<p>10:13 <i>He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep</i>- Again the Lord is saying that the Jewish shepherds were motivated solely by money, their &quot;hire&quot;. There may be here an allusion to Judas, who &quot;did not care for the poor&quot; (s.w., 12:6).</p><p>The Gospel writers three times bring out the point that people perceived that the Lord Jesus didn't &quot;care&quot; for people. The disciples in the boat thought that He didn't care if they perished (Mk. 4:38); Martha thought He didn't care that she was left in an impossible domestic situation, doubtless assuming He was a mere victim of common male insensitivity to women (Lk. 10:40); and twice it is recorded that the people generally had the impression that He cared for nobody (Mt. 22:16; Mk. 12:14). And yet the Lord uses the very same word here to speak of the hired shepherd who cares not for the sheep- whereas He as the good shepherd cares for them so much that He dies for them. I find this <i>so</i> tragic- that the most caring, self-sacrificial person of all time wasn't perceived as that, wasn't credited for it all. The disciples surely wrote the Gospels with shame over this matter. It points up the loneliness of the Lord's agonizing last hours. And yet it provides comfort for all unappreciated caregivers, as spouses, parents, children, servants of the ecclesia... in their suffering they are sharing something of the Lord's agony. The Lord's &quot;care&quot; for the sheep led Him to lay down His life for them; but&nbsp;people thought that He did not &quot;care&quot; for His sheep. Each time the Lord heard this accusation, He must have reflected that actually He cared so much for them that He was laying down His life. Love unperceived is one of the hardest things to live with, and discourages many from abiding in the life of love. In those moments of discouragement we can remember the Lord, whose love was likewise unperceived, and continues to be in millions of hearts to this day.</p><p>The Lord even saw the unconverted and the unreached as His potential sheep. He criticizes the &ldquo;hireling&rdquo; who has &ldquo;no concern for the sheep&rdquo; (Jn. 10:13) with the same expression as is used in Jn. 12:6 to describe how Judas was &ldquo;not concerned for the poor&rdquo;. He parallels &ldquo;the sheep&rdquo; with the &ldquo;poor&rdquo; whom He and His group sought to help materially as best they could; He saw those crowds, whom we would likely have dismissed as just of the &ldquo;loaves and fishes&rdquo; mentality, as potential sheep.</p>