What Does the Biblical Metaphor of Shepherd Tell Us About God?
Posted: Sunday, June 13, 2010
by Joel Kontinen
http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/
The Bible was not written as a compilation of laws but as a book that describes God's involvement in the affairs of mankind. Both the Old and the New Testament reveal God's nature in a number of ways, one of which is seen in the images that the inspired writers use of Him.
One of the best-known metaphors is that of a shepherd. Millions of people have throughout the centuries found comfort in the words that King David penned over 3,000 years ago in Psalm 23:
A rod might look like a weapon but it is good to keep in mind that a shepherd did not use it to punish the sheep but to protect them.
While Jesus chose to be known as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), He also used the name shepherd of Himself. The Gospel of Matthew (9:36-38) suggests that this image stems from His very nature and from our dire human need:
"Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."
In John's Gospel (10: 11), Jesus explicitly calls Himself the Good Shepherd: "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."
The apostle Peter also illustrated the seriousness of our need and its solution: "For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25).
The image shepherd speaks of God's great love for fallen mankind. In ancient Israel, a good shepherd would never harm his sheep but would protect them from wolves and other predators and lead them safely to green pastures. He would meet all their needs.
Without Jesus we would be utterly lost, without hope of a better life or a better future. The Gentle Shepherd knows our hearts. He knows what human life is like (Hebrews 2:17-18). Displaying the greatest and purest love anyone had ever shown - or is capable of showing - He came to "seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).
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