Jesus as Shepherd and Lamb in the Gospel of John

Introduction and Methodology

One of the stumbling blocks for those coming to faith is the role that Jesus plays in their salvation. The fact that Jesus has a dual nature as God and Man is perhaps the largest stumbling block, for it is a mystery that one can sense through interaction with the biblical record, but it remains something that can only be accepted through faith. To assist in the development of that faith, the Gospel of John shows us that Jesus has another dual nature that can help man see Him more clearly: that is, Jesus as both Shepherd and Lamb.

This paper uses John 1:29–34; 10:1–21; and 19:31–37 to show how Jesus is both Shepherd and Lamb, and why understanding Our Lord in this manner can help believers develop their faith more fully so that they can come to Him for salvation. The guiding research question is: How does John present Jesus as both Shepherd and Lamb in the Fourth Gospel, and what does this mean for us today?

The primary method employed here is the application of hermeneutical principles to discover the values and truth of the Bible. The principles include the synchronic approach (discovering the world within the text), the diachronic approach (discovering the world behind the text), theological synthesis, critical exegesis, and the existential approach. The biblical methods employed are literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical.

The paper begins with a discussion of the text using the synchronic approach to establish the world conveyed within the text. This is followed by an explanation of the world behind the text using the diachronic approach. Biblical theology is then used to establish a theological synthesis of the ideas conveyed in the text. A critical exegesis is presented in the fourth section, followed by an application of the existential approach to show how the text connects with contemporary issues relevant to the Church, society, and the world. A conclusion summarizes and critically reflects on the examination of the text.

Synchronic Approach: The World Within the Text

As Gorman notes, the Bible was written for real people at a real point in history, who had real lives at the time of its writing. The text itself is filled with contextual clues that can increase understanding. To understand Jesus as both Shepherd and Lamb in the Fourth Gospel — using John 1:29–34; 10:1–21; and 19:31–37 — it is imperative to understand the literary context of the text.

John uses a "poetic format" and a "uniquely solemn pattern … that some would call semi-poetic" to convey certain truths that transcend man's understanding. The opening of the Fourth Gospel touches on Christ's beginning in eternity. John 1:29–34 conveys the first days of Jesus' public life as Man, when He was being asked by the Jews and Levites, "Who are you?" It is a fair question, but not altogether an honest one, for the Jews were not willing to accept that their Messiah should be One of such earthly humility. His way was being prepared by John the Baptist, who was preaching repentance. John the Baptist is the first to declare who Christ is in John 1:29–34, and it occurs in the wider context of the Jews seeking to know His identity. The Baptist declares: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel" (John 1:29–31). This is a significant event because the Baptist had already attracted a great deal of attention for his preaching and his lifestyle — he was very ascetic and close to the spirit of God.

The wider structure of the first chapter of the Fourth Gospel is built around this very question of Christ's identity. John begins the Gospel by declaring that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:1–3). Then the Gospel states: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). These verses show that Christ was God from the beginning, but that He also became Man. There follows a description of the Baptist and his relationship to God: "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light" (John 1:6–8). This provides the context of the relationship between John the Baptist and Christ and explains why the Baptist is able to recognize Him when He comes.

The Baptist describes Christ as the Lamb and as "God's Chosen One," meaning the One Who will lead the Jews — the Shepherd. These terms carry great significance, which will be expounded upon in the following section. The effect of this introduction is epic in that it places Christ squarely within a celestial cosmology that announces His divinity from the outset. Had the Jews paid closer attention to the Baptist, they would have understood that Christ was indeed God.

Diachronic Approach: The World Behind the Text

As Köstenberger points out, there is great significance behind the use of the term shepherd in the Old Testament: it carries a pastoral meaning that the ancient world would have understood immediately. Duncan and Dekrett (1973) also explain the significance of the Good Shepherd as an image meant to appeal to the Jewish Haggadah. However, whereas the Jews believed in the Law, Christ wanted them to believe in Him as their Savior. That is why He is also described as the Lamb, because the lamb is likewise part of that Haggadah story about the Exodus and the use of the sacrificial lamb, whose blood was spread on the doorposts to prevent the Angel of Death from taking the firstborn. The blood was a sign of faith. Christ comes to shed His blood as an act of redemption.

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Shepherd in John 10:1–21 and equates Himself with this Shepherd, saying, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" (John 10:14). He is deliberate with His imagery because of the Jewish traditions associated with the pastoral image of the shepherd and the Haggadah. There are also in-group and out-group connotations that can be drawn from John's use of "light" and "dark" in the opening of the Fourth Gospel. This tension creates a sense of the need to belong to the in-group — the group of light — and Christ sets Himself as the Way and the "door" to this group.

The Passover is again referenced in John 19:31–37, wherein Christ is going to celebrate the Passover (Matthew 26:17–30; Luke 22:7–23). In the Synoptic Gospels it is clear that Christ is announcing Himself as the New Lamb Who will take away sin — which is the real death, because it is the loss of God's grace in the soul. In John 19:31–37, Christ's sacrifice on the cross is presented as the completion of the New Sabbath meal, wherein His flesh and blood are consumed in an unbloody manner. John is specific in stating that Christ's bones are not broken, and this connects to Old Testament prophecy: "These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: 'Not one of his bones will be broken,' and, as another scripture says, 'They will look on the one they have pierced'" (John 19:36–37). The Old Testament verses referenced here are Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Psalm 34:20, and Zechariah 12:10. John cites these Old Testament passages specifically to point out to the Jews that Christ is the One foretold in Scripture. What can be learned from this historical background is that the Jews held the lamb in great esteem as a symbol; when Christ assumed that symbology in His own discourse, He set Himself up as both Shepherd and Lamb, connecting the Passover theme to His sacrifice on the cross.

Conclusion

John 1:29–34 shows that Jesus is the Lamb of God — like the lamb sent to replace Isaac — here identified by the Baptist and announced as the One through Whom man's redemption will be obtained. John 10:1–21 presents the parable of the Good Shepherd, in which Jesus identifies Himself as both the Good Shepherd and the Gatekeeper who lets the sheep into the fold. John 19:31–37 describes the act by which Jesus redeems mankind and connects this act to the Old Testament Scriptures that foreshadowed His death on the cross.

Understanding Jesus in this manner can help renew one's faith, which in the modern world is under continual assault by an atheistic, materialistic, and anti-Christian culture. Even the Church seems unsure of how to proceed, as though it were without a shepherd who understood the Good Shepherd that is Our Lord. It is important to reconnect with these Scriptural verses — to understand them inside and out, to grasp their significance and the meaning that contextual analysis can provide — for it is in this manner that one can strengthen one's faith to go to Jesus and find peace, hope, and love in Him.