Under the Good Shepherd’s Care

“He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” – Isaiah 40:11 (NKJV).

Isaiah 40 and to the end of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 66, are messianic passages but also the proclamation that the people of Zion (the Israelites) will be delivered from bondage and restored again to their beloved land from exile.  Furthermore, Israel had a mission to the world and that was to bring the knowledge of the true and living God to the Gentiles and be a means of universal blessing.  This is clearly foretold in Isaiah 42:1:  “Behold, My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights!  I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.”

The restored people are referred to as “:the flock,”—sheep—and the one who leads them as the good and gentle Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11).  In teaching about Himself, Jesus declared:  “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” (John 10:14-15, NKJV). After His resurrection, ane He had fulfilled what He came to earth to do—laying down His life for all people (the sheep, the flock of His pastures), He was eating with His disciples at the Sea of Galilee.  He commanded Peter three times, “Feed my sheep” (see John 21: 15-21).

Paul the Apostle likened the church and its leaders to a flock with a shepherd:  “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood: (Acts 20:28). 

A clear distinction of Shepherd to sheep and the responsibility of sheep is given in Hebrews 13:20-21:  “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.”

Isaiah centuries before Christ’s appearance on the earth prophesied that the Good and Gentle Shepherd would come and lead His flock to victory.  David sang about the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  Artists have sought to put the concept into paintings.  Perhaps the most famous is German artist Bernhard Plockhorst (1825-1907) of the “Nazarine Movement” of art who showed a gentle shepherd Jesus carrying a newborn lamb, the sheep’s mother looking gratefully at the shepherd and her sheep, and the flock following behind the shepherd.  Serene and confident, the flock and the little lamb are cared for by the Good Shepherd.  Today the Gentle Shepherd desires and stands ready to guide us.  Let us rest in the confidence of Who He is and what He wants to do for us. 
     –Ethelene Dyer Jones 08.3.2014.