Not a Felt Board Shepherd
What comes to mind when you think of a shepherd? Felt-board characters and curved staffs are some of the first things that I picture. The idea of a shepherd seems tame, gentle, and loving. As I was thinking about Jesus being the Good Shepherd, though, the Lord brought to mind how David used his experience as a shepherd as his primary qualification to fight Goliath on behalf of the entire nation of Israel:
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
1 Samuel 17:34-36
This picture of David is radically different than a tame felt board character. He’s a brave and courageous warrior, ready to take up the cause of the weak. He’ll go to any length to protect what is entrusted to him, and he’s confident in God’s place in his life.
A shepherd’s primary job is to protect the sheep from danger. And not just dangers that threaten the sheep from a distance. The picture of David rescuing a single sheep from a bear’s mouth is both extreme and violent.
Fast forward a few generations, and Jesus uses the shepherd analogy to describe His relationship to us:
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ... I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:7-11; 14-15
A good shepherd is willing to take on a bear or a lion to rescue his sheep — to risk his life for his sheep. What’s incredible about the life of Jesus is that he didn’t simply live a good life to show us how things are done and how we should act. His life, violent death, and resurrection were for a purpose: to provide access to abundant life for those entrusted to Him.
One of our values at helloHOPE is that Jesus doesn’t just offer abundant life to the healthy — His purpose on earth was to glorify God the Father by bringing abundant life for all of His sheep.
As you face medical challenges, big or small, short-lived or chronic, Jesus is fighting for you. He is fighting for joy, peace, victory, grace, laughter, love, and so much more. He is fighting for abundant life.
Jesus is truly a Good Shepherd. As we walk with Him, we will get to know his loving and hope-filled voice better and better.