The Great Shepherd

                                                             ~A meditation on the benediction of Hebrews~

The Great Shepherd

Oh God, our great shepherd, by whose rod and staff we are given peace, even in the valley of the shadow of death, protect us. Your holy word is a lamp unto our feet, piercing the darkness. Teach us to seek you, for we cannot seek you unless you bring us to yourself. Let us discover the truth revealed by your revelation in Holy Scripture. Let us seek you by desiring you, and desire you by seeking you; allow us to find you by loving you and love you in finding you. As our shepherd, guide us in the light of your truth that we might glorify you in our lives and be united to you, through the holy blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.[1]

The word of the Lord from the holy epistle to the Hebrews:[2]  

 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Heb 13:20-21).

Beloved of Christ, in this passage, we as God’s flock are assured that we are equipped to do God’s good will through His blood spilled on Golgotha.

Coming at the end of the book of Hebrews, the assurance given in this benediction is sorely needed. Famed for its five “warning passages,” the epistle to the Hebrews stresses the frailty of the human condition, the horror of falling away, and the need to be held fast by Christ. These passages chasten the readers and add a sense of sober urgency to the message. However, in the preceding chapter the author assures the Hebrews that they should “Be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (12:38).” Considering the God who is a consuming fire, they should not neglect doing good works (13:1-5). In so doing, the author draws on the tension between the achieved reality that is the surety of being in the kingdom and the necessity of doing good. In other words, the author of Hebrews is addressing the seeming conflict between our assurance of salvation and the obligation of good works.

            The author of Hebrews begins his benediction by invoking the God of peace. This peace he refers to is not merely the absence of conflict, but the restoration of all things under the reign of God. Peace is the presence of God, and all things in right accord with hHm. This emphasis can be seen at the end of the phrase when Hebrews describes this peaceful God as the One who raised the Lord Jesus “from the dead.”  The God of peace is also the God who waged war against death and emerged victorious.  This is a peace that comes not from pacifism but through victory. The shalom of God is set in contrast to the power of the grave. They ultimately cannot coexist. The Hebrews are encouraged to live in the peace that comes from being restored to right relation with the Creator.   

Throughout the letter, Jesus is given many titles: “high priest,” “forerunner,” and “Son of God.” Yet the “Great Shepherd” is the final title the Hebrews are left to savor. While it may seem like a lesser title compared to the likes of “Lord” and “Author,” this pastoral imagery invokes one of the most ancient and widespread descriptions of God. First used by Jacob on his death bed,[3] David centralized the motif of God as the Good Shepherd. A motif which would be echoed by many of the prophets. Jesus too drew on this analogy in His own self-descriptions.[4]  The motif evokes an intimacy and deeply personal care to which God has bound Himself in relation to His people. In addition, it is not insignificant that the author of Hebrews is describing Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In so doing, he is equating Jesus with the God of David. Likewise, this passage implies a continuity between the sheep of Israel in the Old Testament with the flock of the New Testament church. Hebrews comforts its readers in saying that they have the same Shepherd who fulfilled His promises in the days of old. The repetition of the Good Shepherd motif emphasizes God as protector, steward, and intimate guide of His people.

            When the author writes that God will “equip you with everything good that you may do his will,” he simultaneously gives both the law and the gospel.  The sheep of the flock are expected to perform the good will of their shepherd. They are to “do that which is pleasing in His sight.” Although this can be a terrifyingly daunting task, the passage does not treat it as such. Instead of focusing on the weight of what is to be done, the letter dwells on the assurance that it will be done.  The saints are expected to do God’s will because it is He who equips them for it with “everything good.”

            This equipping comes only through the “blood of the eternal covenant.”  In keeping with Hebrew’s emphasis on Christ's role as the greater and better high priest, this passage speaks of the blood sacrifice which established the community of God's covenant people and enables them within that covenant. However, unlike the blood sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood, this greater High Priest’s sacrifice is eternally efficacious.  The sacrifice of this eternal covenant was achieved through the blood shed at Christ’s crucifixion. It is only by being united to Christ into His death and resurrection that the Christian can live the life of the new covenant. This covenant is an eternal covenant because it is made by God, achieved through His sacrifice, and fulfilled by him. Sin cannot invalidate the covenantal obligations because it is God who guarantees the covenant from start to finish.

God gives his flock gifts, in fact every “good and pleasing gift,”[5] so they can be what they were created to be: workers of His will. Christ promises to work in His people to please Himself. In saying: “He will work what is pleasing in His sight,” the author of Hebrews is declaring that even though God is the object of our labors, He is also the doer of them. In light of this truth, the warning passages in Hebrews should not be taken as invitations into doubt but opportunities to rejoice in the Savior who holds us fast.

The benediction serves as something of a final capstone in the theology of Hebrews. It continues the pattern of conflating the identity of Jesus with the identity of God.  This trinitarian truth would have still been freshly revolutionizing to the presumably Jewish audience of the letter. There is only the one Jesus Christ, and that Jesus is the same One who is God. In fact, He is the same God who David wrote about in the 23rd Psalm. The same God who decreed in eternity past that He would ensure His eternal covenant through His own blood shed on Calvary. This external economic action of the second person of the Trinity was an expression of the intrinsic peace that belongs to God. It is part of His nature to bring shalom, because He is Himself shalom.

It is by the humiliation and victory of the incarnate God that He acts as Shepherd to His people. The Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm is the same Shepherd of John 10 who lays down His life for the sheep. The valley of the shadow of death bears no threat to the Christian because the Shepherd defeated that shadow by His death. The benediction gives lasting assurance by saying that we will be part of Christ's glory forever and ever. In writing of “glory forever and ever,” The author of Hebrews invites the believer to be welcomed into an eternal shalom. The final “amen” seals the transformation of the epistle message from law into gospel.

As part of this covenantal flock established in the peace of God, Christians are expected to live out shalom by doing the good works set before them. But this is not expressed in terms of obligation but in terms of joyous freedom. Through union with Christ and through the Spirit, the Christian is expected to become what she truly is in Christ: a pleasing worshiper of God. Once again it is important to stress what the author of Hebrews emphasized in the latter part of verse 21: everything is to God’s glory as an accomplishment of His will. It is all predestined by God through Christ, in the Spirit, for the pleasure of God. The expectation of good works is a blessing rather than a curse because these works are not most fundamentally works of our own but works of Christ performed by and yet through us.

The theological truth revealed in this passage liberates the Christian to do good works. God is most certainly the ultimate cause of virtue, just as He is ultimately the telos of virtue, however that does not eliminate human will and action as secondary causes in virtue. Hebrews is hardly Antinomian. In fact, it declares that our good works of the law are pleasing in God's sight. Yet, the virtue demanded of Christians is the virtue given them by Christ. The Christian is not supposed to muster up some internal virtues from within herself in order to please God. Rather because God is pleased with her, she is imputed with His own righteousness. This imputation makes her, in her new nature, a natural doer of Divine law. Good works are to be done not as obligation but instead as adoration.

Ascribing to God the title of Good Shepherd serves as a comfort to his flock. His involvement was not a one-time event which ended at His ascension. He promises to continue to guide and protect and shepherd His people and grow them into His image. When we stray, when we fail to live up to the ethics of Divine law, because of the blood of his eternal covenant Christ promises to bring us back into the fold. All of this leads to a joyful ethic of free good works.

In the midst of our uncertainty in life it should serve as a deep comfort that we are sheep. The choices and obligations in our lives are overwhelming and staggering. It can be easy to give into fear and withdraw into ourselves in despondency. Or, alternatively, when faced with the monumental task set before us, we might feel tempted to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and forge our own path. But that is not what sheep are to do. Neither of the options describes the reality the Christian is brought into. Neither fear nor brashness are the virtues cultivated in Christ’s flock. Rather we are called to meek reliance on our Shepherd. He requires much of us, but we only accomplish that which pleases Him by being carried on his back. In every new chapter in our lives, we can banish all fear and every controlling impulse wanting to plot our own course. We have a Shepherd who bought us with his blood, and He will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death.

               Oh, Great Shepherd who cares for His flock: blessed be your name. From eternity past you predestined to bring eternal peace to your people by the defeat of the shadow of death. You are the great High Priest who mediates a covenant in your own blood, which you shed for us. You are a good Father who gives good gifts to His children, equipping them to be a restored people. Through your Spirit, you empower us to be the holy flock you made us to be. Grow us into maturity that we may be pleasing in your sight and rejoice in the glory of Christ forevermore. Equip us to live lives of grateful holiness as the flock for whom you shed your most precious blood. Grant this for the sake of your love. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.[6]

 

 

 

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[1] Inspired by the Occasional Prayer of Anselm from the Book of Common Prayer (2019)

[2] I will abide by the church tradition of assuming the original audience of this letter to be the Hebrews of the Church

[3] Genesis 48:15

[4] John 10:11

[5]  James 1:17a: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above….

[6] Inspired by the occasional prayers from the Book of Common Prayer (2019)