luke 2:8-20

Shepherds, on the quite hillside in the night, so peaceful that we would like to climb into the picture and sit with them for a while. As we are sitting there the sky lights up and song burst forth, “Gory to God in the highest!” A Voice thunders out, “Fear not! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy!’ The shock wears off and we all start to talk. Uh, you see that? What did you see? After we are sure of what we saw and heard we might ask why us? Why would God send angels to shepherds, working class people like you and I? Today I want to look at why shepherds?

The prophets are filed with imagery of God as the shepherd and Israel as the sheep. Psalm 23 paints a wonderful picture of God as the shepherd caring for his sheep. Israel’s king David was a shepherd. Most of all is the prophet Zechariah’s picture of the shepherds in Zechariah 11. Here is a picture of the sheep doomed to slaughter.

1.       Zechariah

a.       Shepherd who devours the sheep vs 15&16

b.       The flock doomed to slaughter, sold out, vs 4&5

c.       Ezekiel 34:1-10 The priest and the leaders of Israel

2.       Another shepherd

a.       Isaiah 40:9-11

b.       High on the mountain herald of good news!

c.       Behold your God!

d.       He will tend the flock and gather the lambs

e.       Ezekiel 34:11-24

f.        God searches for the sheep

g.       Gives them good pasture

h.       Strengthens the weak

i.         Rescues the flock

3.       Jesus the good shepherd

a.       Vs 1-5 the voice of the true shepherd

b.       Jesus is the door to the goodness of God vs 7-10

c.       The shepherd who lays down his life vs 11-16

4.       We are the shepherds

a.       John 21:15-17 feed my sheep

b.       Do you love Jesus, really? Feed his sheep.

c.       Whose voice do they hear?

d.       do we use the tender voice of God?

e.       Do we go and gather them gently into our arms and carry them home?

Jesus came as the shepherd to the shepherds. Jesus has called you and I to be the new shepherds to call and find the lost. Whose voice do they hear? Is it the gentle voice of the savior seeking them out? Who’s arms wrap around them? Is it the strong gentle arms of Jesus picking them up and carrying them home? You and I are God’s shepherds of the sheep.