I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:11 (ESV)
This summer, while leading students on a mission trip to Kenya, we visited a manyatta—a traditional home built by the Maasai people using grass, sticks, and mud. We spent the day making tea, cleaning animal pens, and getting to know the family who lived there.
One of the students asked how the family kept track of their 200 sheep. The man told us that although his grandmother could not count, she knew each sheep by its family. If one wandered away, she knew which family it was from, its markings, color, and size.
She was a good shepherd.
In the Bible, the Israelites sacrificed thousands of spotless lambs annually during Passover to remember that God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The blood of those sacrifices flowed from the Temple in Jerusalem down to the brook Kidron, also called the Kidron Valley.
Repeatedly, Israel wandered away from God and fell into sin until faithful kings reigned, like Asa (1 Kings 15:11–13), Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:16; 30:14), and Josiah (2 Kings 23:4–6), who returned the nation to God. One of the ways they did that was by gathering all the idols and objects of false worship, burning them, and throwing the ashes into the brook Kidron as a symbol of repentance.
Hundreds of years later, the Gospel writer John included the brook Kidron in what seems like a small detail. Jesus and his disciples had just finished the Passover meal in Jerusalem, where he prepared them for his departure. As they left the Upper Room, John 18:1 (ESV) says, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.”
On the night of his betrayal and arrest, Jesus walked across the brook Kidron. The same valley that held the blood of countless sacrificial lambs now held the spotless Lamb who would be sacrificed for the sins of all. He was the King on his way to bring his people back to God. And still, he was also the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep.
Like the Kenyan shepherds, Jesus knows his sheep, and his sheep know him. But unlike earthly shepherds, his love for his sheep led him to sacrifice himself on the altar of the cross.
In that small home in Kenya, I was overcome with emotion over God's love and grace and how intimately he knows us.
You are not a number. He knows where you’ve wandered, what you’ve carried, and he willingly laid down his life for you. He asks you to throw out idols and turn to worship him. You can trust that his sacrifice was enough.
Prayer: God, thank you that I am more than a number to you. You know my name and you call me yours. You are the Good Shepherd, and I want to honor you by staying close to you. Help me to walk in obedience to your will for my life and to surrender to the One who laid down his life for me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Reflect: The Good Shepherd knows you by name and laid down His life for you. What is one thing you need to surrender today so you can follow Him more closely?