The Good Shepherd: Part 1
This is a dominant, and a beautiful, "picture of redemption"
in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. But it should be noted at the outset
that it is a picture that has a significant limiting factor: if our Lord Jesus
Christ is pictured as a shepherd, and we are the sheep... we must remember that
we are not -- literally -- "sheep". We are so much more than dumb animals; we
may take much more responsibility for our own thoughts and actions. Yet in some
important areas we are nevertheless very much like sheep: sheep in need of a
"shepherd"; sheep who are powerless to protect ourselves, or even hide
ourselves, from the "wolves" and "bears" that threaten us; sheep that foolishly
may even wander away from the safety provided for us.
The Bible has very much to say about shepherds and sheep. Many
of the most righteous men of the Old Testament were, literally, shepherds. God
must have looked upon that profession as especially preparing men to be leaders
of others, to lead them in the paths of righteousness, to care for the needs of
others -- almost as a father would for his children. To appreciate the symbolism
involved in Jesus speaking of himself as a shepherd, we must understand
something of what it meant to be a real shepherd in the ancient Near
East.
There was a very different relationship than exists today in
western countries. The shepherd's relationship to the sheep was a very close and
personal one. He lived with them, he slept next to them, he called them by name,
and they responded to his kind words with something very much like affection and
love.
This relationship is illustrated by the reflections of WM
Thomson, a minister who lived in and traveled extensively through the Holy Land
in the early part of the nineteenth century, when so much of what he saw and
wrote about was virtually unchanged from what might have been observed in Bible
times.
Of the shepherd and the sheep, he wrote:
"I notice that some of the flock keep near the shepherd, and
follow whithersoever he goes, without the least hesitation, while others stray
about on either side, or loiter far behind; and he often turns round and scolds
them in a sharp, stern cry.
"Not unlike the Good Shepherd. Indeed, I never ride over these
hills, clothed with flocks, without meditating upon this delightful theme. Our
Savior says that the good shepherd, when he putteth forth his own sheep, goeth
before them, and they follow (John 10:4). This is true to the letter. They are
so tame and so trained that they follow their keeper with the utmost docility...
Any one that wanders is sure to get into trouble.
"Some sheep always keep near the shepherd, and are his special
favorites. Each of them has a name, to which it answers joyfully; and the kind
shepherd is ever distributing to them choice portions which he gathers for that
purpose. These are the contented and happy ones. They are in no danger of
getting lost or into mischief, nor do wild beasts and thieves come near them.
The great body, however, are mere worldlings, intent upon their own pleasures or
selfish interests. They run from bush to bush, searching for variety or
delicacies, and only now and then lift their heads to see where the shepherd
is...
"Did you ever see a shepherd gather the lambs in his arms, and
carry them in his bosom (Isa 40:11)? Often; and he will gently lead along the
mothers, in those times when to overdrive them even for a single day would be
fatal (Gen 33:13)" (The Land and the Book, pp 202-205).
Another writer, from a slightly later time, spoke of the same
phenomena:
"On the roads of Palestine, and on the hills, you see the good
shepherd. He comes along at the head of his flock, generally carrying over his
shoulders a lamb or an injured sheep.
"A most remarkable thing is the sympathy that exists between
him and his flock. He never drives them as our own shepherds drive their sheep.
He always walks at their head, leading them along the roads and over the hills
to new pasture; and, as he goes, he sometimes talks to them in a loud sing-song
voice, using a weird language unlike anything I have ever heard in my
life.
"Early one morning I saw an extraordinary sight not far from
Bethlehem. Two shepherds had evidently spent the night with their flocks in a
cave. The sheep were all mixed together and the time had come for the shepherds
to go in different directions. One of the shepherds stood some distance from the
sheep and began to call. First one, then another, then four or five animals ran
toward him; and so on until he had counted his whole flock.
"More interesting than the sight of this was the knowledge
that Jesus must have seen exactly the same sight and described it in his own
words: 'He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he
putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for
they know his voice. And a stranger they will not follow...' This parable spake
Jesus unto them. 'I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of
mine' " (HV Morton, In the Steps of the Master, p 154).
*****
Some of the great shepherds of the Bible give us insights into
the developing story of redemption:
Abel
Abel (Gen 4) kept flocks of sheep, and brought offerings to
the LORD out of those flocks -- the first in the long line who typified Christ's
work. Like other good shepherds after him, he showed constant concern for each
individual animal (John 10:3). Devoutly he brought into the presence of the LORD
offerings for himself, as well as for his rebellious brother (this point is
suggested by Gen 4:7 -- the "sin" or "sin-offering" which lay ready at hand,
even for Cain). But it was to no avail.
For his faithfulness to Yahweh, and because Yahweh looked with
favor upon him, Abel was hated and then killed by his brother. The way of a
righteous shepherd was not easy, even in the beginning! Thus Abel was
practically the first of his race to point forward to the coming Messiah: "By
faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was
commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith
he still speaks, even though he is dead" (Heb 11:4).
Even his death, at the hands of his brother, was a powerful
foreshadowing of the death of the Good Shepherd to come. Abel stands at a
crucial point in the Bible narrative, and illustrated -- especially in his death
-- how the "seed of the woman" would be himself bruised in the heel, yet would
destroy the "seed of the serpent": that is, it would be accomplished, not with
the sword or any other weapon, but foremost and especially by his own
sacrificial life and sacrificial death!
And so Abel's blood cried out to the LORD from the ground (Gen
4:10); it was like the blood of the sacrifices, that was poured out at the base
of the altar as a witness and testimony (Lev 17:10,11). And it was the first
blood of martyrs, of which there have now been multitudes, which continues to
cry out to God:
"I saw under the altar the souls [ie, 'lives' or 'blood',
because 'life is in the blood': Lev 17:11] of those who had been slain because
of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a
loud voice, 'How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the
inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?' " (Rev 6:9,10).
Jesus calls Abel a "prophet" (Luk 11:50,51), even though not
one word of his is recorded in Scripture. But through his shed blood he speaks,
even though dead. As a enacted type of Christ he is eloquent -- his blood
sprinkled on the ground speaking poignantly of the Saviour's blood to be
sprinkled in confirmation of the new covenant.
In the very beginning, then, we may see -- in Abel -- that the
way of redemption was the way of suffering and death, the way of the shepherd's
crook, the way of the cross.
