Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” John 10:11. At first glance, this fact makes the Shepherd appear foolish. What flock of sheep is worth dying for? But the Good Shepherd, who owns the flock, embraces the apparent foolishness and futility in dying for the sheep. God’s love is hidden under the suffering and the cross. The sheep are not valuable in themselves, but the love of the Good Shepherd places the value of His own life upon the sheep. To Him, they are worth dying for. He loves their life so much that He gives up His own to save them from death. Such great love cannot be explained, but only proclaimed and marveled at.
And the Good Shepherd succeeds at defeating the wolf that sought the flesh and blood of the sheep, so the sheep are safe. As God told that wolf, the devil, Enemy No. 1 of God and us: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel,” Genesis 3:15, NIV. So it happened that the wolf was conquered, but the fierce battle also pierces the Good Shepherd’s flesh and drains His lifeblood.
But the Good Shepherd knows something the sheep can’t. His foolishness is only apparent, not real. He says, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 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 10:17-18.