“My Sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Every year During this stage of the season of Easter we listen to words from the gospel of John as Jesus describes how he is the one true Good Shepherd of Israel. Here in series C of the lectionary, we focus in particular on how no one is able to snatch us out of the Lord’s hand.
In our Collect prayer we prayed, Almighty God, merciful Father, since you have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your Sheep… The Good Shepherd who lays down his life for His Sheep is himself raised up. Were Christ not raised from the dead he would not be powerful enough to shepherd and protect us. It would be foolish for us to ask for protection from a man who is in the grave.
But not even the death of the Son of God could lead to our losing the protection of our Good Shepherd. Jesus rose and now lives forever more- nothing can take us away from him. Jesus lives to continue to shepherd us.
We are held secure. The only way we can be lost or left behind is if we leave ourselves. Today on Mother’s Day, we can’t help but think of the determination with which mother’s care for and protect their children.
We had a mother duck in our yard in recent weeks, she was not going to let anyone near her nest. Early in the morning Our dog had spotted her as she was returning from an errand, while she was on the other side of our neighbors see through wrought iron fence. My dog saw her and stared and then barked at mother duck. Mother Duck held her ground, and once I chased our dog Kayla back into the house, she flew over the fence into our yard and intentionally paced back to her nest. She was not going to let some predator dog four times her size keep her away.
And even greater can the determination of a Christian mother be, to keep away those dangers that would seek to prey upon the faith of her children. This is a gift of faith, this is the determination Jesus has for his church to keep us safe from all dangers, and to bark at any danger that is approaching. The only way we can be lost is if we willingly leave the sheep pen, if we feel that the care and provision Jesus gives is not good enough and we want something more in life.
If we seek to go, Jesus does not lead us astray, for what a Shepherd does is protects and defends the sheep, so that not one of them is lost. The imagery of the shepherd is found throughout the scripture.
It seems the Lord wanted us to understand what it would mean that Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Already in Genesis chapter four, Abel was a shepherd, a keeper of sheep. The LORD had regard for Abel’s sacrifice of the firstborn of his flocks. Cain rose up against his brother in envy and killed him. The sheep lost their shepherd and the Lord heard the cries of Abel’s blood from the ground. Death could not silence Abel.
King David tended sheep when he was a boy on Jesse’s farm. As a shepherd he saw that although he cared for sheep and was like God to them- he was not the one who made life safe and pleasant for the sheep- he saw it was all in the Lord’s hands.
We know from the scriptures that David experienced the very poetic scenes used in Psalm 23, the green pastures and still waters of the pastoral life caring for sheep. The experience of oil running down his head as the prophet Samuel anointed David as king. And the experience of persecution and danger as foes sought his life.
As David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Psalm 23, he put into words the meaning of a Shepherd in terms of God’s care for his people. David firsthand the hardships we face in life, just as Jesus would know first hand as he took on our human nature beginning at his birth.
In the first three verses David refers to the LORD in the third person, describing what YHWH does for him and all of His people in this dangerous and fallen world where scarcity and want, and danger are all around us.
But then as David reflects on the valley of the shadow of death He switches to the second person, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” David is no longer just talking about what God does for him, he is talking to the God who is near to Him and with him.
We can look at Jesus in the same way, the Savior who is with us in the time of difficulty. The Lord who we can call to in our greatest time of need- the Shepherd who has overcome death.
In our Introit the words of Jesus surround the words of Psalm 23- Jesus is the shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. Jesus is David’s greater son who was anointed with oil as the Messiah. Jesus is the true Shepherd who seeks after all the lost sheep. Who seeks even the sheep who are not of his fold- a reference to the Gentiles who are brought into God’s family through His unending love.
Hearing God’s Word for us this morning around the theme of Jesus as our Shepherd, reminds us of the gift of life in Christ we have in Holy Baptism- these are the still waters the Lord leads us to comfort in. The paths of righteousness we are led on come from hearing Jesus’ forgiveness and undying love to us shown on the cross.
And by that cross he gathers us all together, Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for my the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Jesus alone can gather us all together as divided as our hearts are with sin. And the amazing thing is that as we listen to His voice we become one body so that there is one voice and one Shepherd over us all.
The voice of the Jews who questioned Jesus demanded that Jesus tell them plainly if he really was the Christ. They were not going to just believe, their attitude was that they would only believe with a lot of convincing. Jesus clarifies that not only has he told them, but his actions, his works in the Father’s name also bear witness about him. Jesus spells it out plainly, “you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.”
People who do not belong to Jesus are not going to see Jesus’ church in a very favorable light. Indeed, a common criticism of churches is that they do not do much to show they care about the community or the needs of the world. It would be a blessing if churches were more capable of caring for the needs of communities in which we are located.
However, people will still reject the gospel if they are not among Jesus’ sheep. We should not be so surprised at those who reject Jesus’ teaching that we ourselves become discouraged that we are not more effective or that the church is too much of a shell of its former health and glory.
Instead, we should rejoice that we are counted among the Lord’s Sheep, that we are protected, cared for, and raised to know God’s Word as that which is everything we need in this life and in the life of the world to come. We can rejoice that no matter the disappointment in life, there is a Great Shepherd who care for us, who will not let anyone or anything snatch us away.