The Love Of The Shepherd Series

Please turn to John 10

The designation my servant David was applied to this Shepherd not because he would be David resurrected, but because he would exemplify all the good qualities which David possessed (‘a man after his own heart’, 1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22–23). He would also be a descendant of David, and thus able to fulfil the requirements of the Davidic covenant which earlier kings had miserably failed to do (chs. 17; 19). The primary implication of the term was obedient compliance with the directions of a superior. That’s why it is said of Him: “He shall feed them and he shall feed them and be their shepherd”. In his case there would be no disjunction between what he did and the title accorded him. The emphasis in ‘servant’ was on his faithful discharge of all that was required of him as a royal, mediatorial figure through whom God would channel salvation to his people, while ‘shepherd’ specified his care and protection of those under him. He is a faithful Shepherd. It is more comforting to put yourself in his care than in anybody else’s. (Kuschel, K. B. (1986). Ezekiel (p. 201). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.)

In John 10 we see how in the coming of Jesus, He perfectly fulfilled this care and salvation for His people:

John 10:7–18. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” (ESV)

• Fundamentally the church is one because there is only one true God, and therefore all whom he saves and who then serve him are linked by an essential bond to him.

Finally, we see in verse 24 that there will be no tension between God’s rule and the rule of this coming David. I, the LORD, will be their God was the primary link in the covenant bond between God and his people (cf. 37:27). This is occurring because: “my servant David ?shall be prince/ruler among them/in their midst. “Prince/ruler” (nasî?), conventionally rendered ‘prince’, see on 37:25. It was employed here to avoid the negative autocratic overtones of ‘king’ (see on 7:27), and to emphasise the Davidic servant’s rule in humble submission to the LORD from whom he derived his authority. That He is “among them/In their midst’ indicates identification with the people and their interests—living as one of them, as well as being over them. The meaning of Christmas is that the eternal God has come to us: Immanuel: God with us. This all has occurring according to the divine intention of God. He testifies to such in His concluding statement: “I am? the LORD; I have spoken”. This statement of divinity declared by the Father is reiterated in His son coming to us. We have just look at this in John 10 with His statement that I am the Door. I am the Good Shepherd. In sending Jesus into the world, God had solemnly committed himself to would not be thwarted (cf. 5:15). As our Shepherd, Jesus gives us spiritual care and nourishment and protection (John 6:32–40). When the people listening to Ezekiel heard these verses, they received the comfort of knowing the Lord had a special Shepherd-Prince who would reign forever (37:25) and who was going to tend them. It became very obvious to them that this promised Shepherd had to be more than just a human being. He had to be God (Kuschel, K. B. (1986). Ezekiel (p. 202). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.).

(Format note: Some base commentary from Mackay, J. L. (2018). Ezekiel: A Mentor Commentary (Vol. 2, p. 214). Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.)