Of Sheep and Shepherds
by
Philip du Nard
Of Sheep and Shepherds
In John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus Christ uses the imagery of sheep and shepherds to illustrate the relationship between Himself as "the good shepherd" and His "sheep."that is, His people.
All too often, this chapter is read in isolation without the understanding or knowledge of what was written centuries before by the prophets, Ezekiel in particular, on this very subject and this leads to a distorted understanding of what is taught here thus highlighting the danger of the commonplace practice among many Christians of calling themselves New Testament Christians while ignoring the Old Scriptures. This leads to what the apostle Peter calls a private interpretaton.
Ezekiel 34 reads as follows and when read in its entirety, the tie in with what the Lord said in John should be plain. Special attention is paid to the portions of text in boldface:
"And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son 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? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: [but] ye feed not the flock. 4 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. 5 And they were scattered, because [there is] no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 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]. 7 ¶ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because [there was] no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, [even] I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep [that are] scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and [in] a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up [that which was] broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. 17 And [as for] you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. 18 [Seemeth it] a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And [as for] my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. 20 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, [even] I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. 21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; 22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. 23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it]. 25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make [them] afraid. 29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. 30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD. 31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, [are] men, [and] I [am] your God, saith the Lord GOD."
In this context, it is clear that it is not literal sheep and shepherds that are the subject of discussion but the house of Israel that is referred to as God's flock and the shepherds are the spiritual and civil leaders of Israel who have failed in their responsibility and God is charging them with creating the set of conditions that led to Israel's dispersal and scattering abroad upon the face of the earth. But God states His purpose to reverse this situation and, to that end, to " set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it" verses 23-24.
So when the Lord Jesus Christ says in John 10 that He is "the good shepherd," He is not coming up with some new idea that His disciples and the Jews would be unfamiliar with. In other words, He is making the claim, " I'm the one that Ezekiel was talking about who would feed Israel, restore their good fortune, and rule over them."That's quite a bold claim. And as verse 11 says, " For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, [even] I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out,"equating God with the shepherd, this would be another scriptural indication of the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. And, of course, when the Psalmist writes, " The Lord is my shepherd,"and Christ claims to be the good shepherd, this is another indication.
So Christ is the good shepherd but who are the sheep? Verse 30 states, " Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God [am] with them, and [that] they, [even] the house of Israel, [are] my people, saith the Lord GOD. 31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, [are] men, [and] I [am] your God, saith the Lord GOD."
In this context, the house of Judah is not mentioned but, of course, three chapters later, we learn that Israel and Judah were to be united and become one stick in God's hand Ezekiel 37:19.The prophet Jeremiah uses the same imagery in Jer.50. In verse 6, speaking of both Israel and Judah, God says, "My people hath been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray."And in verse 17, "Israel is a scattered sheep: the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him: and last this Nebuchadrezzqar king of Babylon hath broken his bones."But verse 19 says, " And I will bring Israel again to his habitation..."
The question before us is if Christ, in John 10, claimed to be the good shepherd, an allusion to what Ezekiel wrote, then who did Christ in John 10 consider His sheep to be? Would it not be this same house of Israel of which Ezekiel and Jeremiah wrote ?
In Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus is confronted with a woman of Canaan seeking deliverance for her daughter who was "grievously vexed with a devil." However, verse 24 states, "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Some would have us believe that when the Lord uttered these words, He was not speaking a doctrinal truth but that He was merely testing this woman. Or, it may be contended that what He said applied only to His earthly ministry before the disciples were sent to all nations.
We can rule out the notion of Him just testing this woman as what the Lord said is in keeping with His instructions to His disciples in Matt. 10:5-6 when He sent them forth to preach the kingdom of heaven. Therein He said, "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not: (6)But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
If one meditates upon Ezekiel 34, it should be evident that the mission of the good shepherd as it pertains to the house of Israel would not be something that could be completed in the three year earthly ministry of our Lord but would be an agelong effort and the Lord confirms this further in the same chapter of Matthew cited above in Verse 23 when He says,"Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." All the persecution and rejection that the Lord foretells for His disciples in this chapter which is something that was to largely occur subsequent to His own time on this earth is presented as being against the backdrop of trying to reach lost Israel, not the world at large. Does it seem reasonable to suppose that the mission of the good shepherd, of which the prophet Ezekiel records such grand accomplishments to come toward the house of Israel, would somehow have to be cut short and set aside after our Lord's three year ministry because of the Jewish rejection of Christ or its focus would have to be redirected to other peoples of which Ezekiel and the other prophet did not write?
Calling attention to this should not be construed as an effort to dispute the truth that it is God's ultimate purpose to bless all the families of the earth or to deny that God hath "also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." Afterall, the Lord did honor the Canaanite woman's faith and, prior to all of this, He had marvelled at the faith of the Roman centurion who asked for healing for his servant, saying, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven" Matt. 8:10-11.
But neither do these examples justify the claim that the focus of the good shepherd on the house of Israel has been diverted or suspended. Rather, throughout most of the Church Age, the conversion of Gentiles or non-Israel people has been incidental to reaching lost Israel.
A question to ask is, in what sense was Israel lost? The traditional interpretation is that at the time of Christ's earthly ministry, Israel was lost only in the spiritual sense in having departed from the living God and not in the geographic sense or in their ethnic identity. But if this 10th chapter of John is to be understood in the light of Ezekiel 34 and other prophetic Scripture, we must understand that they were largely lost geographically as well. Restating verse 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel... Also verse 16, I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away.
Returning to John chapter 10, it should be understood from the context that Christ is speaking this parable to the Pharisees in particular ch. 9:40 and the Jews in general on a later occasion ch.10:22ff.
After identifiying himself to the Jews as the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, He says in verse 16, And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
How are we to understand this statement? This is generally thought to be a reference to the non-Israelites who would later respond to the gospel and become believers, like the wild olive branches that Paul speaks of being grafted into the natural olive tree. This may be the case. However, not without merit and perhaps more in harmony with prophetic Scripture is the view that Christ is referring to the agelong mission of seeking out lost Israel and the lost tribes of Israel scattered around the world are the other sheep that still have to be gathered in to the fold.
Later in the chapter after some time had passed, the Jews were still wrestling over what to think about all of this and they confronted him again and demanded that Jesus tell them plainly as to whether or not He was the Christ, that is the Anointed One or Messiah. His response in verse 25 was, I told you and you believed not... What had He told them previously? He had told them He was the good shepherd. It should therefore be plain that in His mind, the Jews should have known the implicaton of this if they were at all familiar with the Scriptures, that this was the same as claiming to be the Christ or the Messiah, a further indication that being the good shepherd must relate back to prophetic Scripture such as Ezekiel 34 which we have considered.
But that is not all, Christ continues in verse 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand...
The question bears repeating, who are Christ's sheep? According to the prophets and Christ's own statement in Matt. 15:24, they are the lost sheep of the house of Israel. who will readily hear Christ's voice. How are we to explain the stubborn Jewish rejection of Christ, not only at the time of Christ but for the last two thousand years? The Lord gives us the anwer: Ye are not of my sheep. In other words, they are not of the house of Israel, they are not who they claim to be.
How about that? In whatever sense Israel might have been considered lost, spiritually or geographically, they were still God's sheep, albeit lost sheep. But Christ does not even accord this status to the Jews to whom he was speaking. It is not a case of rejecting Christ and then forfeiting their status as sheep. They rejected him because they were not his sheep to begin with. They were not true Israelites. Might this be what St. Paul was referring to when he said in Romans 9:6, For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel? This harmonizes with the ancient writings of the well known Jewish historian Josephus that other peoples had been incorporated into the Jewish nation, chiefly, the descendants of Esau. In John chapter 8 the Lord acknowledged the Jews were the seed of Abraham but the twelve tribes of Israel were not the only people descended from Abraham.
A stumblingblock to accepting this interpretation of these scriptures is the fact that personal salvation has always been an individual matter and there is no nation or race, including that of Israel, that is composed entirely of regenerated Christians or composed entirely of non-Christians. In Romans 9 we have St. Paul lamenting the spiritual state of Israel and it would seem that at that time, the sheep were not hearing the Master's voice. LIkewise, if there were no Israelite element within Jewry, Peter would not have addressed them as men of Israel on the day of Pentecost. But if we compare scripture with scripture and thus let it interpret itself and accept the fact that the sheep referred to are the lost sheep of the house of Israel rather than coming up with our own idea as to who the sheep are then we can see that the Lord is speaking generally. National Israel, most of which was scattered and known by other names would more readily accept the gospel than some others, including the Jews, And the best explanation as to why the Jews have, as a rule, stubbornly resisted the Christian Gospel is the one offered by the Lord: they are not His sheep; they are not of the lost sheep of the house of Israel: by and large, they are not true Israelites by natural descent.
For sincere, Bible believing Christians to look upon a people which the Lord has plainly declared to not be His sheep and, instead, insist that they are, is to reveal a serious lack of spiritual discernment which has already brought great confusion on the world scene and the end is not yet. But before it's all over, this fetish will be cast aside.
Let it be reiterated that Christ is the Savior of the world, not just Israel. It is not a matter of excluding others from the Body of Christ and from being saved. But He is sent only to Israel in the sense that, as St. Paul relates in Romans 9:4, Who are Israelites; to whom [pertaineth] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service [of God], and the promises... The true Biblical Israel is the only people that God is in a covenant relationship with to mold them into an example of national righteousness before the rest of the world. This will be an immeasurable blessing to the rest of the world. And for this to be realized, they must, of necessity, be a Christian people, honoring the Lord Jesus Christ; thus, the emphasis on reaching the lost sheep of the house of Israel, much of which has been regathered here in America in fulfillment of the covenant promises made to the fathers.