Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

The prophet Ezekiel prophesied about the Shepherd who was to come. God saw his people as a flock of sheep having “no Shepherd”. (34:8)

“As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day” (v.12).

God’s chosen people have been scattered because of persecution. But the prophet Zechariah was fortelling of the smitten shepherd when he wrote: ”smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” (13:7)

After Jesus and his disciples had finished the Last Supper, he led them to the mount of Olives. It was then that he told them that they would all be offended because of him later that night.

This would happen, he said, to fulfill what Zakaria wrote. The Shepherd, Jesus, would be smitten, and the Sheep of his flock, his disciples, would be scattered abroad. (Matthew 26:31)

When God looked down from heaven and saw his people as a flock of sheep having no Shepherd, he sent his son. Jesus, that Good Shepherd, gave his life for the Sheep. (John 10:11)