Knowing Him: The Good Shepherd

There is nothing greater than knowing Christ. Seven times in the book of John, Jesus offers us profound insight into His nature and character. In this series, we seek to guide the reader into a deeper understanding of these “I Am” statements, and the rich hope and comfort that can be found in Christ in the midst of grief.

“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
John 10:11-18

There was a time in my life that passages of Scripture like the one above caused me to squirm. The word “good”—a word that should bring peace, comfort, and assurance— made me feel uneasy and full of doubt. It made me question everything that I had believed to be true about God and His plan for my life. How could Jesus claim to be good when my baby boy had died in my arms. How could this extreme pain and sadness be good for me? If He really loved me, how could He just stand by and watch this happen?

Over the past eight years, these are questions that I have continued to ask over and over. God has been so faithful to soften my heart and open my eyes to a greater understanding of what it means when the Bible says that He is good. I have learned to rest in the fact that God’s goodness is not just about something that He does, but it is about who He is. I really love what Charles Spurgeon says about this. “God is good— not because He causes things that seem or feel “good” to happen in our lives, but because in the midst of the storm, God comes closer to us than the storm could ever be.” When Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd, this is exactly what He means. Jesus isn’t promising that everything will be easy or feel good, but He is promising that He will continually pull us, His sheep, close to Him.

I now find so much comfort as I spend time reflecting over this passage from John 10. Verse 14 says “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” Jesus knows me. He knows when I’m hurting. He knows when I’m sad. He knows when I’m anxious and afraid. Just like a shepherd wouldn’t leave his sheep no matter what, Jesus won’t leave me either. He will be there to pull me back close to Him and to guide my way. The second part of the verse, “my own know me,” reminds me to listen for His voice. It reminds me to spend time in prayer and in His Word. A sheep knows its shepherd’s voice because of the time they have spent together. This is the same for our relationship with Jesus. The more time we spend with Him, the more clearly we will hear His voice. I’m not sure about you, but in the midst of grief, there is no voice I would rather hear than His.

Perhaps the most important part of this whole passage is when Jesus says, “the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” This is why we have hope. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, came to Earth with the specific purpose of laying down His life for us, His sheep. He endured a death that He did not deserve, and spilled His perfect blood on the cross to cover our sins. He paid our debt in order that we might spend eternity in heaven with Him. On days when I’m struggling to fight away the tears—when I miss my baby boy so much it hurts—this is the hope that I hold onto.

“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.”
Hebrews 13:14 (NLT)

Some day all the pain and hurt will be gone, and we will gaze upon the glorious face of our Lord and Savior. Our good, Good Shepherd. Oh what a day that will be!

Kacie lives in Austin, Texas, and is the mommy of three precious daughters on earth and a sweet baby boy in heaven. She loves reading, coffee dates with her husband, Jonathan, and traveling with her family. She is passionate about helping women grow in biblical literacy and theology and is the cohost of the Adorned Podcast. She also blogs at www.kaciehunt.com.

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