Like A Shepherd … Lead Us

Psalm 23:1-3 (NIV)

The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters; He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.

With all of the uncertainties going on in the world – economic turmoil, geopolitical unrest, cultural division, etc.; perhaps we needed this reminder that the Lord Jesus is our Shepherd! We lack nothing when we have Him! He will keep us calm when the world panics. Jesus will refresh our souls with His peace in our hearts as we keep our hearts and minds focused on Him. As the Prophet Isaiah wrote: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Cf. Isaiah 26:3) Yes, God will meet all our needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus! Amen! (Cf. Philippians 4:19)

I want to reprint the entire Psalm for us to read:

Psalm 23 (ESV)

¹The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
³He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

What comforts me the most through this meditation of King David is the sense of peace we can have in God. It is a relational peace like none other; and I believe we need to remember the peace that He gives … that we can have within us. So here are a few Scriptures to keep us remain close to the God of Peace:

John 14:25-27 (NIV)

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Philippians 4:7 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

Oh, my friends, I pray that you are filled with the peace of God … that His peace will abide in you as we walk through unsettled times in this world of tribulation. And I pray we will be diligent to share with unbelievers how they too can experience the peace that Jesus gives as our Shepherd. He leads … He provides … He restores … He comforts … He secures. Yes, let us proclaim what Jesus has affirmed to all: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Cf. Matthew 11:28)

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 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. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” ~ John 10:11-14

The Set Place…

Matthew 2:4-6 (NIV)

When Herod had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the Prophet Micah has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Citing Micah 5:2)

The Messiah’s place of birth was foretold centuries before His Advent through the Prophet Micah. This would be another fulfillment revealed in the New Testament of the numerous prophesies surrounding the Messiah’s birth and His role in the plans and purposes of God foretold in the Old Testament scriptures. I want to reprint our prophetic Verse of the Day in its context for us:

Micah 5:2-4 (NIV)

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me One who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will live securely, for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

Notice how God chose a “small” clan from the tribe of Judah … from whom David and the lineage of the kings of Israel descended. This speaks to the human meekness of the Messiah to come … whose human origins would reflect these humble circumstances. Jesus’ mother, Mary, testified of her own poverty in The Magnificat (Cf. Luke 1:46-55) when she reflected that God “has been mindful of the humble state of His servant,” and that God “has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up (exalted) the humble.” And I love that the Prophet Micah also affirms the origins of the Messiah are “from of old, from ancient times.” To me, this speaks to the divinity of the Messiah to come … whose eternal origin would be reflected in His self-existence. The Apostle John articulates this theological truth as he opens his Gospel narrative: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” And, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (Cf. John 1:1-2, 14)

Because this prophecy references a ruler – a king over Israel – we have a better understanding of the “threat” that King Herod perceived to his own governance over the land of Palestine in those days. His internal fears led him to order the genocide of all the males born in that region who were two years old and under….

Matthew 2:1-18 (NIV)

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi (interpreted wise men) from the East came to Jerusalem ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.” ³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Cf. Micah 5:2-4) ⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” ⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. ¹³When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” ¹⁴So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”(Cf. Hosea 11:1) ¹⁶When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Cf. Jeremiah 31:15)

When we evaluate the inspired narrative preserved for us, and as we see how prophesies are fulfilled in great detail and accuracy, we are led to the same conclusion as the New Testament writers: Jesus IS the promised Messiah … the Holy One of Israel. There is enough evidence (fulfilled prophecy) along with the eyewitness accounts of His resurrection to convince us that Jesus IS who He claimed to be … the Son of God … the Word of God … who was with God from the beginning! So, as we reflect on the prophecies about the Jesus, I pray that these testimonies will affirm in our hearts the message of Christmas IS Jesus – and Jesus alone! The supernatural miracle of His birth … the humble circumstances of His birth … the poverty of His parents, yet the riches of their obedient faith … the redemptive purpose for which He was sent to dwell among us … all of these reflections should fill us with exceedingly great joy! Indeed, Jesus is the reason we can rejoice in God our Savior! O Come Let Us Adore Him!

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!

I AM The Good Shepherd…

John 10:14-15 (NIV)

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Related to the “I AM” claim of Jesus we studied yesterday; our Verse of the Day develops the parable even further. Jesus first declared Himself to be the point of entrance (gate) into the good pasture (heaven) for the sheep; and now He claims to be the Good Shepherd who leads the sheep into the pasture. In addition, we see another figure in the story, the Gatekeeper, who opens the pasture gate for the Good Shepherd and His sheep. Thus, again, we understand that it is the Father who ordained and sent Jesus to be both shepherd (the way) and gate (the truth) into the pasture (the life). It is an exclusive claim! No one can come to the Father (gatekeeper) except through Jesus (the gate) … as the Good Shepherd leading the Way into eternal life. (Cf. John 14:6) To me, the parallels of these pictorial teachings are quite remarkable!

John 10:11-18 (NIV)

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ¹²The 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. ¹³The 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— ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I 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. ¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

The concept of God as the Shepherd of Israel can be traced back to Genesis 48:15-16 when Israel (formerly Jacob) was bestowing his blessing upon Joseph and his two grandsons: “Then Israel blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may He bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.” The role of Shepherd was applied to the leaders of Israel as a nation … with King Saul and then David after him. The Lord said to David, “You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.” (Cf. 2 Samuel 5:2; 1 Chronicles 11:2)

Yet, David, would declare like his forefather Israel: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall want for nothing.” (Cf. Psalm 23:1) And then we are introduced to the priests, prophets, elders, and teachers of the law appointed as shepherds (spiritual leaders) over the Jewish people. As Jeremiah prophesied: “Then I (the Lord) will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” (Cf. Jeremiah 3:15) But Jeremiah would soon pronounce woes upon the shepherds of Israel; and this prophecy would not be wholly fulfilled until the arrival of the righteous Branch … King Jesus … The Lord Our Righteous Savior! (Cf. Jeremiah 23:1-7)

I want to insert here some excerpts from Ezekiel 34 which prophesied the identity and role of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. His inspired words were similar to those of Jeremiah

¹The word of the Lord came to me: 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?

⁷“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

¹¹“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. ¹²As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. ¹⁴I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶I 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.

²⁰“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, ²²I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.

And so, we see this pattern of spiritual leadership being attached to shepherds who are ordained by God to oversee the spiritual well-being of the sheep (people). They are to be guides as well as protectors of the flocks assigned to them by God. As Jesus asserted: “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. Unlike other shepherds, Jesus demonstrated His love, care, and concern for the sheep. He knew them and called them by name! And Jesus passionately loved them … willing to protect them from those who would ravage them … to give His life for them as the Father had commanded Him to do. Indeed, Jesus is that Great Shepherd sent from heaven to seek and to save those who are lost and return them to the Father…. (Cf. 1 Peter 2:25)

So Now You Know…

Have a Blessed Day!

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ~ Hebrews 13:20-21

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the rulers of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be Shepherd over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” ~ Micah 5:2