The Shepherd King Series

The Shepherd King

Introduction

When God called Moses from the burning bush, He revealed Himself with those thunderous words: "I AM WHO I AM." This was not merely a name. This was the declaration of eternal, self-existent being. God was telling Moses, "I am the source of all life, all power, all provision." For centuries, the people of Israel clung to this revelation, knowing their God as the great I AM who delivered them from bondage, fed them in the wilderness, and led them into the promised land.

But there was always something more coming. The prophets spoke of it. Ezekiel saw visions of it. The psalmists sang about it. They looked forward to a day when this eternal I AM would not just speak from heaven or dwell in temples made with hands. No, they prophesied that the I AM would come down and walk among His people as their Shepherd King.

Tonight, we stand at the fulfillment of that ancient promise. When Jesus stood in Jerusalem and declared, "I am the Good Shepherd," He was not introducing a new idea. He was claiming to be the very fulfillment of every shepherd promise God had ever made. He was saying, "I am the I AM who has come to tend my flock." From Psalm 23 to John 10, we see one continuous thread: God Himself promised to shepherd His people, and in Jesus Christ, that promise became flesh and dwelt among us.

The question before us now is this: Will we recognize our Shepherd King? Will we hear His voice and follow Him? Let us trace this golden thread from the ancient prophecies to the living presence of Jesus, and discover what it means to be under the care of the Good Shepherd.

I. The Shepherd Promise

Before we encounter Jesus declaring Himself as the Good Shepherd, we must understand the foundation He was building upon. The shepherd imagery was not random. It was rooted deep in the soil of God's promises to His people through the prophets. When Jesus spoke these words, every Jewish ear would have immediately recalled the ancient promises that God Himself would come to shepherd His flock.

Ezekiel 34 stands as one of the most powerful shepherd prophecies in all of Scripture. The context is devastating. Israel's leaders had become corrupt shepherds who fed themselves instead of the flock. They wore the finest clothes, ate the fattest portions, but left the sheep scattered, wounded, and dying. God looked down on this betrayal and His heart burned with righteous anger.

A. God's Promise to Shepherd Personally

Listen to what God declares in Ezekiel 34:11-12: "For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness."

Notice the emphatic repetition: "I, I myself." This is not a promise to send another prophet. This is not a commitment to raise up better human leaders. This is God saying, "I am coming personally. I am rolling up my sleeves and entering the sheep pen myself." The great I AM was making a covenant promise that He would not remain distant, but would become intimately involved in the care of His flock.

This was revolutionary theology. Yes, God had always been the ultimate shepherd of Israel. Psalm 80:1 calls Him "the Shepherd of Israel." But here in Ezekiel, God promises direct, personal, hands-on shepherding. He promises to search, to seek, to rescue, to gather, to bring back, to bind up the injured, and to strengthen the weak. This is not delegation. This is divine intervention.

B. When Human Shepherds Fail

The backdrop of this promise makes it even more powerful. Ezekiel 34:2-6 paints a devastating picture of failed leadership. The shepherds of Israel had become mercenaries and hirelings. They took the wool for clothing but provided no protection. They drank the milk but gave no nourishment. They ate the meat but offered no guidance. The result? The sheep were scattered across the mountains, prey for every wild beast, with no one to search or seek for them.

This failure was not just administrative incompetence. This was spiritual betrayal. The religious leaders of Israel were supposed to represent God to the people and the people to God. Instead, they became barriers between God and His children. They loaded people with burdens they would not lift a finger to move. They shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. They devoured widows' houses while making long prayers for appearance.

When Jesus encountered the Pharisees in John 9, we see this same pattern. A man born blind received his sight, and instead of rejoicing, the religious leaders interrogated him, browbeat him, and finally threw him out of the synagogue. They were more concerned with protecting their system than caring for wounded sheep. This is why Jesus launches immediately into the shepherd discourse in John 10. He is contrasting Himself with these failed shepherds who have abandoned the flock.