What's In a Name? Wk 3 | Jesus as Shepherd-King

I'd love to think that life is is like a Scottish countryside.

If you've ever seen pictures of Scotland, if you've ever been to Scotland, it's breathtaking. It's beautiful. There are are rolling hills.

Everything is just lush and green. There's rain, different than this rain.

Uh we're not used to the rain. So, it's flooding in spots here, but they're used to it. It's lush. It's green. It's

beautiful. There are sheep everywhere. It's just such an idyllic, beautiful

scenery. And I remember on our trip there this this last year, we were uh

staying in someone's house and I looked out the window of the house and there was sheep literally in their backyard.

Just, you know, 20 or 30 sheep just grazing. And I asked the lady at breakfast, I said, "Are those yours?"

and she said, "No, no, they're they're a friend of ours, another farmer in the area, and he knows and is connected to

enough people that we kind of just let their sheep graze wherever." And I was like, "Wow,

I can't even imag Can you imagine if a cow wandered into your backyard here in Idaho and you're like, "It's fine." You

know, it's the neighbors down the street and it's no big deal. But it's so green there that there's no fear. There's no

fear of the sheep being without. There's no fear of the sheep getting lost,

getting attacked. It's a picture of sheep that's operating

out of safety and abundance,

living very differently than the sheep of the ancient neareastern world. If you've

been with us at Crossroads long, we've talked about shepherds and sheep quite a bit. There's something so fascinating

about looking at the ancient Neareastern world and seeing how they lived life and

how they interacted with the world around them. And if you lived in the ancient Neareastern world, there is no

way that you didn't know personally a shepherd.

It'd be similar to us today not personally knowing a teacher or a nurse

or a mechanic. I mean, common jobs that are familiar to our community was very,

very common. And so, it's it's fascinating to look at the way they lived.

And it's interesting to think about a shepherd from the ancient near east going and visiting the Scottish

Highlands. And I'm wondering if they would just be utterly confused.

What's happening? These sheep are just wandering. Where's the shepherd? See, in the ancient neareastern world, the

threat upon the lives of sheep was constant. In fact, the only dependence they had

was on the shepherd himself or herself.

They had to operate differently. They had to live differently with a crook in

one hand, a crook, a big giant stick with a hook on the end that they could use to help guide and navigate the sheep

off the deep ravines and crevices. To a staff in the other hand, what was used to walk, what was used to defend against

the wild beasts. This shepherd was charged with taking care of that which

had been entrusted into its care. Hm. And this shepherd had to navigate a

hard and cruel world. I like this picture. Of all the pictures that I

found, this one was probably my favorite because it not only gives I mean, it's a modern-day picture, but it not only

gives a a kind of accurate impression of what the shepherd would have looked like, but you can also see the harsh

terrain behind the shepherd. That's not pleasant.

That grass that's right there, it's not long. It's not much. It's sparse. And

these shepherds were charged with all sorts of different things. It was a big

job. They were charged with leading and moving. So if you look at that picture and you see the sparsity of the grass

that is present, shepherds had to have enough of an awareness to know that if

they left their sheep in a spot too long that it would actually kill the earth

underneath it for several years to come because it was such a harsh environment.

And so the shepherd had to know when they could get their sheep what they needed, but then also move them on

before it was all gone. So it didn't destroy the land. The

shepherd had to provide. If you were here with us when we talked about Psalm 23, that's also another one of those

psalms that when I first read it, it felt like it was written on a Scottish countryside. But I lay me down to or

that's something different. I could say that one if you want. Um but he leads me behind beside still waters.

That sounds so pretty. But when you look at the ancient neareastern world, what's actually being

said? Sheep would not drink running water despite how thirsty they would be.

And so they would come across water and a shepherd would literally have to lead the sheep to this sort of side

area where the water had pulled but was still. or the shepherd literally had to

dig a trench with their foot so that the water could then come off to the side

because the sheep wouldn't drink it if it was running. It's not this pretty quiet psalm. It's

how a shepherd leads in the mid midst of a harsh environment.

So, a shepherd not only had to lead and move and provide, a shepherd had to keep

the flock together. What is more, a good shepherd? Oh, whoops. Sorry, that's this. A flock had

to be together because if they spread out, the

predators, the thieves would pick up the stragglers.

A shepherd had to reclaim the lost. If one did go lost, they had to go find them. A shepherd with rough hands had to

heal and treat injury on the move while they're moving. And above all, here's

the quote. What is more, the good shepherd had to never let this difficult work cause him or her to become jaded

towards the sheep. That one is tough to think about. A

harsh lifestyle where the sheep are constantly constantly constantly

needing. And I can't even I mean

I love my kids dearly, but they're kids and they need a lot

from their parents. I can't imagine having 87 kids

who needed your constant care, your constant love to be with. I look at a

list like this and I marvel. I marvel at how little I truly don't understand

leadership as a shepherd. See, we we associate shepherd with the

the calming pictures, the loving, the caring, the nurturing

of a person. And it's such a beautiful gift. If if you have been at Crossroads long, we talk a lot about Ephesians

chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 that God has equipped and called the church, not

just a person, but the church with gifts for the maturity and the edification and

the growing up of the church. And he's gifted the church with apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and

teachers. And that those gifts are each very, very unique. And if you've heard

that shepherd language with there, which there are multiple in this room who have

that gift in their tool belt, that's what we're talking about. It's the nurturing care. The ability to look

around you and see, oh my goodness, that person needs a hug. Oh my goodness, that

person needs a sandwich. Oh, that person needs someone to listen to them. It's a

beautiful, beautiful gift. And when we talk about shepherd as a biblical

concept, that is definitely one of the definitions, but

it's much greater because in Hebrew, we have to remember that in ancient Hebrew,

words were few. And so words themselves had multiple meanings

and they had to use the words very carefully. And so when you came to a word like shepherd, yes, it meant

nurturer, but it also meant the one who had the ability to do all of those

things to lead, to move, to heal, to guide, to provide, to fend off the

enemy. It's an incredibly big definition. And in fact, as you look at

scripture, what we can see is that those are also the same qualities that we

notice in the kings, in the leaders. In the biblical narrative, kings were often titled the

shepherd of the people. Those two concepts go hand in hand. You cannot

have one without the other. To rule, to shepherd, to lead. In fact, to shepherd

the people, it's a commission that God gave to David, who is the first real

king of Israel. He says to him in 2 Samuel 5:2, "In the past, while Saul was

king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, David, you shall

shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their r their ruler." right there

from the very beginning in the line of David from David himself God says to him

you will be a shepherd and you will be a ruler those qualities of the shepherd that are kingly that's you are going to

lead my people huh and the same is true for him who would

come from the line of David would be a shepherd

this type of shepherd He would be a ruler. He would be a king.

Micah chapter 5 speaks of the one who is to come in the line of David. If you

have a Bible, I would love for you to turn with me there. One of the things that I do personally when I preach is I

don't often put longer scripture passages on the screen because I want to encourage folks to practice getting in

the word together. So, if you have a Bible, if you have your phone, if you don't own a Bible, there are free Bibles

in the seats around you on the end of the rows, both in English and in Spanish, grab a Bible, make it yours.

But we're going to be in two passages this morning. We're going to be in Micah chapter 5 and we're going to be in

Matthew chapter 2. We're going to be in Micah 5 first. So maybe find Matthew and

stick your finger there, but go back to Micah because Micah is a prophet who speaks of

the one of the line of David who is to come. And he's speaking a very

intentional message. Starting in chapter 5 verse 1, he says,

"Marshall your troops, oh city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel's ruler on the

cheek with a rod. But you, Bethlehem Epra, though you are small among the

clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,

whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Therefore, Israel will be

abandoned until the time when she, who is in labor, gives birth, and the rest of his brothers return to join the

Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock. There it is. rule shepherd in

the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they

will live securely for them. His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth and he will be

their peace or in the original language their security.

He will be their stability. He will shepherd.

He will rule. And this is the very same passage that

the wise men quote to Herod in Matthew chapter 2. In Matthew chapter 2 verse

one, it says, "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of

King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We

saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." Then King Herod heard

when King Herod had heard this he was disturbed and all of Jerusalem with him and he called together all the people's

chief priests and teachers of the law. So catch that. Herod himself is not

Jewish. So when he sees these wise men come,

when he hears of what's happening, he gathers the Jewish

scribes, the the uh priests and the scribes, the teachers, and he pulls them

in and and has the wise men share with them what they have heard.

And so he asks them where the Christ was to be born. And in Bethlehem, in Judea, they replied, for this is what the

prophet has written. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means

least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you will come a ruler who will be the

shepherd of my people, Israel." There it is again.

This is the passage that they quote to Herod directly out of Micah. A direct

link to the Messiah who is to come and one who is tied back to the King David

himself of that lineage of that line. It's fascinating. What are these wise

men claiming? What name, what attribute, what character trait, what definition of

Christ is being given here? Why? Why is that

the choose to use? What does it communicate? And as a result, how do we

then claim that same thing in our own lives? If you're joining us this morning

for the first time, we're going through a series where we're talking about the names of God. And we're talking about

the importance of understanding that it's more than a name. When we use that phrase in our western culture, people

have names, but we don't link their name to their identity. I don't look at my

sister here in the front row and I say she's a Stephanie. Like that's that's not that's her name, but her character

traits are different. When we talk about it, the ancient neareastern world, when we talk about God, we're saying the

names we use are him. They are him. And so week one, when we talked about

Yahweh, El Shadai, past, present, future, simultaneously, God almighty.

When we talk about Elohim, God, grammatically plural yet singular in

meaning. When we talk about everlasting father, prince of peace, these are all

qualities of God that we have to understand and grasp and we can actually

pray them. Not because we have some magical hold on God,

but because we are claiming the reality of his presence at work in our lives when we call out to God our shepherd,

God our ruler, God our king. And so it's important to stop and say, what are the

names of God that we encounter in scripture? What does it mean that Micah

says when referring to the Messiah? He is going to be a ruler who will shepherd

my people, Israel, while he's talking to a nation that is in loss.

It's the split of the Israelite nation, the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom. He's speaking into the loss

and what's to come. And he's saying

that the enemies will prevail until the birth of the Lord's ruler, but he shall

stand and he will shepherd. The Messiah's rule and protection of

Yahweh's flock are accomplished by Yahweh's authority and power. True peace

among people is achieved by the Messiah who can overcome conflict.

The only peace we know is from understanding and knowing a present God

at work in our lives. God who is shepherd, who can move and stir and

heal. How many of you in this room feel so broken right now? I know I do. It's

been a tough season to know that God, our shepherd, can heal

and restore. And it is his power, not fake power, real power.

I'm putting my sister on the spot a little bit this morning. She didn't know I was doing this, but I used to pretend

as the older sister that I had a lot of power. And I would make Steph go get

things for me around the house. I would call her from downstairs all the way upstairs as a kid and I'd say, "Can you

hand me that popcorn?" That was like three feet from my hand. I was a jerk.

I was a teenager. That's not real power. That's manipulation.

That's fear manifesting as threat. Imagine a Roman ruler. Imagine someone

who is hotty, who is arrogant, who is powerhungry, who's easily

threatened, who was ruthless and cruel. Herod I Herod the Great as he is known

was was that in fact he was so power- hungry and so

cruel he murdered his own wife. He murdered several of his sons and

relatives all because they were a perceived threat to his power. This is

the man the wise men are talking to. This is the one that they're standing in

front of saying, "Hey, we're here because there's a true ruler and a true shepherd who was foretold about in Micah

and we're here to worship him." Huh.

I'm not sure I would have wanted to be in that room when that happened.

It would have taken those wise men some guts and courage when Herod questions

them to say, "Yeah, we're here. This is why." Because your prophets foretold of one

who would be a true king, who would be a true ruler,

not one who would lead through fear masked as threat, but one who would

actually understand and know his people. When you look at the definition of these

words, what's so fascinating is that they're essentially the same.

You can see to influence others, to cause them to follow, to guide, to direct, to lead, to shepherd means to

lead, to provide for, to guide, to help, to take care of. These are two sides of

the same coin. If someone is going to rule, they have to be able to shepherd.

And if someone is going to shepherd, they have to be able to rule, not out of threat, not out of coercion, because

that is who they are. You can't shepherd in this meaning of the word without

ruling in such a way that others feel prompted and led to follow you.

And you can't truly lead without providing for and caring for those who

are entrusted into your care. leading Herod's way as a Roman official

in the ancient neareastern world overseeing this area of Jerusalem and and Israel. It's not really leading.

It's manipulation, asserting power without authority.

And these wise men, these wise men are fascinating. Now, depending on who you study, there's lots of debate about

where who these wise men were. And really great scholars that I study fall

on two sides of the camp. There are some like Jack Beck who I quoted earlier in

the message who believe that they had to be remnants of all the way back in the

time of Daniel when the Babylonians came and carried off a bunch of the Jewish

people into Babylonia which you know I looked earlier. I'm gonna stop doing

this because this room isn't set up well to look at maps. So, there you go.

There's a map. Um, good luck. If you want to come see it later, you can. But if you happen to read the word Babylonia

up there, Daniel and his relatives were taken to Babylonia

and there was a remnant that stayed. And Jack falls in the camp that it had

to have been some of those folks because there's no way that Mary and Joseph, who were devout, god-fearing Jews, would

have let pagan mystic kind of astrologers into their home, which is

fascinating to think about. And then there are those like Los Toberg and

other scholars who believe that these men actually came all the way from

Sheba, which is even harder to see on the map, but it is further down in the Arabian Peninsula, tracing all the way

back to when the Queen of Sheba went and visited Solomon. And what did she bring?

Gold, frankincense, spices. and she had this encounter with King Solomon that

radically changed her. And so she carried that home. And there are some who believe that those wise men were

remnants of those who were impacted and changed by that interaction. Either way,

the wise men from the east are going to be people who are familiar

with the nation of Israel. There are going to be people who are familiar with the history of Israel and there are

going to be people who knew what they were saying when they got up in front of Herod and made that claim.

It was more than just words.

When questioned by Herod, the wise men recalled the words of the

prophet Micah of a king who would come as a true ruler, a shepherd, a genuine

leader. And Herod was threatened. For this king would rule differently

without force, without coercion, but as one who cares deeply for his

people and puts their needs above his own.

And that hasn't changed. To shepherd

means to see the wounded, to meet them,

to heal them, to lead them,

to protect them, to keep them together.

The names of Jesus used in this circumstance

address the cultural setting and the toxic leadership environment into which the Messiah came into a culture that was

full of oppression, debt, fear.

These words were intentional and a call back to the original context

in which they were claimed. We tend to read stuff in scripture and just kind of

read it with broad strokes and miss sometimes the deep meaning of what is

being communicated. This isn't just anybody. This guy is different.

He has the ability to do what nobody else can.

And these words that were written by Micah, here's another beautiful map. Last one if you can read it up there. He

came from a tiny town in Judah ca called Morethth around the time of the prophet Isaiah.

The northern and the southern kingdom as I already said were split. There were warnings that the Assyrians were coming

in and they were about to take out the northern kingdom. They were about to ravage Jerusalem. And then after that,

the Babylonians were going to come and bring even greater destruction. But who is it that Micah picks a fight with? He

picks a fight with Israel's leaders because they've become wealthy through

theft and greed. The prophets of God's

people have become corrupt through receiving bribes to give good prophecies. Promises of God's protection

to anyone who can afford to pay them. Leadership through threat and coercion.

See, Micah promises a real leader who will come after a season of oppression.

It's not just the words, but the meaning behind them. And if that meaning behind

them was important to understand Jesus as shepherd and ruler, then it has to be

true today for us. And no wonder crazy King Herod goes ballistic.

He ends up killing all the kids two and under. Why? Because he's threatened.

He's threatened by real leadership.

There was a a season about a year ago. Um, I was talking and interacting with a

pastor here locally and he was just talking about his own story and there I

could just sense as he was talking there was just this this tiredness in him and

as he was talking he shares this analogy and he said it's analogy that has profoundly impacted him and it's an

analogy that has carried with him through all of his years of ministry and it was this it was something said to

him by another mentor that says, "If your sheep are so starved and hungry that they're attracted to the

next pen and the next shepherd, that's on you."

And I thought, "Okay." So, instead of being threatened, recognize your your

flock, your people, see where they're at. And I walked away from that meeting and I it dawned on me that very analogy

is why he's so tired. Because that analogy,

the whole premise of it is predicated on his ability to lead well.

And it is entirely predicated on him being the shepherd.

And friends, I love you deeply. I pray for you often,

but I cannot be the one who leads and moves and heals

and keeps us all together and never becomes jaded and knows perfectly what

to do all the time to provide for the people. That's not my job.

My job is to point to the one who can. And this Christmas season, as I look

around this room and I see people who are worn, I was talking to two other pastors this

week who are facing a lot of the same things. I don't know what it is. I think it's the enemy because the enemy wants

to steal joy at Christmas, but there is more loss, there is more death, there is

more grief, there is more pain, there is more job loss around this time of year

than any other time of year. And as I'm talking with these pastors and we're all looking at each other saying, "I don't I

I don't know because it's not my job."

If we are going to understand the voice of the father, if we are going to understand the qualities of him that we

all need, we have to understand it is only him who can lead and move and

provide and bandage up the wounded and keep us together and keep us moving

forward. I don't have all the answers, but I know who does.

And it is our job to create space for the God of the universe to meet people

where they're at to give them what they really need.

Do we have wounds that need to be tended? Is there a threat that you're wandering

away from the flock? Are you being flooded with dangers and enemies? Are

you being oppressed by poor leadership? Are you feeling lost? There is a real

shepherd who can attend to our very soul.

And it is imperative in the Christmas season that we understand that the

character of God as shepherd ruler

is pivotal to our understanding of Jesus and that we get to cry out to that part

of who he is. We get to pray that name, that power, that authority. The God who

doesn't manipulate, the God who doesn't coersse, but the one who has real power and authority. And we get to pray that

name into the situations of our lives because it's only him who saves

Jesus as shepherd ruler. When you pray to the Lord, your shepherd, you are

praying to the one who watches over your very day and night, feeding you and

leading you safely on the paths of righteousness.

I love that the journey isn't over. The difficulties

don't go away. Following Jesus is not a get out of jail free card.

Following Jesus is hard because following the shepherd in the ancient neareastern wilderness was

treacherous and difficult. But he was always faithful and protected and

guiding guided his sheep. And that's why Micah can claim though all the peoples

will each walk in the names of their God, we will walk in the name of the

Lord our God forever and ever. the name of the Lord our God. Not just

hey God, but the very person, the very essence, the very character. We're going

to walk in that name. I don't have all the answers to the

deepest pain and anguish. I don't know how to write what's wrong in the world around us. I don't know all

the paths this body of believers needs to take both individually and corporately on this journey of faith.

But I know who does. And I want to cry out to him this morning. I want to call on the name of

Jesus, our shepherd, our king.

Heavenly Father, as I think about this room this morning,

as I think about all the things that are going on this Christmas season, and yes,

we're going to come together on Christmas Eve, we're going to celebrate. We are going to have fun. But Lord Jesus, we also have to recognize and

understand that authentic real faith means that we can cry out to you in the midst of grief and anguish.

And Lord, there is a room full of people this morning who is sitting in all of their own stuff today. And we're just

going to allow you, Lord, to just be with us. And we're going to cry out to you, Lord.

And we're going to ask Jesus, our shepherd, will you be with me in this?

And we're just in the quietness of our own souls. We're going to name it. Lord Jesus, our shepherd, our provider. Will

you be with me in this?

Lord, there is no shame in grief. There is no shame in naming the things

in our lives that threaten to overwhelm us. And I think of the courage of the wise

men to stand up and say, "But he will be the shepherd, the ruler of the people,

Israel." And we're asking, Lord, our shepherd,

our ruler, our good king, will you lead us in the path we should

go in the midst of our grief? We're going to trust you that we don't

have to have all the answers right now. We're going to trust you even though we

can't maybe see the end, but we're going to choose this moment today, right now, to to allow you to

lead us through it. And as we go from this place today,

Jesus, we're going to ask for the courage to

come back to you again and again and again and again.

It's not a one and done. It's real life.

And we need your living water. We need you to move us when we need to

move to lead us when we need to be led. We need you, Jesus, to provide for us. We

need you, Lord Jesus, to keep us together. When everything in me wants to run from community, Lord, we need your

help to keep us together. Lord, will you tend to our wounds,

carrying us if we need to be carried? And Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for never becoming

jaded with us. It's you and only you who can give us

what we need this Christmas season. May we carry that spirit with us from

this place today. And as we leave, may God bless you and keep you.

May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. And as we scatter out

into the community until we gather again as a family, may he turn his face towards you and give you what? His

peace. And all God's people said, "Amen." I love you, church family. God

bless you. Have a great week. And maybe we'll see you on Christmas Eve.