The Good Shepherd nourishes his sheep with words and deeds

The readings this Sunday again enliven our hope in God’s merciful love. The image of God providing for his people is key to understanding both our First Reading and Gospel. Each reading uses the image of a shepherd’s care for his flock as a metaphor for God’s involvement with his people. This Sunday’s First Reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Set just prior to the Babylonian Captivity in 587 BC, Jeremiah utters the Lord’s testimony against the wicked leaders of Judah, “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture... you have not cared for them ... I will take care to punish your evil deeds” (Jeremiah 23:1, 2b)

Interestingly, in Hebrew the same root word means both shepherd and ruler, for amongst his Chosen People, the Lord intended that the office of ruler(king) include the sacred responsibilities of feeding and providing for his flock. The kingly office included being the religious deputy for God here on earth. The later kings of Judah proved themselves bad shepherds for they indulged in evil deeds, exploited the poor and needy, and failed to maintain religious purity. When considered against the qualities of an ideal ruler and shepherd (see Ezekiel34:11-16), Zedekiah (the King of Judahfrom 597-587 BC, during whose reign Jeremiah prophesied) and his predecessors were found sorely lacking.

Even amid this condemnation, God still demonstrated his compassionate love for his people. Because their evil shepherds had scattered and abused them, the Lord promised that “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock ... I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they no longer fear and tremble” (Jeremiah 23:3a, 4a). True to his word in the covenant, the Lord will always remain personally involved in the proper care of his people.

In fact, Christians find the ultimate sign of God’s abiding care foretold in Jeremiah’s very next prophecy. He presents God as promising, “Behold, the days are coming says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David ... he shall do what is right and just in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved” (Jeremiah23:5-6a). As Christians we believe, of course, that this righteous shoot of David is Jesus himself.

This Sunday’s Gospel presents St. Mark’s account of Jesus providing exactly this loving care for his people. Having just welcomed his apostles back from their first missionary journey without him, Jesus’ intention was to offer these closest disciples a period of much-need-ed respite. He realized that those sent out to proclaim God’s Kingdom must themselves be allowed time to bask in the presence of the Lord; if they did not spend some time in intimate communion with their Shepherd, they themselves would not be able to adequately pastor the rest of God’s flock.

Their quiet moments together, however-er, would have to wait. By now the crowds had become deeply attached to Jesus and his teaching, and when word spread that he was going to move on, the entire mass of people hurried off to his suspected destination. By the time Jesus arrived, the crowd had already reassembled. St. Mark relates that when Jesus looked out over the crowd “his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd ...” (Mark 6:34).

Jesus saw the crowd as the “faithful remnant,” the poor who had been beaten down by the daily prejudices and injustices that plagued their lives. Jesus saw these people as a treasure trove ripe to receive his Father’s Kingdom into their lives. At that moment, Jesus, the Good Shepherd began again to nourish these people with his words and deeds, ex-plaining the presence of God’s Kingdom right there among them. Through Jesus, the power of God was breaking forth into the world with its mighty potential to make their lives better.

Jesus would care and provide for them as their Good Shepherd. In fact, Jesus’ entire earthly ministry can be seen in light of this title. First, his mission was understood as initially being to the lost sheep of Israel (see Matthew 10:6-15 and15:24). Next, he cared so much for each individual sheep, that he left the 99 to go seek after the lost one, rejoicing when this lost one was found (see Matthew18:12-13). Then, going beyond even the greatest Old Testament expectations of shepherds, Jesus described himself as willing ultimately to lay down his life for his sheep (see John 10:11).

As the spiritual heirs of that early crowd in ancient Palestine, we rejoice that Jesus remains our Good Shepherd still. We realize that amid all the trials and struggles of this life, we always have loving haven in Jesus, for “he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14a).

Msgr. Fell is a Scripture scholar and director, diocesan Office for Priest Personnel