Jesus gave many parables to the Jews during His three-year ministry. One of those parables is that of the Good Shepherd. The parable goes like this:

If anyone enters into the fence of a flock of sheep by anyway other than the door, he is a thief and a robber. Only the shepherd enters through the door. The sheep will not panic or flee, because they know the shepherd, who comes in through the gate of the sheep. Whereas the sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger.

This parable proved to confuse the Jews; thus, Jesus made it simple.

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15).

Jesus makes it emphatically clear, that He Himself is the Good Shepherd. He is no stranger to those that believe in Him and follow Him, nor is He a thief or robber. He doesn’t take the shape of an enemy, even to a rather dumb sheep. But instead, He comes as a shepherd that tends to His flock and lays down His life.

This statement may not come as a shock to you, or to me. But to the Jews, referring to yourself in this manner would be heretical. But time will prove that Jesus was and is in fact, the good shepherd.

The Shepherd Lays Down His LIfe

Sheep are mightily dumb animals by most standards. They must be herded, and they cannot flourish without a herder of some sorts. There are countless stories of sheep doing stupid things and even coming to their own demise, because they were not led well, or at all. The funny thing is that the Bible actually compares us to sheep a lot throughout scripture, and there are a variety of reasons why.

The most important, though, is that we cannot survive without a savior. We needed someone to lay down their lives for us so that we could live. Just as sheep often do, we got ourselves into a bunch of bad situations, and were coming to our own demise. But Jesus, the Good Shepherd, did the unthinkable, and laid His own life down, for us. While we were off trotting around and sinning, the Good Shepherd called us His and laid down His own life, so that we could have protection, life, and peace.

Now, we are cared for, just as a sheep is cared for. Our needs are met, just as a sheep’s needs are meant. We no longer need to carry a burden that we were never meant to carry. Jesus carries that load for us. We just need to be His sheep and let Him be our shepherd.

He Tends to His Flock

I could go through all of Psalms 23 and tell you each way that Jesus meets our needs. We could go through a list of promises and sort through all of the things that Jesus promises for our lives. But I don’t think that’s entirely necessary.

We all have examples after examples of God being faithful in provision. Just as I’m writing this, the Lord has financially provided for my every need, and even for things I didn’t need. He’s come through when I wasn’t worried about money, and He comes through even when I am. He’s healed me on multiple occasions and helped me overcome my anxiety. Today, He’s teaching me to cast every care upon His shoulders and trust Him with everything. Every day, I find my needs being met, and Him being the source.

The Lord is a Good Shepherd and He meets every need. He tends to His flock, and it is in Him, that His sheep find everything they need.