The Good Shepherd: A Lesson from Sheep

Since I have been living in England for the past nine months, I find it only fitting that I write a blog involving sheep. Yes, sheep. They are everywhere here. The fields are spotted with stinky, ugly, dirty, white balls of fluff all year round. And since it is spring, there are now also small, cute balls of fluff frolicking around. Not only are there sheep all over the fields of England, but they are splattered throughout the Bible. Whenever I read about them in the Bible before, I would easily brush over it as I thought of the serene pictures of Jesus holding a staff in a field with sheep all around and the sun shining peacefully on everything. I never thought that coming to Capernwray would help me understand Jesus as a Shepherd better. And yet my perspective has been altered completely.

One of our first Sundays here in October, Ian, the Dean of Students preached on a Sunday morning with a focus on Psalm 23. Having memorised Psalm 23 when I was a kid, it’s often easy for me to overlook that passage, thinking that I know it well. But I was wrong. Ian talked about how he can recognise each sheep on his farm individually (which to me seems impossible). He told us how the shepherd places the sheep in certain fields at certain times so that the grass may grow greener: for the sheep’s own benefit, unbeknownst to the sheep themselves. He spoke of how the best water for sheep to be near was still water so that they would not be pulled in and drown because once their wool is covered with water, it becomes so heavy that they can’t get out. As Ian spoke of growing up on a sheep farm and describing the truth and reality of each aspect of Psalm 23, I began to understand more and more of the gentleness of Jesus and the reason for these particular images that the Psalmist uses.

That Sunday morning was not the only time that my mind was enlightened to the deeper meaning of the image of Jesus as the Shepherd. Sheep are incredibly stupid. Occasionally one will see a sheep running around the field stuck in a plastic chair, or unable to figure out how to get back into the field that they are supposed to be in. Their bleating rings out throughout the days and evenings: bleats of panic, calls for help and desperation. (We make fun of them and imitate them almost daily, which probably makes us stupid as well.) Another characteristic that we have quickly learned about the sheep is that they live their lives in fear, untrusting of all who pass by. As we walk around what we call the “loop”, we pass sheep in the fields and they will run in all directions, anywhere to get away from us. Once one starts running, they all run. But there is one person they recognise, one they run towards. When he is around, the tone of their bleating changes. I have learned to identify it when I hear it, but I can’t quite describe it. It is something like relief mixed with desperation to be near him. As you’ve probably guessed, this man is the resident Capernwray shepherd. The sheep run to him because they know him. They recognise his gentle voice. Daft as they are, they know one thing: they can trust him to care for them, unlike others who come near them.

All of these things have woken in me a deeper understanding of the context when the example of sheep and shepherd are used by Jesus in his teaching and interactions and by authors of the Bible. I can see physically what it means for the sheep to recognise the Shepherd’s voice as John 10:27 says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” I desire to be able to hear the voice of Jesus and know it immediately, recognise it, run to it and be comforted by it as well as these sheep do. I know that I am not very smart, super spiritual, or always faithful. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way...” But what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:25 reflects better my current state: “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” The only reason I can come to Him is because of his role as Shepherd in my life. Ian admitted that he doesn’t view the sheep as so important that he would actually lay down his life for one, but Jesus does. In John 10:14-15 Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Wow! I love the addition of “just as the Father knows me and I know the Father”. What an incredible deep and intimate relationship that I have entered into if Jesus Himself compared it to the relationship between the Father and the Son! This is the relationship that I have with Him. I need to know the sound of His voice. I know that in order to do that, I need to spend time with Him reading His Word. I need to be in His presence. I need to not just talk to Him, but listen for His voice so that I can recognise it regularly. He is already in me and I in Him, but I need to not hold back any part of myself from Him. I have reason to rejoice because my Shepherd cares for me and He knows me. “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

Without my Shepherd, I am a simple, daft sheep who lives in fear. But when I trust in the Good Shepherd, I can rest in Him and His goodness. I can follow Him and recognise His voice. I have learned much about these things while at Capernwray through teaching and observing. Who knew God could even use sheep to speak?

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

                                                           Psalm 23