Shepherds were important in the world of the Old Testament. Without the shepherd and his dog, the herd of sheep could not survive, and this led to the use of shepherding as an image of ministry. The chief shepherd is God, “who has been my shepherd / from my birth to this day” (Genesis 48:15). Many of the major figures of the Old Testament were shepherds, including Abraham, Moses, and David. The prophets criticized the kings for not being good shepherds, and Jeremiah foresaw a time when God “will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble” (Jeremiah 23:4).

In the New Testament, Luke has shepherds receive the heavenly message about Jesus’ birth. This shows Jesus’ lowly origins and ties in with a major theme of Luke’s Gospel-God favors the lowly when revealing himself. The 10th chapter of the Gospel of John contains a lengthy passage on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. John presents Jesus as the model shepherd, but at the end of his Gospel he also applies the shepherd imagery to Peter. Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs and tend his sheep.