Shepherds and the Chief
Shepherd
Ezekiel 34:7-16 –
New International Version (NIV)
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I
live, declares the Sovereign Lord,
because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food
for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock
but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore,
you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
10 This is what the Sovereign Lord
says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I
will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer
feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no
longer be food for them.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after
them. 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. 13 I
will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I
will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of
Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I
will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be
their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there
they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I
myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search
for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and
strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will
shepherd the flock with justice.
Who is called to
hear the “word of the Lord” (verse 7)?
Why has the Lord’s
flock been plundered and become food for wild animals (verse 8)?
What did the
shepherds do instead of searching for the flock (verse
8)?
In your opinion,
why will the Lord hold the shepherds accountable for the flock (verse 10)?
What will no
longer be food for the shepherds (verse 10)?
Who will search
for the sheep and look after them (verse 11)?
Where will the
sheep be rescued from (verse 12)?
Where will the
sheep be pastured after they are brought out of the nations and the countries
(verse 13)?
What kind of
pasture will the sheep feed on (verse 14)?
Who will tend the
sheep (verse 15)?
In your opinion,
why bind up the injured and strengthen the weak but destroy the sleek and the
strong (verse 16)?
How will the Lord
shepherd the flock (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
John 10:11-18 - New
International Version (NIV)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and
does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep
and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The
man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know
me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I
lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are
not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my
voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The
reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No
one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to
lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my
Father.”
What does the good
shepherd do (verse 11)?
Who abandons the sheep and runs away when
he sees the wolf coming (verse 12)?
Why does the man
run away (verse 13)?
In your opinion,
how does Jesus the good shepherd know His sheep and how do they know Him (verse
14)?
Who knows the
Father and is known by the Father (verse 15)?
What does Jesus do
for the sheep (verse 15)?
In your opinion,
who are the other sheep that are not of “this
sheep pen” (verse 16)?
When Jesus brings
in these other sheep, how many flocks will there be (verse 16)?
Why does the
Father love Jesus (verse 17)?
What does Jesus
have the authority to do (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does the way Jesus
identifies Himself in John 10:11-18 show that He is the answer to the prophecy
God gave in Ezekiel 34:7-16?
1 Corinthians
2:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)
1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to
you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the
testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I
was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to
you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and
my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration
of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on
human wisdom, but on God’s power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,
but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to
nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been
hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
How did Paul not come to the
Corinthians as he proclaimed the testimony about God (verse 1)?
What was the only thing Paul resolved to know
while he was with them (verse 2)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when
he says he “came to you in weakness with
great fear and trembling” (verse 3)?
What does Paul say his message and
preaching were without (verse 4)?
What does Paul say his message and
preaching were with (verse 4)?
Where does Paul want the Corinthian’s
faith to rest (verse 5)?
Where does Paul speak a message of wisdom
(verse 6)?
What are the rulers of this age coming to
(verse 6)?
What is “a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory
before time began” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how was the message of
Jesus, who says in John 10:11-18 “I am
the good shepherd . . . and I lay down my life for my sheep” then
powerfully proclaimed by Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-7 that he “came in weakness with great fear and
trembling”?
In your opinion, what causes the
difference between the shepherds of Israel that Ezekiel has a message for in
Ezekiel 34:7-16 and Paul who is acting as a shepherd to the Christians in
Corinth in 1 Corinthians 2:1-7?
1 Peter 5:1-4 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a
fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the
glory to be revealed: 2 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; 3 not
lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you
will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
In your opinion, why does Peter describe himself to the “elders among you” as a ‘fellow elder’
and also as ‘a witness of Christ’s sufferings’ (verse 1)?
What will Peter share with the elders (verse 1)?
Why should the elders watch over the flock
that is under their care (verse 2)?
What should the elders not pursue (verse 2)?
In your opinion, what is the difference
between “lording it over those entrusted
to you” and “being examples to the
flock” (verse 3)?
How is Jesus described (verse 4)?
When will the elders “receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (verse 4)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
is Paul in his ministry to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2:1-7 an example of
the type of shepherd that Peter is appealing to the elders to be in 1 Peter
4:1-4?
In your opinion, how can the elders that
Peter is calling to be “shepherds of
God’s flock” in 1 Peter 5:1-4 be like the “Chief Shepherd” as Peter calls Jesus instead of the hired hand
that Jesus in John 10:11-18 says “abandons
the sheep and runs away”?
In your opinion,
what can the shepherds that Peter is talking to in 1 Peter 5:1-4 learn from the
shepherds that the Lord is holding accountable in Ezekiel 34:7-16?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Ezekiel, John, 1 Corinthians and 1 Peter tell us about bad shepherds, good
shepherds and the one who calls Himself the “good
shepherd”?
In your opinion, what do these passages show
us about ourselves today?
Next, back to Peter 5:5 –
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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