This is part of a series of meditations on what Scripture teaches about each day of Holy Week, which goes from Palm Sunday until Easter, in which Christians everywhere mark the culmination of Jesus Christ’s ministry, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead.

Previous posts:

• Prelude
• Palm Sunday
• Holy Monday
• Holy Tuesday Part 1
• Holy Tuesday Part 2
• Holy Wednesday
• Maundy Thursday
• Good Friday
• Holy Saturday
• Easter Sunday

“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!  Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.  The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’  The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.  He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.  He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”

-Psalms 110, ESV

“Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them….I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”

-Ezekiel 34:10, 15-16, ESV

Easter Sunday is not merely the end of Holy Week but also the beginning of a new age: the age of the church.  A key event in the establishment of the church between the time of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was the reinstatement of Peter.  Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him—just as Peter had denied Him three times.  Each time, Peter responded that He did, becoming more concerned and more emphatic each time.  Jesus simply responded each time with some variation of “feed my sheep”.  Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd leading His people as the sheep in John 10, so He was calling Peter to lead and care for His people.  He was also officially handing over the reins of care for God’s people from the Jewish leaders to the leaders of the church—starting with the apostles.  Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd in the context of identifying the Jewish leaders as the wicked shepherds in Ezekiel 34.  They had not cared for the sheep but taken advantage of them (Ezekiel 34:1-9), so God required His sheep from them and turned them over to Jesus Christ who promised to feed and care for the sheep (Ezekiel 34:10-16).  Now, He was telling Peter to join Him in feeding and caring for the sheep.  Peter passed this admonition along to later pastors:

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.  And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

-1 Peter 5:1-4, ESV

Pastors, FEED THE SHEEP!

This is an important reminder for pastors everywhere, especially here in America.  So I conclude my Holy Week posts by imploring pastors everywhere: FEED. THE. SHEEP!  Don’t focus on flashy programs and high-tech delivery, FEED THE SHEEP!  Don’t get distracted with fog machines or concert-style music, FEED THE SHEEP!  Don’t go astray after political agendas, FEED THE SHEEP!  All of those alternatives are empty carbs with no lasting substance, so feed the sheep with the only life-giving protein: Scripture–every word proceeding from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3b).  Preach the Word, not generic moral lessons or tangential personal anecdotes.  Teach the Word, not some barely-biblical topical study or vaguely “Christian” book.  Counsel the Word, not self-centered secular psychology that denies the power of the Word.  Equip the Saints for the work of ministry with the Word, not enneagrams or tests that foolishly seek to identify spiritual gifts apart from the context of the church.   Instruct the sheep on how to study the Word so they won’t cherry-pick verses out of context but will understand the story line of Scripture.  Help the sheep rely on the Word to persevere through trials, not to lean on the foolishness of worldly wisdom.  Pastors, FEED THE SHEEP WITH THE WORD! 

If you are not feeding the sheep with the Word, you are not following the Good Shepherd.  Furthermore, anything other than the Word is ultimately doomed to failure, which will cause your efforts to be in vain.  Since Scripture is more valuable than gold (Psalm 19:7-10), Scripture is not only the sole foundation upon which the wise pastor builds a church (Ephesians 2:20) but also the only effective building material for which to build on that foundation—the only “gold, silver, and precious stones” that will survive the fire (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).  Everything else is “wood, hay, and straw” that will be consumed by the fire such that any pastor that builds with it will find that he has labored in vain.  Pastors, everything you do in your church should be so thoroughly saturated with Scripture and completely reliant on Scripture such that if you would lose everything but Scripture you would have lost nothing. 

Christians, Follow the Shepherds

Fellow sheep, joyfully submit to pastors who do this and make their job a joy and not a burden (Hebrews 13:17).  I talked about how to do this and how important it is in a previous post, but basically we need to honor our pastors and not criticize them.  We need to pray for them and not entertain baseless accusations against them.  Otherwise, we are in league with the devil against them (and therefore against ourselves, since they labor for our good).  I am thankful that now and throughout my life I have had pastors who did this.  And since it’s hard and thankless work, encourage them to keep feeding the sheep. 

But I realize that in many ways I am the exception and not the rule in this case.  Many American churches have all but abandoned Scripture—and some have abandoned it entirely.  In these churches, any miniscule remnant of the true Gospel is so distorted that it is unrecognizable.  As a result, true sheep are not fed and therefore spiritually starve in these churches.  So if you are in one of those churches, you should probably leave it and seek out a church where the full Gospel is clear and undefiled, where everything is built upon and with Scripture.  In other churches, the Gospel still present and recognizable, but is watered down by various distractions such as flashy programs, fog machines, and various “ministries” not aligned with Scripture.  True sheep in these churches may be fed, but they are not fed well.  So if you are in one of these churches, use discernment as to whether you should stay or leave.  While that church may descend further into distractions and away from the Gospel, it is possible that since the Holy Spirit builds up the Church, He will restore that church to a proper emphasis on the Gospel—and He may use you as part of that work.  Regardless, prioritize being fed with the Word!  No matter what church you are in, you can read and study Scripture.  I created this post to help Christians understand how to study Scripture, so I hope it helps you dive in.  Since people have been studying Scripture for two thousand years, their writings can be very helpful as well, so study theology.  I put together this page to help Christians get started in learning theology.  But when using any resource other than Scripture, you must be vigilant to ensure it aligns with Scripture.  Still, there are a vast number of wonderful resources that do, so the modern American Christian has so much good spiritual food available that we have no excuse for going hungry spiritually.  So eat up the Scriptures as if your spiritual life depends on it…because it does!

All, Follow the Chief Shepherd

Finally, always remember you are not alone but are in fact following and working under the power of the Chief Shepherd.  Not long after reinstating Peter, Jesus ascended to heaven and sat down at God’s right hand from where He reigns, steadily defeating all of His enemies (Psalm 110:1-2), interceding for us as the Great High Priest (Psalm 110:4), and preparing to shatter kings and execute judgment (Psalm 110:5-6).  So shepherds, feed the sheep with the Word in following the Chief Shepherd.  And sheep, follow the Chief Shepherd and the under-shepherds He has appointed until faith becomes sight.  Holy Week marks the end of the age of the Jewish nation as the people of God and the beginning of the age of the Church, so going forward from Holy Week, let us go forth and make disciples of all nations.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen”

-Hebrews 13:20-21, ESV