John 10:7-18: in context

Jesus describes himself with one of his most tender images: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd, he says, lays down his life for the sheep. He contrasts himself with the hired hand, who does not own the sheep and does not truly care for them; when the wolf comes, the hired hand flees and leaves the sheep to be scattered and destroyed. But the good shepherd does not flee; he knows his own, and they know him, and he lays down his life for them. His care is not the mercenary care of a hireling but the committed love of a shepherd who owns the sheep as his own.

The distinction between the good shepherd and the hired hand reveals the nature of Christ's care for us. The hired hand works for pay; the sheep are not his own; and so when danger comes, when the wolf appears, he has no stake worth risking, and he flees, abandoning the sheep to be scattered. His care lasts only as long as it costs him nothing. The good shepherd is different. The sheep are his own; he knows each one; and his care does not fail when danger comes. Rather than fleeing from the wolf, he lays down his life for the sheep, giving everything for their protection. His is the committed, self-giving love of one who owns the sheep and will not abandon them. This assures us of the kind of care Christ has for us. He is not a hireling who will flee when trouble comes, whose care lasts only while it costs him nothing. He is the good shepherd who knows us as his own, who does not abandon us in danger, and who has already laid down his life for us, the greatest proof that he will not flee. When the wolf came, when danger threatened his sheep, he did not run; he gave his life. You were going astray like sheep, Peter says, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. We are in the care of no hireling but of the shepherd who died for us. And this shepherd knows us personally: I know my own, Jesus says, and my own know me. His care is not for an anonymous flock but for each of us, known by name, as intimately as the Father knows him. This comforts us in our vulnerability and danger. As sheep, we are exposed, prone to wander, unable to protect ourselves from the wolves that would scatter and destroy us. And we are in the care of the good shepherd, who knows us as his own, who will not flee when danger comes, who has laid down his life for us. When we are in danger, when the wolves threaten, we are not left to a hireling who will abandon us, but held by the shepherd who died for us and will not let us be snatched away. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep; and to be his sheep is to be known, held, and cared for by the one whose love for us was proven at the cost of his own life.

When I am vulnerable and in danger, prone to wander and unable to protect myself, do I fear I am in the care of a hireling who will flee when trouble comes, or can I take hold of Jesus' words, I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, resting in the committed love of the shepherd who knows me as his own, will not abandon me in danger, and has already proven his care by laying down his life for me?