Sermon for Good Shepherd Sunday
John 10:11-16
April 6, 2008

2008-04-06 audio

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. John 10:11-16 (ESV)

Alleluia! Christ is risen; He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Today in our reading from the Gospel Jesus tells us that there are two kinds of Shepherds. The Good Shepherd, who is willing to lay down His life for the sheep, And the hireling, who cares nothing for the sheep. From the Savior’s description of the hired hand we see that—as far as the welfare of the sheep is concerned—he makes a poor shepherd. Jesus, however, is The Good Shepherd, who willingly lays down His life for the Sheep. To The good Shepherd gather all who listen to His voice. They are, of course, the Church.

Shepherd of Israel, from above Thy feeble flock behold;
And let us never lose Thy love, Nor wander from Thy fold.

Thou wilt not cast Thy lambs away; Thy hand is ever near
To guide them, lest they go astray, And keep them safe from fear.

Guide us through life; and when at last We enter into rest,
Thy tender arms around us cast, And fold us to Thy breast. Amen.

I’ve never been a shepherd, nor have I had any experience with sheep. So what I can tell you about sheep and the care of them very is limited. It’s only what I have been told, or read in books, or complete conjecture.

But in spite of my limited sheep skills, I feel pretty confident saying that the tending of sheep—at least to me—doesn’t appear to have to be life-threatening.

Certainly there are dangerous occupations in the world. Lately, crane operators at construction sites come to mind…

Soldiers, firefighters and other emergency and rescue personnel—even the guy that replaces the light bulb on top of a tall skyscraper—have, what, I think we would all agree, are dangerous jobs. (Although I’ve never heard of anyone falling from the top of a skyscraper trying to replace the light bulb.)

But to me shepherding appears to be one of the safer occupations. You care for the sheep. They follow you in and out of the pen. You find nice places for them to eat and drink and rest. Maybe you play your harp (more than likely now a days you have your iPod with you) and do whatever you want as long as you can still watch over your sheep.

Certainly you might have the risk of thieves and robbers—as well as wild beasts. But I imagine that most of the time they stay away when the shepherd is on duty. It would seem to me that just the shepherd’s presence takes care of most of the dangers connected to shepherding. (OK. Maybe the ram can charge. But he’s usually locked away.)

Regardless of any of the dangers inherent to shepherding, it is rather far fetched to think that a shepherd would go so far as to risk his life for his sheep. It’s really not necessary. A human life is far more valuable than that of a sheep. Besides, you’d almost have to go out of your way to find that kind trouble. It just doesn’t make sense.

 In our Gospel Lesson Jesus isn’t speaking about real animal sheep when He says, “I am the Good Shepherd,” “[the Good Shepherd] lays down His life for His sheep.” Rather, He is speaking about the relationship He has with people. And while it is remarkable that someone would lay down His life for another, Jesus tells us that He willingly did that for each of us. We are His sheep; and He is our Shepherd.

And He says these things in fulfillment of the Scripture, particularly the twenty-third Psalm which says, “The Lord is My Shepherd” and in Ezekiel where the Lord identifies himself as Israel’s Shepherd.

 As far as we people are concerned, there is need for a Good Shepherd. For one thing, the apostle Peter reminds us that we were all straying like sheep. This means that our sins lead us away from God. All people are under the wrath of God and deserve temporal death and eternal punishment. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (ESV)

“All we like sheep have gone astray,” says Isaiah;
“we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)

Each of us have on more than occasion turned the opposite direction of the Shepherd’s voice. Who would deny that we like to stray. Whatever it is that attracts us, it’s not always the words and pasture and food and drink of the Shepherd.

We get curious about the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Forbidden places seem interesting, even though we know they are jagged and dangerous. We want to wander where wolves and other wild beasts prowl about. We all like sheep have gone astray!

In the last three weeks we’ve again heard all that Jesus did to accomplish our salvation on the cross.

He went like a sheep to the slaughter.
He committed no sin,
neither was deceit found in His mouth.
When He was reviled, He did not revile in return;
when He suffered, He did not threaten,
but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.
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. 1 Peter 2:21-25 (ESV)

We sang during Holy Week: “The shepherd dies for sheep that love to wander.” On Good Friday The Good Shepherd lay down His life for the Sheep. But on Easter Sunday He took it up again! He rose from the dead!

 And notice there aren’t just two kinds of shepherds. There are also two kinds of sheep. Some are of Jesus’ sheepfold and some are not.

Believers belong to the Savior’s flock. Unbelievers are out side the pen. Those who listen to the Savior’s voice are the Church.

And also notice that Jesus wants those outside the Church to be brought in: because He also died for them. Here we see the universality of the atonement. Christ died for all. All are welcome into His Church. The Good Shepherd desires nothing more than all the people would be members of His Church. That is why He came into this world and suffered and died.

 And what great joy there is in being cared for by the Good Shepherd. There are no wants when we lie down in His green pastures…

He leads us beside still waters. He restores our soul. He leads us, His sheep, on paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake. And when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, there is no fear of evil: for He is with us.

His rod and His staff—the Law and the Gospel—correct and comfort us. His Table is prepared before us in spite of the presence of enemies. His cup runs over. Surely, The Good Shepherd shows goodness and mercy to His sheep throughout all their life. And we will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Amen.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV)

Alleluia! Christ is risen; He is risen indeed, Alleluia!