Easter 3 April 15, 2018
Easter 3 – Good Shepherd Sunday
John 10:11-16
April 15, 2018
“Reasons We Sheep Need a Shepherd”
- He lays down His life for us. (Jn 10:11)
- We follow His voice and no other voices. (Jn 10:3-5,16)
- He knows us better than we know ourselves. (Jn 10:14)
- He gives us rest. (Ps 23; Ez. 34:14-15)
- He protects us from the wolf. (Jn 10:12)
- He feeds us and gives us water. (Ps 23; Ez. 34:14-15)
- He gives us an example to follow. (1 Pet. 2:21)
- He walks us through the valley of the shadow of death. (Ps 23)
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Being called a sheep today is usually an insult. If someone calls you a sheep, then you’re seen as a wimp. You just follow the crowd. You don’t think for yourself. You’re just a mindless, dumb sheep. So you might think, “Hey, I don’t wanna be a sheep! I don’t need no Shepherd lookin’ after me! I do things my way. I take care of myself, thank you very much.”
But that’s really a joke. None of us takes care of ourselves. We need all kinds of people to look after us and do things for us. You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your biological Mom and Dad. You needed them to give you life. And, of course, none of us fed ourselves or changed our own diapers. We needed people. Parents and grandparents. We need teachers because we don’t know stuff. Even if you read books and learn it yourself, someone had to write those books. You can’t learn by yourself. We need all kinds of people. How many of you grow your own food? How many of you built your car that you drove here in today? Or refined your own gasoline? How many of you built your house? How many of you generate your own electricity? Or pump your own water?
So we can get off our high horse and say, “Yeah, I need people.” And today God’s Word gives you a whole load of reasons why you need one person in particular—a Shepherd. You need a Shepherd. You need a Shepherd because He lays down His life in place of yours. You need a Shepherd because His voice is the only one you can trust. You need a Shepherd because you don’t know yourself as well as you think you do—but He does know you. You need a Shepherd because He’s the only way you’ll get any rest. You need a Shepherd because the devil is a fierce wolf who wants to eat you. You need a Shepherd because you need food and water and He gives those. You need a Shepherd because He shows you how to live. And you need a Shepherd, finally, to walk you through that valley of the shadow of death.
First, we need a Shepherd because He lays down His life for us. You may not know that much about raising sheep, as I don’t, but we all basically know that sheep are raised for their wool and for their meat. So usually the sheep gives its life for the shepherd. That’s how it works. Shepherds aren’t in the habit of dying for their sheep. That’s not a good business principle.
But that’s exactly what Jesus is. Don’t forget that a lamb is a sheep. It’s just a young sheep. And what do we say all the time? “Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). Every year in the Passover meal they were to eat a lamb, a year old. That lamb gave its life for the people. But it also told that one day God’s own Son would come as the Lamb of God who would give His life for all of us. For all of you.
So you need this Shepherd. Because without him we’re just sheep ready for the market. Without Jesus, we’re mutton. But Jesus gave His life for yours on the cross so that we sheep would live forever. You are forgiven in Jesus Christ. And you will not die but will have eternal life.
Second, we need a Shepherd because we need one voice we can trust. Apparently sheep have very acute hearing. If you give them a thousand voices, they will only listen to the one voice of their Shepherd. Jesus says that His sheep listen to His voice. We all know how important a voice is to us. One of the things my dad says all the time on the phone is, “It’s good to hear your voice.” You’ve probably said that too. Isn’t a voice comforting? The voice of your Mom or Dad? Grandma or Grandpa? We’re so blessed today with all our ability to record videos and audio that many of us can go back and listen to the voice of people who have already gone to heaven.
In the Holy Scriptures we have the voice of Jesus. And it’s a comforting voice. It’s also the only voice we can truly trust. When you’re a kid and someone says something that you think sounds like it might be false, who do you ask? You go to Mom or Dad. Because you trust them. But what about when you get older and find out Mom and Dad get some things wrong once in a while too? Who do you trust? Jesus is the truth. We need His voice because then we can compare everything else we hear in this world to His one true voice. And we listen to Him and trust Him. We need His voice of truth and comfort.
Thirdly, we need a Shepherd because we don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do. Jesus says, “I know my sheep.” On Friday we got to do the tour over at Kilgus Dairy in Fairbury. It was fun. They have Jersey cows. The brown ones. She took us into their biggest barn where there were about 140 cows. Now you look at those cows and you can see some differences, for sure. But all in all it looks like 140 brown cows that look about the same. But I asked her if any of the guys on the farm there knew every one of those cows by name. And yes, they sure do. And keep in mind that all told there are over 200 cows there. And an average cow only lives about 6-8 years. But she said two of the guys not only know them all by name, but also know their whole family history. Who their dad was. Mom was. Grandma was. Etc. The cows don’t really have a clue who they are. But the farmers know.
We like to think we know who we are. “I’m Type A. I’m Type B.” But if we really know ourselves so well, then why are we always trying to find ourselves? And why do we so often not know what we want? Or what to do with ourselves? Or where we’re headed? But Jesus look at us and knows us perfectly. He sees the whole picture of us. Imagine that there’s Someone who knows the exact information of your entire DNA.
It’s extremely comforting to know that Jesus knows you and me. Since we don’t ourselves, it’s good to know that He does. Isn’t that comforting? You don’t need to figure yourself out. Leave that to Jesus. Just trust Him and follow His lead. Today it’s a pretty big deal to know your ancestry. We’ve got some members here at Trinity who know about tracing genealogies. It’s a lot of work. You can go online and pay big money to try and find your ancestors. But remember—none of it is a mystery to your Good Shepherd. He knows all of it. He can trace you all the way back to Noah. He knows you.
Fourth, we need a Shepherd because we need rest. Psalm 23, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” In Ezekiel 34 today, God says, “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down.” What’s all this big deal about laying down? God gives us rest. Again, something we desperately need. Who doesn’t enjoy that moment of laying down at the end of a hard day?
But the rest God gives is more than just sleep. The word “Sabbath” is Hebrew for rest. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” And the book of Hebrews says that Jesus is our Sabbath. He’s our rest. God wants us to have rest for our souls. The kind of rest where you say, “My Shepherd has taken care of everything. There’s absolutely nothing I need to worry about. My sins are forgiven. I have eternal life. He knows me. This look like a nice bit of pasture right here. I think I’ll lay down and have a rest.”
Fifth, we need a Shepherd because the wolf, the devil, wants to devour us. And the real trouble about the wolf is that he easily hides himself in sheep’s clothing. He’ll come dressed as progressive thinking or new age thinking or enlightenment or reason and rationalism—but he’s always peddling the same lie. That we can be our own Shepherd. That we can be our own god. He wants to devour us and drag us down to hell.
But Jesus fights Him off with His Word of truth. Now as long as you’re hearing Jesus’ word and staying near the Shepherd, you’re going to be fine. Prayer and God’s Word drives the wolf away. He can’t stand around it. It’s like those boxes they have to chase mice away. You plug ‘em in and they make some kind of high pitched frequency that only mice can hear and it drives them crazy and they have to flee the scene. That’s what prayer and God’s Word do to the devil. That’s what singing hymns does to the devil. He flees. So you stay close to Jesus, come to Church every Sunday, pray every day—the wolf can’t touch you.
Sixth, we need a Shepherd because He feeds us. Psalm 23, “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” Pastures and water. Now here I’m not talking about food and water for your body. Yes, Jesus gives us that too. But we’re talking about the Sacraments. The food for our souls. Holy Baptism is the “still waters” of Psalm 23. He leads us all our life beside the still waters of our Baptism. Where we are always washing our sins away and being made clean.
And then Psalm 23, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” The table that Jesus prepares for us is the Lord’s Supper. He is the Lamb of God, who gave His life for us. And He gives us that life under the bread and wine of this table. He feeds our souls.
Seventh, we need a Shepherd because He shows us how to live. He’s our example. Peter describes Jesus this way in the Epistle, “leaving you an example, that you might follow in his steps.” Now there Peter is especially talking about suffering. Jesus has left us an example to follow in suffering. But He’s also an example for us in all of our life.
How am I to live? How am I to suffer? How am I to love? How am I to die? You have a Good Shepherd who has given you His example to follow. When He had to suffer, He didn’t get angry or get revenge. He trusted God to provide. You follow His example. When He met the worst of sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes, He loved them. He ate with them. He taught them. You follow His example. Jesus didn’t condone sin. No, He spoke the truth about sin very clearly. But He loved sinners.
On the night before He died, Jesus washed His disciples’ dirty feet and said, “I have given you an example.” They were to love and serve others as He had loved and served them. And so are we. Not because we need to earn our salvation. No, Jesus has that taken care of. He laid down His life for you. But because Jesus has given us new life, we want to follow His example of patient love and suffering and giving.
Finally, we need a Shepherd because we will all walk through a very frightening valley—the valley of the shadow of death. Death casts a big shadow. And without Jesus, that valley is dark and we have no idea where it leads. But yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For Thou art with me.” Jesus walked through that valley for us on Good Friday. And He opened a light at the end of it on Easter morning.
There’s light at the end of the valley for us. And Jesus walks with us. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Surely. I will.
So don’t think you’re weak or dumb to be a sheep. You just know you need a Shepherd. We all do. He lays down His life for you, speaks His comforting voice to you, knows you better than you know yourself, gives you rest, protects you from the wolf, leads you beside the still waters of Baptism and prepares a table for you in the Lord’s Supper, gives you His example to follow, and will walk you through the valley of the shadow of death. It’s good to be a sheep of the Good Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.