Imagine life without the modern medicine we are so used to. Imagine a world without anaesthesia. How would life be in a society where lifespans were generally short?
For the Jews in Jesus’ time, their country was under the rule of foreign Romans. God seemed to have gone silent for 400 years. The prophets, though their messages were not often pleasing to the ears, at least gave the people some assurance that God had not forgotten them, that He was still speaking to them. But for so long now, heaven had shut its doors tightly and earth had become a living hell for so many-harassed, helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
It was into this kind of world that Jesus came, declaring that He was the Good Shepherd of Israel (John 10:11). It took some time for people to understand this and to grasp the great truth that He is indeed the Shepherd for all peoples on earth.
This idea comes from the Old Testament, where God declared Himself to be the Shepherd of the people (Ezekiel 34:11-14). He promised to find the lost and the stray, to rescue the perishing, to nurse the wounded, and to feed the hungry.
This shepherding God can best be understood as the God who makes a covenant with His people. He cares for His people and loves them.
God is not only a shepherd to a community, He is also the shepherd for individuals. Hence the psalmist could declare confidently, “The Lord is my Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1). He is the Shepherd of our souls who feeds, protects, guides and blesses us as we journey in life.
Jesus brought this rich understanding of the Old Testament into his declaration that He was the Shepherd of the people of God. With this. He revealed that He was in fact God. As Shepherd, He knew His sheep, and recognised them (John 10:3,14). In His elaboration of the relationship between Shepherd and sheep, Jesus brings our attention to the heart of this relationship—the Shepherd’s love for the sheep.
In His parable of the lost sheep, Jesus paints a dynamic picture of the Shepherd’s love in poignant action (Luke 15:3-7). The Shepherd leaves the 99 sheep in safety, and then as the sky darkened rapidly and the temperature dropped steeply, He sets out to find the lost sheep, lost probably because it wandered away, either through distraction or plain wilfulness. The Shepherd could have written it off, thinking, “Why go to so much trouble to rescue a stupid animal?” And yet, He went to search. This story is a window into the heavenly Shepherd’s heart and His love for us.
This love is perfectly manifested when the Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep (John 10:11).
Consider this:
Do you know Jesus as your shepherd? Do you know His voice? What is your experience of allowing Him to guide and lead you?
Excerpted and adapted from Boundless Love by Robert Solomon. © 2014 by Robert Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved.
Related Resources:
The Lord Is My Shepherd: Rest and Renewal from Psalm 23. Finding your way through life can be easier when you have the right One leading the way. In this excerpt of Every Day Is a New Shade of Blue: Comfort for Dark Days from Psalm 23, author David Roper takes a closer look at the relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep expressed throughout Scripture. Gain insight from the lives of David, Isaiah, and others who found hope, encouragement, and rest under the watchful care of God. Read more here.
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