“Go Ahead—Make My Day”: The Shepherd’s Watch

 

“Go Ahead—Make My Day”: The Shepherd’s Watch

 

Here’s a little fodder for Trivia night:

 

On Sunday April 26^th the  Fourth Sunday of Easter, called Good Shepherd Sunday, we celebrate the Risen Lord as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Within the  landscape of Christian symbolism, few images resonate more profoundly than the tens of thousands of beautiful, metaphorical portrayals of Christ as the Good Shepherd

But in biblical Israel, nomadic shepherds lived humble, demanding lives alongside their flocks, tending to their needs around the clock. It was far from easy — and hardly the serene, idyllic scene we often see.

Shepherds  would guide their sheep by day to find food and water and watch over them at night. It was a 24 x 7  job. And the proverb “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make the horse drink” applied to sheep as well.  Just because a shepherd found a nice stream of running water for his flock, doesn’t mean the sheep would drink from it. Sheep are afraid of  water that moves quickly. So now, he had to look for pools of water and provide some quiet place where the sheep could quench their thirst. How appropriate then are the words concerning the divine Shepherd: "He leadeth me beside the still waters" (Psa. 23:2).

Another expression, “You can’t herd cats” applies to sheep too,

Unlike cattle, which are often referred to as a "herd" due to their tendency to move collectively together, sheep are more independent, seek togetherness, but with individual freedom within small groups – just like people especially in families. That’s why they are collectively called a flock.

Shepherd’s staff – like in the paintings? Sure, he had one. David mentions the staff along with the rod in his Shepherd Psalm (Psa. 23:4.). It is a stick five or six feet long and sometimes but not always, has a crook at the end of it. It was a  walking stick but useful in nudging the sheep to keep true to a route. The nomadic shepherd’s staff provided a measure of protection, but for true defense he carried a stout club known as a shepherd’s rod.

The rod was something like a policeman's baton. It was a Billy club  made of heavy oak with a big knob as the end. The “magnum “ version had nails inserted for some serious defense. No shepherd would leave home without it. It was the rod that David used in protecting his sheep from wild animals (1Sam. 17:34-36). He mentions both the rod and the staff in his Shepherd Psalm (Psa. 23:4). The rod was handy to have especially after dark. It was shaped for force rather than finesse. There was no holster for it, no ornamentation. It rested where it could be seized in an instant. When danger emerged from the brush — a wolf’s shadow, the low growl of a predator — the shepherd did not fumble. The rod was already in hand. The shepherd meant business. “Go ahead, make my day.”

In Biblical times, shepherds commonly traveled far from home, especially in semi-arid regions like ancient Israel and Judah. When pasture near the village was exhausted, they moved their flocks to wherever grazing and water could be found. That meant  frequently   spending nights away and using temporary sheepfold:

It was a make-shift corral — something the shepherd might dismantle when the flock moved on. He gathered loose stones and rocks, stacking them into a rough perimeter wall. Along the top he wove tree branches and tangled thornbushes, their long spikes forming a natural barbed wire against predators.

But there was no wooden gate. No swinging door.

So picture it .The shepherd is alone with his flock. The hills are silent, the night is pitch black. Wolves, jackals and lions are real threats and prefer to hunt at night.

What does he do?

The shepherd lays down across the open entrance, with Ol Betsy (his rod ) nearby.’

 

 

 

The shepherd’s own body became the door. Any wolf or jackal hungry for a meal would have to get by him first. In the darkness, he placed himself between danger and his sheep — putting his life on the line so they could sleep in safety. That took guts.

 

1 Samuel 17:34–36

David tells King Saul:

“Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went    after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.”

And it explains the  imagery in the Gospel of John 10:7, where Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep.”

This is Jesus the Good Shepherd laying down his life for us.

Here Our Savior  is foretelling His ultimate sacrifice on the cross; His willingness to endure unimaginable suffering and offer His life in exchange for ours. He will make the ultimate sacrifice and pay the ransom in  a selfless act that  redeems us, reconciles us with the Father, and hands us a gift of everlasting life: salvation.

In the Good Shepherd passage of John 10, Jesus, tries to get through to the  Pharisees. but they don’t get.  They masqueraded as devotees of righteousness and obedience but in  a word, they were  fake – and Jesus called them on it. Jealous of Jesus and now angry because they were exposed as frauds, they wanted Him dead. (Nothing reveals a counterfeit like the presence of the genuine article.) They saw Jesus associating with the common people and saw them cheering Him, loving Him. They couldn’t stand it because they were envious and suspicious of His popularity.

In John 10:13 Jesus  contrasts a good shepherd with that of a hired hand . The hired hand  “chickens out” when the  flock is in trouble because he does not love the flock as Jesus, the Good Shepherd does. In effect, Jesus is saying literally and metaphorically that He is here to save humanity, to protect us from the wolves. In His teaching, He refers to the flock being attacked by a wolf, a general image of not only a spiritual foe but the natural adversities that people face in their lives including other people themselves. He promises  to protect us if we seek His protection.

In Matthew 10:16 Jesus sends forth the Twelve “as sheep in the midst of wolves.” 

Well, the wolves are still out there. So be careful, but remember the Good Shepherd is out there too, just like in those paintings.

God Bless