Dying Makes the Shepherd Good

Third Sunday of Easter

April 10, 2016

John 10:14-15

Dying Makes the Shepherd Good

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Shepherding isn't just for sheep; it's for people, too. And there are lots of people who want to shepherd you. Parents want to lead you to how you should live. Politicians want to lead you to vote for them. Pastors want to lead you to join their church.

And if the parent, candidate, or pastor is charming and possibly funny, you are more likely to follow them. Thus, shepherds who make you feel good are usually shepherds with lots of sheep. On the contrary, shepherds who tell the truth usually have smaller flocks, because telling the truth can often lead to bad feelings.

What kind of shepherd is Jesus? He makes you feel good; He also tells the truth. But what sets Him apart from all other shepherds isn't how He makes you feel or that He tells the truth. He's exceptional because He died.

Jesus explained:

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me—¹⁵just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep. (John 15:14-15 NIV 1984)

There are lots of shepherds out there. Some have good intentions; others don't. Most of these wouldn't be willing to die for you. But some might. There are people who are alive right now because someone laid down their life to save them. But those survivors still will die. With these sacrifices of these noble shepherds, death has only been postponed.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He laid down His life and Death wasn't postponed; it was defeated. Jesus' death is the basis for Him to kill and drown us in Holy Baptism. He killed you and raised you back to life. Death and resurrection through His death and resurrection.

We are told not to judge. Many of have bought that lie, hook, line, and sinker. Others of us tend to be too harsh in our judgments. But whether you consciously think that judging yourself or others is good or bad, we are all do it. Our culture of consumerism demands it. When you buy stuff, what are you doing? Judging things. (We accommodate to our culture much more than we'd like to admit.)

Our consumer mind-set isn't limited to things. We judge people: parents, teachers, politicians, and pastors, and everyone else. We tend to judge these people based on how they make us feel, just like how we choose a toothpaste or a television.

I hope we can agree that parenting without boundaries is harmful to the best interests of children. I hope we can agree that policitians who say whatever the crowd in front of them wants them to say is harmful to good government. And I hope we can agree that pastors who preach the good news of sins forgiven by Christ without the terrible truth of our sinfulness is harmful to Christians.

Christ laid down His life for you not because nobody's perfect and we all make mistakes. He had to laid down His life, not because we are passive victims, but because it is our fault. We are actively sinning sheep, rapidly trying to make excuses for ourselves and steadfastly blaming others for our sins.

We often picture the Good Shepherd with a sheep across His shoulders. This is good, but don't let this picture distract you from how He is shepherding you today. In His mercy, Christ takes the blame for our sin upon Himself. The Good Shepherd who filled up the wooden cross with His body, who emptied the tomb with His resurrection, and now today shepherds you by filling up the cup of communion with His blood. He shepherds you by placing His body upon this altar and placing Himself into your mouth for the forgiveness of your sin.

This is our Good Shepherd. He died, He rose. And so have you.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21