Jesus, the New Shepherd in the Wilderness

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Nov 3, 2025

Explore the profound symbolism of the wilderness as a testing ground for faith, echoing Israel's struggles. The discussion delves into Jesus as a new Moses, illustrating his shepherding role through healing and feeding multitudes. Discover how the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000 highlights his mission to both Israelites and Gentiles. The podcast also confronts the challenges Jesus faced from the Pharisees and expands on the Canaanite woman's faith. Join the journey of understanding how these acts prepare the disciples for their future mission.

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INSIGHT

Wilderness As Preparation For The Garden

The wilderness tests force reliance on God's word, presence, and generosity rather than human control.
Tim Mackie frames wilderness as a refining season preparing people for the promised garden land.

INSIGHT

Jesus As New Moses Figure

Matthew crafts Jesus as a new Moses who succeeds where Israel and Moses failed in the wilderness.
Jesus' ministry reenacts and corrects Israel's wilderness story to restore the covenant people.

ANECDOTE

Jesus Grieves Then Heals In Wilderness

After John's execution, Jesus retreats to the wilderness to grieve but is followed by crowds who seek healing.
Despite his solitude, Jesus responds with compassion and begins healing the sick among the gathered people.

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The Wilderness E10 — Throughout ancient Israel’s long history of wandering in the wilderness, failing in the garden land, being exiled to the nations, and then continuing to struggle after their return to the land, one thing has been clear. The people need a faithful shepherd like Moses who can guide them into God’s provision and wisdom. So after Jesus is baptized in the wilderness and succeeds in his own wilderness tests, you can probably guess where Jesus goes to feed, heal, and teach people! In this episode, Jon and Tim explore stories in the gospels where Jesus provides for Israelites and non-Israelites in the wilderness, acting as a new Moses-like shepherd.

CHAPTERS

Recap of Theme and Setup for Jesus as a New Moses Figure (0:00-14:03)
The People’s Need for a Shepherd (14:03-24:04)
Bread in the Wilderness for Israel (24:04-38:12)
Discussing Bread With Pharisees and a Canaanite Woman (38:12-47:35)
Bread in the Wilderness for the Nations (47:35-1:02:37)

OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

View this episode’s official transcript.

REFERENCED RESOURCES

You can view annotations for this episode—plus our entire library of videos, podcasts, articles, and classes—in the BibleProject app, available for Android and iOS.
Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books here.

SHOW MUSIC

“Be Like Water” by Lofi Sunday, Zairis TéJion
“Holy” by Lofi Sunday, Just Derrick
“It's Gonna Be Alright-22” by Lofi Sunday, Marc Vanparla
“jazz club” by Lofi Sunday, PAINT WITH SOUND
BibleProject theme song by TENTS

SHOW CREDITS

Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey is our supervising engineer, who also edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty does our show notes, and Hannah Woo provides the annotations for our app. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie.

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