John 10:11-16
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 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.”
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Many Christians live in fear. They fear that, even though they are Christians today, they won’t ultimately make it to heaven. They have fears that somehow they are fooling themselves, that the demons will get to them, that they will fall away if persecuted, or that they’re simply going to blow it. One of the saddest things is that the source of these fears often comes from pastors, evangelists, and Christian books and radio with pious-sounding questions like, “Sure, Jesus is your Savior, but is He your Lord?” or “How is your commitment to or relationship with Jesus?” I remember several times wondering if I was really a Christian based on questions and statements like those.
I want you to notice that all those fears and doubts come when the focus is moved from Jesus to the individual. Luther once said, “When I look at myself, I don’t see how I can be saved. But when I look at Christ, I don’t see how I can be lost.”
In this Gospel text, Jesus would have us look away from ourselves and fix our eyes on Him, and in Christ we find our Good Shepherd. Listen carefully to Jesus again, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”
Did you catch it? Jesus says that He has – present tense – He has these sheep even before He brings them. Jesus has these sheep, and then He brings them. Just in case you think Jesus misspoke, simply go back a few verses to John 10:3-4 where Jesus, again talking about Himself as the Good Shepherd says, “The sheep hear [their Shepherd’s] voice and He calls them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” In other words, the sheep of the Shepherd know His voice when He calls because He is their Shepherd. They are not true sheep because they first hear His voice and then follow. Instead, they hear and follow because they are already His sheep. When Jesus calls through the voice of the Scriptures, He is calling to those who are His own. They know His voice because He already has them as His sheep.
Jesus has His sheep because the Father has given them to Jesus. Listen to how Jesus prays in John 17:6, “I have manifested Your name to the people whom you gave Me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to me, and they have kept Your word.”
Or listen to what Jesus says in John 6:37a, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.” The Father has these sheep, gives them to Jesus, and they follow Him and keep His word. But back to our text here, Jesus says, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”
Remember from last week’s sermon text after Thomas’ doubts are quieted, Jesus says, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn. 20:29)? Dear Christian, Jesus was speaking of you there. You have not seen Him, and yet through the Holy Spirit working through the Word, you have heard Jesus’ voice and have believed. Well, when Jesus speaks of bringing in other sheep here, He again is speaking of you. You – each of you, individually – were on His mind when He spoke those words nearly two-thousand years ago. Before you heard His voice and believed, He already had you as His sheep.
Before you ever committed a single sin, before you ever did a good work, before you came to church, before any of that, Jesus had you. Your sins weren’t an obstacle, and your good works weren’t the reason He chose you. He already had you as His sheep. He says – present tense – “I have other sheep.”
As God promised in our Old Testament text (Ezk. 34:11-16) which you just heard, “As a shepherd seeks out his flock … so will I seek out My sheep. I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered…. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries…. I will feed them with good pasture…. I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep, and I Myself will make them lie down…. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.”
Now, of course, it is important that we remember that we are sheep who are prone to wander. We need to know the Good Shepherd. We need to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. And we need to follow the Good Shepherd. All of those things are part of this text – they are. The sheep don’t go off and listen to the voice of the false shepherds, and they don’t follow in the footsteps of the wolves or play in their dens. They follow Jesus.
But remember what comes previous to all of those things: Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has the sheep. “I have other sheep,” says Jesus.
So, with all of that, does it sound like it is your commitment that will get you to heaven, or is it Jesus’ commitment to you? Jesus’. Who is in control; who is driving, you or Jesus? Jesus is. Who is more interested in your eternal life, you or Jesus? Jesus is. And that is good. He is the Shepherd who goes and seeks after His sheep. In fact, He is the Shepherd who lays down His life for you, His sheep. You have been redeemed and rescued from death.
The 23rd Psalm is, of course, a very fitting text to consider in light of all this, but instead today consider for just a minute these verses Psalm 49[:14-15], “Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol,” (think of Sheol as the grave), “Like sheep they are appointed for [the grave]. Like sheep death shall be their shepherd…. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me.”
Because Jesus has you as His sheep, He came to shepherd you, to seek you out, to find you, and to bring you safely to be with Him. He knows where to find you. He knows how to comfort and quiet you. He knows how to bring you into His fold.
Jesus, your Good Shepherd, became a sheep just like you. He is the Lamb who was slain and went to the grave. But He is risen and victorious. Because He became like you, He knows how to shepherd you. He knows your fears, your struggles, your temptations, and your foes. He has defeated them all. He has gone to the cross for you and died for you. Jesus has come through death to be with you, He will always abide with you, and He will not leave you. He has you as His sheep. And He will bring you safely to your eternal glory with Him.
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
For our great comfort, Scripture gives many images of God shepherding His people. Psalm 23, of course, comes to mind. We have a picture in the entry of our church of Jesus walking through green pastures and still waters leading a flock of good-looking sheep. Jesus tells the parable of the shepherd who goes out seeking his one lost sheep, hefts it on his shoulders, and brings it home. All of that imagery is Scriptural and comforting and good.
Yes, it does mean ‘good’ but not in a subjective sense, not in a way that is open to anyone’s interpretation. Jesus is uniquely qualified to be the Shepherd of sinful sheep. Christ is the ‘good for you’ Shepherd. Kalos also means ‘right, fitting, true, beautiful, and competent.’ And Jesus Himself defines exactly what makes Him the kalos Shepherd. His the kalos Shepherd because of the fact that He lays down His life for the sheep.
My dear fellow sheep: Jesus is the kalos Shepherd; you are the sheep. You are not called to stand toe-to-toe with the devil. Satan, sin, and death are the wolves, and you are the sheep. Hide behind Jesus. Christ, your kalos Shepherd, places Himself in danger to rescue you from every threat. But even as you hide behind your kalos Shepherd, you do not cower in fear. Hide behind Jesus confidently knowing that He has overcome the wolf, won the victory, and His victory is your victory because you are His.
Pastorsamwise 
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