“For out of you (Bethlehem) shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.” Matt. 2:6; NKJV.
I love the idea of ruler-shepherd. It’s almost an oxymoron, two impossibles joined together.
The Christmas story is full unnatural events, because the story is after all, supernatural.
“For with God,” the angel told Mary, “nothing will be impossible.” Luke 1:37; NKJV.
Jesus ruled with righteousness.
He shepherded with care.
Born to rule a kingdom of righteousness, He yielded to the authority of rulers bent on His destruction.
Born to Pastor His sheep, He suffered rejection.
I’m incapable of personifying leadership and servanthood, law with grace, justice saturated in humility. My balance always seems off.
Perhaps to blend such diametrically different attributes, one must first learn to live a life of submission, which is most definitely supernatural, a fruit of Holy Spirit control. Jesus lived as both a ruler and as a shepherd in complete submission to the Father’s will.
“For with God, nothing will be impossible.”
Mary, in an act of humble submission, surrendered her will to the Father, “Let it be to me according to your word.”
The Ruler-Shepherd, born without a king’s scepter or a shepherd’s staff, transforms the impossible by the power of supernatural.
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