It would seem appropriate in this Christmas week that we should consider Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
In Bible times, shepherds had bad reputations. They were essentially uneducated and their jobs involved them being away from society. The Bible uses the idea of “bad shepherds” to represent religious leaders who look after their own interests rather than those of the flock in their care.
In John 10, Jesus denounces the bad shepherds as thieves and murderers, yet, Jesus refers to himself as the “Good Shepherd,” who knows and loves his sheep, and who gives his life for them.
We should be careful whom we choose to follow.
We are hearers of many voices - the interior voices which call us to the full life of Jesus, the other voices which keep us stuck in ‘living and partly living', or the voice which leads us to evil. Jesus knows that goodness does not always reign, and that the evil in people spreads into violence and indignity and greed.
A Pastor tells of being in the Middle East and watching a group of shepherds walk a large flock down a hillside one evening. As they got nearer each man called to his sheep and out of this huge mass the sheep moved to follow the voice they knew. They then led them into their pen and with a fire near the doorway settled down, literally sleeping in front of the opening, just as Jesus describes.
Loving Shepherd
We who live in a world of cities, tall buildings,
one way streets, suburbs, and gated communities
don’t necessarily know what sheep are like
or what shepherding entails.
Sometimes we do feel like sheep in our world
being herded by the dos and don’ts,
oughts and ought nots, media,
voices we don’t even recognise.
Sometimes the din of the voices gets so loud
we can’t even recognise our own voice.
Calm and quieten our hearts, our minds and our souls
to that one small voice; yours.
And in hearing your voice, Good Shepherd, we hear our own voices
that we sing your song of grace to one another. Amen.
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