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Greetings dear family of our Beloved Saviour Jesus Christ, may the Good Shepherd hold you lovingly in His arms. Amen. I thought I would do a series of letters on the many titles of Jesus. We know Him as The Good Shepherd, The Light of the World, The True Vine, The Rock and many more. I thought it would be nice to look at the significance of some of these titles, starting with The Good Shepherd:
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). The image of the Good Shepherd recalls a common theme from Old Testament prophetic literature. God’s people are the flock and Yahweh is their Shepherd. Jeremiah tells the people that the shepherds or pastors have led their sheep astray and that God promises new pastors who will graze their flocks properly (Jeremiah 23:1-6 also 3:15 and 10:21). Ezekiel complains to the pastors for their greed and neglect, saying that the Lord will take the sheep from them and care for them Himself, He will become the Shepherd of His flock (Ezekiel chapter 34). Jesus fulfils all that is spoken of in Ezekiel Ch34, He looks after the sheep, gathers up the strays, cures the lame and carries the weak on His shoulders (Matt 18:12-14).
The image of the Good Shepherd in Christian art dates back to the beginning of the church. This is known because images were found in the Catacombs of Rome, along with those of the Prophets and the Blessed Virgin Mary (The catacombs were used by the earliest Christians to hold Masses for the dead, the earliest record of these services dates back to 150AD).
In Jesus’ teachings He uses the image of the sheep that know His voice and follow Him. In those days it was common for a number of shepherds to gather their flocks together at nightfall into sheepfolds, and someone would be hired to watch over them. In the morning the shepherds would return, and each one would call to his sheep, the flocks would then separate and follow the shepherd to which they belonged whose voice they recognised. Jesus was using this image – one familiar to His listeners – to teach them that there will be a number of strange voices heard, but that they need to know the voice of Christ and follow it, as He is the Good Shepherd who is willing to lay down His life for them; He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
The parable of the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to go in search of the one in danger, who is lost, is one of the most endearing parables in the Bible – that, and the Prodigal Son. Both of these parables tell us about the nature of God’s love – that it is both limitless and unconditional: The Shepherd goes out of his way to look for the lost lamb; The Father goes out to meet the Prodigal child. The Shepherd devotes the greater attention to the lamb in peril; The Father welcomes home his lost child and restores him to his former glory without any questions or conditions.
This is the mercy of God. Like sheep, we have all gone astray; like the Prodigal Son, we have all abused our position and squandered our inheritance. But our Heavenly Father does not punish us, but instead, He comes Himself as The Good Shepherd to lead us home; He comes to us as a Father to welcome us back, restoring our inheritance and sitting us at His right hand. We become His children once more, and heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you Father! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Holy Spirit!
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