"I am the Good Shepherd" (John 10): Learning From the First Shepherd

When Jesus declared Himself the Good Shepherd, Jesus was placing Himself in a long tradition of shepherds going back to the very first chapters of Genesis. Adam and Eve, the first heroes(?) of the Old Testament, had a couple children. Two of them were Cain and Abel. Cain was the first farmer, Abel the first shepherd. Cain also had some issues with anger and bitterness, especially since he believed that God loved Abel more than him. After a sacrifice goes particularly badly, God confronts Cain about it, telling Cain that sin was crouching at his doorstep. There would be a struggle very soon about who would be in control of Cain's life. The struggle, like the sacrifice, goes badly. Cain takes a walk with his brother and kills him in the field. The blood of Cain's rebellion stained the ground and cried out to God for justice. Cain became a wanderer on the earth, rejected.

So what do we learn from the first shepherd?

We learn what it means to lay down one's life. Just as Abel laid down his life, so Christ promised in John 10 to lay down His life. We find a tremendous similarity between the life of Abel and the life of Jesus. Both of them found themselves on the receiving end of the struggle with sin. Cain's inability to handle the sin in his life cost Abel his life. Humanity's inability to handle our systemic and personal sin resulted in the death of Jesus (from a human perspective).

In the story of Cain and Abel, the cost of the murder was separation. In the story of Jesus, it is precisely the death of Jesus that leads to reconciliation with God (as confusing as it might seem). That's why we sing songs that rejoice in the cross. That's why the cross is the symbol of Christians everywhere. Humanity's darkest hour was indeed right before the dawn of Easter- new life and resurrection for all who believe in Christ. Good news, indeed!