ll reign, and shall be
wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."(2) The Prophet
Ezechiel also prophetically portrayed the Saviour's character when he
pictured Him in the capacity of a shepherd visiting and feeding his sheep:
"For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and I
will visit them. As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he
shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my
sheep, and I will deliver them out of all the places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will set up one shepherd over
them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them,
and he shall be their shepherd."(3)

And when at length the Saviour did appear in the world, He declared, not
only by His life and example, but in explicit terms, that He was the
fulfilment of these prophecies--that He was, in truth, the Good Shepherd,
and that His followers were the sheep of His fold. In the tenth chapter of
the Gospel according to Saint John we have His own words to this effect.
There He tells us plainly that He has not come as a thief and a robber, to
steal, to kill, and to destroy; that He is not a stranger, at the sound of
whose voice the sheep are terrified and flee away; that He is not a
hireling, who cares not for the sheep, and who, beholding the approach of
the wolf and the enemy, fleeth and leaveth the sheep to be snatched and
scattered and torn. The Saviour is not any of these, nor like unto them.
He is the Good Shepherd who enters the sheepfold by the door, and not as
the thief and robber who climb up some other way. To Him the porter
openeth, and He calleth His sheep, and they know His voice and follow Him,
and He leadeth them out to pasture, to rest, and to abundant life. Nor is
this all, for He protects and guards His sheep. By day and by night He is
ever near them: when circling the green plains, or beside the still
waters, or when asleep beneath the silent stars, the sheep are protected
by their Shepherd. Faithfully He watches His dependent flock; and at the
end, as a proof of His love and fidelity, He generously lays down His life
for His sheep.

II. SHEPHERD LIFE IN THE ORIENT.

We cannot appreciate the beauty of this picture of our Saviour under the
symbol of a shepherd, nor can we later understand the detailed description
which is given of Him through the spiritual meaning of the Good Shepherd
Psalm w