the people; they even slaughtered them, and as a result, the nation was attacked and plundered. 

God makes two promises. First, he himself will come and be the shepherd of his sheep. He will rescue and gather the scattered flock, and he will pass judgment on both the false shepherds and, where appropriate, on his sheep.

The second promise is that he will appoint a new shepherd(Ezekiel 34:23-24). God is a shepherd of Israel also in Psalm 23, 80:1, and Isaiah 40:11. The people Jesus was talking to would have been familiar with the image of a shepherd, and it is with this image that Jesus speaks against the religious teachers of Israel who had failed in their duty as shepherds. 

In verses 1-5, Jesus contrasts himself with the false shepherds with whom he had an encounter and how badly they treated the blind man who had been miraculously healed. They are 

They do not go through the sheep through him as the gate, and we know that when one does not enter through the gate, that makes such a person a thief and a robber, as only thieves and robbers want to bypass the gate and jump over the sheep pen to go to the sheep. 

We are in South Africa, we know too often and have experienced that when thieves and robbers have entered our homes, they do not usually gain entrance through the gate, but they climb over to get inside the property. 

Jesus is the gate for the sheep of Israel, which the religious leaders have rejected and bypassed, and that makes them invaders and criminals, and he is using this figure of speech to rebuke them. 

Verse 3 “The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ” 

When I was growing up, during the school holidays, we used to visit my grandparents' place, and they had sheep and goats. I would shepherd them out of the kraal and take them to the pastures for them to feed, and to the river, and go fetch them in the evening to take them back to the kraal. How we shepherd them: we would lead them from behind with a stick to keep them in line and to fend off snakes.

In the Middle East, even today, the way of shepherding is very different: the shepherd is at the front of the flock, and the sheep follow his voice. They have to be a relationship and understanding between the sheep and the shepherd for this to happen. 

Jesus likens himself to the gatekeeper whose sheep follow him; they recognise his voice, as they have a relationship with him as their shepherd, he knows who his sheep are, and the sheep know their shepherd as well. 

Sheep must discern the shepherds who enter by the gate and those who climb over the wall, as they need to distinguish the voice of the stranger from that of a shepherd. 

It's a lesson to us today that we need to distinguish between the voice of God’s shepherd, who can be a person in leadership in a church or where God’s people gather, as he will listen to the voice of God, which is the Bible, and the stranger who goes against the word of God. 

As a Christian, you need to discern between the two. God’s people in the past and present have had excellent shepherds and terrible ones who harm the sheep, as they are false shepherds. 

10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

Unlike the bad shepherds who harm the sheep, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. How is he a good shepherd? He answers this by saying that the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. Jesus’ love for His sheep will lead him to the cross, where he will sacrifice his life and die for them. His willingness to die for his flock is what makes him unique. 

In his self-sacrifice for the sheep, Jesus presents the true model for leadership. The unfortunate thing is that many leaders today seek their own glory, and they are not here to serve the people sacrificially. They do not love those they lead; they use them as a means to their own personal agenda. It is the leadership of the hireling, not of the shepherd.

This principle is certainly not confined to the church leadership; it is relevant whether in political life, industry, business, or community.