“…that Great Shepherd of the sheep…”

                 One of the most intimate metaphors about God in all of Scripture is that of God being our shepherd.  Clearly this originated because of the pastoral activity in the Middle East.  David personified this in the Old Testament when he wrote Psalm 23, probably the best-known OT passage.  Both testaments use this metaphor numerous times.  To the Jews God was “my shepherd” (Psalm 23) and “the shepherd of Israel” (Psalm 80:1).  In the New Testament Christ is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14), the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) and the Great Shepherd in Hebrews 13:20.

What makes him the “Great Shepherd of the sheep”?  Our context tells us.  It was through this Great Shepherd that the “God of peace…make[s] you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight…”  Let’s consider this specifically.

First, God is a God of peace.  He wants peace to be characteristic in our relationship with him.  With so many problems in the world today, this is a great source of comfort.  If we can find peace with God here on the earth, imagine the indescribable peace that exists in Heaven!  The fighting, anger, arguments, competition and struggle all melts away before his glory, and peace will envelope our soul in the most spiritually soothing experience ever realized.

Second, think about the benefit this God of peace wants for us.  His goal is to “make you complete in every good work…”  This could be an extraordinary statement if it weren’t from God, so we should not be surprised.  Why not surprised?  Because of what the word complete means.  The Greek word has the idea of framing, healing, preparing, equipping, restoring and fitting together perfectly.  Notice how it is used in the following verses, with the same Greek word in italics.

Hebrews 11:3 – “the worlds were framed by the word of God…”

Mark 1:19 – “He saw James…and John…mending their nets.”

1 Corinthians 1:10 – “…but [that] you should be perfectly joined together in the same mind…”

Galatians 6:1 – “…you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…”

When taken together, we see that our Great Shepherd is the one who cares for us completely and intimately, down to the smallest details.  He works like an expert craftsman, making everything fit and work well in harmony.  How can that happen in fallen and sinful people?  He is continually “working in you what is well pleasing in [God’s] sight.  It is his work in us!  He builds us, and in many of us he rebuilds us.  He prepares us, equipping his people with everything needed to be “well pleasing” in “every good work.”  What an incredible thing!  We realize this practically when we take God at his word by faith.  We stop doubting what he tells us and begin living by faith, and moving out in a growing confidence that he is on the throne and directing the affairs of mankind.  We decide to live his tremendous agenda, not our puny one.

Finally, the “blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20) is the purchase price of his work in us.  This is nothing other than the blood of the Great Shepherd himself.  For the God of peace to have his will accomplished in us, it required the Great Shepherd to give up everything he had on the earth, including his life.  He held nothing back.  He gave his perfect best in complete submission trusting “himself to him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).

Can we do any less?  Can we live our lives in self-centered pursuits in light of what He went through for us?  Can we be indifferent about others when the God of peace so loved us and loves them?  Are we by faith tapping into the building/restoring work of the Great Shepherd?