He Shall Feed His Flock

December, 1994
It was the week before Christmas, and the library was having a special puppet show for preschoolers. After settling my two young children on the floor, I took a seat on a row of chairs along the back wall. Although I wasn’t really in the mood for a puppet show, I was grateful to be sitting down for a few minutes. I was expecting my third child any day, and keeping up with the demands of my four-year-old son and nineteen-month-old daughter was beginning to wear me out. My husband, in school full-time and serving in our ward bishopric, was not often available to help. I wondered how I would manage when the baby came.

I had grabbed a book from a display as we came through the library. It was a book of Christmas stories and songs, and I leafed through it, hoping it would put me in the Christmas spirit. I saw that the book contained some of the songs from Handel’s Messiah, which I have always loved. I turned to that section and read these words:

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11)

I had read this scripture before, but this time I was struck by the last phrase. I suppose I had always taken this to mean that the Savior will gently lead the young sheep. But that isn’t what it says – it says those that are with young: the mother sheep.

The Spirit testified to me that the Lord does indeed have a special role in leading those who are concerned with the care and nurture of his precious young ones. 

The peace and comfort of this message carried me through the next few days ─ my third child, Danny, was born on Christmas Eve ─ and I have called upon that divine promise many times during my years of parenting.

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I happen to be very fond of sheep. But I will note that they are not particularly smart animals. Besides their intellectual weakness, they have virtually no defenses against predators. They can't run fast, they don't have teeth or sharp claws to fight with ─ they can't even make a scary face!

 They need a shepherd.

Most of us are smarter than sheep, but we are not smart enough, or strong enough, to win the battle against sin, grief and doubt alone.

We, too, need a shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want . . . He restoreth my soul . . . I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; (Psalms 23)

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (John 10:14) 

And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. (Mark 6:34)

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. (Ezekiel 34:11 – 12)

Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd. (Alma 5:38)

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At the time of Christ's birth, shepherds were not held in high esteem. Herding sheep was considered menial labor. Shepherds were thought to be dirty ─ and they often were, because they spent so much of their time with the sheep.

And yet, they were the first called to see the Savior's birth:

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. (Luke 2:7 - 15) 

Christian essayist Randy Alcorn wrote: Into this social context of religious snobbery and class prejudice, God’s Son stepped forth. How surprising and significant that Father God handpicked lowly, unpretentious shepherds to first hear the joyous news: “It’s a boy, and He’s the Messiah!”

It was not by chance that shepherds were chosen as witnesses. While Christ frequently affirmed His role as shepherd, He has also been manifestly recognized as "The Lamb." In these dual roles, Christ not only protects and guides us, but as the sacrificial lamb of God He gives his life to redeem us.

. . . Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:12-13)

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

The Lord Jesus Christ He was born in obscurity, lived in difficulty and suffered all things — for us. For you, and for me.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4)

And we cannot repay him. He does not ask us to. He cannot expect us to.

So what does he ask of us?

After the Savior completed His atoning sacrifice, blood sacrifices were no longer a gospel ordinance. We are now required to offer the Lord “a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9:20). We are also asked to comply with the principles of sacrifice by obeying the commandments, offering precious gifts of love, time, and service, and remembering the sacrifice of our Savior. Our sacrifices deepen our worship, acknowledge our debt to God, and express gratitude for our blessings. (See Behold the Lamb of God, David Rolph Seely and Jo Ann H. Seely, April 2013)

Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. ( 2 Nephi 2:6 - 7)

From Elder Neal A. Maxwell:

The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!

And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay.Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth;Yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.  (Mosiah 2:20 - 25)

This message resonates beautifully in the final stanza of Christina Rossetti's poem, In the Bleak Midwinter:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

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So, what will you give your Lord and Savior this year, on the day we celebrate His birth? Will you, like King Lamoni, give away all your sins to know Him? Can you find the faith and the courage to say, as Christ did, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done"? 

To be honest, I'm really not sure I can. But I'm pretty sure I can try to be kinder, to be more diligent in studying the scriptures, to pray more fervently, and to better magnify my callings at church and at home.

Like a good sheep would.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Merry Christmas to all my fellow sheep.