The Great Shepherd

It is comforting to remember that our perfect Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ is still at work to today. We can contrast Him with Elijah’s description of the false gods of his time. “And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.” (1 Kings 18: 27) Our God doesn’t ever lose focus or have his attention distracted. One of his current roles is that of the Great Shepherd (Heb 13: 20, “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,”)

1 Peter 5: 1-4, “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”

Peter wrote this letter to Christians who were being persecuted to encourage them. He wrote as an elder to their elders. We know, from Genesis that an elder is someone who is older but the term also has a more technical meaning (Gen 50: 7, “And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,”). We learn from this that an elder is someone who is involved in leadership under another senior leader (in that case under Pharaoh.) We also learn that there are twenty four elders who wear crowns and sit around the Lord’s throne in heaven (Rev 4: 4)

Peter knew that he was not the ultimate authority even though the Lord said to him, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt 16: 18, 19)

Not only was Peter an elder but he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Peter lived with the Lord Jesus Christ for three years while He travelled around Israel during His ministry. He saw the Lord taken away but the religious leaders and soldiers and also saw some of the trial. Peter was the first disciple to go into the empty tomb and, no doubt, saw him laid in the tomb because he knew exactly where to go when Mary told him that the Lord’s body had been taken away (see John 20: 2, 3)

Peter could also remember the Lord’s words from the upper room. (John 14: 3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”) He also met with the risen Lord and was reconciled after he had denied the Lord (John 21: 15-19). He knew that he would be with the Lord Jesus Christ when the Lord returned in glory.

When the Lord Jesus Christ told the parable of the Good Shepherd, He distinguished between the true shepherd and the hireling. The true shepherd cares for the sheep while the hireling is only interested in what he can get from the sheep. Peter reminded the elders of his day that they were to care for the sheep rather than seek to gain money from the sheep. They were to have a servant attitude that comes from loving the Lord Jesus Christ who first love them (1 John 4: 19, “We love him, because he first loved us.”)

When the Lord Jesus Christ was alive, He spoke about the religious leaders of His day, “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Matt 23: 1-12) Peter told the elders of his day that they were not to lord it over their flock but to be examples to them instead. After all, the Lord Jesus Christ “... made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” (Phil 2: 7) When a person wants to be a leader of the Lord’s flock that person should have the same servant heart that the Lord Jesus Christ had.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the chief Shepherd and He hasn’t forgot His flock, He will come back, when He is ready, and all the under shepherds will either rejoice or be ashamed (Compare 1 John 2: 28, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.”)

Even though there is teaching here for elders, there is comfort for all who are in the church because we see that the Lord Jesus Christ continues to act in His role as shepherd to this day. It is good to remind ourselves about the shepherd and what he does so that we can spend time thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ and His present role as the chief Shepherd.

The first time that we read about shepherds in the Bible is in Gen 46: 32, “And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.” The primary role of a shepherd is to feed the flock.

After this we find that Jacob spoke about Joseph when he blessed his sons; he said, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:”) In this context we find that the Shepherd is someone that protects people who trust in Him. These people are able to overcome, in spite of great trials, and be fruitful to the glory of God; the stone also represents security.

The great passage about the Shepherd is found in Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

David, who was a shepherd himself (compare 1 Sam 17: 34, 35, “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.”) made one of the great statement of the Bible, “The Lord is my shepherd.” If the Lord is my shepherd then the major consequence is “I shall not want.” But what does it mean to “want”? When the Lord made His contract with Israel, before they went into the Promised Land, He told them the consequences of their breaking that contract, “Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.” (Deut 28: 48) If the Lord’s people disobeyed then they would find that they were in want. On the other hand, if the Lord’s people obey Him then they would find that He is sufficient in every situation. If the Lord is our Shepherd then we will find that He is sufficient, no matter our circumstances may be.

Sheep only eat green pasture and they like to drink from still water, the good Shepherd knows this so He takes the sheep to places where they can find the food and drink they like.

Not only does the true Shepherd care for the physical needs of His sheep, he also cares for their emotional needs (“He restores my soul...”) He understands the sheep’s true needs because He knows them. Even though the sheep go through the most difficult and trying times, the good Shepherd makes sure that their souls are safe for He cares.

The good Shepherd has a rod and a staff; the sheep have to pass under the rod when they are counted (compare Lev 27: 32, “And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.”) so we can rejoice in the fact that our names are kept in the good Shepherd’s eternal records and He will guide us whenever we need guidance. When David went to fight against Goliath he carried a staff, his shepherd’s bad and his sling (See 1 Sam 17: 40, “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.” compare with Psalm 110: 2, “The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies”.) We can see here that the staff is for protection, to give us strength.

When we face enemies who want to destroy us the good Shepherd prepares a table for us. When the Tabernacle was built there was a table in the holiest place to contain the shewbread and the candlestick (Ex 25: 30, 31, “And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway. And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made:”) This table is for sustenance and guidance so that we can know that He always cares for us.

If we belong to the Great Shepherd, our everlasting life has been bought with His blood and we can expect His goodness and mercy all the days of our lives. Not only that, we will live with Him and He will live with us forever (Compare Rev 3: 20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”)

The Lord Jesus Christ is our Great Shepherd today and He is sufficient for every situation we could possibly face. Surely He is all we need. (See Jer 31: 14, “And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.”)