Sermon Text: John 10:11-18
Title: “To Know the Shepherd.”
I. To not know the Shepherd means to be lost.
II. To know the Shepherd means to know the Way.
JESUS, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The sermon text for this the fourth Sunday of Easter, is taken from the Gospel lesson just read. I would read again these verses…
Jesus said to them…“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 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. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Our text this week talks about sheep and a Shepherd. So I decided to go out on the internet and take a look at what there is out there about these two.
First there are the sheep, the flock as they are called. I noticed on one site that I was looking at that it said one of the fun aspects of raising sheep is that they will soon recognize you and your voice and will come to you when they see or here you. But later in this same article the writer goes on to explain that sheep are very dull witted. I guess this was the writer’s way of saying nicely that sheep are pretty dumb.
So why this contradiction? Why is it that a sheep can see and hear, truly recognize me if I raise it from a lamb, but can at other times seem so dull witted? Does this sound familiar to anyone sitting here this morning? Or are we going to sit here today and say, “That’s someone else, that isn’t me”?
It does sound familiar doesn’t it? Sounds a lot like our everyday lives. One minute we hear the clear voice of our Shepherd, we see the familiar face of our Master and we come to him. The next minute we are following another shepherd, the false shepherd, the shepherd of the night, and just like dumb sheep we take no great notice so long as the grass is green and the pastures are wide. We walk along with our heads bowed down to the earth eating away as if there isn’t a care in the world.
Sometimes we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and we reach out to our neighbor in need. Whether it is a helping hand that they need or an ear to listen to their problems, we hear the voice of the Shepherd encouraging us to go to our neighbor in his time of need and to help in whatever way we can. Then there are the times when we block out the Good Shepherd’s voice, and instead listen to the another shepherd, the shepherd of darkness, and we turn away from our neighbor. We turn a deaf ear to our neighbor’s cries for help. We ignore their pleas.
Then there are those times when we hear the Good Shepherd’s voice telling us that what you are about to do is wrong, what you are contemplating is sinful, and you turn away, and instead love God with your heart. But then there are the times when you don’t turn away from that sin. You decide that it is more important for you to get what you want, and you listen once again to that other shepherd, the shepherd of the dead, and you plunge head long into sin, loving yourself more than God.
Sounds all too familiar doesn’t it? Every single day the alcoholic, the druggy, the sex addict, the gossip, the curser, the sinners, in this congregation wake to the hope of a new day. And everyday it’s the same old thing. Sometimes we heed the call of the Good Shepherd, but more often we give in to the comforts of self and listen to the sickening sweet voice of the shepherd of lies.
Truly, without the Good Shepherd in our lives this is where we would be - at the bottom of the barrel. Living in the filth and decadence of self indulgence. That is what it means to be outside the flock of the Good Shepherd. That is what it means to be absent from His fold. For to not know the Good Shepherd means to be lost.
II.
But praise God we know the Good Shepherd. And thanks be to God He knows us. For Jesus says in verse 14...
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me”
Jesus knows us, and what’s more He loves us - loves us to the point of death, for Jesus goes on to say…
“I lay down my life for the sheep”
He has given His life for the sake of the sheep. He has been the Good Shepherd. The job of the Good Shepherd is to take care of the flock. The Shepherd leads the sheep to water when they are thirsty. When it is time to look for a greener pasture, there is the Shepherd ready to lead them. When one of them falls lame, there is the Shepherd ready to mend the hurts and pains, and give the sheep courage to face whatever ails the sheep. When one of the sheep goes astray, there is the Shepherd out calling to the lost one to come back, come back to the fold. When there is danger of a wolf or lion lurking about to steal into the flock and devour one of the sheep, the Good Shepherd is there ready to come between the danger and His sheep, to the point of death. He allows Himself to suffer instead of His sheep. He allows the jaws of death to close over His throat and take His life rather than allowing this fate to come to the sheep, to you and me. This is the love of the Good Shepherd for His sheep - for you and me.
But what about the sheep now, aren’t they shepherdless? No for Jesus goes on to say…
“I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
So we still have the Good Shepherd. He is not gone from our lives through His death on the cross. He is risen from the dead. And it is through that death and resurrection that we have life in the fold. On the cross Jesus obtained the forgiveness of sins for the sheep, but it is in His gifts to us that we receive that forgiveness. Through the gift of hearing His Word, through the gift of the washing in Baptism, through the gift of eating and drinking His body and blood, we are given the forgiveness of sins.
One last thing I would leave you with today. Jesus says in our text today…
“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also,”
Too often in our world of all inclusiveness, and not wanting to step on someone’s toes, and not wanting to tell someone that they are wrong, in this kind of world that is where the translation, or quotation ends. And then those that are of another religion point to this and say, “See, there are other ways to heaven. We just happen to be the sheep in Allah’s fold, or the Jewish fold, or some other such fold.” But what about the rest of the verse? Let us remember that Jesus goes on to say…
“and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd and that He will lead the flock. Jesus also says that He is the Way, the Truth , and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father but through Him. He tells the disciples, as we shall see in the coming readings, that they are to go into all the earth and baptize in the name of His Father, in the name of the Son, Himself, and in the name of His Holy Spirit. This is quite clear. There is no way to heaven but through Jesus, for He is the door as the verses preceding our text today state and affirm.
How does one come to be a part of the fold of the Good Shepherd? Through God’s Holy Word which works on the heart showing the sin of the sinner, and showing the saving grace of God through the gift of faith for the sake of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. This hearing of the Word ultimately leads to one of two reactions: rejection or the desire to be baptized into the fold of the Good Shepherd. It’s that simple. You either reject the saving, nail scarred, hand of the Good Shepherd and pull away, or you hold tight to that precious hand that has reached down to you in your sin and filth and dirty rags of this world and you follow Him to the font where He washes you clean. That is what it means to be a part of the fold of the Good Shepherd. It means to be forgiven and at peace with the Father. What wonderful news! What wonderful news indeed! Amen.
The peace of the LORD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our crucified and risen LORD and Good Shepherd. Amen.
+ Sola Deo Gloria +
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