Our Good Shepherd and Perfect Lamb

Photo taken from the terrace of Mont Saint Michel's abbey in Normandy, France

Yesterday I was reading a book (I Believe in Love: A personal retreat based on the teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux), and I was struck by the familiar image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The author wrote, “…Jesus [is] picking you up again, becoming for you so many times the Good Shepherd, running after His little lamb, carrying it back in His arms…” And it was just the image I needed: the one who comes after me and brings me back to Him. No matter what I do or where I go, He is there.

In the Bible we hear a lot about sheep. Those cute but mindless animals, who are always wandering.

Isaiah 53: 6 | “We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way…”

Luke 15: 4 – 7 | “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the dessert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy… I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents…”

We hear Jesus tell us that there is joy when the one person repents. We are who He wants! Jesus pursues us Himself, through the Word, through others, and through situations and circumstances – through every good thing, and all through the Holy Spirit.

What has always struck me about this passage is that the shepherd – Jesus – sets out for the one lost sheep – me. He knows me, He loves me, and He comes to find me and bring me back to Him. I am worth that much to Him.

Jesus comes for us; we are worth that much to Him.

St. Augustine wrote, “…God would never have done such great things for us if the life of the soul perished with the death of the body” (Confessions of St. Augustine).  St. Augustine’s reflection has helped me in moments of doubt or curiosity when I think about life, death, and heaven or what if there is just nothingness. But, I believe in God, and I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. What St. Augustine says rings true to me: Jesus would not have died on the cross – the most painful, humiliating, and lonely death – if our souls did not live forever. He wants each of us to be in heaven with Him. My soul is worth that much to Him.

Jesus dies for us; our souls are worth that much to Him.

He loves us! 

He lived a life of love in communion with the Father, and then He offered Himself up for us out of obedience to the Father. He did what we cannot do because of our sin, and by His perfect obedience He reversed the sin of Adam. Jesus died on the cross so He could defeat sin and death, and by His Resurrection He obtains life for us all.

Jesus loves you. Ask Him to help you, and He will. He will pick you up, carry you in His arms, and rejoice over you. He wants to show you every good thing He has for you. He wants you to be who He made you to be, so you can be free.