does our Lord say, that He laid down life for His doctrines, but for His sheep."
12, 13. — [But he that is an hireling, etc.'] Our Lord in these two verses illustrates the subject He has taken up, by showing the wide difference between a mere hired shepherd, and one who feels a special interest in his sheep because they are his own. A mere hired servant, who has not spent his money in buying the sheep, but only takes charge of a flock for pay, and cares little so long as he gets his money, such an one, as a general rule, will make no sacrifice and run no risk for the sheep. If he sees a wolf coming he will not meet him and fight, but will run away, and leave the flock to be scattered and devoured. He acts in this way because his whole heart is not in his work. He feeds the flock for money and not for love ; for what he can get by it, and not because he really cares for the sheep. Of course the picture must be taken as generally true : we cannot suppose our Lord meant that no paid servant was trustworthy. Jacob was a hired shepherd, yet trustworthy. But doubtless His Jewish hearers knew many such " hirelings " as he here describes. The picture of a faithless shepherd in Ezekiel xxxiv. would also occur to those who were familiar with Old Testament Scripture.
It is worth remembering that St. Paul specially warns the Ephesian elders, in Acts xx., that " grievous wolves " would enter in among them, not sparing the flock. Our Lord also in the Sermon on the Mount compares false prophets to " ravening wolves." (Matt. vii. 15.)
Musculus observes how great a misfortune it is to Christ's sheep when they are deserted by ministers, and left without regular means of grace. It has a scattering, weakening effect. The best of ministers are poor, weak creatures. But Churches cannot keep together, as a rule, without pastors; the wolf scatters them. The ministry no doubt may be overvalued, but it may also be undervalued.
We cannot doubt that the latent thought of our Lord's language here was as follows. The Pharisees and other false teachers were no better than hireling shepherds. They cared for nothing but themselves, and their own honour or profit. They cared nothing for souls. They were willing to have the name and profession of shepherds, but they had no heart in their work. They had neither will nor power to protect their hearers against any assault which that wolf, the devil, might make against them. Hence the Jews, when our Lord came on earth, were without help for their souls, fainting and scattered like sheep without a shepherd, a prey to every device of the devil.
Let it be noted that the great secret of a useful xnd Christ- like ministry is to love men's souls. He that is a minister merely to get a living, or to have an honourable position, i3
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" the hireling " of these verses. The true pastor's first care is for his sheep. The false pastor's first thought is for himself.
Our Lord's strong language about the false teachers of the Jews ends here. Those who think that unsound ministers ought never to be exposed and held up to notice, and men ought never to be warned against them, would do well to study this passage. No class of character throughout our Lord's ministry seems to call forth such severe denunciation as that of false pastors. The reason is obvious. Other men ruin themselves alone: false pastors ruin their flocks as well as themselves. To flatter all ordained men, and say they never should be called unsound and dangerous guides, is the surest way to injure the Church and offend Christ.
Chrysostom, Theophylact, and most commentators think that the " wolf" here means the devil, even as he is called else- where a roaring lion, a serpent, and a dragon.
Lampe, on the other hand, thinks that the wolf signifies the same as the thief and robber, and that it must mean the false prophet, the wolf in sheep's clothing. (See Zeph. iii. 3 ; Matt. vii. 15.)
In interpreting this whole passage we must be careful not to strain it too far. Our Lord did not mean that in no case is flight from clanger lawful iu a pastor. He Himself says else- where, " When they persecute you in one city, flee ye to an- other." (Matt. x. 23.) So Paul left Damascus by stealth to escape the Jews. (Acts ix. 25.)
Calvin remarks : " Ought we to reckon that man an hireling, who, for any reasons whatever, shrinks from encountering the wolves? This was anciently debated as a practical question, when tyrants raged cruelly against the Church. Tertullian and others were, in my opinion, too rigid on this point. I prefer greatly the moderation of Augustine, who allowed pastors to flee on certain conditions."
No unbending rule can be laid clown. Each case muse be decided by circumstances. There are times when, like St. Paul or Jewell, a man may see it a duty to flee, and await better days; and times when, like Hooper, he may feel called to decline flight and to die with his sheep. Barnabas and Paul were specially commended to the Church at Antioch, (Acts xv. 25,) as those who had " hazarded their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus." St. Paul tells the Ephesian elders, " I count not my life clear unto myself so that I may finish my course with joy." (Acts xx. 24.) Again he says, " I am ready to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts xxi. 13.)
14. — [lam the good shepherd.'] These words are repeated to show the importance of the office our Lord fills as the Good Shep- herd, and to bring into stronger light the wide difference be- tween Ilim and the Pharisees.