When shepherds become bad!

Reflecting on Mark 10:32-34

"Delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law." (Mark 10:33)

The priests were God’s assigned servants to connect the people to God.
The teachers of the Law were God’s communicators of His revealed message.
These were the shepherds of Israel, those who cared for God’s sheep.
To be delivered into their hands was a good thing – they worked for God.
Hmmm, it doesn’t seem to work out like this.

How can it be that servants of God become agents of Satan?
How can the place designed for prayer become a den of robbers?
How can shepherds appointed by God become a danger to the sheep?

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.” (Ezekiel 34:2-4)

This quote from Ezekiel is a part of a bigger passage.
I recommend reading the whole chapter; You will see how it connects to Jesus.
This is the problem in Jesus’s day; the shepherds had become wolves.
The religious leaders were not caring for God’s sheep.
And so, as Ezekiel promised, God Himself stepped in.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.” (Ezekiel 34:10-12)

Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10), God Himself coming for God’s sheep.
The religious leaders are the bad shepherds, wolves in sheep’s clothing.
When they saw Jesus, they mistook His lamblike compassion as weakness.
They pounced on Him, and fed Him to the wolves (Gentile leaders).
Little did they know that He was God’s lamb, suffering for their sin.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36, see Ezekiel 34:5-6)

Jesus still cares for the weak, weary, wounded, struggling and lost.
He still has compassion on the sheep, because they’ve been abandoned.
Jesus is still leaving the 99 to find the lost one.
Jesus still has compassion on the unloved, uncared for sheep.

This is what the church is supposed to be: a safe place for sheep.
Yet how many people have been harmed in the church.
Not by Jesus, but by the shepherds He put in charge.
Like Jesus, they were delivered into the hands of pastors and elders.
And it was not a good thing.
Jesus still rebukes bad shepherds, and warns them with judgment.
He still seeks other shepherds who will join Him in caring for the sheep.

Church leaders, including myself, need to read Ezekiel 34 often.
We need to see the Good Shepherd, and imitate Him.
When people are handed over to me, may that be a good thing.
May then sense God’s compassion and care through me.
May they sense God seeking, serving, blessing and healing them through me.

Is your church a safe place for wounded, weary, lost or struggling sheep to come?
Or will they be released to the wolves of judgment and shame?

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I am sheep in need of Your gentle shepherding. So are the people around me, and the people around the world. Help me to be a safe place for lost sheep, harassed and helpless, in need of a shepherd. May those who are brought to me find Your loving care expressed through my response to them.