Jesus the Shepherd

Yesterday, during church we were reading the story of Jesus' birth from a children's bible and it spent a bit of time talking about the importance of shepherds. As we were reading and thinking, I was reminded of a verse from Ezekiel that spoke about God coming as a shepherd.

Ezekiel 34:23-24 NIV:

[23] "I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. [24] I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken."

These verses are an interesting prophetic picture of Jesus. He will be a shepherd, from the house of David. He will be their prince, and he will restore relationship to their God. He will have a servants attitude.

As you read the Gospels you can see each of these fulfilled in Jesus' life, and they start being fulfilled when the first people that see the new-born child are shepherds, who visit him in a manger, a place for the care and feeding of sheep and other animals. The second part is fulfilled when the kings visit and bring him gifts worthy of a prince. This is in some ways a prophetic picture of His life, for his ministry starts with His shepherding, and is followed by His taking His seat of the throne following His resurrection and ascension. I don't think its any coincidence that the Father chose the first moments of His life to identify His Son with shepherds.

Jesus clearly understood his role as a shepherd, and was basically responding to Ezk 34:1-16 when he spoke of being a shepherd in John 10. Her a few of the verses from Ezekiel, 34:2-5 NIV:
[2] “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. [5] So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals."

And Jesus response from John 10:11-16 NIV:
[11] “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. [14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--- [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father---and 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."

Yes, Jesus as shepherd is a very appropriate identification. Let us be grateful that He came as a shepherd, showed himself to shepherds and lived the life of a servant. This shows us that the Father's heart toward us is to protect us, feed us, rescue the lost and heal us, and have mercy on us. This is how the Lord wants us to experience Him first, for this is how he revealed Himself to us first. Who would ever have expected that our God would come and embrace such a humble attitude, and pastoral role, when He is the ruler of all? That is one of the great surprises and mysteries of our faith, and one of the reasons Christmas is so important, for it reminds us of the incredible steps God took to show the love He has for us.