Sheep without a Shepherd

John 17:17 (The Sermons Of)

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In this message....Preached at the Anegada Methodist Church, Dr. Wright speaks on Scripture found in Mark 6:30-34, 30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
The basis for this concern is that they are shepherdless, a frequent image in the Old Testament for the failure of Israel’s leaders, as with the wilderness generation (
Num. 27:17), the nation under Ahab ( 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chron. 18:16), and especially the plundered nation in Ezekiel 34:1–10, when the leaders are labeled “the false shepherds of Israel.”
Once more Israel’s designated shepherds have failed them, so Jesus as the Davidic “shepherd messiah” (Ezek. 34:23; 37:24) must intervene and “begin to teach” the people.

And he began to teach them many things……