"...The biblical imagery of sheep and their shepherd does not quite match our assumptions--be they positive or negative assumptions. None of our metaphors of sheep quite matches the picture of Psalm 23 that we admired in Sunday school. Certainly, faith in God as provider and protector is there--but so are the shadowed valleys, surrounding enemies, potential lynch mobs, ordeals and even crucifixion.
These sheep are not the blindly obedient animals that we find unsuitable models for children. Rather, the images of sheep are put together with darker realities. These passages give every evidence of being crafted by thoughtful and deeply experienced writers who are trying to communicate what it means to live by a radical trust in God in the midst of terror, pain and death--some of the greatest challenges to faith.
Finally, these readings are not what we call “allegory”, drawing out every analogy to sheep that can be made and offering sheep as a model for Christian life. Sheep in the fullness of their animal existence are neither a good model for Christian life nor any other kind of human life. Rather, this is a metaphor that shows us a part of faith that carries us through our darkest hours. This trust, like the ways of a sheep with its shepherd, is a radical trust that empowers us to believe that life has Christian meaning, even though our immediate experience may be telling us otherwise.
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