The Work of a Shepherd
Who is the shepherd?
Jesus referred to himself as the good shepherd. Since the flock knows his voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow, clearly the flock are the people of God and the Good shepard is Jesus Christ, Himself.
In the New Testament where Paul talks to the elders from Ephesus and Peter admonishes the elders of the churches of God to the task of being shepherds to God's people and not just hirelings. This places the elders in the position of being under shepherds over the flock of God ... under the head shepherd Jesus Christ.
There is a longer passage in John where Jesus describes the shepherd. Here Christ describes several types of shepherds. He first describes a false shepherd (verse 1). He describes him as a thief and a robber. He may look like a shepherd, walk like a shepherd and talk like a shepherd, but his only concern is for himself and what he can steal. You know him, because he did not enter the through the gate which is Jesus (verse 7). Every shepherd must first be a sheep. The sheep enters into the fold through the gate which is Jesus. The sheep will be able to recognize the false shepherd because he will not follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, but rather lead the sheep astray and causes the sheep to scatter.
In verse 12 Jesus describes a hired hand which runs away once the enemy shows up to attack the flock. This not the same as the false shepherd, but rather a shepherd that does not really care for or love the sheep (verse 13). The sheep can recognize the hireling because he does not follow the new command given by Jesus in John 13 to love each other.
So we learn some under lying characteristics that God is looking for in a shepherd. He must first have entered through the gate which is Jesus. All true sheep enter through this gate. The acceptable shepherd must have at one time been a sheep. The acceptable shepherd is raised up thru the flock to become a shepherd. Second we see that he must truly have a love for the sheep. He can't just be looking for a pay check or he is just a hired hand.
These characteristics for the shepherd could apply to any of us that have applied ourselves to grow in the word and spirit to be mature in the faith. In fact God's expectation is just such growth. When a sheep first enters the fold it must be fed on the milk of the word as a baby in Christ, but as we mature we should become like the elders to whom Paul and Peter gave instruction. As we grow to be more Christ like, then we will grow also in our love of the brethern so that we have no fear of being a mere hireling, but rather shepherding the flock out of love for the sheep.
This is the work of a pastor tenderly caring for the needs of his flock. We all are called to this work, not just full time pastors.