It’s terribly impractical, for one thing. Sheep can weigh up to 75 pounds. It’s a tremendous hindrance to properly caring for the whole flock. It can also permanently disable the sheep.

 

Imagine having a number of immobilized or broken sheep in a flock. What a mess that would be.

The rod of the shepherd was used to defend the flock from predators, not beat the sheep. And the hooked staff was used to rescue them. The sheep trusted these tools and the shepherd who carried them.

 

They were not afraid of the shepherd and heeded his voice because he led them to green pastures and beside still waters and never mistreated them.

 

There is a midrash from about a thousand years ago: a sheep wondered away from Moses and his flock. Moses searches and finds the sheep drinking from a stream and says, “Oh…so sorry…I did not know you were thirsty.” God responds to Moses’ mercy and entrusts him with the people of Israel.

One of the rabbis commenting on this midrash writes:

 

“Moses realized that the kid did not run away from the flock out of malice or wickedness—it was merely thirsty. … Only a shepherd who hastens not to judge the runaway kid, who is sensitive to the causes of its desertion, can mercifully lift it into his arms and bring it back home.”

 

How often are we misunderstanding folks when they leave the fold? It would help, I think, if we were sensitive to the causes rather than censorious.