Ezekiel 34:11-16; 1 Peter 2:21-25; St John 10:11-16
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Church art that depicts this wonderfully comforting image of our Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd is dominated by one image - Jesus surrounded by cute, white, fluffy creates called sheep. Even our own beloved Good Shepherd window shows this. Sheep all over Jesus. Sheep in His arms. At His feet. Wrapped around His shoulders. We love that image. And fair enough, it has basis in the Bible - Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34.
But there exits a depiction of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that we should love even more. Its not nearly as common. Its nowhere near as cute. But its much more accurate in capturing what He is all about. And even more comforting. Its Jesus the Good Shepherd with a grown man draped over His shoulder. A sick man, a diseased man, a dying, a dead man. An adult, just hanging there around Jesus’ neck like dead weight. Jesus the Good Shepherd carrying on His shoulders a not so cute creature called “man.” We should love that image.
For that is what He is! He is not the shepherd of cuddly sheep. He is the Good Shepherd of men and women, boys and girls. And despite the simulates between us and sheep, there are stark differences as well. Sheep have the kinds of mouths that make you say, “Oh, how cute.” But man’s mouth is not so cute. Just consider how easily the fangs come out when you don’t get your way.
Sheep have cute little hooves, that, out of ignorance, sometimes go astray. But you are not ignorant. You feet have been instructed in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake, the way of God’s Ten Commandments. Yet how easily those feet wander into the way of hate and indifference.
Sheep have cute little ears that are reserved only for their Shepherd’s voice. They will follow no other. But you have given too much of your ear to that False Shepherd, that wolf in sheep’s clothing, Satan, and his enticements. Too often you have been led astray into the way of death and polluted your soul.
Repentance is needed. Even more, what is needed is not just a shepherd who deals with cuddly sheep. You need a Shepherd who has room on His shoulders for that perverse, foolish, two-legged creature called “man.”
And that is exactly the kind of Shepherd you have. You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. A soul He has rescued from Satan. For you heard Jesus today: I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He is not good merely in affection or love, cuddling and thinking fondly of His flock. What makes Him good is precisely what He did on Good Friday. He laid down His life for all men. For Jesus is God in the flesh, with a neck and shoulders made for your eternal benefit. What makes Him good is what He did with His neck and shoulders. He bore the burden of your sin, the full weight of the Law, and laid them down into the jaws of death. He laid them down for what your mouth has said, for where your feet have traveled, and from whom your ears have listened.
He laid it all onto His big shoulders - those sins that burden you, the past you regret, the present that is trying, the future you fear. He bore it all on those shoulders, along with your sorrows, your sicknesses, your diseases. Onto His shoulders they went so that He could bear them to death in His Body on the Tree, that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. And those shoulders were then laid down into the cold earth of the tomb.
Because for Jesus to be your Good Shepherd, your Noble, Perfect Shepherd, He had to lay down those shoulders somewhere else. Somewhere no hired hand would ever go. Where no guy just hired to do a job would dare to go. For Satan snatched you and had you in His jaws. But your Good Shepherd retrieved you out. You were stuck in the devil’s throat because of your sin. But the Good Shepherd rescued you.
More than that - He did what no other Shepherd could do. And that’s what makes Him Good. He gave His Body over to be wolfed down by Satan. He gave His shoulders and all of His body to be chewed up in place of yours. Usually a dead shepherd is a useless shepherd. No protection for the flock, not safety from attacks. But not here. Jesus doesn’t raise His sheep for slaughter. He lays down His life for them. He dies in place of sheep who loved to wander. And His death means life for His sheep, freedom from sin’s captivity, rescue from the jaws of death.
One of the many things I desperately miss during this time is singing hymns with the congregation. We are singing church! Six, seven hymns a Sunday. A wonderful hymn for today is “O Little flock, fear not the foe.” “O little flock, fear not the foe, who madly seeks your overthrow; dread not his rage and power” (LSB 66:1). Even though it is unsung, it is still true. The wolf has been defeated. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, his howl is empty. For the head of that liar and deceiver and murderer has been crushed. Those shoulders that were laid down into death for you were also taken up in the Resurrection so that he could be the Shepherd of the Church. The Bishop and Overseer of your souls.
And what a Shepherd He has been for this flock. He, He Himself searched for His sheep and sought them out. He rescued them from the place where they have been scattered. In Holy Baptism He called you by name. He made you His own. He cleaned off all the thorns, bound up all the wounds, and draped over your shoulders the robe of His righteousness that adorns you.
In Holy Absolution you hear the true Shepherd’s voice drawing you away from all the other voices, both without and within, that would burden you and do you harm. He brings you into your own land, the gracious reign of His green pastures where He feeds and cares for you.
Is not His Holy Supper the Table He prepares before you in the presence of your enemies? Here He shows you that He not only your Good Shepherd, but that He Himself is also the Best Pasture! He is food for your body and soul. Food that refreshes, renews, and enlivens your faith and trust in Him. All of these are His rod and His staff by which He comforts you.
For this is Good Shepherd Sunday. We could also call it “Merciful Hearted Shepherd” Sunday, for that’s what the Latin, Misericordias Domini, literally means. But if we had translated it from the Hebrew, this Sunday would have maybe an even more wonderful name. The Hebrew word for merciful hearted is chesed, which means, “unfailing love, loving kindness, loyal love.” As in O give thanks unto the Lord for His chesed endures forever. Maybe we could render it, “devoted.” This is “Devoted Shepherd Sunday.” Christ is your devoted Shepherd. He is completely devoted to His flock and their eternal good.
So devoted that St Peter could say, By His wounds you have been healed. For life has left you broken hearted with disappointment. But He is the Shepherd devoted to binding you up. You have been injured and damaged by others, but He is the Shepherd devoted to healing you. You heart has been shattered, but He is a Shepherd devoted to putting it together piece by piece. You are weak, but He is the Shepherd devoted to strengthening you to live in faith toward Him and love toward others.
You will stray like sheep. But you are His sheep. And He will forever be devoted to calling you back to Him in repentance. All disasters, all illness, all times of fear and crisis are a call to return to Him in repentance and faith. For though you walk through this valley of the shadow of death, He raises you to His shoulder and brings you to His Table. Here He is both Host and Meal. He gives you a foretaste of the heavenly Feast to come. And you shall dwell in your Shepherd’s House forever.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Church art that depicts this wonderfully comforting image of our Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd is dominated by one image - Jesus surrounded by cute, white, fluffy creates called sheep. Even our own beloved Good Shepherd window shows this. Sheep all over Jesus. Sheep in His arms. At His feet. Wrapped around His shoulders. We love that image. And fair enough, it has basis in the Bible - Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34.
But there exits a depiction of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that we should love even more. Its not nearly as common. Its nowhere near as cute. But its much more accurate in capturing what He is all about. And even more comforting. Its Jesus the Good Shepherd with a grown man draped over His shoulder. A sick man, a diseased man, a dying, a dead man. An adult, just hanging there around Jesus’ neck like dead weight. Jesus the Good Shepherd carrying on His shoulders a not so cute creature called “man.” We should love that image.
For that is what He is! He is not the shepherd of cuddly sheep. He is the Good Shepherd of men and women, boys and girls. And despite the simulates between us and sheep, there are stark differences as well. Sheep have the kinds of mouths that make you say, “Oh, how cute.” But man’s mouth is not so cute. Just consider how easily the fangs come out when you don’t get your way.
Sheep have cute little hooves, that, out of ignorance, sometimes go astray. But you are not ignorant. You feet have been instructed in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake, the way of God’s Ten Commandments. Yet how easily those feet wander into the way of hate and indifference.
Sheep have cute little ears that are reserved only for their Shepherd’s voice. They will follow no other. But you have given too much of your ear to that False Shepherd, that wolf in sheep’s clothing, Satan, and his enticements. Too often you have been led astray into the way of death and polluted your soul.
Repentance is needed. Even more, what is needed is not just a shepherd who deals with cuddly sheep. You need a Shepherd who has room on His shoulders for that perverse, foolish, two-legged creature called “man.”
And that is exactly the kind of Shepherd you have. You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. A soul He has rescued from Satan. For you heard Jesus today: I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He is not good merely in affection or love, cuddling and thinking fondly of His flock. What makes Him good is precisely what He did on Good Friday. He laid down His life for all men. For Jesus is God in the flesh, with a neck and shoulders made for your eternal benefit. What makes Him good is what He did with His neck and shoulders. He bore the burden of your sin, the full weight of the Law, and laid them down into the jaws of death. He laid them down for what your mouth has said, for where your feet have traveled, and from whom your ears have listened.
He laid it all onto His big shoulders - those sins that burden you, the past you regret, the present that is trying, the future you fear. He bore it all on those shoulders, along with your sorrows, your sicknesses, your diseases. Onto His shoulders they went so that He could bear them to death in His Body on the Tree, that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. And those shoulders were then laid down into the cold earth of the tomb.
Because for Jesus to be your Good Shepherd, your Noble, Perfect Shepherd, He had to lay down those shoulders somewhere else. Somewhere no hired hand would ever go. Where no guy just hired to do a job would dare to go. For Satan snatched you and had you in His jaws. But your Good Shepherd retrieved you out. You were stuck in the devil’s throat because of your sin. But the Good Shepherd rescued you.
More than that - He did what no other Shepherd could do. And that’s what makes Him Good. He gave His Body over to be wolfed down by Satan. He gave His shoulders and all of His body to be chewed up in place of yours. Usually a dead shepherd is a useless shepherd. No protection for the flock, not safety from attacks. But not here. Jesus doesn’t raise His sheep for slaughter. He lays down His life for them. He dies in place of sheep who loved to wander. And His death means life for His sheep, freedom from sin’s captivity, rescue from the jaws of death.
One of the many things I desperately miss during this time is singing hymns with the congregation. We are singing church! Six, seven hymns a Sunday. A wonderful hymn for today is “O Little flock, fear not the foe.” “O little flock, fear not the foe, who madly seeks your overthrow; dread not his rage and power” (LSB 66:1). Even though it is unsung, it is still true. The wolf has been defeated. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, his howl is empty. For the head of that liar and deceiver and murderer has been crushed. Those shoulders that were laid down into death for you were also taken up in the Resurrection so that he could be the Shepherd of the Church. The Bishop and Overseer of your souls.
And what a Shepherd He has been for this flock. He, He Himself searched for His sheep and sought them out. He rescued them from the place where they have been scattered. In Holy Baptism He called you by name. He made you His own. He cleaned off all the thorns, bound up all the wounds, and draped over your shoulders the robe of His righteousness that adorns you.
In Holy Absolution you hear the true Shepherd’s voice drawing you away from all the other voices, both without and within, that would burden you and do you harm. He brings you into your own land, the gracious reign of His green pastures where He feeds and cares for you.
Is not His Holy Supper the Table He prepares before you in the presence of your enemies? Here He shows you that He not only your Good Shepherd, but that He Himself is also the Best Pasture! He is food for your body and soul. Food that refreshes, renews, and enlivens your faith and trust in Him. All of these are His rod and His staff by which He comforts you.
For this is Good Shepherd Sunday. We could also call it “Merciful Hearted Shepherd” Sunday, for that’s what the Latin, Misericordias Domini, literally means. But if we had translated it from the Hebrew, this Sunday would have maybe an even more wonderful name. The Hebrew word for merciful hearted is chesed, which means, “unfailing love, loving kindness, loyal love.” As in O give thanks unto the Lord for His chesed endures forever. Maybe we could render it, “devoted.” This is “Devoted Shepherd Sunday.” Christ is your devoted Shepherd. He is completely devoted to His flock and their eternal good.
So devoted that St Peter could say, By His wounds you have been healed. For life has left you broken hearted with disappointment. But He is the Shepherd devoted to binding you up. You have been injured and damaged by others, but He is the Shepherd devoted to healing you. You heart has been shattered, but He is a Shepherd devoted to putting it together piece by piece. You are weak, but He is the Shepherd devoted to strengthening you to live in faith toward Him and love toward others.
You will stray like sheep. But you are His sheep. And He will forever be devoted to calling you back to Him in repentance. All disasters, all illness, all times of fear and crisis are a call to return to Him in repentance and faith. For though you walk through this valley of the shadow of death, He raises you to His shoulder and brings you to His Table. Here He is both Host and Meal. He gives you a foretaste of the heavenly Feast to come. And you shall dwell in your Shepherd’s House forever.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
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