“The Lord is My Shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie
down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my
soul. He leads me in the right paths for
his name sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I 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 my whole life long.” These
words or a another translation of these words from psalm 23 hold a special
place in the hearts of so many of us. It is usually one of the first psalms
that we ever learn. We hear it
frequently in times of great joy, but we especially hear it in times of our
greatest distress. I would bet that it is the most common psalm used at
funerals, and it seems to bring such peace to so many who are grieving. I have
even been able to personally witness the power that these words have. I once
had the opportunity to visit the family of a man who was in his last days on
Earth. The family asked me to pray over their husband and father, and so
together we prayed, but as we finished praying one of the family members asked
if we could conclude by praying these words from the 23rd psalm. It
was a powerful moment and one that seemed to bring some sense of peace and
closure to the family. What is it about these words that bring us so much
comfort? What is it about saying the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, that
gives us a feeling of such peace? Our scripture today may not explain the power
of these words, but it may help to give them even more power and meaning for
us.
Our scripture for today starts with Jesus in Jerusalem at
what the Bible tells us is the festival of the dedication in winter. In other
words Jesus was in Jerusalem during the time of Hanukkah. Like so many of the
stories that we have of Jesus in the Bible, this story starts with Jesus being
asked questions; this time he is being asked by some of the Jewish leaders at
the Temple. “How long will you keep us in suspense? If
you are the Messiah tell us plainly.” The text makes it seem as though
these leaders are hanging on the words of Jesus, waiting for him to proclaim
that he is the Messiah so that they can follow him; however there seems to be
something lost in the translation. The leaders actually use an idiom that would
not make sense in English so translators tried to have it make sense to us. The original tone of the phrase is probably
more hostile than it seems when we read it. The leaders are probably asking a
question more like, “How long are you going to keep annoying us, or How long
are you going to keep bothering us.[1]”
The leaders wanted to know whether or not Jesus professed to be the Messiah and
what evidence he had to support it. It is difficult to tell whether they truly
believed that it was possible if he were the Messiah or whether they were
simply asking him so that they could make a case against him.
The scripture does make one thing clear about this
interaction however, and that is that they did not know him. Sure they knew who
Jesus was, they had heard about the signs and wonders that he had done, this is
probably where their curiosity came from; but for as much as they knew about
Jesus they did not know Jesus. They
did not know that this man was the Messiah. This is made clear when Jesus
answers them saying, “I have told you and you do not
believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not
believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.” In essence Jesus is saying to the Jewish
leaders, you ask me to tell you if I am the Messiah but I have shown you. I
have done many works in the name of the father, but as he says later in the
passage, “The father and I are one.” Why do you need me to tell you that I am the
Messiah when my works attest to the fact that I am. You do not follow me, you
are not part of my flock and therefore you do not believe.
In English we can say
that we know something or someone, however in many other languages such as
Greek and Spanish to name a few, there are multiple different words for
knowledge. These words differentiate between types of knowledge. For example if we were to say we know George
Washington, what would we be saying? We would be saying that we know about him,
we know his history, and why he is significant. On the other hand, if we were
to say something like, I know my son, or I know my wife and they would never do
something like that, what are we saying then? In this instance it doesn’t seem
to be a knowledge based on intellect, it seems to be a knowledge based on
experience or relationships. It then starts to become clear that there is a
difference between intellectual knowledge and relational knowledge. We could even say one is a knowledge of the
mind while the other is a knowledge of the heart. This difference in knowledge
seems to be what is at play in our story for today. The Jewish leaders desire
an intellectual knowledge that Jesus is Messiah, that want to prove that it is
either true or false. They know about Jesus and what he has done, and yet they
do not believe because they do not know him. They do not have that deep
relation with Christ. They are not part of his flock.
This leads to us back to the words of psalm 23, this
might help to explain why it is that the imagery of the Lord as our shepherd is
so comforting to us; because after Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that they are
not part of his sheep, he goes on to say, “My sheep
hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life and
they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” When we
hear these words from Jesus as he describes himself as a shepherd and us as his
sheep, we get a sense of great intimacy. Whereas the Jewish conception of a
Messiah is a great ruler, a military avenger; Christ likens himself to a
shepherd. It seems to be in stark opposition to the expected role of the
Messiah. The Son of God should be strong and mighty, the Messiah should almost
be like a king, and we his subjects, and yet Christ does not use this
comparison but rather compares himself to a shepherd.
What beautiful imagery the shepherd truly is for our
Lord! On the one hand the power dynamic is still there. A shepherd is in
control of the flock, rounding them up, herding them where they are supposed to
go. The shepherd plays the role of protector, keeping predators away from the
flock. If we remember the parable of the
lost sheep then we remember that the shepherd is also responsible for the group
as a whole but for each sheep individually and would go to any lengths to find
a lost sheep. All of this stresses a status of power, and yet there is a great
relationship between the shepherd and the sheep.
The first aspect of
that relationship is that the shepherd knows his sheep. Even when the sheep of
two different flocks come together, the shepherd is able to know which is his.
The great news of Jesus as the shepherd is that we are all his sheep and that
he knows each one of us. The Bible tells us that we are wonderfully made and
that even the hairs of our head are known by God. This truly is good news. We
have a God who truly knows us, knows our joys and knows our pain. A savior who
sees each and every one of us as a unique and special individual; a individual
worth seeking after when they are lost. Jesus says earlier in the chapter, “I am the Good shepherd… I lay my life down for the flock.” This may be the most amazing element of this
relationship between sheep and the shepherd; that when push comes to shove,
when the lives of the sheep are in danger, the shepherd will risk his own life
for the sake of the sheep. Jesus is indeed the good shepherd and he laid down
his life for us. Not only did he lay his life down for us but here the good
news, Christ died for us while we were still sinners, that proves God’s love
for us. The good shepherd died for us, even when we did not deserve it. It is
that sacred relationship between the sheep and the shepherd.
The first aspect of
that relationship is that the sheep know their shepherd’s voice. Earlier in the
chapter Jesus talks about the nature of sheep. He says that sheep are able to
distinguish their shepherd’s voice from the voices of others. I’ve heard
stories of different flocks that were intermingled and yet at the call of their
shepherd’s voice they quickly separated from each other, all because they could
recognize their voice. The Bible tells us that when a stranger comes and tries
to call the sheep they will not follow because they do not recognize their
voice. We take it for granted but one of the greatest aspects of our
relationship with God is not only that God is loving, and merciful, and just;
it’s not only that the shepherds knows us and seeks after us when we are lost,
but one of the greatest aspects of that relationship is that we are able to
hear the shepherd’s voice. God is not
some distant being, watching from afar as play out our lives here on Earth; God
is ever present, God is with us, walking beside us, leading us, calling out to
us.
In the midst of the horrible tragedy that happened Monday
during the Boston Marathon there have been a lot of voices calling out. There
have been voices of fear, voices of pain, voices of anger and retaliation, There have even been voices questioning
whether God even exists because if God did why would something like this be
allowed to happen? Still, in the middle of all of these voices, in the middle
of our own doubt and fear, we as God’s flock are still able to hear the shepherd
calling out to us, saying to us, “yea though you walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, do not fear for I am with you.” The voice reminds us that even
in times of such tragedy, we should as Mr. Rogers said, “look for the helpers.”
We may not be able to understand how or why things like this happen, but if you
are asking where is God in all of this, look for the helpers. Look at those
brave men and women who rushed into the debris to try and save those hurt by
the explosion, putting their own lives at risk. Look at those runners who after
running a marathon, who continued to run to the local hospitals so that they
could give blood. Look at the countless cards, emails, facebook and twitter
messages that have been sent to the victims and their families. Look at the
millions of people from different faith traditions gathering in prayer for
those involved. When we see these things we are able to see God at work. We are
able to see God’s love and mercy at work at a time of such great need. We are able
to hear the good shepherd calling us just as he called Peter saying, “tend my
sheep” and we are able to see those who have followed the call. It is this
relationship that makes psalm 23 so special to us. It is a relationship that
allows to say the Lord is my shepherd, and to claim that surely goodness and
mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
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