Perspective: The Bad Shepherd

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The Bad Shepherd

I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away.  That's because he isn't the shepherd; the sheep aren't really his.  So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.  He's only a hired hand and the sheep don't matter to him.

John 10:11-13 (CEB)

Arm me with watchful care
As in Thy sight to live
And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!

From "A Charge to Keep I Have" by Charles Wesley

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Eastertide, a day sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  He goes on to say, "I am the good shepherd.  I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.  I give up my life for the sheep."¹  On this day, we remember who Jesus is as humanity's Good Shepherd.  Among other things we remember that Jesus laid down His life, as a good shepherd does, to liberate humanity from the power of sin and death when He endured crucifixion.

The twenty-third psalm is attributed to Jesus' ancestor David, who shepherded his family's sheep before he was anointed to become his people's next king.  In this beloved psalm, a shepherd imagines himself as a sheep, and he imagines that God is his shepherd.  The psalmist proclaims that God, his shepherd, provides everything he needs.  He proclaims that, as shepherd, God leads him to "grassy meadows" and "restful waters."  He proclaims that, when he must "walk through the darkest valley," he is not afraid, because God, his shepherd, is there to protect him.²  In the same way that sheep are totally dependent on their shepherd, we are totally dependent on God.

This psalm, which describes God's care for humanity, has something to teach us about human beings, who bear God's image.  It teaches us that, when we find ourselves in any place of authority, not unlike a shepherd, we are called to lead, provide, or protect in accordance with the authority entrusted to us.

Perhaps, on Good Shepherd Sunday, we would do well to remember that not all shepherds are good.

The prophet Ezekiel was among the people deported to Babylon the first time the Babylonian Empire attacked the Kingdom of Judah.  Occasionally he was called to speak out against the people in authority among those who remained in Judah.  On one occasion, God commanded Ezekiel to "prophesy against Israel's shepherds."³  God told Ezekiel to say to them,

The Lord God proclaims to the shepherds: Doom to Israel's shepherds who tended themselves!  Shouldn't shepherds tend the flock?  You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you slaughter the fat animals, but you don't tend the flock.  You don't strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, or seek out the lost; but instead you use force to rule them with injustice.⁴

In other words, the people in charge used their positions of authority not for the benefit of the people who depended on them but rather for their own benefit.

When people in positions of authority fail to do the jobs entrusted to them, bad things happen to the people who depend on them.  God told Ezekiel to say to the "shepherds" who failed to care for God's people,

Without a shepherd, my flock was scattered; and when it was scattered, it became food for all the wild animals.  My flock strayed on all the mountains and on every high hill throughout all the earth.  My flock was scattered, and there was no one to look for them or find them.  So now shepherds, hear the Lord's word!  This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, without a shepherd, my flock became prey.  My flock became food for all the wild animals.  My shepherds didn't seek out my flock.  They tended themselves, but they didn't tend my flock.⁵

When shepherds fail to lead, provide, and protect, their flock essentially becomes a buffet for predators.  When the kings of Israel and Judah failed to lead their people well, their kingdoms were attacked by larger empires, and their subjects were taken into captivity.

According to Jesus, "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  By contrast, the bad shepherd neglects the lives of his sheep as he seeks to enrich and glorify himself.  As we remember what Jesus, our Good Shepherd, did for us, His sheep, may we remember that not all people who seek positions of authority truly have other people's best interests at heart.  May we who are in positions of authority faithfully do what we have been trusted to do by leading, providing, and protecting to the best of our ability as our positions require.


Notes:

1. John 10:11, 14-15 (CEB)
2. Psalm 23:1-4 (CEB)
3. Ezekiel 34:1-2 (CEB)
4. Ezekiel 34:2-4 (CEB)
5. Ezekiel 34:5-8 (CEB)

The photograph of the flock of sheep was provided by the Agricultural Research Service and is public domain.