On Monday we saw God’s metaphorical list of ways the leaders / shepherds of Israel had neglected their responsibilities and abused their power.  God’s solution is to take over and be the shepherd himself.  In Ezekiel 34.11-16, God says He will:

-Seek out his sheep

-Rescue them from where they have been scattered

-Bring them out from the peoples

-Gather them from the countries

-Bring them into their own land

-Feed them on the mountains, ravines, and all the inhabited places of their country

-Feed them with good pasture( echoed in Psalm 23)

-Make them lie down (also echoed in Psalm 23)

-Seek the lost

-Bring back the strayed

-Bind up the injured

-Strengthen the weak

-Destroy the fat and the strong

-Feed them in justice

These are all the things that the bad leader/shepherds of Israel had not been doing.

Understand that when Jesus said “I am the Good Shepherd,” he was not only telling WHAT he would be doing, he was proclaiming WHO he was – God!