Advent: The Hope of the Good Shepherd

Butchers vs. Shepherds

A party of tourists was on its way to Palestine and its guide was describing some of the quaint customs of the East.

“Now,” said he, “you are accustomed to seeing the shepherd following his sheep through the English lanes and byways. Out in the East, however, things are different, for the shepherd always leads the way, going on before the flock. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

The party reached Palestine, and, to the amusement of the tourists, almost the first sight to meet their eyes was that of a flock of sheep being driven along by a man. The guide was astonished and immediately made it his business to accost the shepherd.

“How is it that you are driving these sheep?” he asked. “I have always been told that the Eastern shepherd leads his sheep.”

“You are quite right, sir,” replied the man. “The shepherd does lead his sheep. But you see, I’m not the shepherd, I’m the butcher.”

The difference between butchers and shepherds is hope. Butchers drive sheep to the slaughter house where there is no hope, while shepherds lead sheep to green pastures by still and quiet waters to find rest and security.

Advent is a season of hope. Its a season of hope because it reminds you and I that God did something very special for his image bearers. On Christmas day He fulfilled a promise that he made long ago.

God would send a Righteous Good Shepherd who would gather His people and secure them forever.

This promise is seen clearly all throughout the the book of Jeremiah. The book of Jeremiah is made up of a collection of his sermons, essays, and poetry, as well as, stories about Jeremiah collected by Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch (Jeremiah 36). One commentator called the book of Jeremiah

“An Anthology of the Messenger of God’s Judgment and Grace.”

Jeremiah was a priest who lived in Jerusalem in the last years of Judah’s kingdom. He was called by God to confront Israel’s departure from the Torah.

Jeremiah describes Israel as an adulterous prostitute whose idolatry is likened to infidelity. She has gone astray forsaking the Torah and breaking God’s covenant. Her idolatry is so ingrained in society and culture that Israel has set up temples and alters to false gods all throughout the land, where they even sacrificed their children.

This is not surprising considering their lack of love for God manifested itself in a lack of love for their neighbor. Judah was sick with injustice for the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant living among God’s people. Forsaking God’s ways created a culture of death.

In Chapter 7, Jeremiah gives his temple sermon where the prophet confronts Israel’s idolatry by showing their inconstant worship. While they are in the temple they appear to worship Yahweh. However, outside the temple they worship false gods. It reminds you of Isaiah's indictment against Israel when he says

“This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me...” Isaiah 29:13

Their culture of death provokes God’s judgement and he promises that he will destroy his own temple by sending and enemy from the north; whom you learn later in the book is Babylon.

How in the wold did things get this bad? Where were the mouth pieces of God who reminded his people of his ways? Where was Israel’s guardians of the law, the priests who were supposed to hold the people accountable and offer sacrifices pleasing to the Lord; those who atone for their sin? Where were the kings who were to never let the word of God leave their side and were to rule in His righteousness and justice? Jeremiah says they were all gone. Everyone of them were corrupt.

Wicked Shepherds Drive Away and Scatter God’s Sheep Away from Him (Jeremiah 23:1-2)

Shepherd was a standard term for a king or leader in the ancient world. God confronts his shepherds in Jeremiah for their lack of Pious leadership. Life was somewhat decent under King Josiah because he brought reform and lead Israel in God’s ways. Once he died, things again, took a tun for the worse. Jehoiakim was installed as king. C. Von Orelli says of , Jehoiakim (609–598 BC), “He favored the heathen worship, and oppressed the people through his love of luxury and by the erection of grand structures (Jer 22:13 ff). In addition, his politics were treacherous.” It was under Jehoiakim that Jeremiah preached his temple sermon in chapter 7. The temple priests at that time wanted to kill Jeremiah because he confronted their wicked leadership. By God’s grace, the king settled for putting him in jail. Why would leaders of God’s people, his shepherds, put a His prophet in jail who spoke His word? Jeremiah explains why. They've all turned away from the Lord. Their hearts are harden and cannot hear his voice. They stopped seeking Him.

He says of the religious leaders:

Jeremiah 2:8 HCSB

The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?” The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the rulers rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

He goes on to say about the priests, the prophets, and the kings (shepherds)

Jeremiah 10:21 HCSB

For the shepherds are stupid: they don’t seek the Lord. Therefore they have not prospered, and their whole flock is scattered.

Through Ezekiel, God speaks against the shepherds of Israel

Ezekiel 34:1–6 HCSB

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock? You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock. You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered. My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

Jeremiah uses similar language in 23:1-2.

Jeremiah 23:1–2 ESV

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

The shepherds of Israel were self-involved cruel men who ruled with violence and the appetite of their stomach. Forsaking the Lord they became wise in their own eyes, which Solomon says is evil (Proverbs 3:8). And this was not a once and awhile leadership mistake. This was ingrained in their thinking and living. The words for scattered and driven away are particles that convey an ongoing habit of scattering God’s people.

By scattering they drove the people away from God’s ways, His torah, His covenant. They were left unattended, and they enemy made his way into the flock and ravaged them. When God’s people do not have Godly leadership they are prone to wonder away from God. They scatter and begin doing what is right in their own eyes.

There is a lesson here for us, church. Protect this house. Protect this pulpit. Protect your heart. We must never compromise the truth of God’s inerrant and fully sufficient word. We must never compromise Jesus’s sufficient as our Savior. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity making Him God. His fully God and fully man. He lived a perfect life. His death on the cross was sufficient to cover all the sins of the world but only applies to those who accept him by faith. And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved from God’s wrath and given eternal life with Him forever in His kingdom.

Their leadership made the people sick with sin, which scattered them away form God, driving them toward His judgement. That is the message of Jeremiah. God was gong to send Babylon to destroy his temple and remove his people from the land just as he promised he would do if his people broke his covenant in Deuteronomy 30:15-20.

I read a story of an American, traveling in Syria, saw three native shepherds bring their flocks to the same brook, and the flocks drank there together. At length one shepherd arose and called “Men-ah, Men-ah” which in Arabic for “follow me.” His sheep came out of the common herd and followed him up the hillside. The next shepherd did the same, and his sheep went away with him, and the man did not even stop to count them.

The traveler said to the remaining shepherd, “Give me your turban and crook, and see if they will not follow me as well as you.” So he put on the shepherd’s dress and called out, “Men-ah! men-ah!” Not a sheep moved. They know not a voice of a stranger. “Will your flock never follow anybody but you?” inquired the gentleman. The Syrian shepherd replied, “Oh, yes; sometimes a sheep gets sick, and then he will follow any one.”

The people of Israel and her shepherds were sick with unrighteousness. There was no righteousness in the land. Everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. No one was able to stand up and tell the shepherds of Israel to stop driving us to the slaughterhouse.

We live in a society (not that different from Jeremiah’s society) that preaches to you sin promises freedom and pleasure. To be truly free, sin says you need to remove all the post and fencing of God’s morality and you will be free. Truth is relative. Morality is fluid. Hedonism is your life manifesto. Carpe Diem is your mantra. Give no thought to tomorrow or eternity. Today is the day of your satisfaction. Life is about roaming free is the wild woods and fields of the flesh, not being confined by God’s list of does and don’ts.

And for those in the church, if we re not careful to guard our hearts with His word by being in church and in our bibles and in DNA groups and in prayer, we become like our culture. Do you know how God’s sheep become sick with unrighteousness? You indulge sin. You believe God will over look your sexual immorality. You think because you hide gossip under the umbrella of prayer God let’s it go. Because God is a God of forgiveness, your unrighteous anger and grudge bearing attitude is justified.

You need to understand something about yourself. Our problem is two-fold. First of all, God put eternity into our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3). Nothing in this world can satisfy your heart like God. You will try to fill it with sex, drugs, success, family, reputation, prosperity, and everything under the sun, but you will always find yourself wanting. Your desire to feed this appetite will only grow stronger and stronger until you eventfully bite and devour everyone to get what you want. This is why Israel’s widows, orphans, and immigrants suffered in Israel in Jeremiah’s day. They were exploited by the Shepherds and their neighbors.

Second, God draws lines at how far he will let sin reach. At some point he judges sin with death. Sin only brings death. Either you will kill those around you an even yourself or God will strike you down. Look who God is judging. These are His people. God cares about righteousness and justice. He cares about your thought life, your affections, and your personal commitment to his holiness. He cares about how you treat your neighbor. He does not ant you sick with unrighteousness. He is committed to giving you life in His own righteousness.

For Israel and her wicked Shepherds, God’s judgment is sure. Babylon is coming and the temple will be destroyed. Death will take their children, their wives, and their husbands. Those who remain and listen to God will become strangers in a foreign land. God fulfills his promise of judgment by sending Babylon to ransack Jerusalem in 586 BC. The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s account of Jerusalem’s destruction. Things became so bleak for God’s people. Jeremiah says

Lamentations 4:4–6 HCSB

The nursing infant’s tongue clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any. Those who used to eat delicacies are destitute in the streets; those who were reared in purple garments huddle in garbage heaps. The punishment of my dear people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand laid on it.

Lamentations 4:10 HCSB

The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children; they became their food during the destruction of my dear people.

Judgement and death is what unrighteousness brought to Israel. Judgement and death is what comes to all the unrighteous. That is the truth of the gospel. There is no one righteous before God (Romans 3:9-18). For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). To try to say that you have no sin is to lie to yourself and to call God a liar (1 John 1:8).

The wages of your sin is death (Romans 6:23). It is appointed for man to die once and then comes God’s judgement (Hebrews 9). God’s judgement is as sure today as it was in Jerusalem when Jeremiah warned Israel. At this point, humanity seems as lost as Israel in Jeremiah’s day. What hope is there for you and I if all of us are sinners? What hope is there when death comes for you and me and God’s judgement is starring at us in the eyes of our final moments on earth? Is Yahweh only a God of judgement? Is there mercy? Is there any forgiveness? Is there any hope?

Friend, hope is one of the reasons why we celebrate Christmas. Jeremiah’s message to Israel was not only judgement. It was also one of hope. How beautiful is the God we serve! He will judge sin with His justice. That is sure. However, He always tempers his judgement with his mercy to give humanity hope!

The Hope of the Good Shepherd

In the midst of His judgment, God made promises of hope in Jeremiah’s word to Israel.

Jeremiah 23:3–6 HCSB

“I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them. They will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any be missing.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “The days are coming” —this is the Lord’s declaration— “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He will be named: Yahweh Our Righteousness.

The Good Shepherd Gathers His People (Jeremiah 23:3)

God says there will come a day where His people will no longer be scattered. To be scattered is to be vulnerable. Stan loves it when God’s people are isolated. he can devour them much better that way. God will put an end to this. He is going to ensure they will be in His presence forever.

The Good Shepherd Provides For His People (Jeremiah 23:4-5)

God also promises to to provide a place for His sheep to live with Him. he will provide shepherds who will feed his flock. He will ensure none of his sheep are missing. Everyone sheep is accounted for in God’s pasture. His sheep will have nothing to fear or to be discouraged about. God will protect them from their enemies and provide a safe place to rest. God will also provide a Good Shepherd, one who is righteous, and reign as a wise King.

The Good Shepherd Lead His Sheep To Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6)

Jeremiah ends his book with a glimmer of hope. Jehoiakim is long gone from the throne. His son Jehoiachin became king of Judah. He reigned three months before the Chaldeans invaded Judah. He was carried back to Babylon and throne in prison. Jeremiah ends with Merodach, King of Babylon, pardoning Jehoiachin in the first year of his reign. He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and he dined regularly in the presence of the King of Babylon for the rest of his life. he was even given an allowance until he died. The glimmer of hope is that Jehoiachin is a descendent of David. Jeremiah ends with God ensuring that the line of David stays intact so that one day he can send the Righteous Branch of David who will reign wisely as King and administer justice and righteousness in the land.

The Righteous Branch will restore righteousness in the land by removing his people’s guilt and giving them His own righteousness. He will ensure Judah will be saved and God’s people will dwell securely. Jeremiah says the the day is coming when God will send his Messiah, the Christ into the world save his people from his judgement and give them eternal life with him.

Jeremiah gave words of hope to Israel that a day is coming when God will deal once and for all with their unrighteousness and provide a way for them to live securely with him forever where they will flourish. Israel had to wait expectantly for the Messiah to come. That is what Advent means. Advent is about expectant waiting and preparation for the coming of the Christ.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd

The birth of Jesus the Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to send “The Righteous Branch of David,” “Our Righteousness,” into the world because Jesus is the Righteous Branch of David (Isaiah 11:1-9; Romans 1:1-6; 1 Corinthians 1:30). He is the Messiah, the Anointed One, the promised Savior of the world.

Isaiah prophesied that

Isaiah 7:14 HCSB

Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

Isaiah 11:1–4 HCSB

Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him — a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, He will not execute justice by what He hears with His ears, but He will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with discipline from His mouth, and He will kill the wicked with a command from His lips.

Isaiah 9:6–7 HCSB

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

Gabriel told Joseph, Jesus’s earthly father

Matthew 1:20–23 HCSB

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

Gabriel also tells Mary

Luke 1:30–33 ESV

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Christmas is a season of hope for every sinner alive today.” God kept his promise to send His Son to save the world. He kept his promsie to send the Righteous branch of David, a Good Shepherd, who will gather his sheep securely.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

John 10:11–18 HCSB

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves Me, because I am laying down My life so I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father.”

Jesus is no butcher. he does not drive his sheep to the slaughter. He gathers his people and leads them to the cross where he was slaughtered on their behalf. The cross is the place Jesus laid his life down so that you could give him your unrighteousness and he will give you his righteousness. The cross is how you are made righteous and where he provides the way for you to dwell securely in His presence forever. The cross is not just for Israel, but for the nations. Everyone who confesses their sin, repents, and places their faith in Jesus's life, death, resurrection and ascension, will be saved. Furthermore more, your salvation is secure. You can never loose it. Jesus says

John 6:37–40 HCSB

Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise them up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

If you are still sick with unrighteousness. If you have not brought your sin to God to be forgive and made right, then today is the time of advent can be fulfilled for you. The King has come. Come to the King. Receive his forgiveness and righteousness. Remove God’s wrath on you by accepting his free gift of salvation by faith. Confess your sin and repent of it. Ask Jesus into your heart today.

If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then God has placed his judgement on the cross of His Son and in turn given you His Son’s righteousness. You are saved from his wrath. You now have eternal life with him, it is secured, in his pasture, where you will flourish. You have the hope of Christmas.

You have hope because the Good Shepherd has gathered you securely in His righteousness for all eternity.