DEVOTION
PROPHESIES AND FULFILLMENTS CONCERNING CHRIST
GREAT SHEPHERD
Isa 40:10-11
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends
his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them
close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
NIV
He has all the power in both heaven and earth and yet he tends his flock,
which would be us, like a shepherd. He carries us in his arms close to his
heart. He leads us gently. How wonderful to consider How Jesus tends us as a
shepherd tends his sheep. But let us also see the fulfillment of these words
spoken by Isaiah.
John 10:11
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
NIV
John 10:14-16
14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my
sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.
NIV
Heb 13:20
20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
NIV
1 Peter 2:25
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to
the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
NIV
Jesus is our great Shepherd and we merely have to read that wonderful
23rd Psalm to get the picture of how he tends us. Although he did
lay his life down for us as the true Shepherd that he is, he was raised from
the dead and lives to continue to shepherd us. The very first things we come to
realize because he is our Shepherd is that we will not want. What does that
mean, not want? There are many things in this life that we need, and yet we are
not to want. Consider a flock of sheep in a field under the watchful and
protected eye of the shepherd. Consider a sheep seeing something, wanting
something in another field and wanders off alone to taste his want. That sheep
has left the flock, desiring not the field his shepherd has lead him to. This sheep
is in danger from the furious wolf. It is not good to want, our Shepherd has
lead us to just the right place for us to have all we need. He makes me to lie
down in green pastures. The green pastures are not burnt grass, but lust green
with plenty of nourishment. To lie down would indicate security. Sheep are by
nature nervous and so to lie down would mean they feel secure, safe from all
alarm. This is how our life is. We have our security in our great Shepherd, we
feel safe, secure and live in rest, without worry or anxiety or stress. He
leads us beside still waters, not a raging river that would suck us under, but
a quiet calm water where we can satisfy our thirst. He is our river of living
water, he gives us the water of life. Because we drink the water he gives,
rivers of water will actually flow from us for others to drink. There are
raging rivers as well, there are rapids which takes us on a wild ride, and we
could capsize and drown. But Jesus takes us to that still water, a place of
calm and serenity, peaceful and secure. The Shepherd restore the soul of his sheep.
In the case of human shepherds when one of their sheep, lying down, rolls over
by accident, it is called going cast. The sheep cannot right itself and loses
the use of its legs and eventually will die. The shepherd rights his sheep, rubbing its
legs restoring its soul. If we roll over, get in trouble is some way, Jesus
will right us, he will rub us, so to speak restoring life into us. He guides us
in the path of righteousness, because he is our righteousness. If we are not
following him, if we are not truly part of his flock how then would we know the
right path? When a shepherd leads his flock, he walks ahead of them, his staff
is not a walking stick, but it serves to poke the ground to ensure a safe
passage, no holes, no soft mire his sheep would sink in, as well as it serves
to root out snakes or other critters that would be harmful to his sheep. This
is what Jesus does for us, if we are following him. He will lead us to solid
ground, free of any traps or dangerous areas. He does this because of his own
name. Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we have
nothing to fear, because Jesus is there. He gives us comfort. It is
questionable whether this is actually death itself, or just the valley of the
shadow of death, which might imply times when we are seriously ill and near the
end of life, but not yet there. As we are in those moments we can have the
comfort of his rod and staff. Whether he
raises us up from the infirmity or comes to take us home, we are in comfort. What
a great Shepherd we have in Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment