Deja Vu?
Do you remember those matching pairs games we played as children?
The ones where you’d have 30 or so tiles laid out face down in a grid and would take turns flipping one over to reveal an image that you then had to try and find the twin of? If you found the twin on your first try, you got to keep both matching tiles and take another turn. If you failed, you had to turn both tiles face down and try to remember the images and their locations for future attempts.
The Bible is a lot like that game…
There are so many matching ideas, images, phrases, concepts, and words that appear, again and again, throughout. The Bible is an exceptionally self-referential book! And learning to read it and understand it well involves practicing getting good at remembering where you’ve seen something before and knowing where to find it again. Often, it is only when we can see these matching motifs together, and reflect on them side by side, that we can fully appreciate what the writers might be trying to say to us.
Let’s look at an obvious example…
In John 10, Jesus famously describes himself as ‘The Good Shepherd’. For many, this may well instantly conjure up thoughts of another famous passage – Psalm 23 – in which the Psalmist describes the ways in which Yahweh tends to them. When we take these two motifs together, we can see that Jesus may well be describing himself as like Yahweh; one who provides for our needs, brings peace to our lives, leads us in righteousness, and protects us from evil. Instantly the simple sentence, ‘I am the good shepherd’ takes on a deeper, richer, fuller meaning.
So does this shepherd motif appear anywhere else?
Well… yes! Everywhere, actually! In the Old Testament, the people of Israel were often referred to as sheep, and their leaders described as shepherds. How might examining some of occurrences add even more weight and meaning to Jesus’s simple statement about himself?
The Exemplary Shepherd
King David, the man after God’s heart who tended sheep ended up ruler of the nation, was explicitly tasked with ‘shepherding’ Yahweh’s people well. For the most part he is celebrated for doing so. Those of us familiar with his story know that he wasn’t perfect but, interestingly, when he sinned, he took on the responsibility and the punishment:
‘I, the shepherd have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family but do not let this plague remain on your people’
(2 Sam 24:17, 1 Chr 21:17).
What if John 10 is also referring to this moment? Could it be saying that Jesus isn’t only a shepherd like Yahweh but that he is also the long anticipated new Davidic King who, like David will be after God’s own heart (Jer 3:15) and will take responsibility for sin and lay down his life for the sheep (Ezek 34:24)?
The Bad Shepherds
One of the worst fates that could befall Israel was to find themselves as ‘sheep without a shepherd’ (Num 27:17, 2 Chr 18:16). The wrath of the prophets – especially Jeremiah and Ezekiel - was often directed at the ‘failed’ shepherds of Israel – those who were leading the nation into sin and seeking their own gain rather than the welfare of the people:
‘My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray…’
…Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves!’
(Jer 50:44 / Ezek 34:2b).
When Jesus declares himself ‘the Good Shepherd’, might he also be setting himself up against the religious leaders of Israel? Might he be calling them ‘thieves’ and bandits’ (Jn 10:8), who are only concerned with themselves rather than the flock; merely hired hands who are scattered by the wolves rather than staying to lay down their lives for the sheep? (Jn 10:11-15 cf Ezek 34:8). Might he be saying that their prophesied comeuppance, when they would be removed from leading the people and held accountable for their actions (Ezek 34:10) is now taking place?
The Rejected Shepherd:
If Jesus was criticizing Israel’s leaders with his statement, is it any wonder that the immediate response is that the people divided, ultimately rejected him (Jn 10:19, 31) and then plotted and killed him (Jn 11:45-57, ch 18-19)? What’s fascinating though is that this response is anticipated in in Zechariah 11. There we read a lot about another shepherd of Israel who is detested by the people and ultimately paid to leave them alone. What was the price required to be rid of that shepherd… 30 pieces of silver… the meager price of a slave (Ex 21:32). That money was taken and cast at the potter in the temple (Zech 11:13 cf Matt 27:5-6). Perhaps, even as Jesus his ‘Good Shepherd’ declaration, he is deliberately signposting what will later happen to him.
The God-Incarnate Shepherd:
Ultimately, perhaps the most significant aspect of Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd is that he is not just setting himself up as the Davidic Messiah and true shepherd of Israel, he is setting himself up as Yahweh. The implicit reference to Psalm 23 aside, there is a wealth or occurrences in the prophets in which Yahweh states that he is going to come and shepherd his people himself:
“See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm… He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms”
(Is 40:10-11).‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them… I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord
(Ezek 34:11, 14-15).
The coming of Yahweh as shepherd will also involve the judgement of the people – the separation of sheep from goats (Ezek 34:16-22). Does this help us make sense of Jesus’ enigmatic remarks about ‘his true sheep’ – those who hear his voice and obey his commands (Jn 10:3-6).
The Missional Shepherd:
It was also prophesied that the coming of Yahweh as shepherd would involve the regathering of the exiles – notably from both Judah (the faithful southern kingdom from which the Jews descended) and Israel (the breakaway, idolatrous kingdom from which Samaritans descended - see Ezek 37:15-28). Jesus is surely suggesting that this shocking (at least, for the Jews) rebuilding of Yahweh’s people was what he, as the Good Shepherd, had come to do:
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd”
(Jn 10:16 cf. Ezek 37:22, 24).
Such a statement might further explain why ‘the Jews’ immediately reject Jesus. It may also shed light on why we have significant stories like the Samaritan Woman at the Well in the same gospel where Jesus is making this statement (Jn 4:1-42).
So…
We’ve turned a number of tiles over and discovered that there is not just one but several important matching images that, when taken together, help us have a much deeper appreciation for what is going on in John when Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd.
He is not only a Psalm 23-esq shepherd like the Lord; he is the Lord. He is both the promised Davidic-King Messiah and Yahweh himself. He is the true shepherd of Israel come to overthrow and replace the failed shepherds. He has come not only to make the people lie down in green pastures, but take on the responsibility for dealing with sin himself and to judge the people, which will inevitably involve his rejection for the measly sum of 30 pieces of silver. He has come to reunite God’s people, and initiate the greatly anticipated new and everlasting covenant, in which God would ‘dwell’ with his people forever and ever.
Gosh! That’s quite a lot of theology packed into a single 5 word statement!
I used to love the matching pairs game… and learning to read the Bible like this has helped me love that too. How much richer might our engagement with the text be if we learned to appreciate it like this?
What are some of the favorite matching images you’ve found in the Bible? What have you discovered as you’ve turned them over?
