The Shepherd Cares for His Sheep
The Shepherd Cares for His Sheep
The thief tries to steal the sheep secretly, the robber wants to exploit the sheep violently, and the hired hand runs away fearfully when the wolf appears; but the true shepherd cares for the flock lovingly and courageously. He goes before them and finds the best pastures and the safest sources of water, and he knows when the sheep must lie down and rest. He makes sure there are no holes or dangerous enemies hidden in the pasture, and he keeps his eyes on the sheep that he knows are prone to go astray.
Bible students for centuries have pointed out that the Good Shepherd is described in Psalm 22, laying down His life for the sheep (vv. 1–21). The Chief Shepherd is pictured in Psalm 24, returning and rewarding the faithful under-shepherds (1 Pet. 5:1–4). But it’s in Psalm 23 that we see the Great Shepherd equipping and enabling the sheep (Heb. 13:20–21). It’s unfortunate that this marvelous psalm is read primarily at funerals, because it describes our Lord’s loving ministry to His people all the days of our lives (Ps. 23:6).
King David wrote Psalm 23 out of his own experience as a shepherd as well as from the way God cared for him. “I lack nothing” (v. 1). “I will fear no evil” (v. 4). “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (v. 6). Green pastures, quiet waters, right paths, dark valleys, dangerous enemies—no circumstance is beyond the skill of the Great Shepherd of the sheep. A true shepherd has a heart for the sheep and seeks the very best for them. He protects them and provides for them, and he also corrects them when they want to have their own way. At the close of the day, when the shepherd leads the flock back to the fold, he examines each sheep for wounds or injuries and becomes a tender physician. He wants the sheep to be comfortable as they settle down for the night.
New Christians must learn early in their spiritual walks to allow the Shepherd to feed and refresh them from the Word of God. A lamb knows its mother and has a desire for her milk (1 Pet. 2:2–3), but as the Lord’s lamb matures in the Lord, it moves from nursing to eating solid food (Heb. 5:11–6:3). The Shepherd teaches His sheep how to feed themselves in the green pastures of the Scriptures, and they know just where to turn in the Bible to find the truth that they need. Unless each day we allow the Shepherd to feed us from the Word of God, we can never “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18).
Shepherds care for their sheep because they want each of them to mature and fulfill their purposes in God’s natural order. Rams and ewes should reproduce and help their lambs to grow up, and lambs should in time mature, reproduce, and enlarge the flock. If all of God’s sheep would reproduce, and if all the lambs would mature and the flock would obey the Shepherd, how different churches would be! Faithful shepherds can do only so much; the sheep should assume their responsibilities as well. “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity” (Heb. 6:1). The Holy Spirit will take us forward if we will spend time daily in the Word and prayer and abandon “the ways of childhood” (1 Cor. 13:11).
But pastors and other local church spiritual leaders must also fulfill their ministries, and our Lord’s words to Peter point the way (John 21:15–17): “Feed my lambs.” “Take care of my sheep.” “Feed my sheep.” And the most important responsibility they have is to love Jesus Christ more than anything else. If we love Jesus Christ, we will love His sheep, and we will sacrifice to serve them. Remember, when we serve others in the name of Christ, we are serving Him (Matt. 25:40). “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).