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One of the most enduring and charming images that there are in the New Testament is that of Jesus as the good shepherd. It is an image that is gathered from a number of sources in the Bible, most notably, I think from John's gospel, in which Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd.

I am the good shepherd' he says, I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep.' (John 10).

Other passages which all help us to build this mental picture of Jesus as a shepherd are for example Psalm 23,

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.' etc.

And then there is that image of the shepherd searching for his sheep that we find in Luke 15..

Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost' (Luke 15.4-7).

It is all very idyllic; Green pastures, caring shepherd, fluffy white sheep, and of course, we like to identify ourselves with the sheep: Guided by the shepherd, protected from the wolves and lions, provided with green pasture and still waters flowing gently by.

The reality though, is somewhat different!

I don't know if you have any experience of sheep? A number of years ago, we used to live in the Peak District in Derbyshire. Much of the northern part of Peak District is bleak moorland, no good for crops like the farming in this area, but great for keeping sheep. From where we lived, we could see sheep in the fields across the valley and sometimes you could look across and see a long line of them all following each other in single file.

Why they do that, I don't know, I guess that one them has decided that the grass looks greener elsewhere and marches off purposefully, the others look, and think to themselves, hmm, he looks like he knows where he is going, lets follow' and off they go.

I was once mugged by a sheep. It was actually quite frightening. I was out walking and had arrived at the top of a hill called Mam Tor, above Castleton in Derbyshire (UK). I decided that it would be a good place to stop and eat my sandwiches for lunch. Mam Tor is quite a steep hill and has several cliffs so I perched myself at the top of one of these to enjoy my lunch

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