Fourth Sunday of Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter (B)

Good Shepherd Sunday

April 21, 2024

Text: Ps. 23; John 10:11-18

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

            Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  This is another of His famous “I AM” statements: “I am the good shepherd,” He says (John 10:11, 14; ESV).  “I AM,” or as we translate it in Psalm 23, “The LORD,” in all caps (an indication that we have, here, the Divine Name in Hebrew).  “The LORD is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1).  And He is the Good one.  That is, Jesus is the Good Pastor, for pastor means shepherd.  And that a is a relief to me, and it should be to you, because that makes me the assistant pastor around here, in any case, and it means we all rest secure in Jesus’ care for us… a care that leads Him all the way to the laying down of His life for us, His sheep, that He may take up His life again, and so take us up into His life as well. 

            We all love the 23^rd Psalm, and for good reason.  Here, King David, an actual shepherd, now made the shepherd of Israel, paints a picture for us of what it means that David’s Son, and David’s Lord, is our Good Shepherd.  In the Good Shepherd’s care, we have no want.  We lack nothing.  He makes us to lie down, to rest (Sabbath), in safety and peace, without a care, in green pastures, comfort and luscious plenty.  How can we not think here of the green pastures of God’s Word?  That is true Sabbath, true rest.  Beside still waters.  Sheep are very particular about the water they drink.  How can we not think here of the pure, cleansing, and refreshing water Baptism?  He restores our souls, leads us in the paths of righteousness, guiding us through every peril, and even death itself, by the comfort of His rod and staff (His Scriptures, His pastors, our fellow Christians, and even the crosses He lays upon us).  And then, just so we know these aren’t actual sheep he’s talking about (this is not a Psalm about cute, fluffy, cuddly animals), but us, a change in metaphor.  He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies…  Who are our enemies?  You have some, whether you know it or not.  The devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh at least.  Here we hold the Feast of Victory in the vanquished camp of our enemies, because it is always Easter now that Christ is risen from the dead.  How can we not think here of the Supper of His true body and blood?  Anointed (christened, incorporated into Christ) with oil, the Spirit poured out upon us in Gospel and Sacraments.  The cup runneth over.  There is no lack with this LORD as your shepherd.  Blessing is always overflowing, thus the love of Christ poured into your cup overflows in your love for others.  And you know that His goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and there will forever be a place for you in His House, both this side of the veil (here you are now) and the other (heaven, and resurrection).

            Jesus unpacks this further for us in our Holy Gospel, what it means that He is our Good Shepherd.  “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).  The cross.  His sacrificial death in atonement for our sins.  The purchase price to make us His own.  The will of his Father, that we, likewise, be children of God.  Here comes the wolf… Sin.  Death.  Satan.  Hell.  The Good Shepherd lays Himself down between His sheep and the mortal danger.  That is how He saves us.  “Over My dead body,” He says to the wolf.  He gives Himself into the predator’s steely jaws, punctured, pierced, torn, and bleeding His life over creation.  He has that authority, from God Himself, to save us in this way.  To lay down His life, and take it up again.  That is what the Good Shepherd does.

            We can think of some other pastoral images in the Gospels.  When Jesus sees the crowds in the cities and villages of Israel, He has compassion on them, because they are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36).  In Matthew, it is on just such an occasion that He bids His disciples pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest (vv. 37-38), that is, to send pastors, undershepherds of the Good Shepherd.  And in Mark, it is on just such an occasion that our Lord has the people sit down in groups on the green grass (the green pasture!), and He feeds over five thousand on five loaves and two fishes, the very fulfillment of the 23^rd Psalm (Mark 6:39-42).

            We remember, of course, the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7), how the shepherd leaves the 99 in the open country, to go after the lost one, and he does not come back until he finds it.  And when he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing.  Don’t fail to notice in so many paintings and icons of Christ, the Good Shepherd, how He is carrying a wounded lamb in His arms, or across His shoulders.  That lamb is you.  And when He brings you back, He bids everyone rejoice with Him… His friends, His neighbors, and all the other sheep… the whole Church, and even the angels in heaven.  Because the lost one has been found, the injured bound up, a precious lamb snatched from the wolf’s bloody fangs.    

            It is the fulfillment of the Prophets: “My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah” (Zech. 10:3).  “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Is. 40:11).  “As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness… I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD” (Ez. 34:12, 15).  But it is not just Judah and Israel.  And that is good news for us Gentiles in the room.  “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 10:16). 

            Now, compare Christ, our Good Shepherd, to mere hired hands.  The hired hands don’t put themselves between the sheep and whatever mortal peril may threaten them.  No, when danger arrives, the hired hands flee.  Jesus is speaking, of course, about the leaders of Israel.  The Chief Priests, the Sadducees.  The teachers of the Law, the Pharisees and scribes.  Herod and company.  All who should lead the sheep in paths of righteousness, provide for them, and protect them from predatory tooth and claw.  But, so also, He is also talking about the false teachers of our day.  Even the sincere ones.  And the unfaithful clergy, those who capitulate to the whims of the people and the ways of the world.  And, in fact, the hired hand in us all.  Whenever we, as He says, care nothing for the sheep (v. 13); whenever we fail to love one another, to help one another; whenever, in the interest of our own safety, or comfort, or advantage, we leave our brother and sister sheep to the wolves, and flee.  We have all done it.  We are all prone to do it.  We must examine ourselves, and repent.  Very often, this is how we find ourselves lost.  When we harden our hearts, seek our own interests, and refuse to love our fellow Christians.  But our Lord is faithful, seeking us out, picking us up, slinging us over His shoulders, and restoring us to the flock.  That is, He leads us to repentance for our sins, and forgiveness, and life, and love, in His Gospel gifts.    

            After all, the sum and substance of what it is to be a sheep of the Good Shepherd, is faith in Him, and fervent love toward one another.  This is what St. John says to us in our Epistle: “this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us” (1 John 3:23).  Sheep of the Good Shepherd submit, in faith, to His shepherding, and heed His voice as He speaks to them through His undershepherds.  And they love their fellow sheep.  That is what it means to be a Christian. 

            And that is not a burdensome Law.  It is simply to rest (Sabbath) under His watchful care, secure among the flock, immersed in His gifts, and following His voice, all the way to death and back.  And we know He will lead us back.  For this is the truth about our Good Shepherd: He is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  And so, He knows the way.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.