“The Shepherd Who Protects”
Jesus, the Good Shepherd: Part 4
(Psalms 23:4 and Selected Scriptures)
The Greenhouse ~ 22nd Sunday after Trinity
The world we live in can be a scary place. War, sickness, hatred, senseless violence. There is death all around us. Moreover, the threats are not just physical threats to our lives. We face temptation, spiritual warfare from the enemy of God and his demons. It’s no wonder that we face yet a third threat, the darkness of the mind and soul that come from depression and other mental illness. Both physiologically and spiritually, our minds are under attack, and they bear the heavy weight of this warfare. Sometimes we are weary; sometimes we break.
But God is a God who puts the pieces back together, even if not always in the timeframe or way we might hope for. I believe the promise of God that He will neither leave us nor forsake us. He secured that promise in Jesus, who suffered more than I have, and on my behalf and because of my sin, and not on account of His own. One of our passages today, 1 Peter 2:19-25, gives us confidence to endure trials for this very reason. He writes, “For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (v. 21). We are called to live like Jesus, who “entrusted himself to the one who judges justly” (v. 23b). Though we were like sheep going astray, we have been healed by the wounds of Christ so that we might return to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (paraphrase of vv. 24b-25). Yes, remember that truth: Jesus is the Good Shepherd. But this Shepherd does something astonishing in defense of His sheep: He lays His life down for them.
In John 10:11-18, Jesus continues His self-identification as the Good Shepherd, and though He does reinforce the message of verses 1-10 that He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him (v. 14), there is a much more obvious focus. Five times in these verses Jesus says He lays down His life for His sheep. Unlike the hired hand who runs away when he sees the wolf (v. 12), Jesus stays and lays down His life to save His sheep. He, in a word, protects them.
As we continue through our series on Psalms 23 and selected Scriptures that show us the ways that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leads us, we encounter Psalms 23:4.
Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
How is it, in a world filled with reasons to fear, we can confidently say that we fear no danger? For the psalmist, the answer is simple: the Shepherd is with him. Moreover, the presence of the Shepherd is also the presence of a protector—your rod and your staff bring comfort. The staff was used to steer back sheep who were wandering in the wrong direction. Here we see the Shepherd protect us, the sheep, from ourselves, from our own proclivity to wander in the wrong direction. The second tool is the rod used to defend the sheep against wolves, bears, and other animals that might come to attack the sheep.
In another Old Testament passage about shepherds, Ezekiel 34, we have been reading and seeing how God has become Israel’s shepherd because the shepherds (kings) of Israel have failed to lead the people. In our passage today, verses 25-31, we see nine different ways that the Lord is Israel’s shepherd-protector.
He “eliminates dangerous creatures from the land” (v. 25)
So that they “may live securely” (v. 25)
His flock “will be secure in their land” (v. 27)
He will “rescue them from the power of those who enslave them” (v. 27)
They will “no longer be prey for the nations” (v. 28)
The “wild creatures of the earth will not consume them” (v. 28)
They will “live securely” (v. 28)
“No one will frighten them” (v. 28)
They will “no longer endure the insults of the nations” (v. 29)
Both Psalms 23:4 and Ezekiel 34:25-31 show the Lord as a Shepherd who protects His people. John 10 and 1 Peter 2 make clear that He protects His people by laying down His life for them. Rather than allow His sheep to be killed, He lays down His life in their place. He protects by sacrifice. He protects at the cost of His own life. He is indeed a Good Shepherd.
And yet, a challenge remains. Why, if all this is true—and it is!—do some of God’s people experience the pain of the world more acutely than others? Why are some Christians protected from seemingly all threats, while others seems to endure the hardships of the world—physical sickness, mental darkness, spiritual warfare, death—day after day? This is a really important question, because all that God says about being a Shepherd-Protector, all the promises of God to bring us peace, depend upon there being a reason why some Christians suffer in this way.
Recently I was talking with my wife, whom I would set forward as the very example we are exploring. Long-term Lyme’s Disease […][1] and the list goes on. If Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects His sheep, I have to wonder why one of His sheep has suffered so much. And as I’ve been reflecting, I have three answers. One from fiction, one from history, and one from Scripture.
First, from fiction. There is a Sherlock Holmes story called “The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger.” It’s worth reading, not only because it is a good tale, but also because it is one of the few stories where scholars question the authenticity of authorship by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Near the end of the story, Holmes realizes that a woman in great pain of body and soul may take her own life. He says, ““Your life is not your own […] Keep your hands off it.” She asks, “What use is it to anyone?” And then Holmes’ insightful words: “How can you tell? The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world.” Sherlock Holmes has beautifully rendered the meaning of 1 Peter 2:19-25. Though Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects the sheep, some may be called to suffer like Christ, who “also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21b). I believe that some of God’s sheep are called to a dual life. We always remain sheep, but some are called also to be undershepherds, to act, like Jesus, as the one who bears the burden of pain and suffering so that an impatient, unbelieving world may learn the precious lesson of the gospel.
Second, from history. Several years ago, I read Athanasius’ biography on Anthony of the Desert, an early church father who sold all that he had and went to live a life of asceticism in the desert. As God so often does, not two days after thinking about Anthony in a conversation with my wife, I encountered the story again in a sermon by Eugene Peterson. What struck me then and now about Anthony was the story of how he wrestled demons and fought intense spiritual wars in the desert. He lived in the desert for 85 years, finally dying at the age of 105. Eighty-five years of intense spiritual warfare. I can’t imagine, even after reading about it. But here is what caught my attention this week. Demons are fallen angels, and angels are creations of God. As creations, they are not omnipresent as God is. For every demon that tormented Anthony in the desert, some other person in the city was spared that demon’s torment, for the demon could only be in one place at one time. Anthony was a shepherd-protector; by living out in the desert, fighting the spiritual battle against these demons, he was taking on the role of the shepherd who fights off the wild beasts so that the sheep may live securely. For Christians who feel under particularly intense spiritual attack, Anthony from history has a message for you: keep fighting, for Jesus, the Good Shepherd-Protector, fights with you, and in fighting, you are sparing other (dare I say weaker) Christians the danger of that spiritual war.
Third, from Scripture. Apart from Jesus, whose suffering is of course amplified by the fact that He was perfect and deserved none of it, Paul may be the New Testament example of suffering for the sake of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul finds himself at a point where the Corinthian church is questioning his credentials as an apostle in comparison to some “super-apostles” (v. 5) who have been to the church. Paul says he is like a madman, but he goes on to boast that his credentials for ministry are marked in his suffering for the gospel.
Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death. Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention[f] other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses. (2 Cor 11:23-30).
Paul, who endured so much for the gospel, near the end of his life shares a message with Timothy.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing. (2 Tim 4:6-8)
Do not lose heart. Those who suffer for the gospel are not abandoned by the Shepherd. Psalms 23:4 speaks truly—though I walk through the darkest valleys…You are with me. The Shepherd-Protector walks with us. He protects us from much more than we could ever know. But if, or when, we experience the pain of the world and the spiritual war, know that you have been counted worthy to protect others alongside the Shepherd-Protector. He has not abandoned you; He is with you, and He has invited you to the noble though difficult task of sharing the role of shepherd-protector. Amen.
Discussion Questions
How have you seen the Lord protect you in your life?
Are there times when you have questioned His protection?
Which story resonates with you most about suffering and protecting alongside Christ: the fictional, the historical, or the Scriptural?
What kinds of dark valleys do Christians face?
How can we learn to acknowledge and practice God’s presence? How does God’s presence bring comfort?
[1]I omit here a longer list of some severe trials my wife has faced. She gave me permission to share in our home as part of the context of our worship. She decided after time that I could share the full list here, but after some prayer I have decided to omit the rest of the list at this time. The force of the analogy is really more lost if the reader does not know my wonderful wife, rather than merely in the list of struggles she has faced.
Feature Image: The Good Shepherd, AD 280-290. The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Image of Sherlock Holmes: Illustration by Frank Wiles in The Strand Magazine (February 1927).
Image of Saint Anthony: The Temptation of Saint Anthony Abbot, The Master of the Osservanza Triptych, c. 1435-1440.
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