“The Shepherd Who Provides”
Jesus, the Good Shepherd: Part 1
(Psalms 23:1 and Selected Scriptures)
The Greenhouse ~ 19th Sunday after Trinity
Starting on July 9, we began a 12-week series, “The Parables of Jesus.” Since that time, we have explored the way Jesus uses everyday examples to illustrate eternal truths about the kingdom of God and the nature of Christian discipleship. Initially I planned on spending the next several weeks exploring the prayers of Jesus; I think that is an incredibly valuable exercise, and I recommend you take some time to read the gospels and pay particular attention to his prayers. I also recommend Eugene Peterson’s book, Tell It Slant, which served as a topical outline for our series. But in the past two weeks, as I was gone and therefore not writing sermons, I felt led to focus intently upon one metaphor that the biblical authors return to frequently, and one that serves as a key feature in Jesus’ teaching and the early church’s practice—the shepherd. Over the course of seven weeks, therefore, culminating in Christ the King Sunday on November 26, I hope to explore “Jesus, the Good Shepherd.” We will ground six of these weeks in Psalms 23 (one verse per week), but we will also look to parallel Scriptures that help us understand how Jesus is our Good Shepherd and the various ways that He leads us. This week we tackle Psalms 23:1, “The Shepherd Who Provides.”
As we enter into this new series, we must as always recognize that we live in a different context than that of the text of Scripture we are studying. I won’t spend long in this short sermon explaining the shape of the Psalms as a book, but two quick comments are necessary. First, Psalms 23 is noted as a psalm of David. David, of course, was a shepherd himself, both a literal shepherd of sheep and later a shepherd of the people of Israel (in fact, as we will see, “shepherd” is a common ancient Near Eastern metaphor for a king). Second, although this is marked as a psalm of David, the psalm is included as part of the Psalter, the book that takes its final form as many as 700-800 years after David takes the throne. This final form is intentionally shaped with a messianic hope—it retells Israel’s story and the story of their longed-for king. Throughout the Psalms, “David” becomes a symbol for the messianic king who is to come, so we read any psalm best (like the New Testament authors did) when we read it as a poem within the Book of Psalms more so than as an historical analysis of David.[1]
Regardless, the images that come to mind when we speak of shepherds and sheep today are importantly different from the biblical understanding. Perhaps I don’t need much more example than a video I saw of a professing Christian talking about how we are in a time where God is separating the sheep from the goats (see Matt 25). When asked which one she is, the woman, much more familiar with the derogatory political meaning of sheep as blind followers than she is of the biblical text, strongly proclaims “I’m a goat, ‘cause I ain’t a sheep.”[2] Well, actually, Christians are the sheep. If we struggle to identify as sheep because of its modern political implications, then I suspect we will struggle mightily with recognizing and worshiping Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
We come finally, then, to Psalms 23:1, a mere four words in Hebrew. The Christian Standard Bible translates this verse in a similarly short 10 words, “The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need,” but the meaning of these mere 10 words speaks to the nature of God as revealed in the whole of Scripture.
The shepherd provides. This is the first lesson of Psalms 23, and Jesus profoundly embodies this truth as the provider. Perhaps the most obvious way comes in Mark 6:30-43 and the feeding of the 5000. Jesus attempts to take the disciples to a quiet place of rest after they have returned from their mission to various cities throughout Israel. However, the crowds see them and follow, and when they arrive, more than 5000 people are waiting. Mark records in verse 34, “When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus’ first observation of this large crowd likens them to sheep without a shepherd. Sheep without a shepherd are in great danger; Jesus steps in to serve as a shepherd to them. And what Jesus does next, as their shepherd, is provide.
Jesus’ provision in this text is two-fold, and we will deal with them in reverse order. After the people had been there for a while, the disciples come to Jesus and tell Him to send the crowds home because they are all hungry and there is little food. Jesus, however, provides for the crowd in abundance. The miracle that follows records Jesus turning five loaves and two fish into a filling meal for more than 5000 people, and with twelve baskets of food to spare! Feeding the hungry occurs several times throughout Scripture as a way to love our neighbor. For example, in Leviticus 19, only a few lines before the command to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18), the Law says, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the resident alien; I am the Lord your God” (Lev 19:9-10). One of the ways the Israelites were to love their neighbors was to leave food available for the hungry poor or sojourner. Another example is Paul’s command in Romans 12:20: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him.” Similarly, in the passage we read earlier from Matthew 25, Jesus says, “‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink […]” (Matt 25:35a). Then He says that the righteous will ask, “‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?” (Matt 25:37b). Jesus says, “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Matt 25:40). To provide food to the hungry, especially to the poor who cannot provide for themselves, serves as a primary biblical example of the work of the shepherd.
But those who know the Mosaic Law, or at least Jesus’ own ministry and reference to that Law, will remember another truth. When tempted by Satan in the wilderness to turn rocks into food, Jesus replies: “It is written: ‘Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt 4:4; quoting Deut 8:3). Yes, we each need food. We also need water, clothing, and shelter. Jesus acknowledges those things in his Sermon on the Mount that immediately follows this temptation scene in Matthew’s gospel (see Matt 6:25-34). But what humanity needs above all else is God, and God reveals Himself in His Word. Thus, when Jesus sees the crowds in Mark 6, before He provides for them by feeding them, He provides for them by teaching them. Hear Mark 6:34 again, but the whole verse— “Then he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.” Jesus provides them the food of the Word to nourish their souls, then He provides them with the food of bread and fish to nourish their bodies.
Throughout the gospels, Jesus provides for many physical needs: He heals the lame, the blind, the sick, the leprous, and even the dead! But Jesus also, and primarily, provides for the needs of the soul. In one encounter, a woman with a discharge of blood comes and touches Jesus’ robe in a crowd. She is immediately healed. If you recall the context in Luke 8, Jesus is headed to heal Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter. We might expect Him to be in a hurry. Moreover, Jesus knows power has gone out from Him and He knows the woman has been healed. The woman knows immediately she has been healed. If physical healing were the primary goal, then Jesus could have continued without interruption. But He stops. He pauses and asks. He initiates a conversation. And that conversation leads to a moment of nourishment for her soul, not just her body. Jesus says, “‘Daughter […] your faith has saved you. Go in peace’” (v. 40). Had Jesus continued on, the woman would still have been healed of body, but she would not have had the certainty that it was faith in Jesus that brought this about. Jesus provides for her physical healing, but He also provides certainty for her soul. This is merely one of many examples where Jesus provides for both.
A good shepherd provides for his sheep. He leads them to pastures where there is abundant food and water. For human “sheep,” we need not only physical and material provision, but also spiritual, and Jesus, the Good Shepherd, provides for both. The promise of Psalms 23:1, “I have what I need” (or “I shall not want”), reminds us that the LORD provides. Jesus words in Matthew 6:32b-33, “your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you,” makes the same point. God is a provider. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will provide, too.
I know many of you very well. For some of you, I have an idea of how you need God to provide. But often I don’t. In fact, sometimes in my own life I don’t know how to express how I need God to provide. I know something is wrong, but I don’t know what He could provide to bring peace and fulfillment. Sometimes we have physical and material needs that we ask God to provide; this is good and proper, for God is indeed the One who provides for such things, even if it seems to come in the form of money, medicine, or material provision. But don’t settle for mere physical or material provision. The Good Shepherd delights to provide much more than those things. Trust Him to provide the most necessary thing, nourishment for your soul. Amen.
Discussion Questions
How have you seen God provide for your physical and material needs?
How have you seen God provide for your spiritual needs, for nourishment for your soul?
Go back and look at Ezekiel 34. For what does God chastise Israel’s shepherds (kings)? What are some ways that we may fall into the same failures as Israel’s shepherds?
Endnotes [1]This emphasis on the final form of the Psalms is why I like to speak of Psalms 23 instead of Psalm 23, because the latter tends to disassociate the psalm from the whole message of the book.
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