The Righteous Branch

Bad Shepherds

(NRSV)

Restoration after Exile

23 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.

You know the job of a shepherd right? As I investigated what I thought I knew, I always discover things that I never thought about. Shepherds often looked after sheep in open range where there were no fences. How can we incorporate that thought into today’s church? Shepherds watched for poisonous plants and drove the sheep to good grass and fresh water. A shepherd would need to know the land very well. A shepherd who destroys would likely be someone who neglects his or her responsibilities to manage the sheep. In my investigations I find that the shepherd tends to live amongst the sheep day and night.

Now, the difficulty for many in our churches to recognize, is that many people in church are shepherds without knowing it. You are , at times, the first person a neighbor will see. If you are not the face of Christ, you may actually scatter the sheep. Now, no one wants to take on the responsibilities of the shepherd because of the opening statement in the scripture. Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter.

(NRSV)

3 Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I want those who are nervous about being a shepherd to notice an important aspect of this last verse. “ I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them,” So how should we approach the idea that in this verse God claims responsibility for scattering the sheep? We can say that the bad shepherd is the hand of God as well as the good shepherd, could we not? I searched for quite some time to find another idea concerning this portion of the scripture, but it seemed that no one wanted to add understanding to this portion.

(NRSV)

4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. God now, through his prophet Jeremiah, informs us that He is going to rise up (Or make possible) a shepherd that can lead his people back into prosperity. , tells us about how God, because his people did not obey or follow the leaders that he had sent, sends them a shepherd that leads them into wrong places. We are looking forward to a time when we will be given a shepherd, who will lead us to green pastures. But first of all, we should ask ourselves, are we His sheep?

(NRSV)

The Righteous Branch of David

(Cp )

5 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

(NRSV)

6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.” So, what I think we should gather from this passage is that until Jesus comes to be our good shepherd, we will continue to deal with shepherds falling short. We need to understand that an imperfect servant will make mistakes but, the sheep should not worry because the good shepherd is on his way.