New York UBF – NY University Bible Fellowship (NYUBF)

2009 Christmas-III

JESUS, THE SHEPHERD OF OUR SOUL

Mathew 2:1-12
Key Verse: 2:6

“But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will
be the shepherd of my people Israel.”

Today is the last Sunday of 2009. For most of us, 2009 was eventful and challenging. There were many ups and downs and twists and turns in our paths. Many of us have been struggling financially. Some of us have been challenged emotionally, physically and spiritually. There were moments of discouragement and sadness as well as moments of great joy and excitement. Throughout the year, most of us have been busy, doing many things, hurriedly moving from one place to another and jumping from one task to the other. The demand on us seems endless. You often feel like a hamster in a cage, endlessly running on the wheel and repeating the same task over and over again. Life is very stressful and never seems to get easier. Often we may ask, “Is this all my life is all about”? When I got out of college in the middle of my 20’s, the question we asked was, “Did you get a job” or “What kind of job did you get?”, soon to be followed by the question ”Did you get married?” Then in my late 30’s, the question shifted to “How many kids do you have?” In my late 40’s, they started asking, “How is your health?” Now, in my 50’s, they mostly ask, “Are you happy now?” I know they will ask me in my 60’s, “How many grandchildren do you have?” I think all these questions can be summed up in one question, “How can we live a life that is truly beautiful and meaningful?”

Many centuries ago, King David wrote a psalm in his old age, Psalm 23, one of the most well known and loved Psalms in the Bible. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, and He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Ps 23:1-6) People are mostly concerned about their success in the world or how much money they make. But surprisingly, David confessed that the secret of his happiness is not about his human success, but about his relationship with God. He said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” “The Lord is my shepherd.” It’s not even about how faithful he was to the Lord. Rather, it was about how the Lord, his shepherd, was faithful to him. In today’s passage, we are going to focus on Jesus who is the shepherd of his people Israel. Let’s think about what it means that Jesus is the shepherd of our souls.

Look at verse 1-5. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was the king in the territory. (B.C. 40-4) At the time of Jesus’ birth, the people in Jerusalem and in Judea should have acknowledged and proclaimed the birth of the Messiah to the whole world. Yet, most people in Jerusalem didn’t even know about it. They didn’t hear about it until the wise men from the east, also called “Magi”, suddenly arrived in Jerusalem and asked them a question “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” Their question was based on the stunning appearance of a star in the east, which indicated the birth of this Jewish king. (2)

Why would the people of Israel miss such an important event- the birth of their Messiah? I guess they were just too busy and preoccupied by their day-to-day struggles. Verse 3 says that when King Herod heard about this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. Herod immediately called together the nation’s top religious leaders and inquired them of the birth place of the Messiah. (4) All of the top Jewish religious leaders unanimously answered “In Bethlehem in Judea.” (5) Their answer was based on Micah 5:2 and 4, which read, “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.” At this point, King Herod was interested only in the birth place of the Messiah. It could have been much better if he gave attention also to what kind of Messiah the new born child was going to be. The new born child was to be the shepherd of his people Israel.

In fact, the prophet Micah was not the only one who prophesized about the shepherd king. The three Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, also predicted about the coming of the shepherd. (Isaiah 40:1; Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel 34:12,23) When we read Isaiah 40:11, it is even clearer that this king would be a spiritual and pastoral king, not a political or military king. “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:11)

Jesus was a carpenter by trade. But Jesus didn’t say, “I am the good carpenter. I can fix you up.” Instead, he identified himself as a shepherd. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He also said in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Many people tell me that the image of a shepherd is not familiar to them. There are some images of a shepherd. (LCD) The word “shepherd” came from the old English word “sheep-herd” meaning “one who herds sheep.”

When Jesus said that he is the good shepherd for the sheep, we are the sheep he is speaking of. Psalm 100:3 reads, “Know that the Lord is God. It is He, who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” How do you feel to be called a “sheep”? Some people feel insulted when they are called a “sheep”, saying, “I am not an animal. I am a human.” After all, sheep are known to be dumb and stupid. But why are we called “sheep”? It’s because by nature we are weak and vulnerable. Isaiah 53:6 reads, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” Sheep are rebellious. If they are told to go this way, they go that way. If they are told to do this or not to do that, they say, “Why?” We need protection from our predators, like wolves, lions and snakes. We also need guidance to find the green pastures and fresh water. Without the care of a shepherd, sheep cannot properly survive. Before he became a king, David was a shepherd boy. He used to care of his father Jesse’s flock of sheep. When a bear or a lion came and carried off a sheep from the flock, he went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. (1 Sam 17:34-35) God raised the young shepherd David to be the shepherd of the nation Israel. Thus David became a prototype of the Messiah.

Sometime ago, a traffic officer gave a citation to a woman in Manhattan. When the officer handed it through the window to her, the angry woman snapped it out of his hands and said, “You can go straight to hell!” So the officer took her to court. A few days later both of them appeared before the judge. Do you know what happened to them? The judge dismissed the officer’s complaint about the woman’s language, saying “It wasn’t a command, or a wish, but a statement of fact, for going to hell is a possibility.” Because of all the sins we have committed and will commit, we deserve to be punished and to go to hell. In order to save us from condemnation of our sins, Jesus was crushed and shed his precious blood on the cross. In order to heal us from our sicknesses and wounds, he was pierced in his hands and endured the scorning pains and shame on the cross. Jesus took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. (Isa 53:4-6) Why did he do all these? It’s because he truly loves us.

One young man’s heart was broken because his girlfriend broke up with him. He asked her “Why don’t you love me anymore?” She said, “It’s just because I am tired of you.” What a big blow that was! Why would God love us so much and continually? Why? He loves us even when we don’t deserve his love. If we would ask him “Lord, why do you love me?” he would say with a big smile, “Don’t ask me why I love you. You are my child.” In fact, it’s not that we loved God first but that He who loved us first. (1 John 4:10, 19) If God didn’t love us, none of us would be here today. Unless we realize God’s deep love for us, we would never have peace, joy and hope in our lives. We are not left alone like orphans in the world. Jesus is the Immanuel- God with us. (Mt 1:23) He became a man and dwelt among us. (Jn 1:14) Jesus also promised to be with us always. (Mt 28:20) Therefore, we must know that whether we are able to feel His presence or not, we are not alone but the Lord is with us. Even when we are in pains of suffering and loneliness, He is with us, and he will always be with us through His Spirit and through the community of His believers – the body of Christ on earth.

So let’s think about what it means to us that Jesus is the shepherd of his people Israel. It means that he is the shepherd of our soul. A man had a terribly lengthy surgery. It was expensive and the results weren’t very promising. He went his doctor for the post-operation visit, and the doctor said, “Well, I have some sad news for you. You’re not going to live more than six months. I am sorry.” The man said, “Good bye, doc! But I want you to know that it’s going to take me at least a year just to pay you back what I owe you.” Then the doctor said, “Well, I’ll give you a year then.” We have a serious health-care problem. Millions of people are without a health insurance and medical bills are ridiculously high. And there is no real care in the system. Our nation’s health-care system requires reformation. But even the reformed system is not going to be enough. People really need care. They need care from Jesus, the shepherd of their souls.

When we think of Jesus’ ministry, we can see the clear picture of what it means to be a shepherd of one’s soul. During his public ministry, Jesus took care of people who were in need wherever he was. He was the shepherd not only for our bodies but for our whole being. He took care of all our needs, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. He would often feed a large crowd of hungry people. He would feed them both physically and spiritually. He took care of all kinds of people, regardless of their socio-economic, political, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. One day, a leper came to Jesus. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.” This man had no health coverage, and people didn’t care about him. Because of the seriousness of his illness, which was very contagious, everyone tried to stay away from him. But Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. (Lk 5:12-13) Jesus was always surrounded by socially marginalized, emotionally disturbed and mentally challenged. We may also call some of them demon-possessed. He would often be criticized for his radical approach toward them by the religiously righteous people. He would answer them this way, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Lk 5:31) Jesus said in John 10:9-10, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Saint Peter called this Jesus as the shepherd of our soul. “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”(1 Peter 2:25) Here, the word “soul” is the most common translation of the Hebrew word “nepesh” and the Greek word “psyche.” Yet, many scholars believe that a better translation is either “person” or “self.” The soul is not a part of a person but his/her total self. Therefore, a shepherd of one’s soul is one who gives care for a whole person, including the body, but mainly the inner world of a person, like thinking, feeling and willing. The Latin word for “care” is “cura” which contains the idea of both care and cure. A shepherd’s care involves nurturing and supporting a person as well as the healing and restoration of the well-being of a person.1

Look at verses 7-8. In these verses, we see that King Herod and the top Jewish religious leaders in Jesus’ time had no genuine interest in knowing Jesus personally or worshiping him. They were self-serving. We see that they had no true beauty, meaning or joy in their souls. Instead, hearing the news of the birth of the Messiah, they were only disturbed. Last week, we learned that the birth of Jesus is good news of great joy that will be for all the people. (Lk 2:10) But it’s not easy to have constant joy unless we internalize the gospel every moment. We need to dethrone ourselves and enthrone Jesus in our hearts by crucifying our sinful selves. As long as we remain in the throne of our hearts, we are like little Herods.

On the other hand, we might take the example of the wise men from the east, who came from a far in search of the king of their souls. Look at verses 9-12. After they heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. When they saw the child Jesus with his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The world we live in is becoming more and more hostile. People tend to love money more than God. The love of people is growing cold. Some people put material things ahead of everything. Recently, someone sent me a heart breaking story about a man by e-mail. While a man was polishing his car, his four year old son picked up a stone, and scratched lines on the side of the car. In anger, the man took the child’s hand and hit it many times not realizing he was using a wrench. At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father with painful eyes he asked, “Dad, when will my fingers grow back?” The man was so hurt and speechless; he went back to his car and kicked it a lot of times. Devastated by his own acts, sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches; the child had written “Love you, dad”. This story tells us that anger and love have no limits. We are to choose love and have a beautiful and lovely life. We are to remember this: Things are to be used and people are to be loved. The problem in today’s word is that people are used while things are loved.

We are so self-absorbed that we often neglect those who are crying out for help. We are called by Jesus to be care-givers, shepherds and friends of His people around us. But the foundation of care-giving is compassion, the genuine friendship in Christ. We often complain that we don’t have many good friends. But the real question we should ask is not that we don’t have many good friends but that we are not good friends to others when they really need us. We don’t think that friendship is God’s call. We must remember that our care-giving based on our Christian friendship can make both a small and big difference in the lives of those who suffer and have no means to take care of themselves. It can be done through our constant prayers, teaching, preaching, worship, giving listening ears and offering a few words of encouragement to those who are discouraged. As a result, the kingdom of God will be realized in the hostile world. And we can have the joy of heaven in our hearts. Praise Jesus our Savior, the shepherd of our souls, who suffered and died for our sins and took care of our needs all throughout the year. May we continue to enjoy the blessing as God’s sheep and grow to be better shepherds, care-givers and friends to those who are in need in the New Year.