The Good Shepherd gives life.

Sermon for Easter 3, April 26, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours in abundance from God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of your souls.  Amen.

John 10:11-16  ¹¹ “I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  ¹² The hired man, who is not a shepherd, does not own the sheep.  He sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away.  Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.  ¹³ Because he works for money, he does not care about the sheep.  ¹⁴ “I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me ¹⁵ (just as the Father knows me and I know the Father).  And I lay down my life for the sheep.  ¹⁶ I also have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. (EHV)

The Good Shepherd gives life.

Dear Christian friends,

            Throughout history, there have been uncountable numbers of men and some women who have called out to the world, saying something like, “Follow me, and I will lead you to greatness.”  Genghis Kahn, Alexander the Great, Buddha, Mohammed, Marx, Lombardi, and countless statesmen, philosophers, kings, presidents, governors, coaches, and theologians all saying, “Trust me.”

We have it here in our country, again this year, as numerous men and women vie for public office calling out to the people, “Trust me to lead you and help you.”  Yet, of all those uncountable self-styled leaders, only one Man could ever truly deliver on His promises.  He, the Son of God and Mary, is the one I want to speak about again this morning, because Jesus, The Good Shepherd, gives life.

When we read through the tenth chapter of John’s gospel, there is so much to comment on.  Jesus talks about a sheep pen in which His sheep are protected from the predators who seek to destroy.  Jesus tells us He is both the Gate to the sheepfold, and the Shepherd of the flock.  Some might be confused by all this, but they shouldn’t be.  The sheepfold is the Kingdom of God.  We enter that place of peace and security only through faith in Jesus, and Jesus is the One to whom is entrusted all power in heaven and earth for our eternal welfare.

At the time of our text, Jesus told those who were opposing Him, “I am the Good Shepherd.”  The word Good should not be confused with some ordinary quality that is somewhat above average.  Instead, Jesus is good—par excellence—the One and Only, the best of the best of the best, the only Man who ever lived about whom God has declared from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 17:5) 

Not only has God the Father declared it, but Jesus backed it up with His holy life and with the point of our text as He explained, “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Our theme says, The Good Shepherd gives life.  Jesus gave His life so that you and I and so many more might live.  He gave His life to pay the penalty your sins had earned.  For the sins of the world, God the Father dealt out His harshest justice and wrath on the Lamb He gave as our substitute so that by Jesus’ death we could live and never die.

A true shepherd lives to guide and protect the sheep.  Before young David entered the fight against Goliath, he told King Saul how he had defended his father’s flock by striking down the lion and the bear.  Like David, Jesus came to destroy the enemy which had decimated God’s flock.  Though Satan certainly wounded the Lamb of God on Calvary, the battle ended with the devil crushed under Jesus’ feet, and all the world also under Jesus’ authority.  His resurrection from the dead proves that Christ’s victory is complete.

Jesus’ enemies were accusing Him of being a fraud and a false teacher.  Jesus pointed out how wrong they were by showing that He alone had skin in the battle.  Those in league with the devil don’t care what happens to God’s people, so Jesus said, “The hired man, who is not a shepherd, does not own the sheep.  He sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away.  Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.  Because he works for money, he does not care about the sheep.”  It was a bold confrontation with the teachers of His day.  The scribes and Pharisees mostly served their own stomachs rather than leading God’s people to their Savior. 

Yet rather than call any particular person the hired man, Jesus was using this illustration to point out their error.  Unlike the teachers of His day, and most leaders throughout history, Christ Jesus was always and only concerned about the welfare of His fellow man.  Jesus came down from heaven not for personal gain or glory but to save and protect His Father’s flock. 

Now, to help us understand what Jesus means, St. John tells us that “Through him [God’s Son, Jesus] everything was made, and without him not one thing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3)  As the creator of this world and everything in it, Jesus has rightful ownership.  Jesus had given us, and all things, life in the beginning when God created the world for people—He created the universe so that God could walk with us and provide His special creation with everything we need.  God would be our Shepherd, Leader, Provider, and Friend.  Satan separated us from God by sin, but Jesus came to restore that relationship. 

Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the devil has been doing his best to savage God’s flock.  We know Satan desires that still today.  Jesus came down from heaven to live as a Man so that the devil’s plans are thwarted.  Even though Satan has managed to corrupt us with sin, and even though that murderer brought death to all people, Jesus came to end the terror, and by His sacrifice, The Good Shepherd gives us life again. 

Jesus told those who were accusing Him of treachery, “I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me (just as the Father knows me and I know the Father).  And I lay down my life for the sheep.”  The doctrine of election assures the believer that God has chosen us from eternity for salvation.  Here, Jesus confirms that He has always known the sheep of His flock.  His words show us that He knows you, personally.  He knows me.  He knows every tiny baby ever conceived.  For every person who has ever entered this world, Jesus laid down His life so that by believing in Him we might truly live.

The Jews often imagined they were the only ones on earth God wanted to help.  Jesus points out that He died for all people.  His Father was using Jesus’ sacrifice to bring people from more than just the tribes of Israel, in fact, from every tribe and nation on earth into the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus said, “I also have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”  This also hints as to how Jesus would bring others into His everlasting care.  In Old Testament times, God sent prophets to proclaim His plan of salvation.  They were pointing forward to Jesus. 

Likewise, since Jesus’ ascension to heaven, He has been sending out His human messengers with the Good News of the salvation Christ has won for all.  Jesus’ voice is heard through the proclamation of His Word.  It is true that not every person will be saved, but those who are not saved are lost only because they refuse to listen to Jesus’ voice in the message.  Those who are lost follow the call of God’s enemies; the devil, the world, and sinful human flesh lead the lost away from the good Shepherd into destruction. 

The human nature corrupted by the fall often gets in the way.  Yet, Jesus’ voice conquers.  Those of us who have heard Jesus’ voice and follow Him cannot claim any superiority of ourselves, for we know that “God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)  It is by God’s grace that we have been rescued from the jaws of the lion and wolf.  The Lord God made us His own and brought us into His sheepfold, the kingdom of heaven, though the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.  Therefore, again, we say boldly, The Good Shepherd gives life. 

Jesus told His disciples, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)  In the kingdom of heaven, there will not be competing religions.  There will not be competing gods.  Jesus says, “Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.”  Either we enter God’s kingdom through faith in Christ, the Good Shepherd, or we don’t enter at all.  Yet, by God’s grace, humble sinners like you and me are rescued from the deceiving, marauding enemy who has so desired to ruin God’s creation.  Without any merit or worthiness on our part, God chose to rescue us from darkness and death by the sacrifice of His Son.

Dear friends, never forget how much the Good Shepherd loves you or the sacrifice He made to give you life, and never forget the sacrifice the Father made by treating His own beloved Son with all the wrath He owed us.  St. Paul wrote to the Roman congregation, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?” (Romans 8:32)

We live in a time when, again, people are terrified of dying.  Because of a new virus troubling the world, our leaders have shut down a large portion of the economy and ordered millions of us to avoid other people.  Yet, death is not a new plague; it is as old as sin and rebellion against God.  Jesus is the cure.  To people troubled by persecution and the threat of death, St. Paul wrote, “So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  For this reason he died, rose, and lived, to be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Romans 14:8-9) 

Now, I’m not trying to tell you that our governments are foolish for taking the steps they have taken to keep people safe.  It is right and wise to do whatever we can to protect and help our fellow citizens.  But, what I am telling you is that we really have nothing to fear.  Our Good Shepherd has already opened the gates of heaven to all who believe.  Your sins have been paid for by the blood of God’s Lamb.  Therefore, whether physical death be in your very near future, or will not happen yet for decades, your place in the peace and glory of heaven is secure.  You live forever, because God’s Son gave Himself into death so that you can live and never die. 

My friends, the troubles of this world come and go.  Danger prowls around us on every side, and will as long as this world shall last, but Jesus has your life, and your future, firmly and securely guarded by His loving, almighty hands.  Salvation is forever because The Good Shepherd gives life.  Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore.  Amen.