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“My table Thou hast furnished In presence of my foes; My head Thou dost with oil anoint, And my cup overflows.”
Our Good Shepherd sees to it that “the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” are well-fed (Psalm 95:7b), but the feeding may not always take place in a peaceful setting of green pastures and beside still waters. The Shepherd of Israel fed and sustained His sheep in difficult and frightening times. When the Lord led His people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, He established the Passover feast for them. It was a meal eaten in danger and in haste, with the people dressed and ready to follow their Shepherd to freedom. In their wilderness journey, the Lord provided manna, bread from heaven, to satisfy His hungry and rebellious sheep. Yet there were days of green pastures and still waters. Generations later, after the Lord brought the Israelites out of exile to their own land, the Lord’s sheep feasted happily “for the LORD had made them joyful” (Ezra 6:22b).
After the Shepherd of Israel was born in Bethlehem, He continued to feed His sheep, sometimes thousands at a time, when they were tired and hungry after long days of listening to His life-giving Word. The Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ, came to lay down His life as the Lamb of sacrifice. On the night before He died on the cross, the Good Shepherd prepared a table in the presence of His enemies. In an upper room in Jerusalem, as His foes conspired together in that same city to arrest and condemn Him, Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples. He gave to them and to us the sacred meal we celebrate today in Holy Communion. In His holy Supper, the Shepherd feeds us with His body and blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.
After rising from the dead, the Shepherd continued to feed His flock, breaking bread with two travelers in Emmaus, and providing breakfast for His disciples on the lake shore in Galilee. Today Jesus still feeds His precious sheep. He nourishes us daily with His Word. We receive His body and blood at the table He prepares for us in the presence of our enemies. In the Lord’s Supper we gather together as trusting sheep, defiant in the face of our foes—sin, death, and the devil. At times we may be confused and worried. Like wandering sheep, we become rebellious and hungry for the sinful pleasures of this world. Yet we come to the Lord’s Table, repentant and rejoicing in the living presence of our Shepherd. We receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins as our hearts find rest in the green pastures and still waters of His love.
WE PRAY: Savior and Shepherd, fill my heart with Your perfect peace, even in the presence of my enemies. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want,” which is number 710 in the Lutheran Service Book.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you think Jesus when He was growing up spent any time in the company of shepherds?
- How does Jesus as Shepherd serve and nourish His flock today?
- How can we be mindful of our sins and bring them to the Lord, asking for His forgiveness?
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