Good Shepherds Show Compassion On Their Sheep
Matthew 12:9-21 reads,
12:9
He departed there, and went into their synagogue. 12:10And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" that they might accuse him.12:11
He said to them, "What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won't he grab on to it, and lift it out? 12:12How much, then, is a man of more value than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day." 12:13Then he told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. 12:14But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him. 12:15Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, 12:16and charged them that they should not make him known: 12:17that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,12:18
"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen;I will put my Spirit on him.
He will declare judgment to the Gentiles.
12:19
He will not strive, nor shout;12:20
He won’t break a bruised reed.Until he sends forth judgment to victory.
12:21In his name, the Gentiles will hope."
A concerned sheep owner rescues his sheep when they need rescuing, even when the rescue takes place on the Sabbath day. For it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.
Yah'shuah's Appointed Shepherds Should Be Careful To Perform Their Duties As Instructed
Matthew 15:21-28 reads,
15:21
Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. 15:22Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!"15:23
But he answered her not a word.His disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away; for she cries after us."
15:24
But he answered, "I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel."15:25
But she came and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, help me."15:26
But he answered, "It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." 15:27But she said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table."15:28
Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that hour.When Yah'shuah sends his servants to a particular region and among a particular people they should confine themselves to the region and people they have been sent to, without exceeding the bounds of the authority they have been given.
Good Shepherds Seek Out Their Strayed Sheep
Matthew 18:12-14 reads,
18:12
"What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? 18:13If he happens to find it, most assuredly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 18:14Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.A good shepherd seeks his lost sheep until he finds them. He doesn't just leave them astray wherever it is that they have strayed.
Yah'shuah's Appointed Shepherds Should Seek Out Sinners And Return Them To Righteousness
Luke 15:3-7 reads,
15:3
He told them this parable. 15:4"Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? 15:5When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 15:7I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.Yah'shuah's servants should seek out sinners and bring them to repentance, for sinners are lost sheep who need to be sought out by Yah'shuah's appointed shepherds, his servants.
Yah'shuah's Appointed Shepherds Should Feed His Flock With Yahweh's Words
John 21:15-19 reads,
21:15
So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?"He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you."
He said to him, "Feed my lambs." 21:16He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?"
He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you."
He said to him, "Tend my sheep." 21:17He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?"
Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, "Do you have affection for me?" He said to him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you."
Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 21:18Most assuredly I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself, and walked where you wanted to. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you, and carry you where you don’t want to go."
21:19
Now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."Yah'shuah, the Chief Shepherd, appoints shepherds serving under his authority to feed and tend his flock. They are to feed them with proper food - Yahweh's word and watch over them in the manner that Yah'shuah has shown that they should be watched over.
Good Shepherds Take Good Care Of The Strayed Sheep Belonging To Other Shepherds And Restore The Same
Deuteronomy 22:1-4 reads,
22:1
You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother. 22:2If your brother isn’t near to you, or if you don’t know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him. 22:3So shall you do with his donkey; and so shall you do with his garment; and so shall you do with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself. 22:4You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again.A good shepherd takes care not only of his sheep, but also of that belonging to his neighbour, even a neighbour he doesn't know. If Yah'shuah's servants have in their company a person who should belong to the company of another servant of Yah'shuah, they should take care of this person until such time as the other servant comes seeking for this person. If the other servant is known, they should return this person to the fold of that other servant.
Yah'shuah's Appointed Shepherds Should Not Compete Over Yah'shuah's Flock
What this principle shows is that Yah'shuah's servants should not compete among themselves over Yah'shuah's flock. Each servant should attend to the portion of Yah'shuah's flock allotted to him and should not seek to poach from portions of other servants.
Good Shepherds Do Not Leave Their Sheep Unattended
1 Samuel 17:12-22 reads,
17:12
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among men. 17:13The three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 17:14David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul. 17:15Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Beth-lehem. 17:16The Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17:17Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; 17:18and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and look how your brothers fare, and take their pledge. 17:19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 17:20David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle. 17:21Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. 17:22David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.David the shepherd teaches a principle of shepherding. A good shepherd does not leave the flock unattended. When he has to go away from the flock he ensures that he first finds an attendant to watch over the flock in his absence.
Isaiah 53:6 reads,
53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.Strayed sheep are those who commit iniquity. Therefore the manner strayed sheep are to be brought back to the fold is to make them aware of their iniquity, doing so through imparting to them Yahweh's word. The shepherd then helps the strayed sheep abide by Yahweh's word, thereby departing from their iniquity and returning to Yahweh's flock.
Yahweh Will Forgive The Iniquity Of His Flock And Restore Them To Their Fold
Jeremiah 50:17-20 reads,
50:17
Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 50:18Therefore thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 50:19I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 50:20In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.Sheep driven away from the fold are those in iniquity. But those who are part of the fold, having returned from their straying, are without sin, having been forgiven their iniquity. Shepherds should therefore seek out sinners and bring them back to righteousness, and by so doing given them rest and assurance, facilitating the healing of their broken bones.
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