The Shepherd-Leader in the Gospels

[mmenke]

In the sixth chapter of Mark's gospel Jesus views with compassion a large crowd of people describing them as "sheep without a shepherd (6:34). By the end of the gospel Jesus promises to lead his regathered flock by going "ahead of you into Galilee." (14:28).

Laniak notes that Matthew continues to use shepherd language to describe the ministry of Jesus, both in his ministry and his death (182). Again, in the mold of David, Jesus is a shepherd-ruler that leads with compassion.

I was enriched by the observations in Luke's account showing Jesus as the seeking and saving shepherd. This theme is explicit in Luke 15, and demonstrated in Luke 19 as Jesus finds the lost Zacchaeus. This statement blessed me: "The 'lost sheep' include anyone, rich or poor, 'righteous' or 'sinner', Jew or Gentile. To call such people 'lost' is to imply that they belonged in the fold all along. . . .Evangelism is a natural expression of the shepherd's commitment to the whole flock of God, especially those who have not yet found their true home" (206).

Viewing the shepherd as evangelist is a powerful metaphor worthy of emulating in our own work as pastors.

John's gospel provided rich observations of Jesus as shepherd-leader. I appreciated Laniak's observation that Jesus as "model" shepherd was a better rendering of the idea of the Greek word kalos rather than the common translation "good" (211).

In John 10 Jesus serves the sheep by ultimately giving his life. Laniak observes that Peter (John 21) is ultimately called not only to feed and care for the sheep, but that he too will give his life in conjunction with his work as an under shepherd. This self-sacrificing shepherd example shows us that the call to pastoral ministry today is a serious call that involves much self-sacrifice. In today's ministry climate, many of us get caught up in searching for the right pastoral "pay package", while self-sacrificing shepherding by a person who really knows and loves and is followed by the people of the church is what God has in mind when he calls us to the work of pastor.
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Mark Menke