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At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Ah, but did the crowds themselves realize this, that what they were missing was a shepherd, that their deep discontent came from feelings of trouble and abandonment because they did not have that shepherd? The shepherd as a motif for the ruler was common enough, along with the idea that a good ruler would govern as though he was a shepherd deeply concerned with his sheep. But was the idea well established that the people had some natural correspondence to this reality in themselves, the need of sheep for a shepherd? We might easily imagine that they did not see themselves in this way from the fact that we ourselves are often resistant to being sheep in any sense, and as a consequence, opposed to handing over our lives to any shepherd, no matter how good he might be.
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus sent his disciples after sheep who knew from their history as a people what it was to have a good shepherd caring for them and how that contrasted with their current situation. This history had created a longing in the hearts of the people for a truly good shepherd, one promised by God himself, who would at last lead his sheep to green pastures. Yet even though this people had been prepared and was meant to desire Jesus they still were not immediately ready to see themselves as his sheep. They, like us, often seemed to prefer being lost, being troubled and abandoned, to ceding control of their lives to another. After all, they had been so frequently burned in the past, that trusting again seemed overly naïve. This was why part of the proclamation Jesus commanded was to prove the goodness of himself as shepherd, demonstrating that he was worthy of the complete trust of his sheep.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Jesus had a heart of compassion for sheep who were lost, troubled, and abandoned. He desired them to come to know precisely the source of the alienation they felt so that they could come to him to find fulfillment. The sheep seemed to prefer to endure the harsh elements and all of the dangers of wandering alone and lost to conceding that they might have been made for a shepherd's care. And yet they were in fact the lost treasures of a shepherd's heart. Jesus did not begrudge the sheep their stubbornness. He did not leave them in their obstinacy. He did not wait for the sheep to come to him but instead proved his love for them.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Now that we have finally allowed ourselves to be convinced of the love God has for us (see First John 4:16) and come under the care of our shepherd we can have an immense amount of trust in his protective care. We can trust so much that to the outside world it would seem foolish, can abandon ourselves completely into the hands of providence knowing that "how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life". The shepherd himself bled and died in order to justify his sheep. And now he lives forever to lead us and to bring us home. Our excuses for not trusting him ought to evaporate in the face of the demonstration of a love as great and as certain as this. We are now a part of the Lord's "special possession, dearer to me than all other people" and so we can join in the celebration of the psalmist:
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
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