the shepherd : they would otherwise leave the stray into the corn-fields, follow the shepherd closelj'.
])asture lands and stray into the corn-fields. Naturally some sheep follow the shepherd closelj', while others straggle and have to be recalled to
ticisni of the hI our Lord's II a .sense all I \ery special se social out- i than sheep
parable for Pharisees, wlm imi eating with piilili. u the Jews were- liUr sense the coinpari-. casts. ' No animal
that have strayed from the flock : they become utterly bewildered, for sheep are singularly desti- tute of the bump of locality. They have to be brought back ' (Thomson). 'The figure of the lost sheep illustrates to some extent the character of the publicans and sinners. In the East, says Thomson, the sheep have to be taught to follow
the path by means of the crook. So a lost and wandering sheep is an ill-trained and troublesome one. But the main point of the parable is the action of the shepherd, who would regard it as part of his ordinary duty to seek the lost. Though .Fesus does not call Him.self the Good Shepherd in 1 the Synoptics, yet the parable recorded in Mt. and Lk. shows us how naturally Ho came to compare His ministry to the work of a shepherd, and how He used the comparison to justify His friendly attitude to publicans and sinners. According to Mt 12'"-, our Lord also adduced an owner's care for a single sheep as a defence of His healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath-day.
((') If the weakness and the helplessness of sheep supplied Jesus with similes whereby to describe the Jewish people as a whole, the purity symbol- ized by their wliite wool, their harmlessness and patience, led Him to speak of His own disciples in similar terms. The disciples are sent forth as sheep (or as lambs) into the midst of wolves (Mt 10'», Lk 10^ ; Clem. Kom. Ep. ii. 5). Christians are to be ready even to sufl'er death without resist- ance, so at least the epistle attributed to Clement interprets the saying (see above under ' lamb ').
{(/) In the Synoptics the few other passages where the disciples are described as sheep throw little light on the subject. In Mt 25 the righteous and the wicked are contrasted as sheep and goats ; but, as has already been pointed out, the character of the animals concerned has little to do with the comparison. The words ' I will smite the shep- herd, and the sheep shall be scattered' (quoted from Zee 13' in Mt 26^', jNIk 14'^), serve only to sliow that the death of Christ would place the dis- ciples in the same leaderless bewilderment which, in the eyes of our Lord, marked the nation as a whole. But in a somewhat dift'erent connexion (Lk 12^=) our Lord spoke of His disciples as a little flock. After bidding them forego anxiety about earthly goods and seek the kingdom, our Lord adds, ' Fear not, little flock : for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' The re- assuring words were needed, no doubt, because the disciples were but a little feeble band. But surely the little flock implies something as to character as well as number. It is the duty of the shepherd !it all times to find suitable pasture, and in the autumn and winter he has to provide fodder. Sheep cannot fend for themsehes. Similarly the disciples, intrusting to God the care of their eartlily interests, wUl appear to the world at once foolish and ineffectual : yet this little flock is to inherit the kingdom. God chooses the weak things of this world (1 Col").
Further references to sheep in the Gospels are less important. Mt 7'* sjjeaks of the false pro- ])liets w'ho are sheep in appearance and wolves in reality, a saying which also appears in Justin, Vial.' 35. In Jn 21'"- Peter is bidden to tend {Toiiialveii') Christ's sheeii (-n-po^aTia., ' lambs,' is given as a variant in A\H). Here we have in germ the pastoral view of the ministerial office. See art. Shepherd.
Jesus' description of Himself as the Good Shep- herd laid hold from the first of the Christian imagination. In the N'T Jesus is twice spoken of as thuSliei>heid (He l:i-", 1 P 2'-^). In the Cata- combs no syinlMjl of Christ is more frequent than the iiicture of tlie Guud Shepherd. See CHRIST IN Ap.t.
2. Our Lord illustrates His teaching concerning Goil'.s- provahmce by one or two sayings about the birds. He bids His disciples ' consider the birds of
ANIMALS
ANISE
the air : for they neitlier sow nor reap nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they ? ' (Mt 6-'*). In conjunction with this passajie, we must ex- amine the rcfprein'C to sparrows in Mt 10-'-^', Lk 12"-. 'Are not I w,, s],:,it.,ws snl.l ).„■ .•, Idrl bin- ? yet not one of tlicm ^ll.■lll till l.. Ilir.-mlli wUhmil your Father. . . . I'r:ii iioi then ; yr -Mr of luoii- value than many spuiiows.' iJucliart well brings out the force of Luke's mention of ' ravens ' instead of ' l)irds of the air,' and he rightly discerns tlie bearing of the reference to the sparrows, when he says, ' Express mention is made of ra^■ens and spar- rows among the other birds, to make it clear tliat (lod's providence is not only concerned witli birds in general, but even extends to the most worthless ana tlie most despised among birds : so that men, especially those that believe, may the more <• tainly draw from this fact the conclusion that < : - - cares for them, since He will not deny to tlio r who worship Him and call upon Him, the ciirr which He so graciously bestows on animals of the lowest order.' Bochart further dwells on the harsh grating voice, the ugly black colour, and the awk- ward movements of the raven, which make him a despicable bird. Concerning the sparrows, Thom- son says they are ' a tame, troublesome, vivacious and impertinent generation : they nestle just where they are not wanted. Their nests stop up stove-pipes and water-gutters. They are descroyetl eagerly as a worthless nuisance ' ('Lebanon,' etc., p. 59). Jesus then insists tliat the birds which men hold cheap are not unthought of by Goil : ' our Lord has taught us that God providently caters for the sparrow, and Himself conducts itis obsequies. '