OK. Let's hit this head on. Jesus calls us sheep. That is NOT flattering. Sheep are dumb. Sheep wander away. Sheep get lost. Sheep get tangled up in bramble bushes. Sheep get eaten. When our Lord calls us sheep, He is not saying we are cute and fluffy and He likes to carry us around like a favorite cuddly animal. No, He's reminding us that we are prone to wander. To hear His Word and go and do the opposite. That we learn about God and then go live as if He doesn't exist. To be taught to serve our neighbor and then go and live as if they are only there to step all over. Jesus in calling us sheep is pointing out that we are stubborn and have to sometimes be dragged where we need to go. He is warning us that we are the targets for wolves: the devil but also the world and our sinful flesh. All of those wolves want to eat us up. And sheep are just dumb enough to stand there and let themselves get taken out by those evil fangs of false doctrine and sin. No, no flattery here. We are sheep. Smelly, dumb, sinful sheep. That's why we need a shepherd.
But the Lord is merciful. He doesn't search Monster.com or the Southern Classifieds to find a shepherd with not much of a resume. He doesn't call the Shepherd Temp service to find a quick fill in who doesn't care about the sheep but just about making a few bucks. Rather, the Lord Himself comes to be our Good Shepherd. Through the prophet Ezekiel the Lord says that He Himself will come and rescue His poor, wandering, lost sheep. And so He does come. In the flesh. Born of Mary on a night when Shepherds came to worship Him. Then Jesus tells us plainly: “I am the Good Shepherd.” What makes the Good Shepherd “Good?” He says, “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” That's why Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Because he lays down His life for His sheep. He dies for them. They wander away and do all kinds of stupid things. But He comes Himself to die for you and bring you back. His death snatches you from the jaws of that wicked wolf, the devil. His death rescues you from the ditches and the bramble bushes the world sticks in your path. The rod and staff of His cross gently save you even from yourself and your sins. When the Lord is the Shepherd, there's no fooling around. He comes down Himself and takes on death and sin head on and destroys them in order to rescue you who have gotten into such a tangled mess, just inches from the wolf's jaws!
Now why does Jesus do this? Are we sheep that valuable? No, it's not that. Sheep are a dime a dozen. Jesus lays down His life for the sheep, He says, because He knows the Father and the Father knows Him. That means that the Father knows that the Son will do the work of saving His sheep. The Lord has a flock. It has run away and gotten lost. So the Father sends the Son to get us back. And the Son obeys the Father. Christ is not a shepherd the way the world has shepherds. The guy who makes minimum wage watching the sheep is not going to bother with that one that ran away and got lost. Too bad. But Jesus goes to the ends of the earth, through suffering, death and hell itself to bring back that one lost sheep. His love for the Father and His obedience to the Father's will causes Him to lay down His life for us. And it's Easter Season! He also takes His life back up again! That's how we know this Shepherd is true and good. He can lay down His life for the sheep, He can die for them but then He can be raised up again the Third day and be their Good Shepherd always. This is the Father's love for His sheep, that He sends His Son to be our Shepherd and bring us back from death to life.
Jesus also says, “I know my own.” Jesus knows you. He knows your sins. He knows your weaknesses. He died for them. He shed His blood for them. In your Baptism, He Himself has rescued you from sin and death, plucked you from the wolf's mouth and set you into the holy and safe pasture of His church. He knows that you need green pasture so He makes you to lie down in the green pastures of His Word to graze and be satisfied. He knows that you are surrounded by enemies in this world so He prepares a table by which you may feast on Him, drinking from the cup that runs over with His holy blood. Your Shepherd knows that you fear death and cannot overcome it. So He walks with you through that valley. He's been there and He knows the way. And He Himself will lead you on the day that you die through that valley to the House of the Lord where you will dwell forever. Your Good Shepherd knows you. He has known you even before you were born when He took away your sins. He knows you every day of your life through your struggles and failings and sins. He knows you and He gives you His gifts to forgive you and comfort you and lead you in the way of everlasting life.
And Jesus also says, “And my own know Me.” Not only does Jesus know you, He has given You His Word so that you may know Him. There are lots of wolves and even lots of false shepherds out there. Impostors and impersonators who just want to grill up a nice bit of lamb! So the Good Shepherd has given you His Voice to know. He lays down His life for the sheep. That way you will know Him. Any Jesus you hear about where the big deal is something other than His laying down His life for you is NOT the Good Shepherd. The Jesus who beats you with His rod to keep you in line is not your Good Shepherd. The Jesus who waits for you to repent and be really sorry and invite Him to save you is not the Good Shepherd. The preachers who don't point you to the font and altar and the Scriptures which deliver the crucified Shepherd are not to be listened to or trusted! This is for your comfort. Because even dumb sheep can know the voice of their Shepherd, our Lord gives us the Voice of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins because of His death and resurrection, the delivery of that forgiveness by water, word, body and blood. There's no doubt who the true Good Shepherd is if we have those things to distinguish the true from the false!
So let's recap. We're sheep. Not cute and cuddly. Dumb and helpless. We NEED a shepherd. Not just any shepherd. We have a Good Shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He lays down His life for you. He is the Good Shepherd because He knows the Father and does carries out His will which is to save lost sheep. He is the Good Shepherd because He knows His sheep, because He has rescued you and claimed you as His own in the sheepfold of His church. He is the Good Shepherd because He has taught you the Voice of the Gospel by which you recognize and know Him. We wander and get lost. The Good Shepherd finds and saves. We sin. The Good Shepherd forgives sin. We die. The Good Shepherd raises us up and gives us eternal life. And you will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of your life! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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