“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20).
“And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4).
Yesterday we saw that the Lord Jesus was the good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep. But in today’s verses we see Him in two other ways — the great Shepherd and the chief Shepherd. In both of these we see Him as the One who leads us all the way home to heaven, and who also has “under-shepherds” who help Him in His work.
The great Shepherd shows us the Lord Jesus as risen and glorified in heaven, and who looks after His sheep all the way home. He not only died for them, but as we get in Psalm 23, He “leads [them] beside still waters,” He makes them to “lie down in green pastures,” He comforts them with His rod and staff, etc. All this is in addition to His having died for us.
Then Peter reminds us that He is also the chief Shepherd, meaning that there are other shepherds who work under Him. When the Lord Jesus restored Peter publicly after Peter had denied Him, He says to Peter, “Shepherd my sheep” (John 21:16 JND). I am sure that Peter never forgot this, and he did shepherd his Master’s sheep. You and I can be shepherds too, for every believer who cares about other believers can be a shepherd.
The Lord Jesus has under-shepherds, but no sheep dogs. Many years ago, when my wife and I were visiting in the county of Yorkshire in northern England, we saw sheep dogs at work. The best sheep dogs are border collies. The ones we saw were very clever and had been well trained. They knew how to round up a flock of sheep and herd them down into the right place, just where the shepherd wanted them. But these sheep dogs did not really care for the sheep; sometimes they nipped at their heels, to get them going faster. The dogs simply did what their master wanted. But a real under-shepherd cares for the sheep and wants them to be looked after properly. The Lord Jesus wants you and me to do that for His sheep, for in doing this we are serving Him.