I Will

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“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for My people: “You have scattered My flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:1–6).

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

If you want a job done right, do it yourself.

That’s not always true, is it? Sometimes, I’m just not the best equipped to do a job. I can assure you that I’m not volunteering to rewire a house or overhaul a transmission. I have some rudimentary electrical and mechanical skills, but I know a professional can get the job done right in less time and that my time can be better spent on other things. Often, thinking you must do every job yourself indicates you’re a poor manager; you don’t surround yourself with good people and trust them to do their jobs.

But sometimes, it’s true. “I’d better do this one.” It’s essential, and I know I have the expertise and the skill for this particular task that nobody else has. Also, I may be the one to whom this job means the most. If it matters to me, I’m more likely to put in the tender loving care to do it just right.

God entrusts many tasks to His people. In ancient Israel, for example, He set kings over His people and called priests to care for the spiritual needs of their precious souls. But these leaders weren’t always faithful. They didn’t always care for the sheep entrusted to them as much as God did. So in our text, the Old Testament Reading for today, God tells Jeremiah that He will step in where His priests and kings have failed and do the job Himself.

The Lord says to the shepherds who hadn’t, “I will.”

In the ancient world, shepherding was a very important job. Sheep, both goats and lambs, provided the primary source of meat. Sheep and goats were also an essential part of the Old Testament Israelite worship—the regular sacrifices, even Passover. Shepherds had crucial tasks in caring for those vital flocks: to provide food and water, to provide shelter, to protect the sheep from wolves and other predators, and to guard against thieves.

Not surprisingly, God, through His Old Testament prophets, often speaks of His precious people as sheep and of their leaders as shepherds. Jeremiah uses the image of a shepherd to talk about the priests of his day. The problem is that those supposed to shepherd, to care for the people, weren’t shepherding.

Hear God’s accusation (vv 1-2a). “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for My people: “You have scattered My flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.” They had failed to take care of God’s flock. They had scattered the flock rather than keeping it together. The exile to Babylon resulted from the people's disobedience, but the shepherds were to blame for not teaching the people God’s Word in all its truth and purity.

To these shepherds who hadn’t been shepherding faithfully, God says, “I will” (vv 2b-4).” Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.”

First, God says, “I will deal with you, you evil, self-serving, should-have-been shepherds! And it won’t be pretty.” Then, he says, “I will gather the flock. I will bring them home to safety and quiet. “And I will appoint new, faithful shepherds.”

The Lord says to the rulers who didn’t, “I will.”

In the ancient world, ruling as king was also a very important job. God appointed a king over His people to lead them in His ways. A king has many vital responsibilities: security (or defense) of the people, promotion of the economic welfare of the nation (fostering trade), administration of justice and laws, and, in Israel, above all, seeing to it that the priests did their job properly.

Problem: the rulers didn’t rule, at least not that way, the way God put them on the throne to rule. As Jeremiah writes, King Zedekiah was a puppet of Babylon. He rejected God’s message through Jeremiah. He allowed or promoted the worship of other gods. His actions, too, led to the destruction of the holy city, Jerusalem.

God’s solution? “I will raise up a new king, a new David.” “He will act wisely, execute justice, save Judah.” In all of this, He will be the reverse of Zedekiah.

This point is reinforced using a play on words or, in this case, a play on the names. Zedekiah was a descendant of David who was placed on the throne by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar as a puppet after the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and took the former king (Jehoiachin) into exile around 597 BC. Zedekiah (also called Mattaniah) ruled for about eleven years until the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of 587 BC. The name Zedekiah means “Yahweh is righteous.” Jeremiah calls Jesus “Yahweh our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6). Zedekiah had the name. Jesus gives the gift—the gift of righteousness. Jesus frees us from self-righteousness, so we rest in His gift of declared righteousness.

To us who ask, “Who will?” the Lord says, “I will.”

Since Judah’s kings had utterly failed to carry out God’s assignment, the Lord would get rid of them and replace them with shepherds after His own heart, faithful shepherds who would do the job that the Lord had called them to do.

The passage that follows, as is often the case in the Old Testament, brings together prophecies about the return from exile, the messianic age, and the Messiah Himself. The Lord promises to perform a great miracle. He gives His people hope for the future. Though the Lord had announced the effective end of the rule of the house of David, yet He was not about to forget the promises He had made to David (2 Samuel 7:11-16). From David’s offspring would come the Messiah, the great and good King of His people. Jeremiah gives us the richest Gospel promise of His entire prophecy.  

   “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:1–6).

There is no comparison between this Branch of David and the last fruitless branches of David’s house who had been occupying the throne in Jerusalem. The “Branch” of whom Jeremiah writes would be righteous. He would be righteous not just in obeying the Law or in some external sense but in every way. He would be righteous in and of Himself because He would be without sin.

He would not only be righteous in and of Himself but also rule righteously. He would bring about and exercise righteousness in all He did and said. He would show a genuine understanding of the Law’s righteousness in all of His activity. The effect of His rule of righteousness would be dramatic. Judah would be saved; Israel would dwell in safety. These are pictures of confidence, certainty, and peace.

We might have expected all of this. We would surely expect God to replace wicked priests and kings, shepherds and rulers who weren’t doing their jobs. We’re unsurprised that He’d gather His flock and give them new shepherds and kings.

But actually, God does something unexpected. He says, “This job is too important and is more important to Me than to anybody else. “I’m the one who has the know-how, the skill, and I’m the one who will give this job tender loving care like nobody else. “I’ll do this job myself.”

The cause of His peace and its guarantee, its true characteristics, are revealed by the name that the Lord gives to the Messiah: Yahweh our Righteousness. Here, the whole Gospel, the whole message of Scripture, is summed up in a few precious words. The Lord Himself is our righteousness. For that to be true, the Lord Himself must have become one of us, having taken all we are upon Himself.

These words point us to the miracle of the incarnation, the Word made flesh. But they also point to that most comforting truth: not only is the Messiah righteousness in Himself, but through His perfect life of obedience, His suffering and death, and rising to life, He won for our justification, reconciliation with God, and the forgiveness of sins. What He is and what He has done, He has done for us. He has given us a gift of righteousness, a righteousness that we could never have gained for ourselves. Here is the door that opens heaven and keeps it open: Yahweh is our righteousness; yes, the Lord is your righteousness. What He did, He did for you. He has made you His own. This is your certainty, hope, and confidence: the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you.

God replaces those faithless leaders with Himself. He becomes the shepherd. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd,” “the Lord,” the “my shepherd” of Psalm 23. He becomes the King. The righteous Branch, David, is the Son of the David to Mary. He reigns over us, always wisely, justly, righteously.

Even more, He lays down His life for the sheep, becomes the sacrifice for His flock, His people—even for the faithless shepherds. God the Father asks, “Who will go to take the place of the faithless shepherds? Who will go to pay the price for these sheep who have followed their faithless leaders and wandered away? Who will suffer everything they deserve, even the punishments of hell, so that we can have them back with us?”

And God’s own Son answers, “I will.”

“I will become Your Shepherd and King. “

“I will die for you.

“I will rise for you.

“I will wash you clean in Holy Baptism.

“I will give you My very body and blood to eat and drink for the forgiveness of your sins.

“I will hear your prayers and bring them to My heavenly Father.

“I will gather you to Myself on the Last Day.”

This was a job only Jesus, the Good Shepherd, could do. And He did. And He will. Go in the peace of the Lord and serve your neighbor with joy. You are forgiven for all your sins.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.