Mt 9:32-38
Shepherdless sheep: Matthew describes the pity that Jesus has for the crowds and how they are “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (v 36). The comparison echoes Old Testament images.
Shepherdless sheep: Matthew describes the pity that Jesus has for the crowds and how they are “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (v 36). The comparison echoes Old Testament images.
In the book of Numbers, Moses asks God to set over the community a man who will act as their leader in order “that the Lord’s community may not be like sheep without a shepherd” (27:17). Joshua is then appointed as Moses’ successor. Matthew is declaring that Jesus is the new leader of the community, and it is no accident that his name in Hebrew is Joshua, which means “Yahweh helps” or “Yahweh saves” (cf Mt 1:21).
In the first book of Kings, Micaiah refuses to make the same prophecy as the other prophets concerning the outcome of an attack against Ramoth-gilead. Micaiah declares, “I see all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord saying, ‘These have no master! Let each of them go back home in peace’ ” (1 Kgs 22:17). Ahab, the King of Israel, pays no attention to Micaiah, whom he has thrown in prison and fed rations of bread and water. Ahab is slain in the ensuing battle.
Matthew is warning his community to listen to Jesus, lest they mistakenly enter into the battle of life without having listened to the word of God and lose.