Sermon - Misericordias Domini 2023 - John 10:11-16

The Good Shepherd, Pieter Breughen the Younger, 1616

Jesus lays down His life for His people

1. The Danger: Wolves

2. Response of the hireling: offer happiness in times of ease, but flee when problems arise, thus the sheep are scattered and devoured

3. Response of the Good Shepherd: lay down His life to save the sheep and bring them together

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

Today is popularly called Good Shepherd Sunday, and it’s one of my favorite Sundays in the church year. The readings today are all quite lovely and very comforting, if not a bit humbling since we’re referred to as sheep. But that’s okay, I know it’s a pretty apt comparison to myself at least. Nevertheless these are comforting readings, are they not? Ezekiel talks about God seeking the lost, bringing back the strayed, binding up the injured, and strengthening the weak. The 23rd Psalm speaks of our Shepherd’s strong and loving care for us. Peter says that we are healed by His wounds, and have been returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls; if we’ve strayed away from God, He is faithful to bring us back. But the heart of today’s message, and why today is so comforting, is found in Jesus’ words: “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” How good it is to know that Jesus lays down His life for His people.

But why exactly did He lay down His life for His people? What did we have to be rescued from? What’s the danger? Wolves. You might think that the wolves are demons or some spiritual being, but they’re not exactly that. Biblically speaking wolves are wicked people. Jesus said “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Elsewhere He says: “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Or St. Paul, speaking to the Ephesian pastors says, “After my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Wolves are those who devour God’s people through their deceptive words and devilish teachings.

To be a sheep, a Christian, is to listen to the voice of Jesus and follow Him. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” So the way that wolves attack and devour the sheep is by deceptive words which sound good, sound right, but are actually lies. Therein is the great trouble for us Christians: false prophets, liars who claim Christianity or religiosity, but do not speak with the voice of Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith, but if our faith is informed by a lie, by devilish teachings, and we follow these false prophets, we end up following them straight into hell! A Christian hears the voice of Jesus and follows Him, but if you’re not listening to His voice nor following Him, then you’re not a Christian, and you’re not saved. Thus, why wolves, false teachers, are so dangerous to us sheep!

So how are sheep protected from wolves? There’s two parts to it: they must remain together as a flock and they must follow their shepherd. So long as the sheep follow their shepherd they will remain together as a flock. Therefore, the safety of the sheep depends on the quality of the shepherd. “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” 

During times of ease, a hireling actually looks more attractive to the sheep than a shepherd. A hireling doesn’t own the sheep and isn’t really that concerned with their long-term wellbeing, he’s just in it for the immediate reward. For that reason he’s not concerned with discipline. The shepherd will have rules and enforce them strictly, making sure the sheep stay together and are behaving properly. He does this so that when the wolves arrive the sheep are protected. This isn’t always pleasant work, the sheep don’t often appreciate it. So the hireling doesn’t keep the sheep in line, he lets them get sloppy and stray here and there. This means many sheep are easy prey for wolves. After some have been devoured, the wolves charge the loose flock and the hireling flees and the sheep are all scattered and devoured. 

A hireling pastor doesn’t care about the sheep, isn’t concerned with discipline, and doesn’t gather the flock together under God’s voice. A hireling pastor sticks around as long as things are good to enjoy some ease and comfort. A hireling pastor isn’t going to confront sins, isn’t going to say the hard things, and isn’t going to take a stand because that’s not pleasant. A hireling pastor doesn’t care if the flock is getting sloppy and listening to false prophets, is falling into sins and other issues, because at the end of the day he doesn’t care about God’s voice nor God’s people; he just wants to be liked. God protect you from hirelings, from wanting a hireling, and keep me from being a hireling!

But Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life to save us and gathers us as one flock. “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.” Though Jesus was confronted with wolves who devoured Him, false prophets who beat Him and nailed Him to the tree, He did not back down nor run away, but willingly went to the cross on our behalf. The wolves devoured Him, death swallowed Him whole in the grave, so that His death might be for us and pay the debt of our sin. 

He laid down His life for us, but remember that He also took it up again! He came alive in the wolf’s stomach and burst forth! He burst forth from death’s prisonhouse of the grave! He lives and triumphs over death, putting to shame the hirelings and the wolves and the devil himself! Not only is the wolf and death defeated by His rising again, but He paved the way for us to escape the wolf’s clutches, and He is the Way out of the wolf’s jaws and into the Shepherd’s arms; He is the Way to everlasting life.

He is the Good Shepherd and we follow Him, as His sheep, by listening to His voice. There are many voices speaking, some of whom are wolves, but our Good Shepherd speaks with just one voice. Jesus’ undershepherds, His pastors, are to speak with one voice, namely Jesus’ voice. If you are Jesus’ sheep, then you know His voice and you follow His voice alone. Simply put, you follow the teachings of Jesus in the Bible.

You will recognize wolves not by their outward appearance, because they may be dressed as sheep. Instead, you will know a wolf because the wolf doesn’t speak according to scripture. Jude writes: ““In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit… These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage… But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”

In order that we may be built up in the most holy faith, kept in the love of God, and waiting for His mercy, our Good Shepherd Jesus gathers us together as His flock, into His fold, in order to listen to His voice and be protected from the wolves. This used to go without saying, but being a Christian who is part of the church means that you gather, you assemble, physically, with other Christians regularly and frequently. This isn’t an optional part of Christianity; it’s essential. Jesus came, explicitly, to gather Christians into a group.

When Christians aren’t gathering with the others, then they’re like straying sheep. A stray sheep is easily picked off by a wolf. When Jesus, our Good Shepherd, gathers us into one flock, not wanting us to stray, it’s because He loves us and wants to keep us as His own; He doesn’t want us to be devoured by wolves, to go to hell. That is what is at stake: the eternal lives of God’s people. Jesus, God almighty, wouldn’t have laid down His life for us if it wasn’t of utmost importance. 

Being part of a Christian congregation, an assembly, a coming-together of God’s people, is not something we must do to be saved, but it is something God does for us in order to save us. What you have here as a Christian congregation is priceless and more valuable than anything else in this life. You are blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by fellow Christians. God is here, among you today, leading you along the way to eternal life by speaking to you. His voice is guiding you, drawing you nearer to Him, so that He might save you from the wolves by laying down His life for you. This assembly isn’t your obligation to perform, it’s God’s obligation by which you are brought together to be preserved and saved from wolves. 

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