![]() In Micah 2:12 ‘I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob, I will gather the survivors of Israel I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture it will resound with people.’ There’s more – but you get the picture. O that today you would listen to his voice!’ In Psalm 95:7 we have: ‘For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. In Ezekiel 34 (verses 11-22), God says: ‘I myself will search for my sheep… care for my sheep… feed my sheep… make them lie down’.Īnd, of course, in Psalm 23, David describes the Lord as his shepherd. It built on all number of passages in the Hebrew Scripture… The people of his pastureīut Jesus calling himself the Good Shepherd was a huge claim. Here, Jesus is the shepherd – and we are his flock. He was the bread of life and the living waters. John starts his Gospel with Jesus being God’s Word made flesh. Reading it in the context of the crucifixion and resurrection, the penny starts to drop.īut there’s more to unpack here because Jesus says: “ I am the Good Shepherd”. “The power to lay it down and the power to take it up again”. A shepherd who would voluntarily lay his life down for his sheep. I amĪnd then Jesus takes the imagery up a notch. So, perhaps the comparison is pretty close after all. And yes, as the passage from 1 Peter reminds us, wandering off every now and then too. But, in the Bible, they are portrayed as being discerning, distinguishing between their shepherd and others listening for their particular shepherds’ voice – and then following. It’s worth just saying at this point that here in the West we have a quite disparaging image of the intelligence of sheep and we may balk at being compared to them. You’ve probably heard this before, but Eastern shepherds lead their sheep from the front rather than herd them from behind, as we do here. ![]() He tells us about a shepherd knowing his sheep by name and leading them out – and his sheep following since they know his voice. ![]() He talks about sheep and being the gatekeeper of the sheepfold. In the first part of our chapter in John, Jesus paints us a picture of his leadership and about those who follow. We’re still figuring out who this Jesus is – and, in doing that, we’re figuring out who we are too. This week we’ve gone back in time before the crucifixion. Then we had Luke describing that walk to Emmaus but annoyingly leaving out what Jesus actually said to the two disciples. If you followed the Lectionary, then the first Sunday after Easter had John’s description of Jesus’ appearing to the disciples and then to Thomas. And we have one of the most popular parts of the Gospel’s too, even though the nearest most of us get to shepherds and sheep are woolly jumpers, shepherd’s pie and Countryfile on a Sunday night. Today we have the nation’s favourite psalm, The Lord’s my Shepherd. The sheepdog replies, “Well yes, but I rounded them up.” “Hang on, I thought I only had 97 sheep?” “Yes, all 100 of them” says the sheepdog. “Excellent work, did you get all of them?” asks the shepherd. ![]() The sheepdog bounds in through the door to report the completion of its task. ![]() The shepherd calls for his trusty sheepdog and asks it to get the job done.ġ0 minutes later, and the shepherd glances out his window to see the sheep safely in their pen. The day is ending soon, and he has to herd them into their pen for the night. The story is told of a shepherd looking over at his sheep in the pasture. ![]()
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