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"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

Sheep need a shepherd since they are helpless creatures. They require care and protection. They need the provision of what is necessary for their health, their nurture and their protection.

“I am”, says Jesus, “the good shepherd.” The emphasis in this verse is clear in the Greek, the original language, which we lose in the English translation. But it’s like a big emphasis, a “shouting out loud” of the “I” in “I am the good shepherd.” Jesus says: “look to me and trust me, I am not like a hired man who is not a true shepherd, who neglects the sheep particularly at their time of real need.” (John 10:11-13 MSG) Instead, Jesus is the genuine thing.

The emphasis also tells us more about Jesus. By using “I am” Jesus is assigning to himself the same name that God gives Himself in the Old Testament. (Exodus 3:14) Jesus is saying that He too is God! (John 8:58)

Jesus says that we can know without doubt, not only who He is, but that He is genuine and true. What He does for us is beyond that which anyone else can do.

Our helplessness is our sinful state. Regardless of how good we might think we are, our relationship with God is not right and we cannot help doing the wrong thing. Romans 3:23 says “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” There is nothing we can do about our situation: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (Romans 5:6)

Not only are we unable to help ourselves but there is peril ahead - “your pension is death” says Romans 6:23 MSG

But the good shepherd, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God Himself, cares enough to step between that danger and us, taking that peril upon Himself so that we are spared. (Isaiah 53:6)

Celebrate what the Good Shepherd has done for you this Easter.

Romans 3:22-24: “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”