Sermon for Easter 4: "The Good Shepherd"

 + 4^th Sunday of Easter – April 21^st, 2024 +

Series B: Acts 4:1-12; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

I am the good shepherd.

 

Jesus’ words are well known and well loved. But what does Jesus mean when he says he is the Good Shepherd? Does he mean that he is a respectable tender of wooly, ruminant animals? Or that he’s moral master of mutton? Or that he’s skilled at counting, sheering, and herding lambs and ewes? 

 

Thankfully we don’t have to wait too long to find out what Jesus means. He tells us exactly:

 

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

 

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is good because he lays down his life for the sheep. Because he cares for the sheep. Because he does not runaway when the wolf comes hunting. Because he knows his sheep and they know him. Jesus, your Shepherd, is good because he lays down his life for you, his sheep. 

 

“Laying down his life” is the language of sacrifice. Now in the Scriptures, this is what lambs, sheep, goats, rams, and so forth, are usually given by God to do. To be the sacrifice. The innocent for the guilty. The sins poured out and placed upon the sacrificial lamb. The blood poured out upon altar and the people for atonement of sins.

 

Back in Genesis 22, when the Lord instructed Abraham to bring Isaac to Mt. Moriah as a burnt offering, Isaac asked, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” The ram laid down its life for Isaac.

 

Back in the Exodus, the Lord told Moses, Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb…a lamb for a household…and on the 14^th day of the month you shall kill the lamb at twilight… they ate the lamb and put the blood on the doorposts. And when I see the blood, (the Lord said) I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. The lamb laid down its life for Israel.

 

Back when Jesus came to the Jordan River, John the Baptist declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Jesus, the Lamb of God came to lay down his life for you.

 

All the sacrifices of the Old Testament. All of the lambs for the burnt offerings in the tabernacle and temple. They all point to Jesus. Fulfilled in Jesus. Guide our ears, eyes, hearts, and minds to Jesus the Good Shepherd.

 

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

 

When he says this, Jesus reminds us that he is not your average shepherd. Most shepherds would not put themselves in harm’s way for the sheep. Some wander off. Some die. Some become wolf-chow. That’s just the cost of doing business. Not for Jesus the Good Shepherd. 

 

Jesus the Good Shepherd is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the Lamb and the Good Shepherd…the one who sacrifices himself for you, and the one who saves you. 

 

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

 

Jesus the Good Shepherd not your average shepherd in another way as well. He laid down his life not for perfect sheep, not for sheep without blemish or spot or sin. Not for sheep who always follow the shepherd. But for you and me. Wayward sheep. Stubborn, selfish, sinful sheep. 

 

By this we know Jesus the Shepherd is good. By this we know that Jesus the Shepherd loves and cares for you: he does not save you when you are at your best, but when you are at your worst. Not on your best sheep behavior, but when you were as stubborn and rebellious as an old goat.

 

By this we know the Shepherd’s love, that he laid down his life for us. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

 

By this we know the Shepherds love, that the Shepherd who laid down his life for you on the cross, feeds you with his life here in his body and blood. That the Shepherd who laid down his life for you promises to never leave you nor forsake you in your life, come what may. That the Shepherd who laid down his life for you, sends you, his sheep, to care for one another – fellow sheep of the flock of Christ. To be a living sacrifice for others around you. To point wayward sheep back to Jesus the Good Shepherd. And to be like John the Baptist, pointing your family, friends, and neighbors who need Jesus to the Good Shepherd who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 

 

Today and every day, you are the people of his pasture and the sheep of the Good Shepherd’s hands. The one who says to you, I am your Good Shepherd.

 

 

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.