Monday, May 9, 2022

Of Sheep and the Shepherd's Song

 

Monday, May 9, 2022

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!  Worship the Lord with gladness.  Come before him, singing with joy.  Acknowledge that the Lord is God!  He made us, and we are his.  We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Psalm 100:1-3

I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name.  They were all holding harps that God had given them.  And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:  “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty.  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations.  Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”  Revelation 15:2-4

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  John 10:27

The imagery of God’s people as sheep is plentiful in Scripture, and a common metaphor for those who follow the Shepherd.  Less on the front burner is that of a Chief Shepherd who is also a sheep.  Yet, the connection is unmistakeable.  In any account of the Incarnation of Christ, He is the Lamb, who will be slain – a sacrifice for sins.  The Shepherd is also a sheep. 

Leaping from the Incarnation to the eschaton, the last days, and of Christ’s coming, and our gathering ‘round the throne of God to worship the Ancient of Days, the meaning of my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me is Revelation’s flock singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.  It is here we see that glorious condescension of the Christ of eternal glory stooped to enter the manger.  He became one of us, that we might recognize Him, and hear his voice.

While in seminary in the port city of New Orleans, our family hosted two Japanese officer trainees for a day.  They spoke no English, and we were clueless as to their language.  We all pointed, gestured, and did whatever possible to convey meaning to our conversation.  In the end, all we could do is smile and misunderstand. 

In Eden, God spoke human language, and Adam and Eve understood.  By the time of the tower of Babel[1] humankind had gotten far enough away from God to not listen for His voice.  They lost the sound of their Master, like wandering sheep straying from their shepherd.  That is, by the way, the story of most sin…selfish wandering, mindlessly grazing on whatever satisfies a momentary appetite.  God sent prophets to remind them of what the Shepherd’s voice sounded like; one after another the prophets were ignored, and eventually slaughtered to stop their bleating.  The wandering continued, unhearing.  

Finally, God sent his son to be a sheep…some heard, others prepared a cross.

In the final account of Revelation, the continuing, eternal story of after the end, the restored Eden will be filled with the sound of God’s flock, singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.  Even those who have died will hear his voice, and follow Him.  The sheep will hear the Lamb, one who became one of us, to speak clearly the love of God.

For You Today

One day our journey will be complete, and the flock will lie down together in perfect harmony with all creation.  And we’ll sing.  We’ll sing the song of the Lamb throughout eternity.  And we’ll be on key, in perfect harmony!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©  

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