No master would choose for a shepherd a man who was not trustworthy. A shepherd needs to be very watchful. He must know how many sheep he has; he must know each day if one be missing; he must attend to their health and preserve them from danger, and he must lead them from pasture to pasture. Sheep are very helpless, and are prone to wander, therefore a shepherd should be kind and patient. And if these things are so in our country, where there are no lions, bears, or wolves to carry off the sheep and lambs, and no robbers to steal away the flocks, how much more important is it that where there are wild beasts and robbers, as is the case in the Eastern countries, the shepherd should be a man in whom perfect trust can be placed.
In the Bible God calls those whom He has set over the souls of others shepherds; and He calls the people over whom the shepherds are set, sheep. God called the teachers of Israel shepherds. He set them to watch the souls of His sheep, the children of Israel. But many of these shepherds were not faithful servants of God, and God pitied His sheep, and was angry with the shepherds. These are His words:
" Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
" The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
"And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the
beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
"My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them." (Ezek. 34:2-62Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. (Ezekiel 34:2‑6).)
If you read, men and women, and boys and girls, instead of sheep, you will better understand how grieved was the God of love because those men, who ought to have fed the children of Israel with His words, and to have taught them of Him, were so self-seeking and so indifferent as to their soul-good. And, dear children, the God of love still looks down from heaven and watches the ways of all who call themselves shepherds, and He is grieved with such as do not truly care for His sheep. It is a very great responsibility to be one of God's shepherds, and God requires of such as take up this service that they carry out the wishes of their Master.
Some eighteen hundred years ago the blessed Son of God came down to this earth, where those shepherds were who cared not for God's flock. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to deliver them from the wolf, and to fold them to His bosom.
He came to gather God's sheep together. In Him the Father placed all confidence. He did all His Father's will. He carried all His wishes to the sheep.
Jesus bears the name of THE GOOD SHEPHERD. None other shepherd has such a name. He was never selfish. He did not come to make a gain out of the poor sheep. Oh, no; He came to heal the sick, to bind up that which was broken, and to bring again those who were scattered. Shepherds may serve for hire, but the Good Shepherd serves for love. Jesus served His Father and the sheep, because He loved His Father's will. He came from His bright home in heaven to toil and to suffer upon earth, because He so loved us.
We may know why Jesus bears this beautiful name of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is so very kind and so full of love and pity, that He "giveth His life for the sheep." He loved His sheep so much that they were dearer to Him even than His own life. How wonderful is His love to us. The sheep had wandered away so far from God that the only way to bring them to God was for the Shepherd to give the most precious gift for them-even His life. The sheep were so sadly unclean, they had become so defiled by sin, that there was none other way of making them clean, save by His precious blood. A sheep cannot wash itself, neither can a sinner wash his sins away; but all who have Jesus for their Shepherd, can truly say: "He who loves us, has washed us from our sins in His own blood." (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).) Each sheep and lamb of the Good Shepherd is " whiter than snow."
Christ died; then I'm clean,
Not a cloud above, not a spot within.
The Good Shepherd not only gave His life for the sheep, not only did He buy them to be His own flock, but He willingly laid down His life. It was entirely of His own free and gracious will that Jesus died. No one could take His life away from Him. In the free full love of His heart He yielded up His life. He had power to lay it down. None save the Son of God could thus speak. We have no power to lay down our lives, for it is appointed unto men once to die. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came to this earth, and, as a man, willingly laid down His life for the sheep.
The Good Shepherd thus explains why He came to this earth and died for us. " I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." He gave His own life for His sheep, and gives His life to the sheep. He died for them, and they live in Him. All who believe on the Lord Jesus have everlasting life. This life is the gift of God. The Lord Jesus gives to His own new life, eternal life, in all the abundance of His being in heaven, where He will die no more. Abundance, means plenty. A sickly little flower is alive, but a healthy spreading plant has life in abundance. The Lord gives His own life in very great fullness to His people. And those who, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, know this, in their hearts, are like the healthy spreading trees; doubting Christians are like the sickly plants.
Now, we said that God requires of His shepherds that they should do His will. The Good Shepherd did God's will. He thus speaks of Himself in all His love for the flock: " Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life." (John 10:1717Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (John 10:17).) So deeply did the Father love the sheep that Jesus, by dying for them, gave the Father a new motive for loving His Son. I need not tell you that the Father ever loved the Son; He ever was in the bosom of the Father; but think of it, such was the love of the Father to the poor, foolish sheep, that He found a special delight in our gracious Savior, because He died for us.
The prophet Isaiah speaks very sweetly to us of the Good Shepherd. He says, " He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom."
The picture overleaf will explain this beautiful text. Look at the little lamb. See the strong arm of the tall shepherd is under it. It cannot fall. It is quite safe. See, too, he has it in his bosom. " I am warm in Jesus' bosom," said a dear little child once. The little creature in our picture is very happy, as well as quite safe.
If your father had you in his arms, you would feel quite safe, because you could trust your father's strength. I have never heard of a very little child saying, " Father, don't let me fall." It is only older children who have such fears; when in their father's arms, they will say sometimes, "Don't drop me,. father! " If you repose on Jesus' strength, you will never fear that He will let you fall. Think of what He has said: " Neither shall any pluck them out of My hand." A very strong robber might pluck the lamb out of the shepherd's arms, but Jesus is almighty, and none can steal us away from Him. No one-neither Satan, nor any one else-can steal away from the Good Shepherd the least of the little lambs who belong to Him.
If you had your head upon your mother's bosom, you would feel quite happy, because of your, trust in your mother's love. I never yet heard of a tiny child saying, "My mother does not love me." But Jesus' love is stronger even than a mother's, and He loves His own too much even to part with one of them. He loved His own so much that He died for them, and now that He has risen from the grave, and gone back to glory, He says, "Because I live ye shall live also."
In the Eastern countries, the shepherd knows his sheep so well, that he calls them all by their names; and the sheep know their names, and their shepherd's voice. They will not follow a stranger. Once a traveler wished to prove whether it was really the voice of the shepherd that the sheep knew; so he put on the shepherd's clothes and learned the names of the sheep; then he drew near to the flock, and called. The sheep looked at him, but not one of them moved near to him; they did not know the voice of a stranger.
All the sheep and lambs of Jesus' flock know His voice; those who do not love Him do not know it. This it is which makes the difference between a child who is saved and a child who is not saved.
" I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine," are the Lord's words.
You will observe that Jesus first speaks of His knowing His sheep; next, of His sheep knowing Him. Sometimes we find His people very much distressed, and doubting whether they are His people; but the happy thing is to rest in the Lord's love to us, and not in our love to Him. A little boy was once asked, "Do you love the Lord Jesus?" He did not make any reply, upon which his friend asked him, "Does the Lord Jesus love you?" When the little boy immediately replied, "Oh! yes, indeed He does." The Good Shepherd knew His lamb and His lamb could say with a thankful and loving heart, that Jesus loved him.
Some of the sheepfolds on the moors and hills of England and Scotland have thick stone walls and a doorway, and the sheep are driven into them for shelter during winter. In the Eastern countries the sheepfolds have very high walls, and a door which opens from the inside; into these folds no wolf can—come, and the sheep are secure from robbers. The porter inside keeps' the door, and does not admit strangers. God's people Israel were like a flock in such a fold.
Jesus said: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out."
Overleaf is a picture of a shepherd leading his sheep out of the fold. You can see its open door and its high walls, and thus form an idea of how secure a place is such a sheepfold.
We read in the ninth chapter of St. John, of a blind man whom Jesus found, and to whom He gave sight, and whom He made one of His sheep. Jesus put some clay upon this poor man's eyes, and bade him go and wash in the pool of Siloam, which name means Sent. The man did as he was bid; he went and washed, and came seeing. When we obey the words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our hearts, and we, too, come seeing. Now, the blind man, you may be sure, would wish to see the One who had opened his eyes-for all who love Jesus wish to see Him-and one day Jesus found him, and asked, " Dost thou believe on the Son of God? " and when the blind man knew that it was Jesus, he worshipped Him. So the man became one of the sheep of the Good Shepherd.
The poor man had been a sheep in the sheepfold of Israel, where the idle and selfish shepherds with whom God was angry were, and Jesus was going to lead him out of that sheepfold, in order that he might follow Him alone.
Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." There were many people round about the Lord when He called the blind man, but they neither heard His voice nor followed Him. They went on in their own ways, refusing to listen to what the Lord said. They thought they could see, but their souls were blind to Jesus.
We cannot follow the Shepherd until we are amongst His sheep. The first thing, then, is to hear His voice. " Come unto Me " are His words, and whosoever listens to and obeys these words of Jesus is one of His sheep.
Learn these six beautiful things that Jesus says about Himself, as the Good Shepherd:-
"I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."
"I lay down My life for the sheep."
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
"I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand."
"I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine."
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
And learn also the two things which the Lord says about His sheep:-
"My sheep hear My voice."
"They follow Me."
If you listen to His voice, and follow Him, you will be saved from every snare. What more can be wished for from a sheep than that it should obey the voice and follow the steps of its shepherd?
Think what it cost the Lord Jesus to buy His sheep for Himself. He tells us that the hireling flees from the wolf, because he is an hireling. That is to say, the shepherd who minds the sheep for hire, and not for love, would not risk his life for them. But Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost for love, and He gave His life for us in love. He became a man to seek us, and He bought us with His own blood, because He loved us.
What could a sheep, or a whole flock, do against one wolf? Satan is the wolf. Satan likes to drive away and scatter the sheep. On the preceding page is a picture of a wolf chasing a sheep. She cannot save herself. The wolf will drive her over the rocks, and, unless the shepherd is near at hand to deliver her, she will be killed. Poor little proud boys and girls, who think that they can live and die without the Good Shepherd! They cannot save themselves. They will be driven into the terrible pit. May the Lord save them.
Each of our dear young readers is either safe in Jesus' bosom or in danger of the wolf. Which is it with you?
One more word upon the Good Shepherd. His sheep follow Him, and "He gently leads." He is very kind and tender, very gentle. He knows how weak and foolish His lambs are. But He loves them none the less. Oh, no! He gently leads them. We do not expect that you who love Him will be all at once very great Christians; but we do hope that you will follow the Lord. " Thy gentleness bath made me great " (Psa. 18:3535Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. (Psalm 18:35)), said King David. Jesus does not drive His sheep. He is full of patience.
The Good Shepherd.
Wandering I was and weary
When the Savior came unto me,
For the paths of sin were dreary,
And the world had ceased to woo me;
And I thought I heard Him say,
As He came along His way-
"Wandering souls, O! do come near Me,
My sheep should never fear Me:
I am the Shepherd true!"
At first, I would not hearken,
But put off till the morrow:
But life began to darken,
And I was sick with sorrow,
And I thought I heard Him say,
As He came along His way-
"Wandering souls, O! do come near Me,
My sheep should never fear Me:
I am the Shepherd true!"
At last I stopped to listen;
His voice could ne'er deceive me,
I saw His kind eye glisten,
So anxious to relieve me;
And I was sure I heard Him say,
As He came along His way-
"Wandering souls, O! do come near Me,
My sheep should never fear Me:
I am the Shepherd true!"
I thought His love would weaken,
As more and more He knew me;
But it burneth like a beacon,
And its light and heat go thro' me;
And I ever hear Him say,
As He goes along His way-
"Wandering souls, O! do come near Me,
My sheep should never fear Me:
I am the Shepherd true!"