The Good Shepherd as Savior and example

Sermon for Easter 2 – Misericordias Domini

1 Peter 2:21-25  +  John 10:11-16

If you follow the daily devotions our ministerium has been publishing, this last week you read the account from the last chapter of John’s Gospel, how Jesus took Peter aside and commended His sheep to Peter’s care (and not to Peter alone, but to all who hold the office of “pastor” or minister in Christ’s Church). “Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep.” Those words and that imagery would make little sense if it weren’t for the words Jesus spoke in today’s Gospel and in the larger context of John chapter 10, known as the Good Shepherd Chapter.

In the verses before our Gospel begins, Jesus began teaching the Jews about who He was and why He had come using the imagery of sheep and shepherd, which, of course, should have been familiar to them, because the Old Testament used that imagery often. There’s the famous Psalm 23. The LORD (Yahweh) is my Shepherd, who makes me to lie down in green pastures and leads me beside the still waters. And there are other Psalms where the Lord God is called the shepherd of His people Israel, who are called “His flock.”

On the other hand, the prophets also compared the false prophets and the wicked leaders of Israel to bad shepherds who only looked out for themselves and not for the sheep: His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant…they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain…. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”

And finally, there were the Old Testament passages that promised that the Messiah would come as a shepherd: Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him… He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young…. thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land.”

That’s the backdrop against which Jesus taught in John 10, where He essentially identified Himself as the LORD God and as the promised Messiah. He is more than just the owner of the people of God. His individual knowledge of each child of God and His deep love for the people of God mirrors the knowledge and the tender care of a dedicated shepherd for his sheep’s safety and wellbeing. And the way God’s people hear the voice of Jesus and trust in Jesus implicitly mirrors the way sheep hear and trust in the shepherd who is their constant companion.

But the people didn’t understand His point, so He went on to compare Himself to the door or the gate of a sheepfold. He is the only way into God’s kingdom. No one can enter in any other way but by trusting in Him. No one can stand before God the Father but by relying on the intercession of God the Son. In Him alone is peace, safety, security, salvation, eternal life, and eternal happiness. That’s why He came, to give people that. And those who wish to receive it from Him are His sheep.

But all of that came at a cost—not a cost the sheep had to pay, but a cost the Shepherd had to pay—made it His purpose to pay! And that’s where our Gospel picks up the narrative.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. But the hireling, who is not the shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees, because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known by my own, as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

What, above all, makes Jesus the Good Shepherd? It’s His willing choice to lay down His life for His sheep. Like a faithful shepherd who saw the wolf approaching and placed himself between the wolf and the sheep, knowing he would be taken down and killed, the Lord Jesus saw our sin separating us from God, and so He bore our sins in His own body on the tree of the cross, as Peter wrote in today’s Epistle. He saw death coming to swallow us up forever, and so He allowed Himself to be swallowed up by death for us. He saw the devil coming for us, and so He allowed the devil to come for Him instead.

But by bearing the penalties our sins had earned for us, He earned for us the forgiveness of sins. By allowing Himself to be swallowed up by death and then forcing death to spit Him out on the third day, He made it so that not even death can snuff out the life He has given to those who believe in Him, and the grave will have to spit us out again at the last day. By allowing the devil to strike Him down, He saved us who believe in Him from all the devil’s power to accuse us and drag us away to hell.

No one else has ever loved sinners so much. No one else has ever sacrificed so much so that sinners could be turned into children of God. There is only one Good Shepherd.

And that Shepherd has sent out shepherds of His own, pastors, to carry out the work He talked about in today’s Gospel. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “I must bring them,” Jesus said. But how would Jesus bring other sheep into His fold? He would not wander the earth, speaking the Word of God to people, calling them to repentance and faith and baptism. No, as we heard St. Paul say last week, it was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.

But there have been many hirelings along the way, before the time of Christ, at the time of Christ, and after the time of Christ—many religious leaders who were supposed to watch over God’s precious flock but who compromised along the way in order to be popular among the sheep or accepted by the world, who, in some cases, mistreated the sheep in order to gratify their own sinful desires, who stopped feeding the sheep the entirety of the Word of God in order to keep their jobs, in order to avoid making people mad, in order to avoid suffering.

Ah, but suffering can’t be avoided by a shepherd who serves under Christ. A true shepherd who serves under the Good Shepherd will face opposition, both from outside the Church and from inside the visible assembly of those who call themselves the people of God, just as Jesus did. In fact, right after Jesus charged Peter with the feeding of His sheep, He warned Peter that he would face suffering and death for doing his appointed work in the name of Christ. Yes, shepherds under the Good Shepherd must be willing to suffer for Christ and for His flock. Any pastor who runs away from that suffering is just another hireling. That’s the hard truth.

But here’s the other hard truth: The sheep must be willing to suffer, too. The apostle Peter told you that in today’s Epistle. To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in his steps. Follow in His steps, first, by speaking the truth at all times and living a life that is holy and devoted to God, a life of love and humility and confidence in God’s direction. Then follow in His steps by enduring the suffering that is brought on you for living such a life. That suffering may come from outside the Church or from inside the Church, from strangers or from family members and loved ones, and you have to be willing to endure it rather than speak or live contrary to the Gospel.

But following in Christ’s steps, as Peter goes on to explain, also means enduring all that suffering without bitterness, without complaining, without threatening those who cause you to suffer, and without any deceit being found in your mouth. We are in a time already when speaking and living according to the truth of Christ will get you attacked, sometimes violently. The raging mob is out for blood. The Christian can’t respond in kind. You don’t defeat the devil by imitating the devil’s tactics, by shouting down those who try to shout you down, by ridiculing those who ridicule you. You defeat the devil by walking in the footsteps of Christ, your Good Shepherd. He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, should live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray. But you have now been brought back to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Stay with Christ and take comfort in His pastoral care. He died for you so that you could be in His flock for eternity. Do you think He’ll abandon you now that He’s risen from the dead? Hear the Word of Christ, your Good Shepherd and follow on the path His Word lays out for you. Follow in His steps, even through the valley of the shadow of death. He is with you. His shepherd’s rod and staff will comfort you. And as you follow Him, righteous by faith and living for righteousness, be assured that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Amen.