Daily Devotion

2nd April (Wed) – Shepherd-ology

Audio

Prepare

Welcome to Wednesday, the 2^nd of April, and the twenty-ninth day of Lent. What have you promise to observe doing Lent? May the Spirit grant you focus, strength and discipline to keep to these promises.

Psalm Reading

Our appointed psalm today is Psalm 63. Reading verses 1 to 4.

¹ O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

² So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.

³ Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.

⁴ So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

Scripture Reading

We continue reading today from the New Testament, John 10:11-21.  Here we read verses 11 to 15, and then 19 to 21.   

¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

¹⁹ There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Reflection

The reaction of the Jews who heard Jesus is worth pondering.  What was so startling, so ludicrous, or so offensive, in what Jesus said that they accused him of having a demon, or being of unsound mind?

The imagery of sheep and shepherd is a very familiar one to the Jewish people.  It is all around them, a facet of their daily lives.  Keeping the flock is an important job, because sheep was resource for food and wool. It was also used as a sacrifice to atone for sin during the Feast of Passover and on other occasions.

Many of the prominent Jewish leaders, as recorded in the Old Testament, had a stint in this role of the shepherd.  Think of Abraham, Moses and David.

Criticism of bad shepherds were also not unheard of.  In the context of the defeat and mass deportation of the Jewish people to Babylon almost 600 years before the time of Jesus, both the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah offered extensive critiques of the shepherds (i.e. leaders) of Israel, as being oppressive of the sheep (i.e. people), failing to care for or attend to them, driving them away or scattering them, leaving them vulnerable to be preyed upon. (Ezekiel 34:1-31; Jeremiah 23:1-6)

So what’s the big deal about Jesus’s claim to be shepherd?  Or his criticism of others through his mention of the thief, the robber or the hired hand?  Isn’t this just another one in a very long line of shepherds and shepherdess-es, some good and some bad?  Why the reaction from the Jewish hearers? What did they know, or recognise, that we are missing today?

The story continues tomorrow.

Collect/Prayer

Let us learn to pray today from the very first and original prayer book, the Book of Psalms, in the words of Psalm 23:-

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
You make me lie down in green pastures.
You lead me beside still waters.
You restore my soul.
You lead me in paths of righteousness,
    for Your name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
    Your rod and Your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.
Amen.

Link to full Morning Office