Jesus: the Good Shepherd

I've been thinking about the mutually beneficial relationship between a shepherd and his sheep.  A shepherd is not motivated about what is best for himself, but what is best for the sheep.  It is in his best interest to provide safe pasture, free from noxious weeds and potential predators.  The shepherd will seek clean, slow moving water for the sheep to drink.  He will apply medicine to infections, rising up early and staying out late.  A good shepherd puts the needs of the sheep over his own.  He does not labour to manage the flock because it is convenient.  If he tends the sheep with care for their safety and health in mind, they will yield valuable wool in good time.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and Christians are sheep of His flock.  All things the Good Shepherd allows in our lives will work together for our good.  The salve may sting when first applied, but it will promote healing.  The Shepherd and Overseer of our souls already owns the cattle on a thousand hills, so we don't have to worry about Him fattening us for butchering.  He has provided for us all things that pertain to life and godliness.  What He asks of us is that we would trust Him completely, whether it means to lie still when He shaves our wool or needs to draw blood for testing.  Jesus would have us look into His eyes, knowing that our present suffering is nothing to be compared with our future glory freely given us by Him.  Even when following Jesus brings physical death, it only ushers us more promptly into eternal life.

In Pink Floyd's song "Sheep," we see the world's perverse and woeful perspective of the Christian life.  A portion of the song goes:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to die
Through pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by.
With bright knives He releaseth my soul.
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.
He converteth me to lamb cutlets,
For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.

Though Pink Floyd might be rock-n-roll gods to some, this twisted view of God comes only from the father of lies, the devil.  God speaks in Psalm 50:11-15:  "I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. ¹² "If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. ¹³ Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. ¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."  God is not a bloodthirsty sadist who requires the slaughter of His people to satiate His lust for power.  Jesus died and rose again to defeat death!  He is the Lamb who willingly went to the slaughter!  All who repent and trust in Christ will never need to sip from the bitter cup of death but experience life eternal.  Jesus said in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

Hebrews 9:27-28 reads, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."  For those who have repented and trusted in Christ, He is a Good Shepherd and Saviour.  But for those who deny and reject Christ, all are headed as goats to the slaughter.  What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?  Broad is the way that leads to destruction, but Jesus is the narrow way that leads to eternal life.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one goes to heaven except through Him.  Jesus says in John 10:9-11, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."