Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Nov 30 2019 - Zechariah 11:4-17 – Two shepherds

Today's passage can seem quite confusing. In it Zechariah is called to act out a parable involving two shepherds. We have come across such acted parables before in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This parable reflects the history of God's dealings with his people.

First Zechariah is called to play out the role of the good shepherd, representing the covenant of care and of blessing which God has made with his people (see v. 10 in which that covenant is then revoked). He is called to:

Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, “Praise the Lord, I am rich!” (vv. 4-5).

The picture is of shepherds who use the flock simply for their own gain – we might say that they fleece the flock. These are religious leaders who make a profession of piety but whose leadership is motivated entirely by self-interest (see 1 Timothy 6:3-10 for Paul's warning of Timothy to watch out for similar motives amongst those who seek positions of leadership within the church).

In the face of such mercenary shepherds, Zechariah is to demonstrate the care of God for his people. He is to get rid of the false shepherds and care for the flock, particularly those oppressed among them (vv. 7-8a). Zechariah is to use two staffs in the care of the flock. One is called "Favour" and represents God's gracious care for his people. The other is called "Union" and represents the unity of God's people – one flock under one shepherd. In particular, it represents the unity between the two kingdoms of God's people, Israel and Judah (v. 14). These two kingdoms had been united under the reign of David, their shepherd king. "Union" reminds the people of God that their unity with one another is dependent upon, and is to be a reflection of, their unity with God.

But despite God's great care for his people, they grew tired of him – they even detested him. So the Lord rejected his people. Zechariah broke his staff called "Favour" and later broke the staff called "Unity". Because God's people turned their back on him, the kingdom was divided and his blessing was withdrawn. Ultimately, his people were handed over to exile.

Zechariah asks for severance pay if he is no longer to act as shepherd to this flock. He is given thirty pieces of silver which he is then told to throw to the potter at the house of the Lord. Remember, in terms of the acted parable, this is the price with which these rebellious people dispense with God's gracious care for them.

Zechariah is then told to act out the role of a foolish shepherd "who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves" (v. 16). Having turned their back on the gracious care of the Lord, this rebellious people will find themselves again in the hands of those who exploit them and destroy them.

Here again this parable points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. He came into the world as the Good Shepherd, demonstrating God's great care for a people who were oppressed and distressed. Yet he was rejected by the very people to whom he came. He was betrayed by Judas, one of his close band of followers for 30 pieces of silver. Yet this very rejection of the Good Shepherd was part of God's plan by which he would redeem for himself a people of every nation under heaven, a people saved by God's grace (his Favour) and united in Christ and through the work of the Spirit – one flock under one shepherd.

Lord Jesus, we acknowledge you as the Good Shepherd who cared for us so well that you laid down your life for us. Help us always to hear your voice and follow you rather than turning away to the myriad voices around us. Help us not only to remain close to you but also to live in unity with one another by the power of your Spirit at work within us and among us. Help us to be a people who attract the attention and respect of a watching world.

Nov 30 2020 - John 21:1-25 – Feed my sheep

Jesus had been raised from the dead and appeared at least a couple of times to the disciples. But now they do not know what to do with themselves. Peter tells them, "I'm going fishing" (John 21:3), and the other disciples who were with him replied, "We'll come too." So they go out for a night of fishing, but catch nothing. Nothing that is until, in the dim and misty light of dawn, a figure on the shore calls to them and tells them to throw out their nets on the right side of the boat. Now they have a huge catch which they cannot pull into the boat; they have to drag the net behind them as they row to the beach where Jesus awaits them.

The natural tendency of these first disciples was to return to the life they had known, to the routines with which they were familiar. But those routines prove fruitless; Jesus alone can give success to the work of their hands. And this remarkable catch of fish, caught at his command, is a foretaste of the harvest that they will yet secure with his help. He calls them to go fishing for people (remember Matthew 4:19).

We are no different from these first disciples. We so easily fall back into the patterns of life with which we are familiar rather than following Jesus out of our comfort zone and into the work he has for us to do.

Having provided his disciples with a cooked breakfast on the beach, it is now time for Jesus to give Peter a grilling. Peter had denied Jesus three times. Three times Jesus now challenges him with the question, “Do you love me?” Jesus does not ask Peter if he is ready now to follow him even to the point of death rather than run away when trouble comes. Jesus does not ask Peter if he is ready now to speak of him before others rather than denying him. He asks Peter whether he loves him. This is the fundamental question – a question of supreme importance for Peter and for us.

Each time, when Peter expresses his love he is told, “Feed my sheep.” Peter is forgiven and called now to show his love by following in the footsteps of his master, in life and in death, and by telling others of Jesus.

This cannot have been an easy experience for Peter. He must have felt ashamed, embarrassed and put on the spot. So, when he catches sight of the disciple whom Jesus loved he asks the question, “And what about him?” Jesus’ answer is, in effect, “You mind your own business. You are to follow me.”

We need continually to hear the same words of Jesus. We find it so easy to identify the ways in which other Christians fall short of all that they should be. We point out such failings to one another (though more rarely to the person concerned). We complain loudly of the way in which others have behaved towards us. We need to hear the words of Jesus, “Mind your own business. Follow me.”

Our business is firstly that of our own discipleship, to be diligent in walking closely with Jesus. Out of that close walk we are then to encourage others in following Jesus – to feed his sheep. Jesus command is still “Follow me... Feed my sheep.”

Lord Jesus, help me to follow you and labour for you in the fishing-work of the kingdom. Help me to feed and encourage others rather than trying to enlarge my own reputation by highlighting their behaviour. Help us then to labour side by side in the work of the kingdom, knowing the task is too great for any one of us to accomplish on our own.

Peter Misselbrook