“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends”. (John 15 verse 13)
This study is about:
- The character of a good shepherd.
- The Character of The Good Shepherd.
- The lengths the Good Shepherd was willing to go for His Sheep.
A good shepherd
A modern English shepherd has many sheep in his care, often hundreds, in several flocks and usually on meadowland owned by other people. He himself faces no personal danger, but young lambs are often snatched by predators like foxes; and disease can quickly kill the adult sheep if a bad shepherd fails to care for them. A good shepherd will recognize each individual sheep, which may seem surprising to us who think one sheep looks very like another, but he will visit most days in a week to keep an eye on problems; and he must still have many of the skills needed by countless generations of shepherds.
On holiday in the Island of Cyprus, about 200 miles from Jerusalem, Deenie and I saw a huge flock of sheep and goats wandering wild on the hillsides. Big rock-walled enclosures were built near the road to contain them at night. They were skinny, bony, and smelly, but perhaps they were well-cared for. This is surely more like the flocks of sheep that Jesus knew 2000 years ago.
David, later king of all Israel, is the best-known of the old-testament shepherds. His experience in caring for his father’s sheep trained him for later life: to survive in exile out in the mountains from King Saul; to defeat Goliath; to fight in battles; and finally to care for human sheep as God’s chosen king of His people, Israel.
David said to Saul, as he prepared himself to face Goliath alone, and save his nation from the Philistines: “your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.” (1 Sam. 17:34-35). Here is a brave young man doing an amazing job: how fortunate was that lamb! Was the lamb really worth David putting himself in such danger?
The Good Shepherd
We can recognise, in this statement of David’s, a picture of the Good Shepherd Himself. What did the Lord Jesus see in me, that He was prepared to go and face the anger of Satan at Calvary, and to face the wrath of God upon my sin, in order to save me?
The reason given in the bible is the compassion that the Shepherd had for a lost sheep, but also His anticipation of having the love of that sheep returned to him. We should ask ourselves just how deep is our appreciation of the sacrifice that He made? Sometimes, when we have been thinking of this subject on a Sunday morning, we sing: “…That I in the glory of heaven forever and ever might be, a thousand, a thousand thanksgivings I bring my Lord Jesus to thee.”
We can gain a deeper insight into the cross-work of the Lord Jesus through reading Old Testament prophecies, and comparing them with the parables Jesus told. Here are some examples to ponder:
- The Good Shepherd spoke of Himself when he said in a parable that any shepherd would “Go after the one which is lost until he finds it.” Luke 15:4-6. It might be a long walk, he suggests. How far did Jesus go on my account?
- Psalms 22, 23, and 24 are known as the “Shepherd Psalms”: the Suffering Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, and the Great Shepherd. They speak of his past, present and future experience .
- In Psalm 22 we can read in picture, with deep reverence, a description of the Shepherd’s past suffering on the Cross for us. Is this really what He endured for my sin? In verse 1, it is said that even God forsook Him. We know that this is so, because the Lord quoted the words Himself while on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Then too, his sufferings at the hands of man and of Satan: “Deliver me from the sword… the dog… the lion’s mouth… the horns of the wild oxen.” Speaking prophetically of His resurrection, the Psalmist then says: “You have answered me”. (22:19-21). Note that the Suffering Shepherd was not rescued from impending death, but rather that God raised Him from the dead on the third day: and this was the answer of which He spoke in verse 21. As we reach the end of the Psalm, successive generations – including our own – recount to their children the story of the depths of our Saviour’s love: “…He has done this” (22:30-31). The final words of the Saviour on the cross were “it is finished”. His meaning was : “I have done it!”
- In Psalm 23, the witness of a sheep speaks warmly of his Shepherd. The sheep is safe because the shepherd has intervened, and faced the danger in his place, as recounted in Psalm 22. We sense the joy of the Shepherd, too!
- In Psalm 24, the Shepherd receives His reward: it is a picture of ultimate triumph – “the whole earth and its fullness” are His, because of the completed work of Calvary (22:31). He, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, having won the victory, enters the gates of Heaven itself, to be proclaimed “The King of Glory”. While this became the Lord Jesus’ experience at His ascension into Heaven, for our generation it is a scene we haven’t been shown yet. “The half has not been told!”, said the Queen of Sheba about Solomon’s glory.
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