Christ the King Sunday: Old Testament, Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24            

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Here we are. The final Sunday in the church year. My favorite tag for this Sunday is “Christ the King Sunday.” It always points forward for me into the season of Advent literally around the corner and it reminds me that the position of our Savior in the divine economy hasn’t changed a lick since Advent began this quickly waning church year. Jesus is King. And so with our Old Testament reading we may be reminded, or find out for the first time that one of the pictures of kingship in ancient Israel as well as other lands, was that the King was seen as a shepherd. The Bible is replete with many examples of our heavenly King filling that role. Perhaps the most well known is the Shepherd/ King David’s declaration that “The LORD is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).

One phrase in the earlier portion of our reading today caught my attention. Here it is:

“As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I  seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day” (Ezek. 34:12).

Ezekiel lets us all know that our Shepherd is watching us, caring for us sometimes seemingly from afar, and that rescue is on His mind. From what? A cloudy and dark day. “Oh,” you might say, “but the sun is shining so brightly on this chilly autumn morn.” There is a larger issue at hand. Our Shepherd doesn’t much mind the weather. But the winds and movements of the world about us and our hearts within. That is the point of His rescue, of His watchcare.

You and I, as God’s sheep, have been rescued from a cloudy and dark day indeed. The darkness and wily winds of sin were our homeland until the Shepherd came and revealed the safe place He had secured for us. I needed this reminder so perhaps you did as well. Our Shepherd is near. He has rescued us. We have nothing to fear. God be praised!