Our Good Shepherd Is Christ The King

1. The time for the end of the remnant of Judah was very quickly approaching.

2. The people were in the last days of the last wicked kings before being destroyed by enemies.

B. Verse 5a. Helplessness did not mean hopelessness. God always provides hope for his people.

1. Verse 5b. The righteous Branch is Christ, a descendant of David. This was God’s promise.

a. Branch = shoot from a dead stump. b. Judah = dead stump. c. Christ = living shoot.

2. Verse 5c. Christ the King would be the perfect King that every nation needed.

C. Verse 6. Jesus, Christ the King, provides perfect salvation for all nations. OUR righteousness.

D. What a miraculous connection Jeremiah presents for us today. Jesus is the humble shepherd. Jesus is also Christ the King. Jesus covers all of the ranges of humanity. Shepherds were the lowliest occupation. Kings held the greatest importance. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who has the power of the King. Kings in the Old Testament were to provide for God’s people. Kings were not just to rule. So it is with Christ the King. Christ the King, our King, provides for us. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 CORINTHIANS 5:21). The righteousness of Christ covers up our unrighteousness. His holiness hides our unholiness. Our sinless Savior forgives sins.

E. Christ the King is our King. There is a deep, personal meaning to that statement. Many kings often sit in their palaces far removed from their subjects. Not so with our King. The fact is, Christ the King left his heavenly throne to live among his disloyal subjects. Christ the King came to live and die on earth as our King. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" (HEBREWS 4:15). This is our King who knows our weaknesses and provides us with his strength. Jesus is our righteousness.

F. Kings are often associated with great honor, power, and glory. Again, it is no different with Christ the King, our King. Christ came to live and die on earth at the hands of his own creation. But Christ did also rise again from the dead. No one else has such great power to come back to life. Christ the King does. "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 CORINTHIANS 15:25,26). Thanks be to God who gives us the victory! Christ lived and died and rose again to destroy Satan’s power. Christ lived and died and rose again to pay for the sins of the world. Christ lived and died and rose again to defeat death. Unlike any earthly king, Christ lived and died and rose again for us. Everything Christ the King did was for the benefit of his lost creation.

CONC.: One might not always connect a shepherd with a king. There are vast differences in their lives and occupations. Yet, for our Good Shepherd and for Christ the King there are many similarities. Jesus is not the first Shepherd-King. Remember? David was chosen from being a teenage shepherd to eventually become king of Israel. As you read the Psalms of David you will often recognize the heart of a shepherd more than the rule of a king. It is even more so with our Good Shepherd. Search the Scriptures, study the life of Christ, and listen to his teachings. You will soon see the Christ, a powerful King who came to serve as our Good Shepherd. "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away"(1 PETER 5:4). Shepherd for the sheep is connected with crown, king. OUR GOOD SHEPHERD IS CHRIST THE KING. Our Good Shepherd gathers us back from our waywardness into his flock. Christ the King is our righteousness. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer