I grew up in a typical Welsh village, far more sheep than people, so I should know something about sheep farming.

In fact I did some holiday work on one of the farms so I got to know a little bit about it – enough to know that its far too much like hard work. Often this text is explained in terms of the farming practises of the time and we are told that shepherds would lead their flocks rather than rounding them up with dogs as we may do today. Now I can't claim to be much of an expert but I hope I know enough to say that I don't think Jesus is trying to draw on farming practises to illustrate his points – or to put it another way, if Jesus ran a farm, it would need a pretty hefty EU subsidy to survive. His Good Shepherd, quite deliberately, would not have seemed good at all to those who heard him, and that was his point.

Jesus was fond of telling ridiculous stories, with bizarre characters acting in strange ways – he compares God to a Judge who will only do justice when nagged or to the woman who finds a coin behind the back of the dresser while dusting and throws a party that costs much more than the coin is worth to celebrate.

The very bad shepherd from a farming point of view is the one who would leave 99 sheep unprotected on the hillside while hunting for the lost one. If you try this with sheep, you'll find that there aren't very many left when you get back. One sheep is not worth the risk, you right it off and move on. Farming is an unsentimental business.

But you are not a sheep.

This shepherd knows his sheep my name. But do we need to imagine that farmers in that day had pet names for all their flock? Surely on principle you do not give a name to something that you are going to eat. You can't eat something with a name. That's why we eat lamb but don't sit down at Christmas to tuck into the family dog. It has a name. Sheep don't. And shepherds don't get attached to the sheep like that.

But you are not a sheep.

And a shepherd can't expect to lead his flock by calling to them. If that were possible, why spend all that effort training dogs, and building fences and stone walls to keep them in? If you try to lead the sheep with the sound of your voice, they may follow you for a while, to see if you have something interesting to eat, but sheep being sheep, they will quickly wander off. Shepherds don't lead their sheep, they drive them, because they need to be driven. They can't be trusted. Its for their own good.

But you are not a sheep.

Now people can be presented as if they were sheep. Following the herd, bleating inanely, helpless, direction-less, dependant. And there are forces at work in the world that benefit from people accepting that role or thinking it is true of others. You see those people would need a shepherd like the sheep do, to wall them in – for their own good you understand – to drive them along – because they will never find the way for themselves you see. They need to be driven. Herded. Controlled. With the dogs snapping at their heels to return them to the safety of the flock. And to that shepherd they remain nameless, faceless, depersonalised. Not named individuals but a herd, a collective – the consumer. The electorate. The demographic. The Congregation.

But you are not a sheep. And you do not need a shepherd to limit you or to drive you.

But imaging, says Jesus another sort of shepherd. Imagine one who knew the name every sheep had for each other. Imagine a shepherd who did not feel the need to control or coerce, but believed that his sheep would know his voice, and that hearing the sound of it would be enough for them to follow him. Not only follow him, but follow him out of the security of the sheepfold and journey with him not only beside still waters but through the darkest valleys. Just because he called their name.

Imagine a shepherd who was not afraid to allow his sheep to be drawn to the green pastures, a shepherd whose rod and staff are for comfort, not control. Imagine a shepherd who does not allow this freedom because he is indifferent to the sheep – but rather because he loves them deeply. Imagine a shepherd who would lay down his life for the sheep.

Well those who heard Jesus teach knew a thing or two about sheep farming and so they didn't think much of the idea. They thought he was possessed or mad.

He must have been, to think that any of those things would work with sheep. Of course, they don't work with sheep do they? Even I know that.

But you are not a sheep. Are you?