Today, I started to worry about the future. My husband and I are faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we have testimonies of the truthfulness of the doctrines contained therein. But I started to worry about the "What ifs" of the future. What if someday, my testimony weakens? What if I completely lose it? What if I start going through the motions just to avoid hurting other people? What if Joseph does?
You get the picture. So I got down on my knees and told Heavenly Father what I was thinking. And then I thought about this Names of Christ series. I decided to take that as my answer to comfort me in this moment! I'm hoping that as I research a name of Christ, who is the ultimate comforter, I'll be able to feel reassured and at peace.
Today, I've decided to learn more about the reference "good shepherd." To the best of my knowledge, there are several verbatim scriptural references to the "good shepherd":
New Testament
Book of Mormon
Pearl of Great Price
(Please note that this list does not include references to the "shepherd," but the "good shepherd.")
In case you just breezed past the list and ignored the hyperlinks, here is one of those nine verses that stuck out to me:
"Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall" (D&C 50:44).
Soo, I'm like 15 minutes into this search, and right there is an answer to my worries. If I build my faith, my testimony, my actions, my LIFE upon the good shepherd, I will not falter. That's something that I need to remember when I'm overthinking the future and underestimating myself. If I center my life on Christ, I will not fall.
Now, back to the analysis...
What does good mean?
Let's break that down.
καλός (which has been, in this case*, translated into English good) seems to have a few core meanings:
(1) beautiful
(2) chiefly (figuratively speaking)
(3) good (literally or morally speaking)
(4) valuable
(5) virtuous
*Bonus fun fact: The same word is translated in other places in the King James Bible as better, fair, good, goodly, honest, meet, well, and worthy.
What I take from this first part of the phrase is that Christ, the good shepherd, is much more than what we traditionally think of as good. Exercise is good, right? Vegetables are good. Reading uplifting books is good. But Christ? Christ is the ULTIMATE good.
Check out that second word in the list: chiefly. I really like this one because when we apply it to the reference good shepherd, it seems to imply that there well may be other shepherds, but Christ is the chief shepherd; He is the shepherd of all shepherds. Many sects refer to their congregational leader as a pastor, which shares similar origins to the word shepherd. According to the OED, "The use of the word for ‘shepherd’ for a leader in the Christian church derives from the use of shepherding imagery in the bible." Also, think about the similarities between the words pastor and pasture. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are prophets, apostles, bishops, and many other leaders whom I think of as shepherds of a sort. Still, however, Christ is the chief shepherd.
Speaking of all that, what does shepherd mean?
Well, the original Greek word is ποιμήν (poimḗn). I used the Oxford English Dictionary to find out a little more about the word shepherd. The first definition is "A man who guards, tends, and herds a flock of sheep (grazing at large); usually one so employed for hire; or one of a pastoral people who herds (his own) sheep, goats, etc."
In reference to Christ, I would say that the last sentence is the most telling. Christ, after all, does not just watch over and protect us simply as an employee. We can choose to be the Lord's own sheep, and when we do, we are in His care. He does it because He loves us. He does it because we are His!
If I were to sum up what I've learned from this research, I would say, "Jesus Christ is the good shepherd; He is our principle caretaker because He loves us."
I hope you were able to gain something from this post. If nothing else, please know that Jesus Christ is your Savior, and He loves you. Because of Him, you can receive remission of our sins and return to live with our Heavenly Father after this life. I am grateful for His watchful eye.
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