Good Shepherd Protects
John 10:11-21
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text for this Morning comes from Jesus own words. "He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." I have difficult time thinking that too many Shepherds, or owners of sheep, would just let anyone tend their sheep. The idea that even the hired hand would not care at all what happens to the sheep, seems just a little strange.
I know there are days at work when you may not care too much whether your boss gets fired, or the company goes under. Some people don't even care about the customers they service. I can understand these frustrating days. I can empathize with these thoughts.
But if the hired hands boss gets fired or the sheep change hands, it is not that big of a deal. The sheep are after all breed for wool and slaughter. But if the one who hired you, loses his ability to make money, then so do you. So you might care just a little about whether the sheep are slaughtered without pay. So we might want to care a little about whether the company goes bankrupt and we lose our job.
Then you get to customer service. You talk to employees, who really want to be proud of their work. They even want to make the customer happy, while showing distain, disappointment or just lack of respect to their boss, or employer. I would think the hired hand would like, maybe not love, but at least like the Sheep.
It really comes down to which would you put first, your life or your job? I think there are very few people in the world that would say they would put their job before their life. But there are many people that are killing themselves at work. They are not doing this because they love work, care about their job, or even because they can't find meaning without employment. They do this because they desire to put food on their table. They do this because they have bills that need to be paid. Many people work hard labor, so that their children will have a better life.
So this gets us back to the Good Shepherd who actually protects his sheep. He does not do this because he takes great pride in killing wolves. He does not do this because it is easy. He does not do it begrudgingly. The Good Shepherd does it out of love. He does it out of Love for his Father. He does it out of Love for his brothers and sisters. He does it out of Love for the hard work of creation.
All of creation was made through Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. St Paul writes, "all things were created through him and for him." All the sheep were designed to be a loving family. But there are mean sheep and suffering sheep. Ezekiel writes, "Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?" There are even wolves. The Good Shepherd comes to lay down his life in place of the sheep, and save the sheep.
Now, I hope you understand that the sheep are you. You are the lost sheep of Israel. You are the sheep that have been scattered. You are the sheep that God has sent his Shepherd to gather together into one flock. You are the Holy Christian Church, and the communion of saints. Jesus Christ has laid down his life for you. He lays it down and he will take it back up again, which means that we get to die and rise again also.
But I want you to think about one more side thought. The Good Shepherd loves you to lay down his life for you. There is no greater love than this, that someone would lay their life down for another. But just take the words a little more literal in our text. "I lay down my life for the sheep."
I heard a good Christmas sermon talk about the lambs raised in Bethlehem being prepared for the Passover. These Lambs were bred for one purpose to die for the Passover Feast. These lambs were bred to be sacrificed. At Jesus' birth the Shepherds of these lambs come to find him.
Jesus lays down his life for the sheep, for those lambs. I am not 100% positive, but I would imagine some of those same lambs would be used on the Day of Atonement. These sheep bred to die for the sins of the people. Jesus Christ, is proclaimed in John chapter 1 to be the very lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.
This lamb of God comes to lay down his life for the sheep. Just as those sheep would take the place of the people, and be sacrificed for their sins. God cares so much for his creation, that he sends his Son not just to take your place, but to suffer in place of all those sheep.
Jesus dies once for all, so that we no longer need to sacrifice sheep for our forgiveness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects and cares for all his Sheep, even the literal sheep, no longer requiring the blood of sheep, lambs, bulls, and so on. The only blood we look for is the blood of Christ, which washes you in Baptism and is shed for you to drink in the Lord's Supper.
The Good Shepherd protects you, and lays down his life for you. This same Good Shepherd protects and serves all his glorious creation, and lays down his life for the sheep. Hopefully, this helps you think a little bit more about how much Jesus loves you, and the creation in which he has placed you to be his hired hand.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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