I Am the Good Shepherd
Being compared to sheep seems rather insulting; it is not a flattering comparison certainly in 21st Century in the U.S It suggests radical dependence due to incompetence. But Jesus is using the analogy not so much to suggest the characteristics of those who follow him, but the relationship between sheep and their shepherd as a relationship between ourselves and Christ.
Sheep recognize faces and voices remarkably well. Some suggest that facial and voice recognition are nearly as advanced as humans and that a herd can remember up to fifty faces for up to two years (Dr. Keith Kendrick, neuroscientist, Babraham Research Institute, Cambridge). This relational aspect is key. Christ protects and guides us, but he also asks us as sheep to shepherd one another. The relationship we have with Christ, we are asked to develop with one another. In John 13, Jesus gives his “little children” the commandment:
"Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' 34"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35"By this, all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another."
Our relationship with Christ is to be broadened to include the trust, and vulnerability of sheep to their shepherd as hallmarks of our relationship with one another, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples”. The life of the shepherd spent feeding and protecting his sheep is the life of the disciple, guiding and protecting one another.
The key here is, then, to first allow Christ to teach us shepherding skills; this is why he says “I am the gate”. Christ is the way because he has walked the pathway before us, led “like a lamb to slaughter” (Isaiah 53), and “perfectly obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Hebrews 5).
In 1st Peter, the spiritual elder (perhaps Peter) reminds his “flock”
“For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.”
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.”
We can follow the Shepherd, because Christ is the Good Shepherd, leading us to become good shepherds so that the world will come to hear the voice of the One we follow.
