The Disciples Return
and Marvel
…Meanwhile the disciples urged Him,
“Rabbi, eat something.”
But He told them,
“I have food to eat
that you know nothing about.”
So the disciples asked one another,
“Could someone have brought Him food?”…
John 4:31
Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, "Rabbi, eat something."
John 4:33
So the disciples asked one another,
"Could someone have brought Him food?"
But he said to them,
I have food to eat that you know nothing about
John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them,
My meat is to do the will of him that
sent me, and to finish his work.
Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back
from the commandment of his lips;
I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary food.
Psalm 63:5
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and
my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
Psalm 25:14
The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will
shew them his covenant.
Proverbs 14:10
The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger
doth not intermeddle with his joy.
Revelation 2:17
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Jesus' teaching and
miracles
have drawn huge crowds
Some have travelled great distances
to see Him.
Earlier in Matthew,
Jesus felt the need
to get away from the crowds,
escaping in a fishing boat
all the way
across the Sea of Galilee
(Matthew 8:18).
In those specific moments,
Jesus recognized the need
to rest and refresh Himself.
In a broader sense, though,
Jesus looks at the crowds of people
and is
filled with compassion
for them.
These are the children of Israel.
These are the people of God.
Instead of flourishing,
Jesus sees
that they are
harassed and helpless.
If Matthew had stopped there, we might think
Jesus' sympathy
for them had to do with Roman occupation.
Instead Jesus feels compassion for a
specific kind of misery:
symbolized by the image of
lost sheep
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–2),
Jesus challenged the attitudes and behaviors of Israel's religious leaders in several important areas. This, though, is the greatest charge against them. Instead of shepherding the people of Israel with kindness and mercy, the Pharisees and the other
religious leaders judge, intimidate, and
bully the people into following
rules and procedures
not even found in the law of Moses.
The people are helpless
against these leaders,
since their participation in the worship of God
and life of the community is dependent
on the approval of these men.
Jesus' compassion and sympathy
are another connection to God the Father
(Psalm 103:13–14).
His impulse to shepherd the people
points again to the fact that
He is the Messiah
(Micah 5:4).
In Ezekiel 34:1–31,
Israel’s leaders are compared to incompetent shepherds
who failed to care for their flock.
The people of Israel were the sheep of God’s flock,
and they
should have been cared for (Psalm 95:7; 100:3).
Ezekiel reveals that,
through self-centered leadership,
God’s sheep were abused,
oppressed, and left to scatter.
As such, they were vulnerable to attacks from “wild animals”
(Ezekiel 34:8), who represent predatory
foreign nations like Babylon.
God announced that He will do away with the
self-absorbed shepherds (verses 10) and
rescue His people:
“I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he
is among his
sheep that have been scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep,
and I will rescue them from
all places where they have been scattered”
(Ezekiel 34:11–12, ESV).
The sheep/shepherd theme runs throughout the Scriptures.
Shepherding was a common vocation in Israel’s culture.
Many of Israel’s patriarchs engaged in the occupation (Genesis 46:32).
Men, women, and children
all worked as shepherds in the Bible
(Genesis 29:6; 1 Samuel 16:11; 17:15).
The job of shepherding involved
leading sheep to
pasture for food and fresh water,
providing shelter and protection,
and caring for the
injured and ill among the flock.
In Ezekiel, Israel’s human leaders neglect, exploit, and mislead the flock. Instead of nurturing the sheep, they only look out for themselves. For this reason, God says, “I myself will search for my sheep.” This metaphor of God caring for His sheep appears in Isaiah 40:11: “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young” (see also Micah 7:14). Perhaps the finest example of God leading us like a shepherd is Psalm 23.
One of the oldest titles of God in the Bible is “Shepherd” (Genesis 49:24). The psalmist Asaph describes how God brought Israel out of Egypt “like a flock; he led them like sheep through the wilderness. He guided them safely, so they were unafraid; but the sea engulfed their enemies” (Psalm 78:52–53).
The Gospels describe Jesus Christ as the ultimate compassionate shepherd. He cares for “sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36; see also Mark 6:34). He is the “good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14), the “great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20), and the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4).
God is in the business of seeking and saving lost sheep (John 10:16). Perhaps His words, “I myself will search for my sheep,” resound most forcefully in Christ’s parable of the lost sheep:
If a man has a hundred sheep
and one of them gets lost,
what will he do?
Won’t he leave
the ninety-nine others in the wilderness
and go to search for the one
that is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying,
“Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.” In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others
who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
(Luke 15:4–7, NLT).
Just as the people of
Israel were the sheep of God’s flock,
Christians today are the sheep of Christ’s flock
(Luke 12:32; Matthew 10:16).
Israel had God-appointed
spiritual under-shepherds,
just as
New Testament believers do
(John 21:15–17).
In Acts, Paul told the Ephesian elders to
“keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
Be shepherds of the church of God,
which he bought with his own blood”
(Acts 20:28).
The apostle Peter urged
church leaders to
take their
responsibilities seriously:
“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is
under your care,
watching over them—not because you must,
but because you are willing,
as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain,
but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you,
but being examples to the flock.
And when the Chief Shepherd appears,
you will receive the crown of glory
that will never fade away”
(1 Peter 5:2–4).
False, self-interested spiritual shepherds
existed in ancient Israel, and
equally troublesome shepherds
are active in the church today
(Acts 20:29; Matthew 7:15; John 10:1).
The Lord held Israel’s elders
accountable and
brought judgment against the
corrupt ones
(Ezekiel 34:7–19; Isaiah 3:13–15; 5:8; Amos 5:12).
And He continues to hold accountable and
bring judgment on
fraudulent spiritual leaders to this day
(Matthew 23:4–15).
God is personally invested in
caring for His sheep.
If one of His appointed leaders
takes advantage of the flock,
the Lord Himself
promises to step into the role
of caring shepherd to rescue and
restore His sheep
(Zechariah 10:3; 11:7).
He removes the
incompetent shepherd
from
tending the flock and says,
“I myself will search
for my sheep
I will rescue them and
care for them.”
Lot was the grandson of Terah, son of Haran, and nephew of Abram (Abraham). He was likely born in Ur of the Chaldeans. Lot’s father Haran died unexpectedly, and so Lot was taken in by the rest of his family.
At some point, possibly soon after Haran’s death, Lot’s grandfather Terah decided to relocate his entire family to Canaan. They ended up settling in Harran instead. After Terah’s death the Lord spoke to Abram and told him to resume the journey to Canaan, promising to make him into a great nation (Genesis 12:1–3). Abram set out on this journey, and Lot went with him.
When they came to Bethel, Abram’s and Lot’s sheepherders quarreled because there was not enough land to support the amount of livestock each man owned. So Abram presented an offer to Lot: they would part company, and Lot could have first pick of the land he would occupy (Genesis 13:8–9). Lot chose the land near the Jordan River, as it was rich and lush. Abram took other land, and Lot left his uncle and settled his family near the sinful city of Sodom (verse 12).
The consequences of Lot’s selfish choice soon caught up with him. Five kings in the area (the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Bela) were subjects of King Kedorlaomer, and they rose up against him (Genesis 14:4). But Kedorlaomer gathered his allies and defeated the rebelling kings. The victors seized all the goods in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they took Lot and his family as part of the plunder (verse 12). When Abram heard of this, he and his fighting men attacked Kedorlaomer’s army at night and won. He recovered Lot and his family, as well as all the goods the army had taken from Sodom and Gomorrah (verse 16). Afterward, Lot returned to Sodom.
But Lot’s hardships did not end there. Sodom was very wicked, and, although Lot was counted as a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7–8), he allowed his family to become entrenched in the city and its culture. God resolved to utterly destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain for their great sin, but in His grace He sent two angels to Sodom to rescue Lot and his family from the fate of the city. As Lot sat in the gateway of the city, he saw the two angels and, mistaking them for regular men, invited them to stay at his house (Genesis 19:1–2). The angels told Lot they would spend the night in the town square, but Lot insisted strongly, knowing how dangerous the people of the city were. The angels accepted the invitation, and Lot prepared a meal for them and provided a place for them to sleep.
Before the angels settled in for the night, a crowd of men from all over the city gathered outside of Lot’s house. They demanded access to Lot’s guests in order to have homosexual relations with them (Genesis 19:4–5). We can see the effect the city had upon Lot here, for, in an effort to protect the men under his roof, Lot offered his two daughters instead (verse 8). But the crowd wanted the men, and they tried to break into Lot’s house. The two angels quickly pulled Lot inside, shut the door, and struck the men outside with blindness. They ordered Lot to gather up his family and leave immediately, for they were going to utterly destroy the city and everyone in it (verses 12–13).
Lot spoke with his sons-in-law, but they refused to leave, considering Lot’s warning about impending judgment to be a joke (Genesis 19:14). When the time of destruction drew near, Lot was still hesitating, and the angels had to physically drag Lot, his wife, and his two daughters out of the city (verse 16). They urged Lot to go to the mountains, but Lot requested leave to run to the nearby town of Zoar instead (verses 17–20). The Lord granted this request and vowed to spare that city for Lot’s sake. As they fled, Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom. Because she loved Sodom and desired it, the Lord turned her into a pillar of salt (verse 26; see also Luke 17:30–33).
After the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah,
Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar.
So he settled
in the mountains with his daughters.
Matthew 24:15–16 follows Mark 13:14 closely:
"So when you see the
abomination of desolation
spoken of by the prophet Daniel,
standing in the holy place
(let the reader understand),
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains"
He was destitute—he had lost everything when Sodom was destroyed—and so the family lived in a cave (Genesis 19:30). It was here that Lot’s daughters devised a disturbing plan to continue the family line: they would get Lot so drunk that he didn’t know what was happening and then sleep with him (verses 31–32). Both women became pregnant and had sons named Moab and Ben-Ammi. These two boys would become the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites (verses 37–38). Many years later, when the Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land, the Lord ordered His people to preserve the Moabites and the Ammonites on Lot’s behalf (Deuteronomy 2:9, 19).
Much of Lot’s life is a picture of the consequences of greed and the negative influence of a sinful environment.
Lot knew God,
but he chose to live among people
who would lead his family
into sin and complacency.
But Lot’s story is also an illustration of
God’s great mercy—in spite of Lot’s poor choices,
God saved him and his daughters
from a violent end in
Sodom and preserved his line throughout the ages.
Jesus gave Peter a three-fold command to “feed my sheep” in John 21:15-17. Each time Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” it was in response to Peter’s three-fold declaration of love for Jesus. The setting was one of the last of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus prepared a breakfast of fish and bread for them, and then commissioned Peter with the task of feeding His sheep and tending His lambs.
The three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. The first time Jesus says it, the Greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). The Greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. Believers are referred to as sheep throughout Scripture. “For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Psalm 95:7). Jesus is both our Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and the Door of the sheepfold (John 10:9). By describing His people as lambs, He is emphasizing their nature as immature and vulnerable and in need of tending and care.
The second time, the literal meaning is “tend My sheep” (v. 16). In this exchange, Jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. This expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in Peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. Peter follows Jesus’ example and repeats this same Greek word poimaino in his first pastoral letter to the
elders of the churches of Asia Minor:
“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers”
(1 Peter 5:2).
The third time, the literal translation is “pasture (tend) the sheep” (v. 17).
Here Jesus combines the different Greek words to
make clear the job of the shepherd of the flock of God. They are to tend, care for, and provide spiritual food for God’s people, from the youngest lambs to the full-grown sheep, in continual action to nourish and care for their souls, bringing them into the fullness of spiritual maturity.
The totality of the task set before Peter, and all shepherds, is made clear by Jesus’ three-fold command and the words He chooses.
What is this food with which shepherds are to feed the flock of God?
It can be no other than the Word of God. Peter declares that Christians are to desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it, we can mature in our salvation (1 Peter 2:2). As early as the book of Deuteronomy,
we see the Lord describing His Word
as food for His people who live not by bread alone,
but by every Word that proceeds from His mouth
(Deuteronomy 8:3).
Jesus reiterates this thought in His temptation in the wilderness
(Matthew 4:4).
The importance of the Word of God as food for our
souls cannot be over-emphasized.
Clearly, the job of the shepherds of God’s people is to
provide them with the pure milk of the
Word of God so they can move on to the meat and
solid food of the spiritually mature
(Hebrews 5:12-14).
Pastoral ministry should be primarily one of
pastors feeding their people the
Word of God.
Only then can pastors declare,
as Peter did,
their love for the Lord Jesus.
Jesus alerts us to
“watch out for false prophets”
in Matthew 7:15.
He compares these
false prophets to wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Jesus also tells us how to identify these false prophets:
we will recognize them by their fruit
(Matthew 7:20).
Throughout the Bible, people are warned about false prophets
(Ezekiel 13, Matthew 24:23–27, 2 Peter 3:3).
False prophets claim
to speak for God,
but they speak falsehood.
To gain a hearing, they come to people
“in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
they are ferocious wolves”
(Matthew 7:15).
No matter how innocent and harmless these teachers
appear on the outside,
they have the nature of wolves—they are
intent on destroying faith,
causing spiritual carnage in the church,
and enriching themselves.
They “secretly introduce destructive heresies,”
“bring the way of truth into disrepute,”
and
“exploit you with fabricated stories”
(2 Peter 2:1–3).
The false teachers do “sheep’s clothing” so they
can mingle with the sheep
without
arousing suspicion.
They usually are not up front about what they believe;
rather, they mix in some truth with their
falsehood and carefully
choose their words to sound orthodox.
In reality, they
“follow their own ungodly desires”
(Jude 1:17–18), and
“they never stop sinning;
they
seduce the unstable;
they
are experts in greed”
(2 Peter 3:14).
By contrast,
a TRUE prophet
teaches
God’s Word fully
(Deuteronomy 18:20).
Wolves in sheep’s clothing twist God’s Word
to deceive or influence
the audience for their own purposes.
Satan himself
masquerades as an angel of light
(2 Corinthians 11:14),
and his ministers
masquerade as servants of righteousness
(2 Corinthians 11:15).
The best way to
guard against
wolves in sheep’s clothing
is to
heed the warnings
of Scripture and
KNOW the TRUTH
A believer who “correctly handles the word of truth”
(2 Timothy 2:15)
and carefully studies the Bible
will be able to identify false prophets.
Christians must judge all teaching
against what Scripture says.
Believers will also
be able to identify false prophets by their fruit--
their words, actions, and lifestyles.
Jesus said, “A tree is recognized by its fruit”
(Matthew 12:33; cf. Matthew 7:20).
Peter described false teachers as having
“depraved conduct”
and who
“carouse” as
“slaves of depravity”
(2 Peter 2:2, 13, 19).
If a teacher in the church does not
live according to God’s Word,
he is one of those wolves in
sheep’s clothing.
Here are three specific questions to identify false prophets,
or wolves in sheep’s clothing:
1) What does the teacher say about Jesus?
In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.”
The Jews understood Jesus’ statement as a
claim to be God and wanted to stone him
(John 10:33).
Anyone who denies Jesus as Lord
(1 John 4:1–3)
is a false prophet.
2) Does the teacher preach the biblical gospel?
Anyone who teaches an incomplete or
unbiblical gospel is to be eternally condemned
(Galatians 1:9).
Any gospel apart from what the Bible tells us
(1 Corinthians 15:1–4) is not the true good news.
3) Does this teacher exhibit godly character qualities?
Jesus said to
beware of teachers whose moral behavior does
not match what the Bible says.
He says we will know wolves in sheep’s clothing by their fruits
(Matthew 7:15–20)
It doesn’t matter how large
a church a preacher has,
how many books he has sold, or
how many people applaud him.
If he “teaches a different doctrine and does not
agree with the sound words of our
Lord Jesus Christ
and the
teaching that accords with godliness,”
then he is a
wolf in sheep’s clothing
(1 Timothy 6:3).