Where does the Bible talk about the Good Shepherd?

• Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd . . ."
• Psalm 78:52-53, the good shepherd leads his flock
• Isaiah 40:11, "He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep."
• Isaiah 53:6-7, we have all acted like sheep, going astry, yet a redeemer will come to act as a sheep at the slaughter
• Ezekiel 34:11-13, a shepherd seeks out their scattered sheep; so will the Lord
• Matthew 18:12-14, the parable of the lost sheep
• John 10:3-14, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Sermon ideas about the Good Shepherd

In the pastoral ancient Near East, the shepherd was a completely familiar figure, a steward of valuable animals. He fed sheep, watered them, sheared them, and enfolded them in a protective enclosure. Sheep need protection. They are basically defenseless. If attacked, they run, but not as fast as most predators and thieves. They need somebody who has a rod and staff to comfort them

They also tend to scatter, which is why they need someone to herd them.

In John 10 Jesus says he knows his sheep. In his commentary on the fourth gospel, Raymond Brown remarks that Near Eastern shepherds have long had pet names for some of their sheep: "Long-Ears" or "White-Nose," for example. (Raymond E. Brown,The Gospel According to John, Vol. 1, Doubleday, 1966), p. 385) Seen in this context, Jesus's claim that he knows his sheep acquires a kind of beauty and intimacy.

Jesus also says that his sheep know his voice. This too is a familiar Middle Eastern phenomenon. If three or four flocks occupy a sheepfold, and the shepherd of one of them calls out his sheep, they will disentangle themselves from the other sheep and flock to their guardian. His voice alone — with its peculiar pitch, timbre, and cadence — will do the trick. His sheep know his voice, and their ears itch to hear it. (Frederick Dale Bruner,The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Eerdmans, 2012, p. 625.)

Jesus says the "good shepherd" is willing to die for his sheep. They are more than an investment to him. They belong to him, but they also belong to God and so have worth beyond the shepherd's ownership. The Greek kalos ("good") has enough weight that Raymond Brown suggests it might be translated as something like "noble" or "model." (Raymond E. Brown,The Gospel According to John, Vol. 1, Doubleday, 1966), p. 386) Jesus is the Noble Shepherd, a martyr beyond any expectation. As Frederick Dale Bruner comments, Jesus's willingness to lay down his life for his followers is "the center of the center" of the gospel. (Frederick Dale Bruner,The Gospel of John: A Commentary, Eerdmans, 2012, p. 623.) (Bruner, ibid., p. 623.)