For thus says the Lord God: Look! I myself will search for my sheep and examine them. 12 As a shepherd examines his flock while he himself is among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my sheep. I will deliver them from every place where they were scattered on the day of dark clouds. 13 I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. 14 In good pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord God. 16 The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them in judgment.
Ezekiel 34:11–16 presents a powerful oracle in which the Lord God declares that He Himself will come to seek out and care for His scattered sheep. In contrast to the corrupt and negligent shepherds of Israel (cf. Ezek. 34:1–10), God promises personal intervention, gathering His flock from exile, tending to their needs, healing the injured, and strengthening the weak.
There is a stark contrast between God’s shepherding and the failure of Israel’s leaders. God assumes a shepherd’s role and will "pasture them on the mountains of Israel" (v.13), a metaphor for restoration and divine providence. Old Testament tradition holds that the Davidic Messiah would shepherd God’s people in righteousness, fulfilling God's promise (cf. Micah 5:3–4, Isaiah 40:11).
This prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who explicitly identifies Himself with the divine Shepherd: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). This declaration directly echoes Ezekiel 34, where God Himself promised to shepherd His people—now fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. His concern for the lost, the wounded, and the scattered is the fulfillment of God’s promise of divine care.
Christ’s mission as the Good Shepherd is also seen in Luke 15:4–7, the parable of the lost sheep, where divine initiative in seeking the sinner is emphasized, and Matthew 9:36, where Jesus sees the crowds as “sheep without a shepherd,” moving Him to compassion.
In the plan of salvation, this passage reveals the personal involvement of God in redeeming His people, which is fully realized in the Incarnation. Jesus Christ, true God and true man, becomes the Shepherd who not only seeks and saves but dies for His sheep (cf. Heb 13:20, 1 Peter 2:25, Rev. 7:17).
God seeks the lost (cf. Ezek. 34:16), a fitting theme as the Church calls the faithful to return to Him. The pastoral image of Christ evokes His Passion: the Shepherd who suffers to save His sheep, linking the text to the Lenten journey toward the Cross and Resurrection.
This passage not only emphasizes divine compassion but also highlights the need for personal conversion. God not only gathers the sheep but also judges between them (v.17 ff., beyond this section), anticipating the theme of accountability and final judgment found in Matthew 25:31–46. As Lent invites us to repentance and renewed discipleship, the Good Shepherd still calls each of us back into His fold.
Lord Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd, who seeks the lost and binds the wounded. You laid down Your life for us; draw us close to Your heart and lead us now through the valleys of sin to the pasture of Your mercy. This we pray in your name. Amen!
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch. Four Courts Press, 2017
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
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