Trusting Your Instinct To Love

Our deepest instinct says we’re built to love others, but that instinct often crumbles under pain. Suffering can compel us to distrust others and develop hard hearts. When religious leaders grow calloused, their communities soon spiral into fear, judgment, and contempt for their neighbors.

Jesus confronts hard-hearted leaders without mincing words. He calls them “thieves and robbers,” emphasizing their consistent harm toward others. True leaders don’t use and abuse people, and as the truest leader in history, Jesus says, “I am the door,” and “I am the good shepherd.”

But what do those images mean?

Imagine a fenced-in, public sheepyard. It has one door for shepherds to enter or exit with their flocks. Inside the pen, everyone’s sheep are mixed together. When it’s time to leave, the shepherd stands at the door and makes a unique call with his own voice. Only his sheep respond, gathering by him at the door before following him out.

“I am the door” suggests that any leader operating outside of Jesus’ way is illegitimate. There’s only one door. More directly, Jesus is telling highly revered religious leaders that they oppose God’s will and lead their communities toward harmful, corrupting ways.

“I am the good shepherd” drives the point home. We remember earlier shepherds in the biblical narrative, like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David. Each lives like a faithful royal priest by blessing others, but each also invites corruption and harm. Eventually, the prophet Ezekiel rebukes Israel’s leaders for consistently devouring their sheep (Ezekiel 34).

But Jesus presents himself as the good shepherd—one who gives life rather than devouring it. He lays his life down for all people. When he calls us to give from our own lives for the well-being of others or to love one another like he does, our deep and true human instinct hears something familiar. We can recognize his voice and know it is worth trusting.

Reflection Questions

• The Scriptures depict Jesus as Israel’s true high priest and as a good shepherd, which is why we’ve paired these two videos. What feelings do the two images evoke for you? Why do you think the Bible describes Jesus with these equally important images?
• As you observe your own religious experience or the religious worlds around you, what are a few examples of places you see the voice of Jesus being silenced? Consider examples of religious leadership that works against the way of Christ and describe the results you see.
• After reading the passage in John’s gospel, how does Jesus’ way of shepherding compare to the leadership within popular religious traditions?