Sheep Without a Shepherd

When Jesus sees His children so leaderless and wandering His heart was moved to compassion. His heart is still moved with compassion when He sees us wandering lost in life.

OK, I’m a bit of an Eagles fan, and when they released their first CD after years of being apart, I jumped at it!

The CD was called “Hell Freezes Over” and was named that because one of the band members said it would be the time the Eagles all got back together again to work on another project. Well, guess what…

There’s a song on that album that I have loved since the first time I heard it.

It’s called “Learn to be Still.”

Listen: “We are like sheep without a shepherd. We don’t know how to be alone, so we wander ’round this desert. And wind up following the wrong gods home. But the flock cries out for another, and they keep answering that bell. And one more starry-eyed messiah meets a violent farewell- Learn to be still, Learn to be still…”

I suppose the reason this resonated with me so profoundly when I first heard it was because, at the time, I needed to be still and quiet, yet I was the exact opposite.

It was a difficult time in my life, and that song came out, offering me a chance to be still and wait on God.

We weren’t meant to wander without a Shepherd.

Look at our lesson in Matthew 9:36, 10:1-8:

At that time, when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaios, and Thaddaios; Simon the Cananaean. and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay.”

This is one of the most powerful passages in the Gospel, and that’s because we see the Gospel writer reveal the “feelings” of the Lord Jesus toward the people. He has compassion for them.

But why?

What is it about the people that draws out this feeling of compassion from Jesus?

They are LOST! They are wandering around, seeking meaning from this or that “thing.” They are shepherdless.

Now that last statement is a horrible indictment against the religious leaders of the Lord’s day. These leaders were “supposed” to BE the shepherds, but still the folks were wandering.

To be sure, perhaps the leaders were trying to lead, and the people refused to follow. Perhaps the people were stubborn and wouldn’t listen. Probably all true.

But the good shepherd doesn’t make excuses; he looks deeply for the obstacles in his own life and the obstacles in the lives of others and works to remove the obstacles.

That’s what a shepherd does.

But what surprises me most about this passage is how the Lord responds to His own compassion!

He looks at His disciples (and US) and says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

What?