The Lamb Among the Goats

By Summer Martin

I recently overheard a conversation between my husband and a dear brother of ours who is a goatherd when he said something that I haven't been able to get out of my head. He told my husband that if there were even one sheep among his goats, he would be considered a shepherd.

One sheep. That's all it would take.

Now, I don't know how many conversations you have with people who herd goats, but I can assure you without any reasonable doubt, I was not expecting this particular part of that conversation to send me down a theological rabbit hole... yet, here we are.

Because at the moment he said that to my husband, my mind immediately went to Jesus.

Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

And a world full of sinners who desperately needed saving.

The Lamb Entered a World of Sinners

When Christ entered this world, He did not come to a people who had somehow managed to make themselves righteous. He didn't arrive because humanity had finally gotten its act together. Quite the opposite, actually.

Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

While we were still sinners.

Not after we repented enough, not after we cleaned up our whole lives, and not after we demonstrated that we could be obedient, faithful, or worthy of His love. While we were still sinners.

Romans 5 goes even further when Paul describes us as weak, ungodly, and enemies of God. That's not exactly a flattering description of humanity that we would prefer, huh? We like to think of ourselves as generally good people who occasionally make bad decisions, but Scripture paints a much more sobering picture.

Our problem wasn't simply that we needed better habits or a little spiritual encouragement. We needed redemption—and apart from Christ, still do. And into that fallen world came Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God.

John the Baptist, in John 1:29, declares, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Here was the sinless Son of God dwelling among sinful humanity. And I couldn't help but think back on that conversation with the goatherd.

In Matthew 25:32–33, Jesus describes the final judgment using the imagery of a shepherd separating sheep from goats. The sheep are placed at His right hand, while the goats are placed at His left. The distinction is not merely between people who behave well and people who behave badly, but between those who belong to Christ and those who do not.

Now, Matthew 25 isn't teaching that goats become sheep through salvation. Jesus is describing the final separation of those who belong to Him and those who do not. But that imagery brought me back to the goatherd's words and reminded me of something else Scripture makes abundantly clear: even those who belong to Christ were once lost in sin and utterly unable to save themselves.

And before any of us start congratulating ourselves for being among His sheep, we would do well to remember that none of us came into this world righteous. We were all born sinners, dead in our trespasses, and deserving of God's righteous judgment. Apart from His grace, we had no hope.

We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior.

And into a world filled with rebellion, unbelief, and hearts turned away from God came the one spotless Lamb. Not another sinner trying to find His way to God, but God the Son, who came to reconcile sinners to the Father.

The Lamb among sinners. The Shepherd who came to save His sheep.

The Lamb Was Also the Shepherd

This is where the conversation with the goatherd became even more meaningful for me. Jesus was not merely the Lamb; He was also the Shepherd.

In John 10:11, Jesus declares, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Read that again.

The Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

How does He do that? By becoming the sacrifice. Jesus is both the Shepherd who gathers His people and the Lamb whose blood purchases their redemption. He doesn't stand at a distance shouting instructions to a lost people, expecting them to figure out how to return to God on their own.

He came to save. To lay down His life. He accomplished what we never could.

Isaiah 53:6–7 captures both our condition and His sacrifice. We have all gone astray like sheep, turning to our own ways, and the LORD laid our iniquity upon His suffering Servant, who was led like a lamb to slaughter.

We wandered, He was wounded. We sinned, He bore the punishment. We needed a Savior, and God provided His only Son.

And Peter reminds us of this same truth in 1 Peter 2:24–25. Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree, and though we were straying like sheep, we have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

The very One who bore our sins is the Shepherd who brings His people home.

He Did Not Wait for Us to Become Worthy

I think some people struggle here when it comes to fully grasping the beauty of the gospel. We understand that Jesus died for sinners, at least intellectually. But somewhere along the way, some of us begin acting as though we must be worthy of the salvation He freely gives. We tell ourselves that we need to do better before coming to Him.

Pray more, read more, sin less, or get our lives together.

And while repentance and faith are inseparable from salvation, and obedience and spiritual growth are necessary fruits of genuine saving faith, none of these things earn our redemption. Salvation is entirely a work of God's grace, accomplished through Jesus Christ.

Christ already accomplished that.

Ephesians 2:8–10 reminds us that salvation is by grace through faith, not our own doing, and not the result of works. Yet we are created in Christ Jesus for good works. God does not redeem us because we have made ourselves righteous. He redeems sinners through the righteousness and sacrifice of His Son.

And the Shepherd doesn't abandon His sheep once He has gathered them. He keeps them.

In John 10:27–28, Jesus says that His sheep hear His voice, He knows them, they follow Him, and He gives them eternal life. How great a comfort that is! To know that our security is not found in our ability to hold tightly enough to the Shepherd, but it is found in the Shepherd who holds us!

The Lamb Who Shepherds Forever

Perhaps my favorite part that ties what the goatherd said together with the rest of this picture is found in Revelation 7:17:

"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The Lamb will be their Shepherd.

The very One who was slain for His people is the One who will shepherd them for eternity. His sacrifice was not the end of the story. The Lamb lives. The Shepherd reigns. And those whom He has redeemed belong to Him.

Praise God! This is some comforting news! Knowing that the One who gave His life to save us is also the One who promises to keep us. He knows all. He knows our wandering hearts, our weaknesses, how desperately we need His grace, and HE REMAINS FAITHFUL.

One Goatherd Made Me Think About the Shepherd

I keep returning to that simple conversation between the goatherd and my husband. One sheep among goats. One observation that made me think about the Lamb of God entering a world of sinners.

Of course, Scripture uses sheep and goats in particular ways, like we discussed in Matthew 25 earlier, but the illustration isn't meant to redefine those biblical categories. It reminds me of something far greater than the terminology used to describe a person tending livestock.

Jesus entered a world that was utterly unable to save itself.

He came as a spotless Lamb.

He laid down His life as the Good Shepherd.

And through His death and resurrection, He saves and gathers the people the Father has given Him.

We were not saved because we were good. We were saved because He is gracious.

We were not redeemed because we deserved it. We were redeemed because Christ was willing to lay down His life for His sheep.

And the Lamb who was slain is still the Shepherd who leads His people home.

The Lamb came among sinners. The Shepherd laid down His life. And by grace, His sheep are brought home.