I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

This message is another of Jesus’ many warnings about how He would be tortured and killed at the hands of the jewish and roman leaders. and once again the disciples do not get it.

So, what does it mean for Jesus to lay down his life for us? Let’s start by discussing what a good shepherd was and what he would do. When a shepherd would bring his flock in at night he would bring them into a pen. The pen would have high fences around all sides, and the opening would have no gate. The good shepherd would lay his body down across the opening of the pen and sleep there in that place, like that. He did this to preventing the sheep from getting out because they could not jump over him, and it would put him in between any predator that would try to enter the pen and get the sheep. So laying his life down for his sheep literally meant putting himself in between safety and the dangers and predators of this world.

His dying on the cross is enigmatic, but it is the exact same thing. The comparison may not be immediately obvious, but many, because of their lack of faith miss the symbolism and meaning. But I think Fulton Sheen summarized it best when he said… “Jesus loved us so much, that He paid a debt that He did not owe because we owed a debt that we could not pay!”

Our lives are a total gift from God, and we owe Him thanks and worship for this gift. But instead we sin, and reject him, and we have so damaged that relationship with Him that we are now separated from Him. We cannot get back into communion with Him without reconciling our sin. But not just our sin, but also all of the sin committed by the unrepentant dead, and all of the lost souls that have ever lived. How can we reconcile a debt so large? We cant, only a supernatural being could do penance great enough for that sin, and so He did. God sent His own son to suffer and die, and show us the way to restore our relationship with Him; He took onto Himself the sins of the whole world; and He paid the ultimate price for them. He sacrificed everything in order to give us a chance to have everything He ever wanted for us.

This brings us to another attribute of the good shepherd. He leads us and we follow Him. Most shepherds of the world walk behind their flock, and harry them from behind if they stray away. They yell at them and force them to back into the flock. Many shepherds also used sheep dogs to run back and forth to keep the sheep together and not stray away because of fear of the dog. But the good shepherd leads his flock from the front. He leads and the sheep follow, because they know him and trust him as the good shepherd. They love him and he loves them and that bond keeps their flock together, and safe.

This analogy is also perfectly aligned with Jesus and how He leads us. God, the all powerful creator of the universe, loves YOU so much that he would die for you. If you are in His flock and follow Him he will love you, guide you to good pasture, and lay down his life to protect you. That is totally humbling, and astounding! You mean that much to Him, that he wants to be your good shepherd. Imagine that, it is incredible. Finally consider the beautiful message herein about the kingdom of heaven. If we love god, and reconcile our sin with Him, we will be invited into the good sheppards flock, and you will know Jesus’ voice, and follow him, and when the end of time comes we will all be in one flock, and he will watch over us all. What a beautiful thing to look forward to.

Oh lord, help me today to hear your voice, reconcile my sin with you, and eventually to rest securely and safely in your flock in heaven.