“He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

“I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

It is interesting and instructive for us that in these verses, we find the Lord Jesus as both a sheep and a shepherd. We would never find such a thing naturally, for a sheep is only an animal, while a shepherd (or a shepherdess) is a human being. But in these verses the Lord Jesus is pictured as both.

As a sheep (or a lamb) He went to the cross, and was the sacrifice for sin. In the Old Testament, many lambs and sheep were offered up to the Lord as sacrifices, and especially at the Passover, when all Israel were to remember how the Lord delivered them from Egypt. Once a year they were to celebrate the Passover, and to sacrifice a lamb. On that occasion the blood was to be sprinkled on the doors of their houses, and then they were to go inside and have a meal, eating of the roast lamb.

But the Lord Jesus was the true Passover, and we read in 1 Corinthians 5:7 that “even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” Now we no longer keep the Passover as Christians, but rather remember the Lord with a loaf and cup, as He has asked us to do.

The Lord Jesus is also pictured to us as a Shepherd, and as we see in our second verse today, He Himself said, “I am the good Shepherd.” A shepherd looks after sheep, and defends them from danger, even if it means that he must risk his life to do so. But the Lord Jesus did more than risk His life; He gave His life so that the sheep might be saved. He knew who His sheep were, and who they would be; He not only thought of those who lived when He was on earth, but He looked on to the time when you and I would be living. Then He gave His life for us, His sheep, whom He would save hundreds of years later.