Jeremiah 23:2-6
2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my
people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.
A Different Kind of King
I’d like to play a game with you this morning I’m calling Impromptu Pictionary. I’m going to give you 30 seconds and one word. It’s your job to draw pictures clear enough that someone who sees them could guess what that word is. Ready? Your clue word is “king.” Go!
Where do you begin? A crown, probably, right? Maybe a throne. A robe. Scepter. Castle. But you only have 30 seconds. You have to choose the most distinctive image you can think of and work from there.
What if you started with a sheep? Then, after you make it clear that you’re not drawing a cloud, you also draw a stick. And that’s it. You keep underlining and circling the sheep and the stick, do you think anyone would guess the word “king”? Probably not.
In fact, historically we know that they didn’t. They looked the one, true King in the eye and didn’t recognize him. They even mocked him as he hung on a cross thinking that they were being terribly ironic by calling him the King of Jews, when, in reality, that’s exactly who he was. They just couldn’t see it, because they had been conditioned to expect their kings to look a certain way. But Jesus is a King of another kind.
This picture of sheep and stick is Jeremiah’s prophecy about Jesus as our King. Let me read it for you again:
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: ‘Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,’ declares the Lord. ‘I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.’[1]
Jesus is the better Shepherd.
We’ve heard Jeremiah’s story now for the last three weeks. He was God’s prophet, chosen and appointed to bring one of the hardest messages to God’s people. He was tasked with going to the king and telling him that if he and the rest of the people of Judah did not change their ways, God would do it for them. They didn’t listen, so God acted. He sent Babylon to tear them down. He sent Nebuchadnezzar to drag them away in chains. They would not repent, so God did not relent.
Jehoiakim was a bad king.
A few weeks ago I shared with you the list of all the last kings of Judah. At that time I just gave you their names. Allow me to add some color:
Rehoboam… abandoned the law of the LORD.[2]
Abijah… committed all the sins his father had done before him.[3]
Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.[4]
Jehoshaphat… did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.[5]
Jehoram… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[6]
Ahaziah… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[7]
Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed.[8]
Amaziah… did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done.[9]
Azariah… did what was right in the eyes of the LORD … the high places, however, were not removed.[10]
Jotham… did what was right in the eyes of the LORD … the high places, however, were not removed.[11]
Ahaz… did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD.[12]
Hezekiah… did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.[13]
Manasseh… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[14]
Amon… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[15]
Josiah… did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.[16]
Jehoahaz… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[17]
Jehoiakim… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[18]
Jehoiachin… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[19]
Zedekiah… did evil in the eyes of the LORD.[20]
So, to summarize, of the last 19 kings of Judah, only 4 were considered to be righteous; 4 more were personally righteous, but with the qualifier that they allowed their people to go astray; which leaves 11 of 19 kings to be outright evildoers, rotten to the core, idolaters, i.e. bad kings.
When God talks about these shepherds having scattered his flock and driven them away and not caring for them, he’s not kidding. The people had bad leadership, and the result was a devasted nation, a Temple destroyed, people in exile.
Again, as we’ve said several times in this last month, Babylon is not knocking on our door. There is no (known) impending exile for us. But we are living in a day and age of faithless leaders who don’t do what God commands them to do. Politicians who endorse, embody and advocate sinful behavior and attitudes. Children have teachers who single them out and belittle them for believing in Jesus. Families torn apart because of our faith in Jesus. Even pastors who may be personally “right” with God but who allow their people to go astray.
I bet it wouldn’t take you long to think of 10 bad leaders from your life. But where people fail, Jesus prevails. He is the better Shepherd. Just listen again to what he promises:
I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.[21]
Like a good shepherd, Jesus goes after his lost and lonely sheep. He cares for us in a way that only he can. He is not punching a clock or building a legacy. He isn’t advancing his name or using his position to his own advantage. He sincerely cares for what remains of his flock and promises to bring us back to the safety and bounty of his pasture, where we will flourish.
He says, “I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.[22]
That’s our King, the king with a shepherd’s heart. All those things that make us afraid, all those threats to our bodies and souls will be gone, because we are under his care. I shared with you a list of mostly bad kings from Israel’s history. I even dared you to compose your own list of bad leaders from your life. What if you tried to do the same thing for good leaders? How many could you name?
That’s the thing about our Shepherd King – he doesn’t wait for us to be with him in heaven before he begins fulfilling this promise. He’s given us good leaders here too. Parents who fed us with the Word. Friends who connected us with a community of believers. Pastors and teachers who touched our hearts and offered comfort to our souls.
Where bad leaders fail, Christ prevails because he is the better Shepherd. He gathers what others have scattered. He brings to safety those who were in danger. He promises protection and guidance and everything we need for body and life. But do you know my favorite part of this whole picture? The last five words: “nor will any be missing.”[23]
God loves you. Each and every one of you. He does not and will not overlook you. He is not some distant, impersonal king who has far too vast a kingdom to care for one lowly lamb. No, he loves you. He knows you by name and will not leave you out of his kingdom. He knows what threatens you. He knows where you’ve been scattered. He’s come to gather you home to his glorious kingdom where you will live in his love now and for all the days of your life.
Jesus is the better Shepherd.
He is also the righteous Branch.
If you can picture Judah as having been a mighty oak tree, Babylon cut it low. When the people returned out of exile all that was left was a stump of its former glory. And yet, out of that seemingly lifeless stump would grow a branch: “a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.”[24]
Jesus was that “righteous Branch” for David. He was of the line of King David. He had a legitimate claim on the crown. He was a true king, but unlike so many kings who had come before him, he would do what was just and right in the land, and it had nothing to do with legislation or the economy or border security or healthcare. He came to offer and provide what no leader in your life can: “In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.”[25]
See, it’s not just bad leaders who threaten us. Sometimes, we as sheep go astray all on our own, like those Israelites. They had Jeremiah, a faithful prophet, who warned them of what was to come if they didn’t come back to the Lord, and they didn’t listen. We don’t always listen either. We go our own way. Maybe it’s out of complete ignorance – we just don’t know better. Maybe it’s arrogance, to think that we do know better than God.
What is it in us that loves the rebellion, the taboo, the forbidden? Why do we chase after things that only offer temporary satisfaction and momentary pleasure, and run away from the God who offers us eternal peace and joy? Why can’t we get over or grow out of this stubborn sinful nature?
I’m not sure that I have an answer to that, but God does. “This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord our Righteous Savior.”[26]
Jesus is the answer to our sin. We’re going to talk about it more in a few weeks, but this is literally his name. “Jesus” means “he saves,” and that’s what he came to do. He didn’t just come to right the wrongs of all the faithless leaders of the past. He came to be our righteousness. He came to be what we fail to be every day – perfect; just and right; truly righteous in God’s sight.
He is one of us – a human being with flesh and blood just like all of us, but unlike any of us in that he never did a single thing wrong, so that he could be exactly what God expects of us. He is our Righteous Savior who saves us from ourselves.
That’s why, even though people didn’t recognize him as a king as he was hanging on the cross, that was the single most kingly thing he did for us. He died to forgive our sin, and showed us his undying love, so that we could be saved and live in safety.
Jesus is a King of another kind. He’s unlike anything we could ever find in this world – the better Shepherd and the righteous Branch, who loves each and every lamb individually and has saved us all eternally.
It may be hard to put it down on paper, but impress this king on your hearts. Know that no matter who your earthly leaders may be – good or bad – Jesus is best and will finally, one day, correct all the mistakes of this world and bring you to his perfect pasture. No matter how far we go astray, he will always chase after with his forgiving love, never forgetting you or letting you go missing, but saving you and bringing you into his glorious kingdom, because he is your Shepherd King and your righteous Savior. To our King be glory and honor and praise forever and ever. Amen.
[1] Jeremiah 23:2,3
[2] 2 Chronicles 12:1
[3] 1 Kings 15:3
[4] 1 Kings 15:11
[5] 1 Kings 22:43
[6] 2 Kings 8:18
[7] 2 Kings 8:27
[8] 2 Kings 12:2,3
[9] 2 Kings 14:3
[10] 2 Kings 15:3,4
[11] 2 Kings 15:34,35
[12] 2 Kings 16:2
[13] 2 Kings 18:3
[14] 2 Kings 21:2
[15] 2 Kings 21:20
[16] 2 Kings 22:2
[17] 2 Kings 23:32
[18] 2 Kings 23:37
[19] 2 Kings 24:9
[20] 2 Kings 24:19
[21] Jeremiah 23:3
[22] Jeremiah 23:4
[23] Ibid
[24] Jeremiah 23:5
[25] Jeremiah 23:6
[26] Ibid