The Epiphany YR A
Matt 2:1-12
Jan 6, 2008
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
The use of the image of the shepherd in scripture is profound and cannot be understated. Because of the context in which the texts of both the Old and New Testaments were written, this image would have contained within it a multitude of meanings for those hearing or reading the scripture. Shepherds in those times were as plentiful as veterinarians are in ours. I juxtapose the terms because I want us to understand as much as we possibly can the role of the shepherd.
We don’t really come across shepherds very often in our culture. I can honestly say that in my entire life, I have never met anyone who said that he or she was a shepherd. But, there is no where that I have gone that I have not seen, or sometimes needed, a veterinarian. Even though a veterinarian of today does not have the responsibility of a shepherd, hopefully for my purpose of explicating the meaning of this text, the image of the veterinarian will help us understand more fully the importance and meaning of the shepherd.
In Old Testament and New Testament times, the shepherd was the veterinarian of his sheep and more. He did everything for his sheep. He moved them from place to place to make certain that they would have enough to eat and drink. He moved them to find shelter for them from the harsh elements. He slept with them in order to keep them safe, and he defended them against predators that would come upon them unawares. He would search for only one sheep if one strayed from the flock until that stray was found. Finally, he doctored them when they were injured.
To a person hearing the words, “a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel”, this image of the shepherd being the ultimate care giver would have been very familiar. That person would understand immediately what the writer was trying to convey. The shepherd understood that the sheep were his livelihood. Without the sheep, he had no means in which to live. Conversely, without him, the sheep would not survive, easy prey to any wild animal lurking in the bushes. Although the sheep were unaware of this almost symbiotic relationship, the shepherd certainly was aware. He knew of the interconnectedness that existed between himself and his flock.
A ruler, a king, should care for the people of his or her land as a shepherd cares for his flock. That was the expectation the people of the Old Testament and New had of their rulers. God had spelled it out for them in scripture, that any ruler of the people of Israel, ruling on God’s behalf, would be charged with caring for God’s people as God cared for them. In essence, they were the shepherd and the people of Israel were their sheep.
Now, throughout the Old Testament scripture, what is actually documented is the failure of the rulers of Israel to care properly for their sheep. Almost from the time that the people of Israel began to have kings, from Saul, David, and on, these kings were unable to care for their people as God had intended. Because of their own humanity and sinfulness they could not do it. This is much of what the prophets in the Old Testament rant and rave about. Instead of caring for their people, instead of making sure that they had enough to eat and drink, or shelter over their heads, had protection from threats, or caring properly for them when they were sick. Instead of doing all the things that a shepherd did for his flock, the rulers used and abused those whom they had charge of. Instead of recognizing that without the people, they wouldn’t have the palaces and luxuries to which they had become accustomed, they took them for granted and used them and all the resources surrounding them up. Until they became so weak that the surrounding nations, seeing their opportunity, closed in on them and invaded them and destroyed them.
The prophets of Israel could see what was happening and time and time again we hear their voices calling the rulers of Israel back into covenant with God. It is important for us to understand that because the kings of Israel were not caring for their people they had broken covenant with God. God had made a covenant with the people of Israel to care for them. The kings, because the people of Israel wanted to have a king, were meant to carry out this covenant on God’s behalf. Instead, they took advantage of their newfound authority, and over time corrupted their position of power.
By the time the New Testament was being written, the nation of Israel had long since disappeared and had become a vassal to a long line of conquering nations. Jesus was born in a time in which Rome was the occupying power. Herod was yet another “king” who was in reality, a pawn of Rome. He was no shepherd. Anything but. These words of scripture that his chief priests and scribes quoted to him reminded him of this. He was not the ruler God meant to shepherd his people. That one was yet to come and it seemed, had come.
From our perspective, we understand Jesus as that ruler. He was the shepherd sent to care for God’s people. But even we have difficulty understanding what that means I think. Jesus never became, “king”, did he? Gentiles from distant lands came to recognize him for what he symbolized but his “rule” never came to fruition. At least not as we humans understand rule.
But Jesus didn’t come among us to be a king as we understand kingship. What Jesus came to do was to call the Jewish people back to a way of life before kings and nations. He came to call each and everyone of them back into covenant with God as they had been before they ever established themselves as a nation. You don’t need a king or a nation to be in covenant with God. As individuals and as a people, we can be the people God wants us to be. Jesus, as the great shepherd, came to remind us that we are all shepherds for one another. He came to show us how that is done.
It is up to us to determine whether or not we are living in accordance to the great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. How do we take care of one another? How are we feeding the less fortunate of our flock? What type of shelter are we providing for those who are homeless? How do we come to the defense of the defenseless? These questions are no longer laid solely on the shoulders of our “rulers”. As a people of God, it is up to us to ensure that we take care of all the sheep in the flock.
Why was Herod afraid? Because he knew he had failed God. He knew he was not being a shepherd to his people. We also know that we fail in this. All we have to do is look around us and see the conditions in which the majority of people in the world live to know that we fail. But this is why we come here. I hope it is why we come here. As a people of God, we seek to do that which God has commanded us to do. We are desperate to be the people God wants us to be. On Sunday we hear the Word of God giving us instruction, and then we come together as a community at the altar rail to get the strength we need during the week to carry out God’s commandments. We take this strength with us out into the world. We must not leave it here. The light of Christ won’t do the world much good sitting in this building. We, like the wise men, carry it out with us to those who sit in darkness. And they in turn will take that light from us and carry it to the next person, and we will do this until the light shines complete throughout creation. Until all the sheep are fed, watered, clothed, sheltered, protected, and found.