Let us pray.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a loving Heavenly Father.
! You are a great and mighty God, enthroned on high in the heavens,
!
I usually say there are two kinds of people who should never apologise,
and that's cooks and preachers,
because the recipients of what they provide may not know any better.
However, I'm going to break my own rule this morning with an apology to the children,
that you haven't got a set of notes, and that is my fault.
You'll just have to listen very hard and carefully, I'm afraid.
Jesus saying, I am the Good Shepherd, which we read,
and Psalm 23, the Lord is my Shepherd,
are among the best known of all Scriptures.
But I want us to look this morning at what does it mean to have God as our Shepherd.
And look at this through the Scriptures.
In fact, quickly from Genesis to Revelation.
Now, there is, first of all, we must understand a huge difference.
between shepherding in the Bible,
and in our culture in Britain today.
Psalm 80, verse 1 says,
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock,
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
Shine forth.
What do we hear there?
The shepherd of Israel leads the flock,
leads his people.
If you've ever seen a shepherd at work in this country,
you'll know it's different.
He drives the sheep, probably with the aid of one or two dogs.
If you ask me a picture of the shepherd in this country,
it's seeing my cousin in the Yorkshire Dale,
standing with me on one side of a small valley,
and he's whistling to two dogs,
that are rounding up the sheep on the other side of the valley.
It was something to wonder at, the control.
But that was driving sheep.
Not like we hear God doing in the Bible,
which is leading.
The Lord is my shepherd.
He leads me beside still waters.
He leads me in paths of righteousness,
for his name's sake.
What we see in Israel is,
the shepherd is the leader.
It's the same with Jesus,
when he says,
I know my sheep,
my sheep know me,
they follow me.
The shepherd is the leader.
And the first reference we have in the whole of Scripture,
to shepherding,
is God shepherding his people.
It's in a verse in Genesis 48,
where the patriarch Jacob,
is blessing his son Joseph.
And remember, the patriarchs were shepherds.
They were a shepherd people,
with large flocks.
Well, in Genesis 48 and verse 15,
Jacob blessed his son Joseph and said,
May the God before whom my fathers,
Abraham and Isaac, walked,
the God who has been my shepherd,
all my life to this day.
God is the shepherd of Israel,
of Jacob, Abraham and Isaac.
God being their shepherd,
there it meant their ruler.
They followed God as their ruler,
as he led them from place to place,
as he led Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
as he led them into Egypt,
and eventually out of Egypt.
God the ruler shepherds Israel.
And the striking thing is,
that when God talks about leaders in Israel,
when he talks about kings in Israel,
they are to be shepherds.
Ruler and leader,
come together as the king, the shepherd.
So Moses talks in Numbers 27 and verse 15,
Moses said to the Lord,
May the Lord,
the God of the spirits of all mankind,
appoint a man over this community,
to go out and come in before them,
one who will lead them out and bring them in,
so the Lord's people will not be
like sheep without a shepherd.
He was going to give them a leader,
to shepherd them.
And we remember that David,
that most famous king of Israel,
before he became king,
he was a shepherd.
Literally, a shepherd.
Psalm 78 and verse 71 says,
From tending the sheep,
he brought him to be the shepherd
of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
David the shepherd king.
And what does God tell David?
Well, he speaks to him in 2 Samuel chapter 5
and verse 2 and says,
In the past,
while Saul was king over us,
you were the one who led Israel
on their military campaigns.
And the Lord said to you,
You will shepherd my people Israel,
and you will become their ruler.
I think it's very interesting
where we see this parallel,
that the shepherd was a leader,
and the shepherd was a king.
And it says something about how
that king was to lead
the people of God.
Rulers commanded to shepherd
my people Israel, God says.
So it is David the shepherd king
who says,
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not be in want.
You see that background
gives more significance
to what David is saying
in Psalm 23.
The Lord is his shepherd.
And the fact that the Lord
is the shepherd,
I think also means that
when Jesus says,
I am the good shepherd,
not just the use of the words,
I am,
which speak of God,
but the shepherding part
speaks of how God
had been to Israel as well.
So I believe that
when Jesus says,
I am the good shepherd,
he is in fact speaking
about him being God's Messiah,
him being God come
to lead his people.
But David,
still in the Psalms,
Psalm 28 verse 9,
he prays to God,
Save your people
and bless your inheritance.
Be their shepherd
and carry them forever.
Picture of the tender shepherd
picking up the lamb
from the flock.
And so we see that God,
he is the shepherd king
of Israel,
and he takes
the shepherd David
to be shepherd
to his people.
And when they look
to the future,
when the prophets
speak of the future,
when they speak
of God's Messiah
saving his people,
it's as a coming shepherd.
Among the most beautiful
verses in scripture
are Isaiah 40 verse 11.
In Isaiah 40 verse 11,
it says of the Messiah
to come,
he 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.
What have we got here?
What is God doing
through his Messiah?
He is gathering his flock,
gathering his people together.
There is an intimate
caring,
a gentle leading.
Isaiah gives us
a beautiful picture
of what Jesus,
the Messiah,
the good shepherd,
will do
for us,
his people.
Jeremiah the prophet
speaks of this as well.
Jeremiah in 31.10 says,
Hear the word
of the Lord,
O nations.
Proclaim it
in distant coastlands.
He who scattered Israel
will gather them
and will watch over
his flock
like a shepherd.
Israel going into exile,
judged by God,
taken captive
by Nebuchadnezzar,
scattered,
will be gathered
in the coming days
by God,
by his Messiah,
like a shepherd.
Ezekiel says,
as a shepherd,
this is Ezekiel 34.12,
as 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 the day of clouds
and darkness.
There is hope
for God's people.
They will be gathered
together
with God,
the Messiah,
as their shepherd.
verse 16
of that chapter,
Ezekiel 34.
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.
There is the hope
for Israel,
the Messiah to come
to gather the people
to shepherd
the flock
with justice.
And again,
in that same chapter,
Ezekiel 34,
verse 23,
I will place
over them
one shepherd,
my servant David,
and he will tend them.
He will tend them
and be their shepherd.
So there is to be
a coming
David-like
king,
to look after
God's people
as a shepherd.
Confirming this,
Ezekiel says
in chapter 37,
verse 24,
My servant David
will be king
over them,
and they will all
have one shepherd.
They will follow
my laws
and be careful
to keep
my decrees.
Jesus,
the good shepherd,
is to be
David the king
over them,
the one shepherd.
And lastly,
from the Old Testament,
the prophet Micah
says,
in Micah 5,
4,
He will stand
and shepherd
his flock
in the strength
of the Lord,
in the majesty
of the name
of the Lord,
and they will
live securely,
for then his
greatness will reach
to the ends
of the earth.
So the great
shepherd king
is coming,
and he will
protect his people,
and his people
will not just be
in one little
land of Israel.
His greatness
will reach
to the ends
of the earth.
This is a verse
about the mission
of the great shepherd.
So this great
shepherd king
is coming,
and when Jesus
was born,
the Jews
understood that
Messiah would
be a shepherd
ruler,
because when
the kings
from the east
went to Herod
and asked
where the Messiah
was to be born,
the religious
leaders said,
Matthew 2,
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
be the
shepherd of
my people
Israel.
Right from
the beginning,
the babe of
Bethlehem,
to be the
shepherd ruler.
And of course
that was quoting
from the Old
Testament.
So now do
you see more
of the significance
of what it
means when
Jesus says,
I am the
good shepherd.
It's the one
who's going to
lead for,
lead,
care for,
provide for,
protect,
his sheep,
his people.
But there's
something more
he's going to
do,
which no other
shepherd could
possibly do.
I am the
good shepherd.
The good shepherd
lays down his
life for the
sheep.
Jesus says
he's come to
lay down his
life for the
sheep.
Now,
because we are
so familiar
with this,
we can pass
over the
amazing
significance
of it.
Because if
the shepherd
lays down his
life for the
sheep,
if he dies,
what's going to
happen to the
sheep?
Isn't the
flock going to
be savaged?
Aren't they
going to be
attacked and
scattered?
Not with this
good shepherd.
Because this
good shepherd,
who gives his
life for the
sheep,
is the one who
rises to
life again.
As we read,
for this reason,
the Father
loves me,
because I lay
down my life,
that I may
take it up
again.
no one takes
it from me,
but I lay
it down of
my own
accord.
I have
authority to
lay it down.
I have
authority to
take it up
again.
This charge
I have
received from
my Father.
Jesus
willingly
gives up
his life.
In the
Gospels,
when Jesus
dies upon the
cross,
he doesn't
use ordinary
words for
dying.
It talks
about him
sending away
his spirit.
Why?
Because death
had no
dominion over
him.
Death had no
control over
him.
He was
sinless,
but he had
taken our
sin upon
him.
But he
remained in
charging control.
He is
willingly
sacrificing
his life.
The shepherd
laying down
his life for
the sheep,
knowing that
on the third
day,
the Father
will gloriously
raise him
again from
the dead.
for him to
go on
shepherding
his people
and to
gather a
flock from
other lands
than Israel,
from other
peoples.
Hebrews 13,
20 says,
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.
The
rising,
the
resurrection
of Jesus
as shepherd.
We have
a risen
shepherd who
died for
us.
We will
remember
his death
at his
table,
but we
rejoice that
he is
risen,
ascended,
now at
the right
hand of
his Father
in heaven.
And we
have,
if we
trust in
him,
this personal
relationship
with him.
I am the
good shepherd,
I know my
sheep,
and my
sheep know
me.
Do you
know Jesus
Christ as
your
saviour,
your shepherd?
Jesus says
he is going
to bring
sheep together
from many
sheep pens.
10.16 in
John,
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,
one shepherd.
And that
is the
church of
God,
brought in
from many
lands,
tribes and
tongues and
nations,
to be one
new flock
of the
great shepherd
of the
sheep.
The question
is,
are you
part of
God's
people?
Are you
part of
Jesus'
flock,
the follower
of the
good shepherd,
part of
his sheep?
The
apostle Peter
says,
you were
like sheep
going astray,
but now
you have
returned to
the shepherd
and overseer
of your
souls.
Have you?
Have you
returned to
the Lord
Jesus Christ
and know
him today
as your
shepherd?
Can you
look forward
to the
future with
him?
Peter writes,
when the
chief shepherd
appears,
you will
receive the
crown of
glory,
but will
never fade
away.
And this
is the
last but one
reference,
to a
shepherd.
The final
reference to
the shepherd,
I said I was
going to take
you from
Genesis to
Revelation,
and here is
the Revelation
one, which
in some ways
is the most
amazing reference
of all.
Revelation
7, 17.
For the
lamb at
the center
of the
throne will
be their
shepherd.
He will
lead them
to springs
of living
water,
water, and
God will
wipe away
every tear
from their
eyes.
Leading to
springs of
living water
reminds us
to think
back to
Psalm 23.
But here
the shepherd
is the
lamb at
the center
of the
throne.
What a
wonderful,
stupendous,
mixed metaphor
really,
of the lamb
being the
shepherd.
And who
is the
lamb?
Jesus, the
lamb of
God, who
takes away
the sin of
the world.
Jesus, who
sacrifices
himself on
the cross
for our
salvation.
He who
has done
this, he
is now the
lamb of
God at
God's right
hand in
heaven, at
the center
of the
throne, and
he is
going to
shepherd us
for all
eternity.
Lead us
to living
water, and
God will
wipe away
every tear
from their
eyes.
We live in
a fallen
world, we
live in a
world where
there is
much sickness
and sorrow.
But one
day we
learn from
the scriptures
this will
end.
God will
wipe away
every tear
from our
eyes.
The question
this morning
is, do
you know
Jesus Christ,
the shepherd?
Is he
your leader?
Is he
your king?
Do you
know his
providing?
Do you
know his
protection?
Do you
look forward
to his
appearing?
Let us
pray.
Lord God,
we thank you
that you
are a
great and
marvelous and
gracious God.
You
shepherded your
people Israel.
You
shepherded David,
the shepherd
king.
You promised
the Messiah,
and you
sent us the
Lord Jesus,
the Lamb
of God,
the shepherd
of the
flock,
who laid
down his
life for
the forgiveness
of our
sins.
We thank
you that
our Savior
is now
risen,
he is now
ascended,
he is at
the center
of your
throne in
heaven.
We look
forward to
his appearing.
Help us to
be strong in
the faith,
trusting in
him,
and giving
thanks for
all that
you have
done for
us,
in the
Lord Jesus
Christ,
the great
shepherd of
the sheep.
Amen.