Easter 4 B
Shepherd. Hired Hand. Sheep.
John 10:11-18
26 April 2015 – Redeemer
Confirmation Sunday
Shepherd. Hired Hand. Sheep. That’s what Jesus gives us in today’s text.
Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” What’s do you picture when you hear those words of Jesus? Green pasture. Still water. Jesus caring for his little lambs – for Charles, Melissa, and Rhiannon.
That is not the picture Jesus gives us in John 10. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. When Jesus uses the word “good Shepherd” He uses the word “good” in the same way that we say “Good Friday” – a “good” Shepherd is a dead Shepherd. In the eight verses of the text Jesus says it five times – “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Normally it would not be good news for the Sheep is someone declared, “The Shepherd is dead.” but that’s how God works – not the way of the world. He works His way to rescue you from your enemies.
Let’s imagine for a moment that you were in charge of Sheep Management for a large multinational company. Let’s call the company Sheep Incorporated for the sake of illustration. What do you think the Board of Directors of Sheep Incorporated wants? They want a return on their investment – they want the most wool and lamb chops for their money. So when they train their men to look after the flock they realize some sheep will be lost. For every 100 lambs born they calculate and figure and know that losing 10 is acceptable and won’t hurt the bottom line. If the flock comes under attack they instruct their men to sacrifice the weak lambs to save the strong ewes and rams. Don’t worry about one stupid lamb that wanders from the fold. If a wolf or a bear wants a lamb or two – let them go and save as many as possible. No respectable sheep business would want their men to die for the flock. A dead shepherd is not a good shepherd!
But that’s not Jesus. He isn’t a hired man for Sheep Incorporated. And that is good news for you, for you Charles and Melissa, and Rhiannon — for each and every one of you. There is not one of you for which Jesus didn’t die. He’s not into numbers and calculating and figuring which of you is worth His life. He isn’t measuring you up to see how you’ll produce for Him before He dies for you. His Father created you. His Father wants to save you from your sinful sheepishness, from following your belly and appetites into all sorts of deadly trouble.
God the Father sends His Son into the world to be the Good Shepherd – to gather the scattered flock of humanity, and to deliver us from our enemies. Jesus , the Good Shepherd, came into the world to lay down His life for you. Not some of you, not only the richest, tallest, smartest, but each and every little lamb of creation. The Good Shepherd has no sense of economy. He doesn’t care if the strongest ram or the weakest broken lamb is in danger. He comes down for all of us, for our salvation. No matter your mess, your trouble, your sin, your pain He climbs right down into it. He took that baptismal bath in the Jordan with a river full of stinking sinners and then bore their sin, your sin to the cross.
Jesus laid down His life for you. He put Himself between you and your enemies – Satan, sin, death, hell. This is love – that the Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He lets your enemies take Him so you can go free. Run home little sheep, I’ll take care of this. What good is a dead shepherd? Well, when that dead shepherd is God and He has died for you, there’s nothing better. We preach Christ and Him crucified – a stumbling block, folly, the silliest mystery in all the world. Jesus Christ laid down His life for you. That dead Shepherd is our salvation and we know that, because He who laid down His life took it up again. The dead shepherd is no longer dead. Death swallowed more than it could chew. Satan underestimated the apparent surrender of the Shepherd at the cross and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
When Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd He calls all of us sheep – and that’s not really a compliment. I’ve never worked for Sheep Incorporated, so to help me with my sermon I did some research at www.sheep101.info. Did you know that sheep have incredible peripheral vision? The way that God set their eyes means that sheep, with just a slight turn of their head can see about 300 degrees around them. But because of the way their eyes are set sheep lack depth perception. That is why they seem to pause and examine things before stepping over a rock or around a hole. Sheep also move as a flock – when one sheep moves they all move. That flock mentality has led to sheep dying by the hundreds. Remember that line your parents used to give you, when you said, “But everyone’s going to the party” and they would respond, “And if everyone jumped off cliff would you do that too?” Well, sheep would – if one walks off a cliff, they will walk one by one over the cliff. Lastly, according to www.sheep101.info, sheep have an incredible sense of hearing. They can actually move their ears to pinpoint the source of a sound. Because of this they are easily startled by loud noises, but respond well to the spoken voice.
Perhaps you see why Jesus calls us sheep. We see everything around us, but we don’t naturally see what God reveals in His Word. Our salvation is hidden in a little baby born in Bethlehem, an innocent criminal convicted on a cross, a Shepherd who lays down His life for us. Our forgiveness is hidden in water, bread, and wine. Even life itself is hidden from our eyes -I’m living forever because Christ died, but I’m get grayer and slower and closer to the grave with each passing day.
Sheep have a flock mentality. Do you know the most dangerous place for a sheep to be? Alone. Do you know the worst place to be with your sin, with trouble, with death? Alone. When the Holy Spirit brings us to faith through the waters of baptism He also brings us into the little flock called the Holy Christian Church. We are no longer alone – now God’s holy angels are watching over us, now the saints in heaven join their heavenly worship to ours, now we are brothers and sisters with all who believe in Christ, and our Good Shepherd, dead and risen, stands at the head leading His flock.
Sheep are great hearers. If they wouldn’t have that great hearing they likely wouldn’t survive. They need a Shepherd to follow, a Shepherd to defend, a Shepherd to hear. Today, our confirmands, all dressed in white, will confess that they are part of the little flock that hears the voice of their Shepherd. You will not hear them make any great claims about themselves today. You will hear them speak what they have heard – that the only true God is the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, that God’s Word is true when calls us to repent of our sins and cling to Christ for forgiveness. You will hear them make promises “unto death” and if we paraphrased them for Good Shepherd Sunday the promises would be “By the grace of God I will depend upon my Shepherd, I will listen to His Word alone, and I will drink and eat where He leads me – the waters of baptism and the body and blood of the Lord’s Supper.
That’s it –Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The dead and risen Shepherd. He is not a hired hand – thanks be to God. You are a sheep – don’t trust your eyes, stay with the flock, hear His voice and you will have Jesus and He will have you – forever. In His Name. Amen.