Part 3: Shepherds or Strangers?

A question before we begin:  Was Jesus’ primary complaint against the Pharisees theological or pastoral?

What I remember learning about the Pharisees was that their primary problem was legalism.  It was a theological misunderstanding of grace, sacrifice, and forgiveness, and an overreliance on the Law for salvation that Jesus had to come to correct.  With this understanding, the lesson of every passage in which Jesus encounters a Pharisee becomes about Jesus confronting their warped vision of the Law by introducing them to the God of grace and showing himself to be the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.  And while this is certainly part of what Jesus confronts when he comes into opposition with Pharisees, it misses the point of Jesus’ complaint against them.

Throughout John’s Gospel, the Pharisees are grappling with the reality that the sheep they were ordained to lead were leaving them for other shepherds.  First, the people were leaving the Pharisees to follow John, and then they left even John to follow Jesus.  As the sheep leave, the Pharisees’ confusion and contempt begin to show, and in John 10, Jesus explains to them WHY the sheep were scattering:  their leaders no longer sounded nor behaved like good shepherds.  

John 10: 2 – “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

John, the gatekeeper, opened the gate for the true Shepherd.  Jesus entered the pasture and called his sheep by name.   And the sheep, now hearing their true Shepherd’s voice for the first time, flee these “strangers” to follow Jesus.  The sheep have an inherent wisdom, you see, that gives them the ability to discern the voice of the true Shepherd from that of robbers, thieves, and hired hands.  He tells these pastors that the sheep’s hardwired, spiritual fight-or-flight mechanism is leading them to run away from these men they now realize are strangers to them.    

Blinded by their cocksure contempt, the Pharisees fail to get what Jesus is telling them.  So, Jesus gets more poetically direct: 

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Echoing the categories of shepherds Ezekiel lined out in the 34th chapter of his book, Jesus describes two types of shepherds, who aren’t really shepherds at all.  He tells them that the current lot of shepherds fall into two types:  Brutalizers and Abandoners.  He tells the Pharisees that these wise and intuitive sheep are running away, because their “shepherds” are either actively harming them, or have abandoned their posts altogether.  Were the sheep to stay in the care of these strangers, they would either be stolen, killed, destroyed, or left defenseless in their time of need. 

John’s Gospel amplifies Jesus’ description of these shepherds by including several scenes in which the Pharisees interact with Jesus, the sheep, and each other.  The character of these pastors is laid bare in these scenes.  In these pastors, we see many who are filled with contempt for their sheep and for any who would disagree with them.  They are concerned most with the keeping of power, praise, place and position, and seem quite willing to dismiss, deceive and disappear in order to keep it.  These shepherds drive and corral their sheep with fear, and cow and shame any pastor who might stand up against them into silence.  Or, we see shepherds who go silent and still in order to avoid detection.   

In stark contrast to the description of brutal or abandoning shepherds, Jesus describes the character and shape of the true Shepherd.  The True Shepherd is intimately connected to his sheep.  He knows their names, and they know his voice. (v.3)  This Shepherd gives freedom.  He does not confine the sheep in his pasture, nor does he cast them out of his pasture.  Instead, they are free to go in and out and find safe pasture. (v. 9).  The True Shepherd is self-sacrificing and not self-benefiting. (v.11)  Unlike the thieves and robbers who seek to profit off of the sheep, or the hired hand who is too concerned about his own safety to protect the vulnerable, the True Shepherd’s life is offered in courageous service of the sheep. And, finally, the true Shepherd is always seeking “other” sheep.  Not content with a flock that looks, sounds, and smells the same, the true Shepherd desires a flock in which “other sheep” might also find safe pasture. (v.16)   

The differences Jesus highlights between himself and the shepherds of his day, combined with the stories about the Pharisees that John chooses to highlight, make it clear that Jesus’ main complaint against the pastors of his day was not theological, but pastoral.  And, if that’s the case, pastors of OUR day must consider Jesus’ words to the Pharisees as relevant to the current scattering of sheep that we see taking place.  It is not sufficient to brush off Jesus’ words to the Pharisees because “we’re not legalists, so Jesus isn’t talking to us.”  

If Jesus is, indeed, talking to a group of pastors about the quality and character of their pastoring, then his words to these pastors do require our attention today.  Pastors must consider the possibility that the sheep are leaving established pastures because they no longer recognize the voice of Jesus in their pastors and elders. We must consider whether sheep are scattering today because their spiritual fight-or-flight mechanism is telling them that there is danger in the flock (either the local flock or the national/denominational flock).  Pastors must ask if they, or pastors they know, are turning away from their primary role of protecting and providing for all the sheep, and focusing more on protecting their pasture, their position, or their power, while leaving many sheep unattended.  Pastors and elders must honestly assess whether the church is abiding the harsh and brutal treatment of some sheep by their shepherds.

Jesus’ interaction with the pastors of his day is an invitation to self-reflection for the pastors of today; to consider if they are shepherding more like Jesus, or more like the self-protecting and self-benefiting shepherds of his day.  And if, in the process of this self-reflection, we find that there is danger in the flock, and that brutal treatment and abandonment is part of what has broken trust between people and the church and created an unsafe environment for some sheep, we must consider sincerely what it would take to make the pasture safe for ALL of Jesus’ beloved sheep.

For Part 4, in which I analyze the actions and attitudes of the pharisees in John, and their relevance for the present day church, click here. A friend of mine said it has “ruined” the way he sees Nicodemus. Not sure if that’s a compliment or not…but be warned…it may do the same for you.