“Good Shepherd, Lamb of God (excerpts),” New Era, May 2019, 42–43.
Good Shepherd, Lamb of God (excerpts)
Photograph from Getty Images
At this Easter season, we celebrate the Good Shepherd, who is also the Lamb of God. Of all His divine titles, no others are more tender or telling. We learn much from our Savior’s references to Himself as the Good Shepherd and from prophetic testimonies of Him as the Lamb of God. These roles and symbols are powerfully complementary—who better to succor each precious lamb than the Good Shepherd, and who better to be our Good Shepherd than the Lamb of God? …
As our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ calls His sheep in His voice and name. He seeks and gathers us. He teaches how to minister in love. Let us consider these three themes, beginning with Him calling us in His voice and His name.
First, our Good Shepherd “calleth his own sheep by name. … They know his voice” [John 10:3–4]. And “in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ” [Alma 5:38]. As we seek with real intent to follow Jesus Christ, inspiration comes
to do good, to love God, and to serve Him. …
Second, our Good Shepherd seeks and gathers us into His one fold. …
Our Savior reaches out to the one and to the ninety-and-nine, often at the same time. As we minister, we acknowledge the ninety-and-nine who are steadfast and immovable, even while we yearn after the one who has strayed. …
Third, as the “Shepherd of Israel” [Psalm 80:1], Jesus Christ exemplifies how shepherds in Israel minister in love. …
… God’s shepherds are to strengthen, heal, bind up that which is broken, bring again that which was driven away, seek that which was lost. …
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is our perfect Good Shepherd. Because He has laid down His life for us and is now gloriously resurrected, Jesus Christ is also the perfect Lamb of God.
The sacrificial Lamb of God was foreshadowed from the beginning. …
As Lamb of God, our Savior knows when we feel alone, diminished, uncertain, or afraid. …
… Our Savior assures us, whatever our circumstances, whoever we are: “He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young” [Isaiah 40:11]. …
As Lamb of God, Jesus’s divine mission was foreordained and rejoiced in by apostles and prophets. His Atonement, infinite and eternal, is central to the plan of happiness and the purpose of creation. He assures us that He carries us next to His heart.