Who Is the Good Shepherd?

My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to John 7-10 and a lesson titled “I Am the Good Shepherd.” The lesson was preceded with this counsel: “As you read John 7-10, you may receive impressions from the Holy Ghost about the doctrinal principles in these chapters. Recording your impressions can help you make a plan to act on them.” The lesson was introduced with the following information.

Although Jesus Christ came to bring “peace [and] good will toward men” (Luke 2:14, there was “a division among the people because of him” (John 7:43). People who witnessed the same events came to very different conclusions about who Jesus was. Some concluded, “He is a good man,” while others said, “He deceiveth the people” (John 7:12). When He healed a blind man on the Sabbath, some insisted, “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day,” while others asked, “How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles?” (John 9:16). Yet despite all the confusion, those who searched for truth recognized the power in His words, for “never man spake like this man” (John 7:46). When the Jews asked Jesus to “tell us plainly” whether he was the Christ, He revealed a principle that can help us distinguish truth from error: “My sheep hear my voice,” He said, “and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:24, 27). 

As with most scripture blocks, John 7-10 teaches numerous principles. However, I feel prompted to continue with the principle “Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd” found in John 10:1-30. I have experience with being a sheepherder – not a shepherd. My father owned about 200 sheep, and one of my tasks as a child and youth was to herd the cows and sheep in areas outside the fences of our farm and along the roads. I am very familiar with driving sheep ahead of me and urging the stragglers along, and I was impressed with the idea of a shepherd leading his sheep and the sheep following. Here are the applicable verses.

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 heard 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 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.

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.

15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me;

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand (John 10:1-18, 24-28; emphasis added).

In verse 2-4, Christ said that the shepherd entered in the door and called for his sheep by name. The sheep heard his voice, and he led them out of the sheepfold. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He was sent by the Father to care for the sheep (us). Those of us who hear His voice and follow Him are led as we go about our daily lives.

In verse 7, Christ said that He is the door and explained that the people who came before Him were “thieves and robbers” (or without His authority). The sheep (the people) did not hear them. In verse 9, Christ again refers to Himself as the door. Christ is the way back to Heavenly Father and eternal life. He provides “pasture” and meets our temporal and eternal needs.

In verse 10-11, Christ explained that He came to give us abundant life, and that He would give His life for us. He repeats in verse 15 that He would give His life for us.

In verse 16, Christ talked about “other sheep” that were not in Jerusalem. To the Nephites in ancient America, Christ said that they were the “other sheep” that He mentioned to the Jews (Book of Mormon – Another Witness of Jesus Christ, 3 Nephi 15-21-24). He added that the “other tribes” were also His sheep. “… ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath given me” (verse 24).

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke in the April 2023 General Conference on the topic “Good Shepherd, Lamb of God. The following paragraphs are taken from his talk.

At this Easter season, we celebrate the Good Shepherd, who is also the Lamb of God. Of all His divine titles, no others are more tender or telling. We learn much from our Savior’s references to Himself as the Good Shepherd and from prophetic testimonies of Him as the Lamb of God. These roles and symbols are powerfully complementary – who better to succor each precious lamb than the Good Shepherd, and who better to be our Good Shepherd than the Lamb of God?

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,” and God’s Only Begotten Son laid down His life in willing obedience to His Father. Jesus testifies, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Jesus had power to lay down His life and power to take it up again. United with His Father, our Savior uniquely blesses us, both as our Good Shepherd and as the Lamb of God.

As our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ calls us in His voice and His name. He seeks and gathers us. He teaches us how to minister in love (emphasis added). 

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who knows each of us. He calls each of us and knows our names. Those who hear His voice will follow Him and keep His commandments.