Scriptures: Ezekiel 34, Zechariah 9:14-16, 10:2-3, 13:7-9, Micah 5, Psalm 23, John 10
When Jesus says in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd,” it is perhaps the clearest statement declaring his identity as the Messiah. The Old Testament is filled with God’s complaints against the “bad shepherds” – the religious leaders who were abusing the people – and promises that God will send a good shepherd. In Ezekiel 34 God says, “I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd” (Ezekiel 34:22-23). This passage reveals the Messiah as one who saves his flock, tends to their needs, delivers them from their enemies, and judges between them, separating the sheep from the goats. Jesus declares in John 10 that he is the good shepherd of Ezekiel 34.
God describes his chosen shepherd as David. We’ve already studied how the life of Jesus lines up with David in fulfillment of God’s plan to have a shepherd like David over Israel. What kind of shepherd was David? David was a warrior who trained for battle by killing lions and bears to protect his sheep. Because Jesus demonstrated God’s gentleness and restraint, we don’t always consider the fierceness of his protective love, but Jesus is a protective shepherd like David. When we read the end-time passages that prophesy God’s judgment and destruction, we must always read them through the lens of a shepherd who has found wolves among his sheep that are trying to destroy his flock. The shepherd shows up with God’s arm of vengeance to rid the flock of the wolves and protect the sheep out of his love for them. The Bible calls the devil a prowling lion looking for someone to devour. When Jesus returns, like David, he will rescue his flock and destroy the lion with his own hands!
“Then the Lord will appear over them; his arrow will flash like lightning. The Sovereign Lord will sound the trumpet; he will march in the storms of the south, 15 and the Lord Almighty will shield them. They will destroy and overcome with slingstones. They will drink and roar as with wine; they will be full like a bowl used for sprinkling the corners of the altar. 16 The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock” (Zechariah 9:14-16). Just like David killed Goliath with slingstones, when Jesus returns, Israel’s enemies will be destroyed “with slingstones” as the Good Shepherd rescues his flock.
God reveals his plan to be Israel’s Shepherd in Ezekiel 34:15-16.“I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” Isaiah 40 describes the Messiah as he who “tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young (Isaiah 40:11). In Matthew 11:28, when Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” the offer of soul rest points to Jesus’ nature as the gentle shepherd of Isaiah 40 and Psalm 23. He makes us lie down in green pastures, leads us beside still waters, and refreshes our souls (Psalm 23:2).
In contrast to the bad shepherds of Israel who neglected the sheep, Jesus is the gentle shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go after the one who has wandered off (Matthew 18:12). In John 10:11-13 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” In Zechariah 10:3 God rebukes the hired hands, Israel’s religious leaders, saying “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for his flock.”
In Matthew 23 Jesus repeatedly says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” unleashing a tirade of accusations against them in fulfillment of God’s command to the Son of Man to prophesy against Israel’s shepherds. “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally'” (Ezekiel 34:2-4).
I feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to pause right here and remind us of the parable of the wheat and weeds. Jesus warned us that the enemy would come to plant weeds – bad shepherds – among the wheat – God’s people – and that they would grow alongside each other until he returns. We read a few days ago about the three yeasts Jesus warned against which had corrupted Israel’s leaders. Those yeasts inevitably present themselves in the institutionalized church when man uses ministry as a means to feed himself, exalt himself, and lord his authority over others. Though Jesus taught us to love and serve one another, when the dough is corrupted by the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod, the sheep are neglected and vulnerable to attack by the devil. At the end of the age, Jesus will separate the wheat from the weeds, so don’t be discouraged if you’ve been subject to bad shepherding. Forgive those who have wounded you and pray for them. Let Jesus be your Shepherd and ask him to lead you to a healthy church (which may involve you staying where you are and loving people into health). If you are a leader, ask Jesus to give you his heart for his sheep and he will.
Ezekiel 34:5 says that the sheep, “were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.” The ultimate scattering of the sheep came when Jesus, God’s chosen Shepherd, was struck down by Israel’s religious leaders. “’Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones’” (Zechariah 13:7). It was God’s will for his shepherd to be struck down so he could expand his flock. As Jesus declared in John 10:15-18, “I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” God had declared through Zechariah that his shepherd would be struck down, but Jesus completes the picture by revealing God’s purpose in striking him down: to bring more sheep into the flock – the Gentiles – and raise Jesus back up in triumph over death.
In Zechariah 13:8-9, God reveals the purpose in scattering the sheep. “’In the whole land,’ declares the Lord, ‘two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. 9 This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” Jewish sources estimate that about a third of the Jewish population perished during the Roman siege that destroyed the temple in 70 AD, and another third were taken into slavery, leaving one-third that God would “put into the fire.” For the past nearly 2000 years, the scattered Jews have endured the fire of persecution. However, God promised to regather his sheep from the ends of the earth. The Jews have been refined and tested in the fire so that they will call on his name and say, “The Lord is our God.” At the end of the age of the Gentiles, when their time of refining and testing is complete, they will receive their Shepherd.
Meanwhile, Jesus’ death and resurrection opened the sheep pen for Gentiles to come into God’s flock. The church has also faced persecution through the centuries, but we are not like sheep without a shepherd. God still allows us to go through the fire of persecution to refine us like silver and test us like gold, but Jesus is with us in the fire and will never leave us. The picture above is of a ravine near the Sea of Galilee. Our guide in Israel said there are several ravines in Israel called a “valley of the shadow of death,” as mentioned in Psalm 23 in the original Hebrew. When you pass through the valley you are vulnerable to attack from people on the hillside above, which is why it’s so dangerous. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leads us safely through such valleys of persecution. Jesus promises that his sheep hear his voice (John 10:27). If we listen and follow, he will guide us through the darkest valley and safely lead us home.
Response:
Personalize Psalm 23, today, by praying this to Jesus, your Good Shepherd: Lord Jesus, you are my Shepherd. I lack nothing. You make me lie down in green pastures, you lead me beside quiet waters, you refresh my soul. You guide me along the right paths for your name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (NIV).
