Holy Trinity Sunday (OT)

Ezekiel 34:11-24

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴ I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? ¹⁹ And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

²⁰ “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²² I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.

The chief Shepherd will be the one Shepherd over all God’s people. The chief Shepherd is the one who will seek them out from the various places they have been scattered. The chief Shepherd is the one who will judge between the fat and lean sheep. The Good Shepherd will protect his sheep from the Lions that seek to devour them.

For anyone that belongs to any organization for a few years, you find out over time who the fat sheep are that “push with side and shoulder.” These are the people that seem to get their way more often than not, or at times they are the ones that everyone goes to in order to figure out how things are supposed to be done. It is strange these people do not want to be in charge, but will not release control.

There is always only one Shepherd. There is only one who has the best interest for all in mind. Sometimes a lean sheep is lean because they have never known a full stomach. There are others that are fat because they have never known an empty stomach.

The Good Shepherd has understood both. He has feasted, and he has fasted. He came to seek and save the lost, He came to find his sheep. Jesus Christ will come again to judge the sheep. The Holy Spirit continues to call the sheep. And God the Father is there loving his sheep through all things.