Jesus...Our Compassionate Shepherd

 ^{Text: Mark 6: 34-44}

^"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things."By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."But he answered, "You give them something to eat."  They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?" "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied,  and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Thoughts:

I was touched to read again these passages reminding me of Jesus as a good shepherd to us. 

In the passages above, we can see there the continuation of the text i used in my last devotional post regarding "Toxic" Day. Jesus, before seeing this large crowd of people, was hungry and had not taken his meal yet, he invited his disciples by themselves to be in the solitary place to rest but the crowd went ahead of them and this large crowd were waiting for them. Although Jesus wanted to rest that time, he still ministered to these people, taught them and gave them something to eat. 

By that time, it was so late and the disciples reminded Jesus to send the people away because it was a remote place but Jesus didn't do that. He still took care of the people. 

The passages above are so rich in thoughts and lessons but i want to focus on the first verse of my text for this devotional thought, focusing on Jesus as a good shepherd.Verse 34 says, "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."

I love how King David described the Lord as his shepherd in Psalm 23:

 The LORD is my shepherd, 
 I shall not be in want.

 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
 he leads me beside quiet waters,

 he restores my soul.
 He guides me in paths of righteousness
 for his name's sake. 

 Even though I walk  through the valley of the shadow of death,
 I will fear no evil,
 for you are with me;
 your rod and your staff,
 they comfort me.

 You prepare a table before me
 in the presence of my enemies.
 You anoint my head with oil;
 my cup overflows.

 Surely goodness and love will follow me
 all the days of my life,
 and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
 forever. 

Here are other verses that you can see from Genesis to Revelation that describes the characteristics of our Shepherd: 

Genesis 48:15  "Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,"

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."

Jeremiah 17:16 " I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips is open before you."

Ezekiel 34:12 "As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness."

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:14  "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

Hebrews 13:20 " May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,"

1 Peter 2:25 " For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

1 Peter 5:4  "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away." 

Revelation 7:17  " For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

He loves people. He loves you and me. He knows our needs physically, emotionally, spiritually, materially, socially...every aspect of our lives. He will not stop doing good to us. He is our shepherd, he has been our shepherd all our lives to this day...he is good...he is compassionate...he is so concerned with everything that we go through everyday of our lives. 

If you have turned away from him, he is always there to welcome you and carry you close to his heart. He has not forgotten you. And if you haven't given your life to him even once, he is there waiting for you to receive him. He is a faithful shepherd...he is waiting for you to give yourself to him.He loves you. You can entrust your whole life to him and he will not leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13: 5, God says, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." He knows what you're going through  right now...turn to him because he is so compassionate.

Copyright © 2010 by Mari Ann Rose "Mariah" F. Gadapan . All rights reserved worldwide. 

All  devotional thoughts on this site are my own writings. I've learned them during my personal devotional time.If in case u want to use this material, please ask permission from me first or at least, acknowledge that i wrote it and it came from this site.

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