St John 10:11-18/Ezekiel 34:11-16/1 Peter 2:21-25
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The Lord, that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Mary, the Lamb who atones for the sin of the world, is your Shepherd. He, He Himself and not another, but the only Son of God in your flesh, has searched for you and sought you out. He has rescued you from all the places where you had been scattered. He has brought you into your own land, the Kingdom of His Church, the good pasture of His holy Gospel, the forgiveness of sins. And this is but a pilgrimage to your eternal inheritance that awaits you in heaven.
Your Shepherd has led you by the still waters of Holy Baptism, which restores your soul by His Name’s sake. Your Shepherd feeds you from His Table on His own Body and Blood, which nourishes and sustains you in both body and soul. Goodness and mercy follow you, even as you are enfolded in His righteousness. Here you lie down, that is, you rest in Him, and indeed in Him you shall lie down and sleep that sleep of death. The Lord is your Shepherd; you shall not want.
Christ is the Good Shepherd. Christ and Christ alone can lay claim to this title. For all who came before were thieves and robbers. And even His shepherds now, His pastors, are but undershepherds, unworthy men who care for His flock in His stead and by His command. Christ is the Chief Shepherd, the Bishop of your soul, as St Peter calls Him.
Indeed it was Peter, thrice absolved by our Lord and commanded, Feed My lambs, tend My sheep, feed My sheep, who instructed his brothers in the Office of the Ministry, Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock (1 Pt 5). Peter, the pastor, like all good pastors, knew his sin and his fallibility, and entrusted himself and all in his care to the Chief Shepherd.
For there is but one Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is “good,” even as God alone is “good.” But He is not speaking morally; though He has the right to do so. He is perfectly moral and upright under the demand of the Law. No one is good, writes St Paul, no one is righteous or moral or ethical or just, no one seeks after God; all have gone astray, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’s Law, save for Christ. He alone is “good.” But He is not speaking morally.
Here is where the problem lies: the English language is insufficient to grasp the content of our Lord’s statement. The King James Version did not fall, bound from heaven. Our Lord probably spoke in Aramaic, though it is quite possible that He spoke in Hebrew, it is even remotely possible He spoke in Greek. In one sense it doesn’t matter. God the Holy Spirit has given the New Testament to us in Greek. And what the Holy Spirit has given is authoritative. So you might as well learn a Greek word today. The word here translated “good” is kalos. Our Lord is the Kalos Shepherd.
There is a romantic notion of our Lord as the Good Shepherd. This is often portrayed in Christian art and images: Christ walking in the pasture with His lambs, a little one over His shoulder or in His arms, He is smiling, the sheep happily romp through the grass. You need only lift your eyes as you leave today to be reminded of this image.
Now I am not suggesting we change our beloved 85 year-old, stained glass window; or that churches remove all happy portraits of the Good Shepherd. There is certainly Scriptural support for this kind of talk about God. The Lord does hold you in deep affection. He loves you as a father loves his children.
Interestingly, though, Holy Scripture never describes our Lord as “happy.” He is a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; stricken, smitten, and afflicted. And Jesus does not here say, “I am the Gentle, Affectionate Shepherd.” He says, I am the Kalos Shepherd; perhaps it is better rendered, I am the Noble Shepherd.
What He means is this: He is the perfect Shepherd, the right Shepherd, the fitting, uniquely qualified and best Shepherd for sinners. He is, in fact, the only Shepherd who can actually bear this title. He is the Kalos Shepherd, the Noble Shepherd, precisely because He lays down His life for His sheep. The death of Christ our Shepherd is of eternal benefit to sinful lambs. Therefore He is the Noble Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep.
The hireling flees when the wolf attacks. He has no duty to the sheep; they are not His, they belong to another. The hireling cares only for his own life. He is a coward. But Christ, the Kalos Shepherd, knows His sheep, that is, He owns them as His own; He assumes responsibility for them, in duty and courage, seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, strengthening the weak. The Kalos Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. I Myself will be the Shepherd of My sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.
Christ dismantles the claims of all who went before Him. Even those who hold this office, that is, His Office, the Office of overseer, of undershepherd, shepherds not his own, but another’s sheep. Whether King David or St Peter or Pastor Jones, he is himself a sheep of the Kalos Shepherd, and his duty, his office is to proclaim the Kalos Shepherd, the Savior and receiver of sinners.
And this claim does not come from moral perfection, though He is indeed morally perfect under the Law. His claim lies in sacrifice. The Good Shepherd, the Kalos Shepherd, is the true Shepherd because He gives His life for the flock. He overcomes the wolf by filling the wolf’s mouth with His own Body. He spills His noble blood, thus purchasing for Himself His people. And they are one with the Father by His blood even as He is one with the Father.
This is how the Kalos Shepherd gathers His flock: under the banner of His sacrifice, by the staff of His Cross, in laying down His life. For when He is lifted up He gathers His lambs and sheep to Himself. He opened not His mouth in suffering and deceit. The Kalos Shepherd bore our sins in His Body on the Tree. The Lamb the sheep has ransomed. By His wound you have been healed. Freely, He laid down His life.
But now, having taken up it up again, His voice cries out in the preaching of the victory of His Cross, which is the forgiveness of sins. This charge He gives to all undershepherds: proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in My Name; Feed My lambs. And you hear His voice, the living voice of Jesus your Kalos Shepherd, saying, “I forgive you all your sins,” “I baptize you in My Name,” “Take and eat, take and drink, this is My Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
This, beloved, is your example: to suffer as He suffered; to give your life, to lay it down in noble sacrifice. Not in salvation for the world, but in honor to the Father and in mercy for your fellow lambs and sheep. This is the image of Good Shepherd, the Kalos Shepherd, the true Shepherd: the crucifix. For this is how He is with you in this shadowy valley. This is how He leads you and all His flock, His Church, purchased with His noble Blood.
And by His Blood He makes you noble, that is good. And He who anointed with the oil of His Spirit in Holy Baptism prepares this Table, His Table, the Eucharist before you in the presence of the devil, world, and even your own flesh; your enemies. He calls you to Himself in mercy. His affection is for you, for you are His. But He laid down His love not in affection for you, but out of honor and obedience to His Father. His goodness of our Shepherd lies not in His affection, but in His sacrifice. His affection is the cause of His sacrifice. Thus the Father knows Him and He the Father and He knows you.
He has fulfilled His charge: He has ransomed you. He laid down His life and He has taken is up again. He is good. He is kalos. And He is risen; He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The Lord, that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Mary, the Lamb who atones for the sin of the world, is your Shepherd. He, He Himself and not another, but the only Son of God in your flesh, has searched for you and sought you out. He has rescued you from all the places where you had been scattered. He has brought you into your own land, the Kingdom of His Church, the good pasture of His holy Gospel, the forgiveness of sins. And this is but a pilgrimage to your eternal inheritance that awaits you in heaven.
Your Shepherd has led you by the still waters of Holy Baptism, which restores your soul by His Name’s sake. Your Shepherd feeds you from His Table on His own Body and Blood, which nourishes and sustains you in both body and soul. Goodness and mercy follow you, even as you are enfolded in His righteousness. Here you lie down, that is, you rest in Him, and indeed in Him you shall lie down and sleep that sleep of death. The Lord is your Shepherd; you shall not want.
Christ is the Good Shepherd. Christ and Christ alone can lay claim to this title. For all who came before were thieves and robbers. And even His shepherds now, His pastors, are but undershepherds, unworthy men who care for His flock in His stead and by His command. Christ is the Chief Shepherd, the Bishop of your soul, as St Peter calls Him.
Indeed it was Peter, thrice absolved by our Lord and commanded, Feed My lambs, tend My sheep, feed My sheep, who instructed his brothers in the Office of the Ministry, Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock (1 Pt 5). Peter, the pastor, like all good pastors, knew his sin and his fallibility, and entrusted himself and all in his care to the Chief Shepherd.
For there is but one Good Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is “good,” even as God alone is “good.” But He is not speaking morally; though He has the right to do so. He is perfectly moral and upright under the demand of the Law. No one is good, writes St Paul, no one is righteous or moral or ethical or just, no one seeks after God; all have gone astray, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’s Law, save for Christ. He alone is “good.” But He is not speaking morally.
Here is where the problem lies: the English language is insufficient to grasp the content of our Lord’s statement. The King James Version did not fall, bound from heaven. Our Lord probably spoke in Aramaic, though it is quite possible that He spoke in Hebrew, it is even remotely possible He spoke in Greek. In one sense it doesn’t matter. God the Holy Spirit has given the New Testament to us in Greek. And what the Holy Spirit has given is authoritative. So you might as well learn a Greek word today. The word here translated “good” is kalos. Our Lord is the Kalos Shepherd.
There is a romantic notion of our Lord as the Good Shepherd. This is often portrayed in Christian art and images: Christ walking in the pasture with His lambs, a little one over His shoulder or in His arms, He is smiling, the sheep happily romp through the grass. You need only lift your eyes as you leave today to be reminded of this image.
Now I am not suggesting we change our beloved 85 year-old, stained glass window; or that churches remove all happy portraits of the Good Shepherd. There is certainly Scriptural support for this kind of talk about God. The Lord does hold you in deep affection. He loves you as a father loves his children.
Interestingly, though, Holy Scripture never describes our Lord as “happy.” He is a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; stricken, smitten, and afflicted. And Jesus does not here say, “I am the Gentle, Affectionate Shepherd.” He says, I am the Kalos Shepherd; perhaps it is better rendered, I am the Noble Shepherd.
What He means is this: He is the perfect Shepherd, the right Shepherd, the fitting, uniquely qualified and best Shepherd for sinners. He is, in fact, the only Shepherd who can actually bear this title. He is the Kalos Shepherd, the Noble Shepherd, precisely because He lays down His life for His sheep. The death of Christ our Shepherd is of eternal benefit to sinful lambs. Therefore He is the Noble Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep.
The hireling flees when the wolf attacks. He has no duty to the sheep; they are not His, they belong to another. The hireling cares only for his own life. He is a coward. But Christ, the Kalos Shepherd, knows His sheep, that is, He owns them as His own; He assumes responsibility for them, in duty and courage, seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, strengthening the weak. The Kalos Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. I Myself will be the Shepherd of My sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.
Christ dismantles the claims of all who went before Him. Even those who hold this office, that is, His Office, the Office of overseer, of undershepherd, shepherds not his own, but another’s sheep. Whether King David or St Peter or Pastor Jones, he is himself a sheep of the Kalos Shepherd, and his duty, his office is to proclaim the Kalos Shepherd, the Savior and receiver of sinners.
And this claim does not come from moral perfection, though He is indeed morally perfect under the Law. His claim lies in sacrifice. The Good Shepherd, the Kalos Shepherd, is the true Shepherd because He gives His life for the flock. He overcomes the wolf by filling the wolf’s mouth with His own Body. He spills His noble blood, thus purchasing for Himself His people. And they are one with the Father by His blood even as He is one with the Father.
This is how the Kalos Shepherd gathers His flock: under the banner of His sacrifice, by the staff of His Cross, in laying down His life. For when He is lifted up He gathers His lambs and sheep to Himself. He opened not His mouth in suffering and deceit. The Kalos Shepherd bore our sins in His Body on the Tree. The Lamb the sheep has ransomed. By His wound you have been healed. Freely, He laid down His life.
But now, having taken up it up again, His voice cries out in the preaching of the victory of His Cross, which is the forgiveness of sins. This charge He gives to all undershepherds: proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins in My Name; Feed My lambs. And you hear His voice, the living voice of Jesus your Kalos Shepherd, saying, “I forgive you all your sins,” “I baptize you in My Name,” “Take and eat, take and drink, this is My Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
This, beloved, is your example: to suffer as He suffered; to give your life, to lay it down in noble sacrifice. Not in salvation for the world, but in honor to the Father and in mercy for your fellow lambs and sheep. This is the image of Good Shepherd, the Kalos Shepherd, the true Shepherd: the crucifix. For this is how He is with you in this shadowy valley. This is how He leads you and all His flock, His Church, purchased with His noble Blood.
And by His Blood He makes you noble, that is good. And He who anointed with the oil of His Spirit in Holy Baptism prepares this Table, His Table, the Eucharist before you in the presence of the devil, world, and even your own flesh; your enemies. He calls you to Himself in mercy. His affection is for you, for you are His. But He laid down His love not in affection for you, but out of honor and obedience to His Father. His goodness of our Shepherd lies not in His affection, but in His sacrifice. His affection is the cause of His sacrifice. Thus the Father knows Him and He the Father and He knows you.
He has fulfilled His charge: He has ransomed you. He laid down His life and He has taken is up again. He is good. He is kalos. And He is risen; He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
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