John 10:11 · NASB · 1 of 6
I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Word study · Greek
ποιμήν
shepherd · poimēn · shepherd, pastor, one who tends
Kalos, ‘good,’ here is not merely moral. It is beautiful, fitting, excellent at the craft. He is not a hireling. He is the shepherd who is good at being a shepherd.
Insight
Kings in Israel were called shepherds, and most of them fed on the flock. Jesus inverts the office: the shepherd becomes food for the sheep. ‘Lays down’ is deliberate — not a death that befalls Him, a death He places. The staff and the cross turn out to be the same wood.