God Says, "I Will"

We’ve all heard it, and most of us have probably said it: “If you want a job done right, do it yourself.” Sometimes, whether it’s because I’m best equipped to do a task, or I don’t know how the task is going to go and I don’t want witnesses to my confusion or failure, I’d rather do it myself. But at other times, I have to face the facts that I’m just not the best equipped to do a job and I need the help and expertise of others. I won’t be trying to repair my car’s engine. I won’t attempt to put a second story on our house. I don’t have the skills or the intelligence to perform such tasks, and so I gladly turn these things over to the experts. So even though I frequently like to have input about as much as I can about a given task, finding the person who is just right is a wiser option than trusting oneself to do important work.

God thinks this way about things too. He certainly calls us to take up our crosses daily and do the work of His kingdom, sometimes growing us beyond our comfort zones to trust Him more. But God is very good about putting special people into our lives and entrusting to them specific aspects of His redeeming and sustaining work. In ancient Israel, for example, God set kings over His people and called priests to care for the spiritual needs of their souls. But these leaders weren’t always faithful, didn’t always care for the sheep entrusted to them as much as God did. So in our Old Testament lesson for today, God tells Jeremiah that He will step in where His priests and kings have failed Israel, and God chooses to do the job Himself. The refrain throughout the lesson from God is: “I Will!” Let’s take a closer look.

Right from the start, we see God saying to the to the shepherds of Israel who hadn’t done the task to which God assigned them, “I will.” Shepherding was an important job. Sheep, both goats and lambs, provided the major source of meat. Sheep and goats were also an important part of Old Testament Israelite worship—the regular sacrifices, even Passover. Shepherds had crucial tasks in caring for those vital flocks: to provide food and water, to provide shelter, to protect the sheep from wolves and other predators, and to guard against thieves. God, through His prophets, often speaks of His precious people as sheep and of their leaders as shepherds.

Jeremiah uses the image of a shepherd to talk about the priests of his day. The problem was that the priests weren’t shepherding. Listen to God’s accusation (vv 1–2a). 1“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.

They had failed to take care of the flock. They had scattered the flock rather than keeping it together. The exile to Babylon was a result of the disobedience of the people, but the shepherds were to blame for not teaching the people God’s Word. To these shepherds who hadn’t been shepherding, God says, “I will” (vv 2b–4).

First, God says, “I will deal with you, you evil, self-serving, should-have-been shepherds! And it won’t be pretty.” Then, the Lord says, “I will gather the flock. I will bring them home to safety and quiet. And then, the Father speaks, “And I will appoint new, faithful shepherds.” Where the priests failed to reveal and lift up our Creator to His people, God steps in.

 And we see in our lesson that the rulers of the people had failed too. In the ancient world, being king and ruling was also a very important job. God appointed a king over His people to lead them in His ways. A king has many vital responsibilities: security (defense) of the people, to promote the economic welfare of the nation (fostering trade), to administer justice and the laws, and in Israel, above all, to see to it that the priests did not abuse their positions.

But the rulers didn’t rule, at least not in the way that God had designed. King Zedekiah was a puppet of Babylon. He rejected God’s message when it came to him through Jeremiah. He allowed or promoted worship of other gods. And Zedekiah’s actions led to the destruction of the holy city, Jerusalem.

God’s solution to these failures in verses 5-6 is this: “I will raise up a new king, a new David. He will act wisely, execute justice, [and] save Judah.” Where Zedekiah and the priests have failed miserably to serve God’s purpose and bless His people, God will be successful in keeping and protecting Israel from sin and death.

Today, we may find ourselves asking, “Who will serve and deliver us when our own pastors and leaders fail to keep us from temptation and harm?” To those who seek the Lord and yearn for His aid, calling out, “Lord, who will?” God proclaims, “I will.”

Our gracious God says to you and me, “This job is too important and is more important tome than to anybody else. I’m the one who has the know-how, the skill, and I’m the one who will give this job tender loving care like nobody else.” He becomes the shepherd. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd,” “the LORD,” “my shepherd” of Psalm 23. He becomes the King. The righteous Branch, David, is the Son of David born to Mary. He reigns over us, always wisely, justly, righteously.

Even more, Jesus lays down His life for the sheep and becomes the sacrifice for His flock, His people. In our place, when we despair of the failures of priests and kings to lead us in holiness, God the Father asks, “Who will go for us, pay the price for these sheep who have followed their faithless leaders and wandered away? Who will suffer everything they deserve, even the punishments of hell, so that we can have them back with us?” And God’s own Son answers, “I will.”

Jesus Christ, our Savior, says, “This is a job for me. I will become your shepherd and king. I will die for you. I will rise for you. I will wash you in Baptism. I will give you my body and my blood. I will hear your prayers. I will gather you to myself on the Last Day.”

Forgiving you was a job only God could do. And He did it Jesus. And He, the Father, and the Spirit always will. Amen.