Sermon - Misericordias Domini 2020 - John 10:11-16

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

The Bible is chock full of shepherds! Right at the beginning, Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, was a shepherd. Jacob herded the sheep of His father-in-law Laban. Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. Moses herded his father-in-law, Jethro’s sheep. David, in particular, is the most popular of the Old Testament shepherds. But all of these shepherds simply point to the true Good Shepherd of our souls: our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd who rescues us from Satan’s jaws by laying down His life and leading us into His fold. It is just as Christ has said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Usually it does the sheep no good when the shepherd dies, but in this case, it’s absolutely necessary that our Good Shepherd lay down His life for the sheep.

The reason it’s necessary that the Good Shepherd must go to such great expense for the sheep is because of their predicament. It’s just like our Lord describes: “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 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.”

The little lambs of Christ’s flock have been scattered. Indeed, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way.” The issue for the straying sheep isn’t that they’re out in the wilderness alone, but that they’re not alone in the wilderness! “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts.” 

That’s the dire situation that every little lamb has been born into in this life. We’re not born into peace and prosperity, regardless of worldly luxury, we’re born as lost and straying sheep in need of our Shepherd. The situation is worse than that yet! “Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel be rescued.” Already at birth we’re in the mouth of the lion, Satan has us clenched between his teeth!

So Christ is like David, who said: “When there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.” But Christ is more heroic than David! He laid down His life for the battered little lambs! We’re redeemed not with gold nor silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, who shed His blood as an innocent and unspotted Lamb. 

Your Shepherd has ripped you from the jaws of Satan! He declares: “I will seek the lost, and bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” Your Good Shepherd heals you who have been chewed up and spit out by Satan. His healing medicine isn’t anything like doctors use today. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

So dear little lambs, Christ has torn you from the lion’s fangs, bound up your wounds with His, and now “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” Your Shepherd says, “I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.”

Quite literally, a shepherd is one who feeds the flock. He is one who leads the herd of sheep to a pasture. The Latin word for a shepherd is a pastor, which is where we get our english word pasture. It all fits together quite beautifully leading us to understand that Jesus is our Good Shepherd who feeds us. 

While He does feed us our bodily food for our temporal life, the more precious food He delivers is the spiritual food for our eternal life. He has led you to the green pasture where you might daily graze upon the Word of God. He has prepared a table before you where your cup overflows. He says of Himself: “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever shall eat of this bread shall live forever. And the bread which I shall give is My flesh which I shall give for the life of the Word.” See, your Shepherd has prepared this table before you today. Jesus is both the Shepherd and the Pasture. He feeds us His body and His blood; He tends to you like a shepherd cares for his flock. 

“He leads me beside the still waters.” Your Shepherd waters you, and of these waters our Lord says: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Your Lord has watered you deeply and well in the living waters of Holy Baptism. In these waters the Spirit entered into your heart, welling up like a fountain within you, so that you shall never thirst again! 

Within this pasture your Good Shepherd has Himself become a fiery surrounding wall to guard you, His church, against wolves and thieves. Your Shepherd knows you, and you know Him. He knows you like more than an acquaintance, but like One who knows every intimate detail of your life and how best to care for you. Because of God’s boundless love, we little lambs can walk freely and say: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

How can it be that we Christians might face every manner of evil and death in this life, the worst storms and most virulent pestilence, and we shall not fear? How is it that we can be so optimistic in the face of such terror? “For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” The comforting staff of God’s Word leads us; the stick of the cross is held before our eyes and props us up, so that when we begin to sink into despair, God pulls us out again. Now, no trouble troubles me! 

Therefore, dear little lambs, be at peace and rejoice in your Good Shepherd. He has won you back from the frightening jaws of death by laying down His life. He’s bound up your wounds and led you to green pastures. He’s fed you His body, blood, and word, and quenched your thirst in this spring. He’s become a barrier around you; You’re safe, no wolf can enter in. 

Dearest lambs, let us pray:

“Let my cry come before you, O LORD;

give me understanding according to your word!

Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word.

My lips will pour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

I long for your salvation, O LORD,

and your law is my delight.

Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,

for I do not forget your commandments,” nor your voice. Amen.

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