Text: John 10:22-30<\/p>\n
The Good Shepherd<\/p>\n
Grace,
\nmercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior,
\nJesus Christ, amen. The text for this
\nmorning comes from the Gospel and other selected verses from Matthew 10.<\/p>\n
One sure
\nsign of spring at Concordia Theological Seminary and Concordia St. Louis is the Vicarage
\nAssignment\/Deaconess Internship and Candidate Placement services held each
\nApril. This past week, several gentlemen
\nwho started \u201cseminary bootcamp\u201d known as Summer Greek with me were placed into
\nthe office of holy ministry. A former
\nvicar here, Michael Groves, was placed into the office of holy ministry from Concordia St.
\nLouis. Men, such as these, have been
\ncalled to be pastors and teachers. They
\nhave been called to be shepherds from He who is the Good Shepherd.<\/p>\n
This
\noffice, to which some are called, is a difficult and challenging office to
\nserve in. Yes, it has its many joys and
\nrewards, but there are times where it becomes difficult and challenging to say
\nthe least. Even our Lord and Savior,
\nJesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, faced difficult times and challenges in His
\nministry to His flock. John records for
\nus today in our text one such occurrence.<\/p>\n
The entire Two months The answer Jesus saw Strangely, The latter What more If you know The sheep A traveler relates that one day he came to a Passing We are all Now the
\n10th<\/sup> chapter of John revolves around Jesus and His discourses to
\nothers about who He is: the Good Shepherd. He tells those gathered around very plainly that \u201cI am the good shepherd. The
\ngood shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.\u2026 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the
\nFather knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.\u201d<\/em> These words were meant for the people to be
\nwords of comfort and of assurance, knowing that Christ is indeed the Savior,
\nthe One promised of old. Instead of the
\ncrowd acknowledging Christ\u2019s words, they were split: some of the Jewish leaders
\nsaid that He was possessed by a demon and insane, while others believed in
\nJesus because of the miracles which He had performed.<\/p>\n
\nlater, we find Jesus at the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. Two months earlier, Jesus had told them that He was the good shepherd,
\nthat He was the Son of God. Now they
\nwant proof of who Jesus is: \u201cHow long
\nwill you keep us in suspense? If you are
\nthe Christ, tell us plainly.\u201d<\/em> What
\nmore proof do the people need? Haven\u2019t
\nthey heard the message which He has preached? Haven\u2019t they seen the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies
\nregarding the coming Savior? Haven\u2019t
\nthey seen the miracles which He has performed? Surely someone present had to have eaten some of the fish and bread when
\nJesus fed the 5000 people. Food kept
\ncoming from what seemed like nowhere, and there was no stopping it, not until
\neveryone had eaten their fill.<\/p>\n
\nwhich Jesus gave was not the answer they had wanted to hear. What they wanted to hear was a simple \u201cyes\u201d
\nor \u201cno.\u201d They didn\u2019t want any
\ncomplicated answer. They didn\u2019t want to try
\nto read between what Jesus was saying for an answer. \u201cAre you or aren\u2019t you? Just say \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nthrough their words and actions and He understood clearly the intent of their
\nquestion. He answered them, \u201cI told you, and you do not believe.\u201d<\/em> Therein lies the tragedy of unbelief. \u201cI told
\nyou, and you do not believe.\u201d<\/em> Jesus
\nhad already clearly spoken the good news of God\u2019s grace. From the beginning He had revealed the
\ngoodness of the Father. His preaching
\nand His teaching had announced simply but forcibly that the Father loves what
\nHe created. In contrast to those who
\nsaid that one had to do something to win the affection of God, Jesus came
\nproclaiming a message, the Gospel, the Word, that God loves the world in spite
\nof its sin.<\/p>\n
\nit was religious people who did not want to believe this. They did not want to believe this message,
\nnot because they did not want to be saved. They did not want to believe it because they thought they had to do
\nsomething to be saved. Unbelief does not
\ngrow out of the unwillingness to be saved. Unbelief is the notion that God is not good. Sometimes it is the sinners who do not
\nbelieve that God can forgive. In this
\ninstance, they people who thought they were righteous did not believe that God
\nwas so good as to accept them without their merit. Or we could say they thought they could be so
\ngood that God would have<\/strong> to accept
\nthem.<\/p>\n
\nhalf of His answer was more pointed, so pointed that the Jewish leaders wanted
\nto stone Jesus. \u201cThe works that I do in my Father\u2019s name bear witness about me, but you
\ndo not believe because you are not part of my flock.\u201d<\/em> \u201cThe Jews\u201d show, by not believing in Jesus,
\nby not recognizing who He is in spite of the miracles which show His Father\u2019s
\nauthorization of Him, that they do not belong to His flock. When Jesus had spoken to them previously
\nabout Himself as the \u201cGood Shepherd,\u201d they had become very angry.<\/p>\n
\nstartling of a statement can Jesus make than this: that if you believe in Him,
\nyou are of His flock. If you don\u2019t
\nbelieve in Him, then you are not of His flock. If you want to be of Christ\u2019s flock, then you must believe. And for the Jewish leaders, there was a
\nsignificant number who did not believe. For
\nthose who did believe, they had the assurance that they were indeed members of
\nJesus\u2019 flock. That meant that they would
\nhave eternal life and they will never perish, as Jesus says.<\/p>\n
\nanything at all about sheep, they are dumb animals and will literally lead
\nthemselves off a cliff or separate themselves from the flock, wander away and
\ndie if no one is there to shepherd them. Jesus tells us that He is the good shepherd. \u201cThe
\ngood shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.\u201d<\/em> That is exactly what our Good Shepherd did
\nfor us, Jesus Christ laid down His life of perfection so that He could become
\nsin and death, so that you and I might have a life of holiness by His body and
\nblood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.<\/p>\n
\nof Jesus\u2019 flock hear the voice of Jesus. He knows us and we follow Him. Sheep \u201clisten to\u201d the voice of their shepherd. They not only hear this voice outwardly. They listen obediently. The shepherd also \u201cknows\u201d his own sheep. He knows, recognizes as his own, and
\nunderstands their ways. This meaning is
\nconveyed by the word used here by Jesus. The sheep therefore \u201cfollow\u201d their shepherd. They do so obediently.<\/p>\n
\nwell at the time when the shepherds watered their flocks. Many different flocks came there at the same
\ntime. The sheep of the various flocks
\nmingled, and no attempt was made to keep them separated. The traveler thought that the shepherds would
\nhave a tedious and difficult job separating them. But when the time came, each shepherd went
\nhis way calling his sheep, and every sheep followed its shepherd. Every sheep of Christ knows and follows His
\nvoice.<\/p>\n
\nfrom the picture to the application Jesus adds, \u201cI give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will
\nsnatch them out of my hand.\u201d<\/em> This
\nfree gift of \u201ceternal life\u201d is assured. In no way shall the sheep of Jesus \u201cperish.\u201d No one has the power to snatch the believers
\nout of His protecting hand. Only by
\nrejecting His hand of salvation will they go astray.<\/p>\n
\nchosen to be sheep of Jesus\u2019 flock. That
\nwas what God had wanted. Unfortunately,
\nsome of these sheep have wandered away. For the sheep who remain, we know that by listening to the voice of the
\nGood Shepherd, all will be well. The
\nGood Shepherd knows His sheep and will continue to watch over us. He will keep us away from the cliffs and will
\nbring us back into the rest of the flock when we go astray. We as sheep follow the shepherd. God provides to us shepherds of congregations
\nto watch over and lead and guide, just as He did this past week when He called
\n223 men to be undershepherds of the Good Shepherd of the Church. We rest, knowing that we are safe in the
\nshepherd\u2019s care, both in the Church on earth, and in the Church in heaven, for
\nwe have the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life, so we may have eternal life,
\namen.<\/p>\n
\npeace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds
\nthrough faith in Christ Jesus, amen.<\/p>\n