"11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 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. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 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. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 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
The metaphor changes once more in 11, and Jesus now speaks of Himself as the good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. This is an immensely rich concept, with associations of different kinds. We must see, for one thing, a link with the words of the previous verse, 'I am come that they might have life...', for it is the death Jesus died that is the source of that abundant life. His coming was a coming to die, and it was by dying that He won life for all His own. It is salutary for us to remember this integral connection between the blessings and enrichments of grace and His death on the cross. All possible blessings have their origin in and flow from Calvary. It is interesting to note that the 'shepherd' metaphor has its roots in the Old Testament Scriptures, where the reference is, not to the priests, or religious leaders, but to the rulers of the people, as is clear in passages such as Ezekiel 34-36, where the failure of the kings of Israel and Judah is the subject of the prophet's censure. This is not, of course, to say that it has no application to religious or spiritual leadership; it is simply that the kings were meant to be spiritual shepherds of their people as well as their political and constitutional monarchs. It was the fact that they were 'hirelings', not having a real care for the people committed to them, that brought upon them the anger and chastisement of the Lord. This is the real point of contact between the Old Testament picture and the scribes and Pharisees of our Lord's Day whose treatment of the man born blind is an eloquent symbol of their 'hireling' status.