Hebrews 13:20-21

‘Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.'

He then reciprocates by praying for them. His prayer summarises briefly all that he has been saying as he prays that it will be fully effective in them. By this he reveals that in the end, the responsibility for their perseverance lies, if they are truly His, with God.

He prays to ‘the God of peace'. This is the God Who has made it possible for them to find peace with Him (Rom 5:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Corinthians 5:19), and Who Himself can bring peace to their hearts in their present period of doubting (Hebrews 12:11; Philippians 4:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:16; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 6:23; Philippians 4:9). He is the One Who has made peace between Jew and Gentile through the cross of Jesus making them both one as His people (Ephesians 2:11), and He is the One Who makes life in this world one that is surrounded by peace for His own, as they dwell within God's heavenly camp which has replaced for them the earthly camp (Revelation 20:9). They live in the spiritual realm, in heavenly places even while they walk on earth (Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:20), for their hearts and minds are in Heaven (Colossians 3:1).

The writer then describes what the God of peace has done for us. He has ‘brought again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus'. Remarkably this is the first specific reference to the resurrection in the letter, although it is everywhere else assumed, for otherwise He could not have sat down at God's right hand (Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 10:12), nor could He have passed through the heavens as our great High Priest into the presence of God (Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:24). The description is splendid. The Great Shepherd is brought forth from the dead bearing the blood of an eternal covenant. And those who look to Him enter within that covenant, and are sealed by His blood.

‘The Great Shepherd of the sheep.' This is the One Who had been promised and had now come. He is the shepherd of the house of David (Ezekiel 37:24) Who will bring about the everlasting kingdom (Ezekiel 37:25). This picture is a common one for describing God's deliverance in the Old Testament. It is used of Moses who is described in an almost similar way as ‘the shepherd of the sheep' in Isaiah 63:11 LXX where the question is asked, ‘Where is He who brought up from the sea the shepherd of the sheep? Where is He who put his Holy Spirit in them?'. There too the shepherd was ‘brought up' and delivered from death, in his case from the sea, and as a result God's people were delivered through the power and working of His Holy Spirit. Now the greater than Moses has been brought again from the dead, to work an even greater deliverance

Moses himself also recognised from the beginning that once he had gone the people would require another Spirit inspired shepherd, and, when he called on God, the shepherd whom God gave was Joshua (Numbers 27:16). So the Shepherd was associated with the deliverance of the Exodus.

But later the future Israel would wander from God and be described as being like sheep without a shepherd (1 Kings 22:17), and yet each true Israelite would still be able to say, ‘the Lord is my shepherd' (Psalms 23:1), because God would always be faithful to the few who believed in Him truly. Then in Psalms 80:1 the Psalmist pleaded with God ‘Who dwells between the Cherubim' to be the shepherd of His people in their distress and need, and in Isaiah we learn that God heard his prayer and, with His coming deliverance in view, declared that He would indeed feed his flock like a shepherd, He would gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and would gently lead those who were with young (Isaiah 40:11). This thought was continued and expanded in Ezekiel 34:23 where He promised, ‘And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and He will be their shepherd,' and again in Ezekiel 37:24 where He promised, ‘And David my servant will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.' The coming one of the house of David would come and put all to rights, causing His people to walk in God's ways.

So the idea of the Messiah as the Great Shepherd empowering men and women, and working within them His will, is based firmly on Old Testament promises about the Shepherd. Here is a greater than Moses and Joshua, yes, He is like God Himself. For He is the coming David Who will be their King under the Kingly Rule of God. Here is the grand fulfilment of all God's shepherd promises. And they are fulfilled in Jesus (‘even our Lord Jesus'). It is also based on His own revelation of what He had come to do as the Good Shepherd Who would lay down His life for the sheep, and had power to take it again (John 10:11; John 10:15; John 10:17), a picture also added to by Peter who describes Him as the Chief Shepherd Who will one day appear and will bring for those who are His, those who are faithful under-shepherds, an unfading crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4).

But the Shepherd of Whom the writer speaks has been dead. He had been rejected and put to death. As we have learned earlier He ‘tasted death for every man' (Hebrews 2:9) and offered Himself for our sins (Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 10:12). This draws attention to another strand of Old Testament prophecy about the Shepherd. While Isaiah 53 does not speak of a shepherd, it does speak of the people as sheep (Hebrews 13:6), and of the One Who will rescue the sheep by suffering and dying on their behalf. And this is brought more into the open by the words of Zechariah where ‘My Shepherd', the shepherd who is ‘God's associate' (‘My fellow'), is mentioned as being smitten (Zechariah 13:7). Before God's final ends are achieved, His Shepherd had to be be smitten and His sheep scattered. Furthermore Zechariah also speaks of the ‘blood of the covenant' which is associated with deliverance and is found in Zechariah 9:11 LXX, ‘And you by the blood of your covenant have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit that has no water,' associated with the coming of the Messianic King Who will obtain worldwide dominion (Zechariah 9:9). So here we have the scenario that the One Who would come as a King to Zion bringing deliverance and obtaining worldwide dominion (Zechariah 9:9), and would deliver prisoners from hopelessness through the blood of the covenant (Zechariah 9:11), is also connected with the Shepherd who will be smitten, God's fellow (Zechariah 13:7).

The two aspects of the shepherd are brought together here in Hebrews 13. Here is the great Shepherd of the sheep, but He has clearly been smitten for He has to be raised again. But now has God triumphantly raised Him from the dead. And this bringing again from the dead of the great Shepherd of the sheep will result in the Shepherd being able to perform His great work of making them perfect within and transforming their hearts to do the will of God (compare Hebrews 2:10), as had been promised in the new covenant (Hebrews 8:10). He will carry them in His arms and tenderly lead those who are with young.

‘Brought again from the dead.' In this Great Shepherd, slain and brought again from the dead, the power of death has been defeated, and so for the first time everyone who dies in Christ, all who are His sheep, can expect to be raised from the grave with Him in all the fullness of what He is and of what He can be, in order for them to live eternally. Here was full release from death, first to Him Who was perfect and representative Man, and secondly as a foretaste of what would one day be true for all who are His. Through Him the power of death was broken for ever (Hebrews 2:14). Death was swallowed up in victory (Isaiah 25:8).

‘Even our Lord Jesus.' He clearly identifies Who the Great Shepherd is. He is ‘our Lord, Jesus'. As ‘our Lord' He is the One to Whom we look for deliverance and protection, Whom we follow and obey. He is seen as identified with Yahweh, ‘the Lord' of the Old Testament. Though others may turn from Him He is ‘our Lord'. And this Lord is Jesus, the One Who suffered for us, and rose again, and is even now at God's right hand making intercession for us.

‘With the blood of an eternal covenant.' The raising of ‘our Lord Jesus' from the dead, having borne our sin, was brought about through the blood shed by Him in sacrifice, by which the eternal covenant was sealed. It is through His blood that the covenant is made sure for His elect (see Hebrews 8:10; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 10:16; Hebrews 12:24), and through that covenant He Himself is raised and offers the forgiveness of sins. He comes forth bearing the covenant sealed in His blood and will deliver His people from the prison pit that has no water (Zechariah 9:11 LXX). Thus He could Himself refer to ‘My blood of the covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins' at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:28).

‘Make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.' And this is the work of the Great Shepherd as appointed by the Father, to safely lead and guide His flock, making them perfect in doing the will of God (Philippians 2:13), and working within them to make them well-pleasing in the sight of God. Note the perfection of His handywork. He will not cease His work until perfection has been achieved in everything. He is the potter and we are the clay, and He will fashion us with His hands. If we break in the making He will make us again (Jeremiah 18:4). Thus will He confirm us to the end. He is faithful that promised (1 Corinthians 1:8).