Fear Not, Little Flock!

The Lord Jesus exhorted His people to fear not, because it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom!

Jesus used the well-known metaphor of the shepherd, the sheep, and the flock of God in describing this promise to His people.

In the Old Testament, there are texts that connect this promise of the kingdom with the flock of God. David describes himself as a sheep and the Lord as his Shepherd. In the end, David has the promise from God that he will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, a reference to the saints' presence in the kingdom one day in glory.

Then in Isaiah, the strong, saving arm of the Lord establishes a righteous rule, and takes His people into His arms like lambs, and tenderly leads His people.

But Ezekiel 34 sets forth the most explicit link between God's flock, Messiah the Shepherd, and the bringing of the sheep into the glories of His kingdom.

In this passage, the description of the kingdom is reduced to terms most appealing to sheep. There are no references to gold and great cities and thrones, but rather to quiet and peace and safety and the absence of wild and dangerous beasts, and clear water and good pastures and a safe fold to sleep in.

All of this is guaranteed by the appointment of the last Shepherd, the Savior, Who ensures all these benefits of the kingdom to the sheep of His pasture.

Thus the metaphor is complete in the Old Testament of the Lord giving His people, His sheep, the kingdom.

Christ knows that the flock is fearful. Sheep are that way. They have no bravery on their own, only that provided by the protection of the Shepherd.

The flock is powerless to take the kingdom, so God gives it to us!