Matthew 9:36: And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were harassed and thrown down like sheep having no shepherd.

I mentioned in the sermon that the phrase “sheep without a shepherd” appears in the prophecy of Micaiah who warns Ahab that he will die if he goes out to fight the Arameans. AhabHe will die and leave Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd. That is the condition of Israel in the first century as well. Jesus is the good shepherd who has compassion on them, and wants to lead them to green pastures and beside the still waters.

But the phrase appears elsewhere in the Old Testament. It appears first in Numbers 27. Yahweh tells Moses that he is going to be gathered to his people, and Moses prays that the Lord will select a man to be over the congregation of Israel, who will “go out and come in before them and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the shepherd of Yahweh may not be like sheep which have no shepherd” (v. 17).

Joshua is that shepherd, who leads Israel in and out. Joshua is the shepherd over the scattered sheep. Going out and coming in is military language. Joshua is the shepherd who leads Israel into the land, and who conquers it so that Israel can graze in pastures and drink from the brooks of water.

This is what the compassionate Jesus does. We sentimentalize “shepherd” in Scripture, but Joshua was a shepherd and he led his sheep to victory, and then to prosperity. Jesus – whose name is the Greek form of Joshua – does the same. When He sees sheep scattered, He has compassion because they wander, and He gathers them so they can conquer the land and eat of its milk and honey.

This table is the table of our shepherd. We are here because our shepherd has had compassion on us, and has given His life to gather His sheep, lead them in and out, and bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. This is the table of our good shepherd, where He offers the firstfruits of the new creation. This is the table of the greater Joshua, who shepherded Israel. It is is a table of conquest.