December 24 – God’s Ruler (Micah 5:1-4)

“He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.”(Micah 5:4)

IN WORD:
What kind of Savior do you know? Many suppose that He is nothing but gentle, always overlooking sin and letting His sheep roam as freely as they want to. Others suppose that His fences are confining and His rod is ready for action. In the context of the Incarnation, neither image makes sense. Why would God send Jesus into this world to be either one of those saviors?
No, if Jesus had come only to enforce the Law, there would be no point in His coming. Others were already enforcing it. They had a distorted interpretation of it, but they did not lack for discipline. There was no shortage of attempted law-keepers in Jesus’ day.
And there also would have been no point in Jesus coming only to declare the Law irrelevant. If it were irrelevant, Israel had it wrong and the rest of the world had it right. Most cultures today would still have it right; in modern civilization, moral lawlessness rules. Many societies today are aware of no need for salvation, only for “enlightenment.” They are not looking for any kind of savior, much less a shepherd.
We need a shepherd. God has known that from the foundation of the world, and many of us come to that conclusion after years of futility. But what kind? The harsh, whip-carrying shepherd? Or the passive, anything-goes shepherd? One readies his rod with vigilance; the other plays his flute under the distant tree. Neither knows much about sheep.

IN DEED:
Do you know Jesus as a harsh master? A permissive pushover? Know why the Shepherd came into this world? He came because there were stray sheep in a land of fierce predators. He came to rule and to forgive. The shepherd of religious imaginations does one or the other. That shepherd will do us no good, while the Shepherd god sent us will do us no wrong. We need Him. We need both His rod and His staff, His guidance and His mercy. Get to know this good Shepherd well. He brings us to God.

“The fact of Jesus’ coming is the final and unanswerable proof that God cares.” -William Barclays-