Easter 3 – John 10:11-16 –
April 14th, 2013
Christ is Risen (He is Risen
Indeed, Alleluia) Amen
I am going to go back one verse earlier than our Gospel lesson – I could go back more because John 10 begins with this discussion on sheep and the Good Shepherd, but let’s content ourselves with just one. John 10:10 reads as follows: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The old thief, the old wolf has been hounding us since the garden. Satan has been stealing and snatching and killing and destroying since then. And God will not let that stand. God is not content to simply let Satan mess with you, not content to let Satan snatch you away from His Kingdom, not content to let Satan lead you into destructive sin and vice, not content to merely let you die. And so, Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd comes. And why? So that you may have life, so that you may have it abundantly.
I am going to go back one verse earlier than our Gospel lesson – I could go back more because John 10 begins with this discussion on sheep and the Good Shepherd, but let’s content ourselves with just one. John 10:10 reads as follows: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The old thief, the old wolf has been hounding us since the garden. Satan has been stealing and snatching and killing and destroying since then. And God will not let that stand. God is not content to simply let Satan mess with you, not content to let Satan snatch you away from His Kingdom, not content to let Satan lead you into destructive sin and vice, not content to merely let you die. And so, Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd comes. And why? So that you may have life, so that you may have it abundantly.
And
then we get to our Gospel text. How are
you to have life? How are you to be
rescued from Satan who would do you such harm?
“I Am the Good Shepherd. The
Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” What an odd thing. What a strange thing. And of course it is strange, it is the
mystery of the ages. The Good Shepherd
lays down his life for the sheep. To our
cold and calculating human mind, this verse seems strange. Think about it – you’ve got cattle, and of
course you want to protect them… but are you really going to die protecting
them? If the pack of coyotes comes, are
you going to let them chew and gnaw on you so that that cow of yours
lives? Defend, protect what is ours, we
get that. But literally to lay down your
life for… that makes no sense.
It
made no sense to Satan on Good Friday either.
There was Christ Jesus upon the Cross, laying down His life. When He could have come down, when He could
have run away. That is what Satan had
been used to since the fall – “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd,
who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and flees, and the wolf
snatches and scatters them. He flees
because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” That’s your description of the history of the
world since the fall. Satan entered the
garden, and Adam suddenly stopped caring for Eve – It’s her fault God, it’s the
woman You gave me who messed this up.
Adam cared little for her, take her instead of me. Cain would ask, “am I my brother’s keeper”? I care nothing for him, God, and why should
I? And on and on through the Old
Testament we could go – we see examples of selfishness and disdain of the
neighbor over and over and over. We see
it all over, even in the New Testament, whenever we see someone other than
Christ. And to be honest, we see it in
ourselves. None of us here has to think
too hard to think about the times we have been selfish, where we have cared
more about ourselves than our neighbors, when we have let someone else suffer
rather than suffering in their place.
They aren’t my problem, why should I bother? And so Satan was used to jumping in, stealing
us away from one another, scattering us, killing our friendships and loves and
relationships, while we would run in terror.
Satan was used to us men fleeing at his approach.
And
then, there is Christ. He doesn’t
flee. He doesn’t run away. He doesn’t let Himself be scattered. Instead, when the wolf comes He steps forward
and says, “Here you go, wolf, take a big giant bite out of Me.” And He lays down His life. He suffers and dies. Why?
Because He wants you to live, to have life abundantly. See, the lie, the myth that sinful man
believes is that if he can just keep running, he can outrun sin and death and
the devil. Let Satan gobble that sheep
over there, and he won’t be hungry anymore, and I can get away. What’s the old joke – “two guys stumble
across an angry bear in the woods, and the one guy starts to tie his shoes
tightly. Why are you doing that, you
aren’t going to out run the bear? I
don’t have to out run the bear, I just have to out run you.” That’s how we think – these tough times might
get them, but as long as I get through it, it will be fine. We will be callous and cutthroat to survive in
the short term – but we forget the simple truth. Satan is relentless. Sin doesn’t stop. Run away, seek to save and serve yourself,
and it gets you no where. You still end
up the same as everyone else – dead. You
run the rat race for riches – you still can’t take it with you. He who dies with the most toys, still
dies. Because Satan is relentless, and
if left to ourselves, well, with might of ours could naught be done – soon were
our loss effected.
But
then Christ comes, and He lays down His life for the sheep. Instead of running, instead of hoping that
the wolf will snack on the neighbor so that He could maybe make it until
tomorrow (when the wolf will just be back for more) – Christ Jesus goes to the
cross – and there on the cross He gives death a meal that it can’t
swallow. He gives Satan more than He can
chew on. Jesus lays down His life, and
then, He rises again on the third day.
Death is destroyed, Satan is wrecked.
And you now have life – not a life where you simply scramble and hope to
survive just a bit longer than your neighbor – but life, life abundantly. Life that lasts through all eternity. Even if Satan still scowls fiercely, even if
your flesh and the world grouse and complain – you know the truth. That Christ Jesus has died for you, that He
has risen for you, and that in Him you have life. And Satan can’t change that fact. There is nothing that Satan can do that will
stop the fact that on the last day you will rise again. There is nothing the world can do to change
the fact that Christ Jesus has died for you and that you are His and that He
loves you. The Good Shepherd is your
Shepherd, and He has laid down His life for you.
“I Am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the Sheep.” You know who this Good Shepherd is, for you are His own. You belong to Him, and you know, you have heard that He has laid down His life for you. He has claimed you as His own through the preaching of the Gospel – the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the true faith – that faith which clings to Christ Jesus who has laid down His life for you. This is the heart of the faith, the heart of how you relate to God. Christ Jesus has laid down His life for you – and it worked. You are His, you are forgiven, and He uses you to accomplish His good now amongst your neighbors. This is true. This is real.
And
Christ continues, “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,
one Shepherd.” Now this is where
for too many preachers, the bait and switch comes in. This is where suddenly all the nice stuff
about Jesus goes away and you get the lecture about what you need to do. Alright, go find those other sheep, people,
go, work, work, work! But is that what
Jesus said? No. Jesus said, “I must bring them.” What Jesus speaks here isn’t a command – it
isn’t marching orders, it isn’t finger wagging.
It is a promise of what He will do.
He will gather His Sheep by the power of His voice, the power of His
Word. The Church will continue. Now, humanly speaking, this may happen
through us. I baptized by son, but is
that *me* - Eric Brown growing the Church, or is that Jesus gathering His own
sheep? You speak the Gospel to a friend
– but is that *you* growing the Church, or is that Christ speaking through you
to accomplish what He wills? You see,
this passage isn’t meant to be a burden, it isn’t about “you need to do more” –
and if someone beats you over the head with this, they are off. No, it is a promise – that just as you have
been called by the Gospel, so too others will be. Perhaps even through God working through you
– either way, it’s God at work, God in action, to Him alone be the glory. Christ Jesus will gather His sheep, and there
will be one flock, and we will all together be under Christ. For He is our Good Shepherd, and He indeed
gathers and brings His Sheep peace.
And
so, my dear Christians friends, we know and have seen that Christ’s Words are true. He has laid down His life for the sheep, and
He has taken it up again. In Christ
Jesus, you do have life and life abundantly, for He has called and gathered you
into His flock, and His voice still rings out to you this day, saying peace be
with you, forgiving your sins, giving you life.
This is the joy and triumph of Easter, this is the Victory that is yours
in Christ, and it shall be yours forever, for you belong to Christ. Amen.
Christ is Risen (He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia) Amen.
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