“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” 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 who willing laid down his life for his sheep so that he may take it up again for our sake.
When Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, he is describing himself as unlike what any other shepherd can be. If another shepherd were to lay down his life for the flock of four legged sheep in his care, he would be foolish. If he lays down his life, his family no longer has his help, and he is of no use to the sheep in the future if he lays down his life for them.
Jesus lays down his life for us because caring for us and other sheep in his charge is his chief purpose. He is entirely unlike the shepherds who are hired hands, who only have a certain investment of interest in the well being of the sheep. Jesus lays down his life for us so that we are carried to a better life, to eternal life with him.
He is the Good Shepherd who can help you in a way that no family member or friend can, he can forgive your sins and release you from death’s hold. So that you can say: even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.
In today’s world there are more distractions than ever before, we are often rushing from one thing to another. Keeping busy and filling up life with a lot of things is often the liturgy of our daily life. The more we fill up our life with things, the less space we have to receive what the Lord does for us, that he makes us to lie down in green pastures and restores our souls.
We know from the scriptures that David experienced the very poetic scenes used in Psalm 23. 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 that all of creation is in the Lord’s hands.
He saw the Lord’s good creation of 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. 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.
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.
Jesus is the one who is near to us. He is the Savior who is with us in the time of difficulty. He is the Shepherd we can call to in our greatest time of need- the Shepherd who has overcome death.
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. Our lives are changed as we look to our resurrected Lord Jesus to be our Good Shepherd. The God who lives and has the power to give us life.
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.
Christians all over the world pray Psalm 23. It is the most often memorized psalm. But often people may miss the bigger picture that Psalm, like all other psalms. is fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is the Shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside still waters.
In the book of 1st Samuel David was called to play the harp for King Saul to relieve his tortured Spirit. The harp or lyre was played by David and then King Saul would have relief from his personal torment. But it was not the music alone that helped King Saul, but the faith of David and the message of God’s Word that accompanied this music, the Psalms David would sing.
Hearing God’s Word makes everything better for us. Singing Hymns of Faith makes everything better. In a simpler time the church could easily offer several worship services per week that people could walk to and attend to without missing work or school commitments, and thereby receive the comfort of hearing God’s Word and singing God’s Word more regularly.
Yet even now the Lord leads us besides still waters with the comfort of His Word. The paths of righteousness we are led on come from hearing Jesus’ forgiveness and undying love to us.
So many people today live in a tormented existence where their sense of worth comes from the values of this world. Their worth comes from self righteousness, whether they are Christians or unbelievers. More people than not in today’s world believe that you earn your place in the universe or in God’s kingdom through external good works, things you do to make yourself look good. People will even justify violence and murder as if they are good things, if they think their actions are part of a crusade against traditional Christian values.
Even those who think they need to fight a holy war against the infidels need to hear God’s Word as balm to their troubled spirits! They need to hear the message of the gospel of John that Jesus did not come to exploit us or divide us, or to advance racism- but instead to lay down his life for us 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. As we listen to His voice we become one body so that there is one voice and one Shepherd over us all.
This past year has brought times of sadness to our congregation as we have worked to come to an understanding of what it would mean to sell our building out of necessity and become renters. We have all in different ways looked back at periods in the past when our congregation was in a more prosperous state. Yet the time in the present is no less valuable than the past was to us. Here in the present Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and he has led us to this point in the present.
Here in the present, we are called to listen to his voice. In God’s Word we hear his voice, there we have the promise that God’s Word does not return without result.
We know there is great profit to confess the words of our First reading today from Acts chapter 4 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among menby which we must be saved.”
In an uncertain time who can you put your trust in? Who can shepherd you through uncertain times. Who can stand by you even when all else is falling apart around you? Who is your Shepherd at the hour of death? It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us. Amen.