Advent Day 8: Good Shepherd | Shepherd & Overseer of Souls

The Good Shepherd, Unknown Artist, Early Christian fresco c. 350 A.D.
Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome, Italy. Public Domain.

“The Lord is My Shepherd” from the album Gloria - The Sacred Music of John Rutter. Performed by City of London Sinfonia (CLS), Composed by John Rutter.

Week 2 Introduction:

Names Associated with the Various Roles of Christ

“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, KJV). Jesus’ three years of public ministry were characterized by tireless service to others. Wherever He went, this great “Lover of Souls” was mobbed by people with multiple needs and special requests. Some of the people in the crowds came because they were suffering from physical maladies, some from demon possession. Others were curious and wanted to see Him perform miracles or learn from His parabolic stories and authoritative teaching. Everyone was hungry, either for physical food or for spiritual nourishment. Jesus was and still is truly the “Servant of All.”

We are only able to discuss a few of the many roles Christ shouldered on earth and continues to carry out through the agency of the Holy Spirit in our own time. The breadth of His duties is wide-ranging. It is reassuring to know that in heaven Christ continues to minister to all who call upon His name. Since Scripture has given us such a rich panoply of roles and functions Christ assumes, perhaps praying by using a specific title that meets the greatest need for you at the moment is appropriate. Christ is our “Shepherd,” “High Priest,” “Friend,” “Teacher,” “Physician,” “Counselor,” and “Servant.” These titles remind us that He is actively leading, protecting, interceding, nurturing, instructing, healing, guiding, and showing us by example how to live in this world as we prepare for the next. May we follow in His footsteps as we in turn minister to others.

Poetry:

“Ewe to Shepherd” by Laura Wang

And won’t you slow your pace, and let us look at least upon your shadow as you move? Your darkened form walks all too swiftly through these thickets, and some rams among our flock command me stay behind. They say my words disrupt their meditations, and my feet usurp the path that theirs would take. You need me, so they say, to be unseen, unheard, and let my sheepish silence be the sign of my devotion. Bleating arguments, we wait for you to turn; but until then we trot as troubled stragglers in your line, not knowing how to reconcile our aims, or even if our shepherd is the same.

The Good Shepherd

Father God, thank you for Your holy and perfect Word, and how the creativity of the people You made help us to see You. Spirit I pray You will move in us as we reflect on these things. Make us more like Jesus, I pray. Amen.

I so much appreciate the way Scripture honors the humble, earthy occupation of shepherds. Starting with Abel, and later with Moses and David, there are many heroes in God’s story who spent time in this work. Of course we must remember in this Advent season that God greatly honored the shepherds around Bethlehem with being the first to hear the “good news of great joy for all the people.”

I’ve never been a shepherd, but I am a proud father to three sons, who now age 16 to 22. I am continually thankful to God for the ways He shows me His love through the experience of parenting. When our boys were young, my wife and I were often challenged in herding our little flock. I would often have a boy on my shoulders for the joy of it, so they could see the world from a different place and so we could have a different kind of connection. But there were definitely times when a strategy for managing them and to keep them from scattering was to put the one most likely to wander on my shoulders. Each of them had ages when their legs were the right length so I could hold both their feet in one hand, similar to how we see our shepherd from ages past holding the feet of his wayward sheep.

Yes, I feel certain that in our image for today, this particular sheep is wayward and not hurt. It looks far too alert - I imagine it's craning its neck to look off in the distance at the place it had wandered. I remember the feeling of my sons sitting up as high as they could on my shoulders and craning their necks to see interesting things from their higher vantage point, maybe leaning toward the place where they’d really like to wander.

Jesus is my Good Shepherd, coming to collect me because I am prone to wander.

Lord, I feel it.

Thank you, Jesus, for carrying me back to the fold.

Laura Wang's poem shares a particular angle on that wandering, how we sheep are prone to argue, complain, and insist that we relate to the Shepherd on our own terms. We “troubled stragglers” want our Shepherd to hear us and solve our immediate problems. I was convicted that the poem starts with “And…” Do we ever stop our self-centered complaints?

The answer from the Shepherd is clear, though non-verbal:

I hear you. What you really need is to just follow. Trust Me.

Our Scripture passage in John is rich in descriptions of our Good Shepherd, showing us why we can trust Him. He owns us, He cares for us, and He knows us with a depth we can’t comprehend, even as He and the Father know each other. He is welcoming, unifying, and His plan is bigger than we can understand. And because of how much He loves us, He lays down his life for us, His beloved flock.

I’m so thankful that we get to think about these truths in connection to Psalm 23, beautifully set for choir and orchestra by John Rutter. What peace and heavenly glory we can hear in this music! Our Shepherd leads us to green pastures, beside still waters, and He is with us as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Prayer:

We praise You, Father, for loving us and sending us Your Son, our Good Shepherd. Jesus, help us to hear Your voice. Protect us from all that would cause us to wander. We are so distracted. Spirit, help us to listen and follow. Thank You for Your continued work in us.
Amen.

Chuck Koontz, MLIS
Librarian for Systems and Special Collections
Adjunct faculty for School of Fine Arts & Communications
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, please visit our website via the link in our bio.