Shepherd and Sheep

God's love for His children is illustrated through the picture of a shepherd with his sheep. In the Bible God frequently utilizes this picture to describe His relationship with Israel and with all of His children. The passages that refer to this relationship reveal many details about the love and care that God has for His children.

What I found very interesting is that the Bible has a lot to say about bad shepherds. For example, . . .

Bad shepherds don't have trusted voices. (John 10:5)
Bad shepherds don't meet the needs of the sheep. (Jeremiah 23:2)
Bad shepherds don't feed the sheep. (Ezekiel 34:2-3, 8)
Bad shepherds don't tend to the weak, sick, or injured sheep. (Ezekiel 34:4)
Bad shepherds don't dispel the fears of the sheep. (Jeremiah 23:4)
Bad shepherds don't protect the sheep from danger. (Ezekiel 34:5, 8)
Bad shepherds don't stick around when danger comes. (John 10:12-13)
Bad shepherds destroy and scatter the sheep. (Jeremiah 23:1)
Bad shepherds don't gather the scattered sheep. (Ezekiel 34:4)
Bad shepherds allow the sheep to be lost. (Jeremiah 23:4)
Bad shepherds don't seek the lost sheep. (Ezekiel 34:4, 8)
Bad shepherds use the sheep for their own selfish benefit. (Ezekiel 34:3)
Bad shepherds are cruel and forceful. (Ezekiel 34:4, 6)

It is not hard to immediately realize that God is a very different kind of shepherd. Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:14). There is a very distinct reason for the difference between bad shepherds and the Good Shepherd. A bad shepherd "is not concerned about the sheep" (John 10:13). Jesus, on the other hand, expressed great care for the sheep. "When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things" (Mark 6:34). Unlike the bad shepherd, Jesus cares about the sheep. He cares because He sees their great need. He then dedicates Himself to meeting the needs of His beloved sheep.

Psalm 23:1, probably the best-known verse about the Shepherd, expresses this very thought: "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want." God's love means that He dedicates Himself to meeting every need of His sheep so that there is nothing lacking to them. John 10:10 echoes the thought: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." God, in the picture of a shepherd, shows His love by doing the opposite of what the bad shepherds do.

The Good Shepherd is trusted. His sheep know His voice and gladly follow Him. The trust comes because the Shepherd knows them - in fact, knows them individually. This personal care breeds trust. "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. . . . I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me" (John 10:3, 14).

The Good Shepherd meets the immediate needs of His sheep. "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters" (Psalm 23:2). He provides food and water for them. (Also Ezekiel 34:13-14). The Good Shepherd gives his sheep proper rest (Psalm 23:2, Ezekiel 34:15). In fact, His tending to their needs is so complete that it can be described as abundant and overflowing. (Psalm 23:5, Ezekiel 34:25-26).

The Good Shepherd gives His attention to the most needy of His sheep. He heals the sick and tends to the injured (Ezekiel 34:16). He even ministers to the souls of those who are injured internally. "He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake" (Psalm 23:3). He can do this because He is no ordinary shepherd, but rather "the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" (I Peter 2:25).

The Good Shepherd relieves the fears of His sheep. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me" (Psalm 23:4). He can calm the fear of even the most desperate situation. (Also Jeremiah 23:4 and Ezekiel 34:28).

The Good Shepherd delivers His sheep from danger, whether the danger comes from false shepherds or from ravenous beasts. "So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them” (Ezekiel 34:10). (Also John 10:11-15, Ezekiel 34:22, 25, 28).

The Good Shepherd carefully guides and leads the sheep so that they are not scattered. “And he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice" (John 10:3-4). (Also Psalm 23:2-3). When the sheep are scattered, He gathers them again and keeps them together in the safe confines of the fold. "Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare in the coastlands afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock'” (Jeremiah 31:10).

The Good Shepherd earnestly seeks the sheep that are lost. This is true of large flocks of sheep, as He will someday gather Israel back together. "Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply" (Ezekiel 34:11-13, 16). It is also true of an individual sheep that is lost. “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?" (Luke 15:4).

Far from being selfish, the Good Shepherd selflessly gives Himself for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . . and I lay down My life for the sheep." (John 10:11, 15). This Shepherd cares so much about the sheep that He gives His very life in sacrifice for them.

Finally, the Good Shepherd is full of comfort, kindness, and tenderness. "Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4). "Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes" (Isaiah 40:11).

The sheep would be lost with this Shepherd, but thankfully, He has claimed His sheep as His own, and He takes responsibility for them. "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture" (Psalm 100:3). Since the Shepherd lovingly meets every need, the only thing for the sheep to do is to simply follow their Good Shepherd. Never resisting His guidance, they must follow His faithful voice. "For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness" (Psalm 95:7-8).

In the (sadly) inevitable event that the sheep do stray, they must be willing to return to the good paths of the Good Shepherd, who is always willing to receive His sheep again. "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments" (Psalm 119:176). "For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" (I Peter 2:25).

"Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." Hebrews 13:20-21 (NASB)

This study was prompted by and partially based upon the final sermon in a series about knowing God that can be ordered here.