“Our Good
Shepherd Gives Us Victory” (John 10:1-10)
There’s a lot of “shepherd-stuff” in our
service today. In today’s Introit, we
heard the voice of Jesus saying, “I am the Good Shepherd” and we chanted that
“we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.” In the Collect, we prayed that since the “Shepherd
of the Sheep” has been wakened from the dead, now may the Holy Spirit help us
to know the voice of the Shepherd who called us by name in Holy Baptism and to “follow
where he leads.” In today’s Epistle
reading, we heard that we “were like straying sheep, but have now returned to
the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Yes, there’s a lot of “shepherd-stuff” in
our service today. During this Easter
season, we celebrate that the Risen Jesus is still our Good Shepherd. He is the one who has brought us into His
sheepfold, the Holy Christian Church, through Baptism and by faith. Not only is He the Good Shepherd, but He
Himself is “the gate” into the sheepfold of His kingdom of grace. There is no other way to enter the sheepfold
than through trusting in Him and His atoning work at the cross, just as St.
Peter wrote, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
During the Easter season we celebrate the
victory of Jesus over the grave. We can
also celebrate the victory that our Risen Good Shepherd gives us. Today’s Gospel lesson teaches us two aspects
of that victory. Our Good Shepherd gives
us victory over thieves and robbers who come to destroy us. And He gives us victory so that we can have
life.
Who are these thieves and robbers? Thieves are those who break in and try to
steal something quietly. Robbers are
those who steal things by force and violence.
And both are present dangers for the sheep. But that still doesn’t answer the
question. Who are these thieves and
robbers? They are any false teacher or
anyone who tries to lead people astray from the truth. Some do it in very quiet, subtle ways. Others do it in more visible, forceful
ways. But both will cause those who
follow them to end up in eternal destruction.
Jesus says these thieves and robbers are
those who try to get at the sheep other than the way a true shepherd
would. They do not enter the sheep pen
by the gate. In other words, they
themselves have not entered the sheepfold by believing in Jesus. What’s more, their voice is unfamiliar to the
sheep. They don’t recognize the voice of
a stranger and will run away from him.
Jesus said that “all who came before me
were thieves and robbers.” He is
referring to all of the false prophets and false teachers who led the people
astray in days gone by. They did not
have faith in the coming Messiah, and so they tried to steal the people away
from the sheepfold of true believers by introducing new and different
teachings, such as the worship of Baal or Molech or other foreign gods. They led the people to follow their
detestable practices such as sacrificing their children to their false gods.
Jesus spoke these words in the hearing of
the Pharisees, and He meant to include them in this category of thieves and
robbers. In the eyes of the people,
however, they were certainly not “detestable.”
They were considered to be “good people.” They were very “religious.” They interpreted the Scriptures and taught
the people. But they did not believe in
Jesus and did not see Him as the center of Scripture, as Jesus explained to the
disciples on the road to Emmaus in last week’s Gospel lesson. The Pharisees rejected Him as the
Savior. They did not enter by “the gate”
but they “climbed in the sheep pen by another way,” that is, by virtue of their
own self-righteousness. And so, their
reliance on their own self-righteousness—and teaching the people to do the same
thing—would only result in causing the sheep who followed them to end up in
hell.
Who are the thieves and robbers
today? They are numerous. There are false teachers all around us who
are trying to break into the sheepfold and lead the sheep astray. There are many voices calling you to follow
them in order to lead a happy, fulfilling life.
Like the Pharisees, they may seem like “good people.” They come dressed like real shepherds. What they say sounds good and very
spiritual. They may even quote
Scripture. But in the end, their false
teaching only destroys the precious souls of people, and obscures or takes away
the sure hope of the free grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Our Risen Savior gives you the victory
over these thieves and robbers by teaching you to listen to His voice alone. You hear His voice in His Word. The Holy Spirit enables you to hear it with
understanding and insight. The more acquainted
you are with God’s Word, the more you will recognize the voice of the Good
Shepherd when He sends His shepherds—His pastors—to His church. Not only is this text an encouragement to lay
people to listen carefully and to know the voice of the Good Shepherd, but it
is an encouragement to us preachers to make sure that we ourselves enter
through the gate—through Jesus—and to make sure that His voice is the only voice
we follow, and the only voice you hear when we preach. We want you to follow the voice of the Good
Shepherd … not the voice of a stranger.
Our Good Shepherd also gives you victory
so that you may have life. God is your
Creator and giver of life. However, life
in this fallen world is no longer what it was meant to be in the perfect “pastures”
of the Garden of Eden. Life as God meant
it to be—holy and perfect with an unbroken relationship with God—was taken away
as a result of Adam’s sin which has corrupted all of our hearts. Life is now full of thorns and dirt. There is nothing nourishing in the pastures
in which people seek to be nourished … the pastures of fortune and fame, drinks
and drugs, sensuality and self-help.
There is nothing nourishing in this life apart from the life of God.
But Jesus died for the life of the
world. Jesus died to counteract the
tragedy in the Garden. He won the
victory over sin, death, and Satan. The
life that He now offers is “life to the full” … “abundant life” … and your “cup
overflows” with God’s grace and forgiveness through Jesus. God’s supply of grace is so abundant that
there is a surplus left over. Romans
5:20 says, “where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” There is never a lack of forgiveness for
those who repent of their sins and turn to the Good Shepherd for real, abundant
life.
You hear His voice in His Word. He calls you to follow Him And He calls you by name. What a wonder that is in this often
impersonal world! You wait for your
order at a fast food place, and they call out, not a name, but “#247!” Big company employees often feel like a number,
like they are dispensable … especially when the layoff notice arrives. But in the sheepfold of God’s kingdom, your
Good Shepherd knows you by name. He
knows every single detail of your life.
He knows your pains, your wants, your deepest longings. As Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I
shall not want.”
Your Good Shepherd also does not let His
sheep head off into danger. Jesus says
that the shepherd “goes before” the sheep.
Perhaps He had in mind Psalm 80, where the psalmist prays, “Give ear, O
Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.” The Lord, the Shepherd of Israel, went before
His people in those pillars of cloud and fire in the wilderness.
Jesus … the Shepherd of Israel … the
Shepherd of His Holy Church … leads us like a flock. He doesn’t send us off and then come running
only when we make a “heavenly 911” call.
The Good Shepherd “goes before” His sheep. When you face difficult situations in your
life, your Good Shepherd is already there.
He goes before you. He leads you
through the ups and downs of our life.
He even leads you through “the valley of the shadow of death” because He
has already gone there ahead of you and has passed through it. This assures you that by trusting in Him He
will bring you through that dark valley into His kingdom of light.
Your Good Shepherd also leads you to
nourishing pastures. He leads you past
the thorny and dirt-filled pastures of this sinful life which do not
nourish. He gives you real nourishment
and refreshment through His Word and His Sacraments. And He will do so for you this morning as you
feed on His body and blood in the “table” He has prepared before us “in the
presence of [our] enemies.”
The terrors and tragedies of this world
are piped right into our living room.
When you watch the TV news, it’s clear that our world desperately needs
shepherding. It needs the Good Shepherd.
April 20 this year was Easter Sunday for
us. Forgotten in our joyful celebrations
was the fact that it was the 15 anniversary of the Columbine High School
shootings in Colorado. 12 teenagers and
1 teacher lost their lives that day, including the two perpetrators. Following the horrific events, a prayer vigil
was held in Denver. I watched a bit of
the coverage, and I was struck by one of the songs that was sung by a Gospel
choir. I don’t remember the exact words
used, but they were something like “Everything’s gonna be alright.” I remember thinking, “I hope more is going to
be said to the crowd gathered there.” Taken
by themselves, those words rang empty, hearing them sung so soon after the
tragedy. Everything was not “gonna be
alright” for those people. In fact,
everything really stunk … the pain, the heartache, the trauma.
This is true for us, too. Everything is not always “gonna be alright.” Sometimes things happen that just stink. We have pain, heartache, and trauma in our
lives. Some of it is caused simply
because we live in a fallen world. Some
of it we suffer as the consequence of our sin or the sin of others. Some of it is brought about as we suffer for
the sake of Christ.
That’s when you need to know that you
have a Good Shepherd. You have a Good
Shepherd who loves you. You have a Good
Shepherd who knows your name, and who knows every intimate detail of your life,
your pains and your longings. You have a
Good Shepherd who doesn’t arrive on the scene long after you call on Him … no,
He “goes before” you, and leads you through your suffering, and you follow His
loving, comforting voice. You have a
Good Shepherd who gives you pasture, who provides for you so that you will not
be in want. You have a Good Shepherd who
assures you that one day, in his eternal pastures, everything will finally “be
alright.”
Your Good Shepherd is Himself the gate by
which you enter into His kingdom of grace.
“If anyone enters by [him] he will be saved.” He offers you His life … His abundant life … because
He passed through a gate … or rather, a doorway … one which three days prior
had a stone in front of it.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment