NOTES for Isa 40:11
The image of the Messiah as shepherd appears often in Isaiah's preaching, and also in that of other prophets. In the Gospel, Jesus too often speaks of Himself as the good shepherd. Today this image may seem somewhat humiliating to us, for if we follow the logic of the image, we must feel ourselves to be sheep and rams. Not a very pleasant association. Meanwhile, in antiquity sheep and rams, and domestic animals generally, were viewed somewhat differently, especially in societies that grew out of a pastoral, nomadic tradition.
Of course, there could be nothing like the sentimentality toward domestic animals sometimes found today. But there was something else: responsibility for the whole flock and for each sheep in it. Both in the prophets and in Jesus Himself we often meet the image of a bad shepherd, for whom the flock is only a source of income, food, and wool, and who cares nothing for the sheep. Such a shepherd merely uses the flock as a thing, and in case of danger, for example an attack by predators, immediately abandons it: his own life is worth more than the income.
The real, good shepherd loves his sheep. Not as equals, of course, but even God cannot love us as equals: we are not equal to Him by definition and never will be. But we are His, and if so, then above all He is responsible for us and loves us, and does not simply use us to solve His tasks in this world. With us, of course, it is in many ways more complicated for Him than even for a good shepherd with his sheep: unlike sheep, we possess free will, which God has to take into account. And possessing it, we can always do something no ram would ever think of.
But His love for us remains unchanged, just as a good shepherd loves his flock and every sheep in it, even one that is not very obedient and for that reason sometimes has to be searched for throughout the area. And he rejoices over such a sheep more than over all the rest of the flock. Because a good shepherd feels responsible for every sheep. And loves every one as well. Just as the Messiah loves each of us. And for this reason becomes our good shepherd.