1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The message from God’s Word this 4th Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, is taken from John 10:11-18 and is entitled, “Our Capable & Committed Good Shepherd,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner has done everything he’s been told to do. He builds a baseball field in the middle of his Iowa cornfield. He brings Terence Mann and Archie Graham to this field of dreams. And yet, he is not invited to go with the others out into the corn. When asked what he wants, in frustration he asks what he will stand to gain. Ah, suddenly it comes out: the hero hasn’t been doing all this for the love of the game or to “ease” someone else’s “pain.” He’s been doing it for himself.
3. That’s the approach of the hired hand who watches sheep. He’s paid to be there. He’s in it for the money. He’s there to earn a living, not to give up his life. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he knows what’s in store, and he flees, leaving the sheep to fend for themselves. Not at all so with Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd. When death comes rushing in, the Good Shepherd dies and lives for the sheep. Jesus is our capable and committed Good Shepherd.
4. Death comes rushing in on God’s flock. Thieves and robbers threaten God’s flock with death. In the context of John 10, the Pharisees are called “thieves and robbers” (cf. v 1). Like thieves and robbers, they will not enter the kingdom of God through the door (Jesus), because they reject God’s grace in Christ Jesus. That’s why it helps to know the context surrounding why Jesus is speaking about Himself as the Good Shepherd. In the previous chapter of John 9, we’re reminded Jesus wasn’t talking to faithful Christians on their death beds or little ones gathered for a children’s message. He was rebuking a group of Pharisees. They were offended Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath. Rather than rejoicing with the man born blind, they were harassing him (and his family) for their association with Jesus.
5. In His response to their criticism, Jesus contrasted a good shepherd with a hired hand. The difference between the two has to do with commitment. A hired hand is just that—one who is paid to care for someone else’s sheep. His connection to the sheep is transactional. He’s committed to the sheep only as far as he’s committed to himself. When danger arises and the wolf comes, the hired hand tends to his own safety and flees. His lack of commitment makes him incapable of providing protection.
6. The Pharisees look for other ways to enter the sheepfold. They rely on their own self-righteousness as the means for entering God’s kingdom—and they keep others from entering. Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:13, 13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” Jesus’ words to Nicodemus the Pharisee are still ringing throughout St. John’s Gospel. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
7. A hired hand is no help when death comes rushing in on the sheep, because he is not the shepherd. He does not own the sheep (vv 11–13). When he sees the wolf coming, he flees in order to save his own life. All sinners are like hired hands, who care only for their own lives. Instead of sacrificing ourselves to care for those whom the Lord has given us to watch over, we sacrifice them. We flee our callings and responsibilities in life and leave those entrusted to us to the gaping jaws of the evil one.
8. Left to themselves, unprotected, the sheep die (v 12). False teachers rob us of God’s grace in Christ by their teachings. Their other ways of salvation kill and destroy the sheep. Hired hands look out for themselves, leaving the devil to snatch the sheep with all sorts of trials and temptations that scatter the flock.
9. Contrast this with a good shepherd. A good shepherd cares for the sheep because the sheep are his own (verses 12 and 14). They belong to him and he loves them, not for his own sake, but for theirs. He will not abandon them when the wolf comes. He will protect and defend them. With him, they are secure.
10. As His resurrection demonstrated, Jesus has the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again. And He is not only capable, but He is also committed. Out of love and concern for His sheep, He is willing give Himself to the wolf to protect us His sheep. You, who are baptized into Christ and united to Him through faith) are among His sheep. You have been included in His fold. As such, you enjoy the protection and security of a shepherd who is both committed to your safety and fully capable of delivering on His commitment.
11. Jesus is both capable and committed to you as your Good Shepherd. But He’s not only committed to you. In verse 16, Jesus tells the Pharisees He has other sheep that are not part of this fold. He was talking about the Gentiles, of course. This foreshadowed His mission to all nations which would become explicit after His resurrection. This mission is not yet complete. There are still more sheep to gather. Jesus, “must bring them also,” (verse 16) into His one flock. They will listen to His voice, Jesus assures, but first they must hear it. This is why Jesus sent His disciples after the resurrection. That is why Jesus sends you today so that many more people may know that they have a Good Shepherd who loves them so much that He lays down His life on the cross to give them the gift of eternal life.
12. The Good Shepherd dies and lives for the sheep. The Good Shepherd “lays down his life for the sheep” (v 11). Jesus sees death come rushing in. He is surrounded by wild beasts. Yet he is led willingly to slaughter. His vocation is to lay down his life “for” (“on behalf of”) the sheep. The Good Shepherd is devoured by death because he is the Lamb of God whose blood is shed to take away the sins of the world. His death satisfies the hunger of the Law for death (see Gen 2:17; Rom 6:23). His holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death redeem sinners from sin, death, and the devil.
13. The Good Shepherd who laid down his life has taken it up again (vv 17–18). Jesus, who passed through death and the grave, has taken up his life again in the resurrection. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps 23:4), we need not fear, for the Good Shepherd, who has already been through death and the grave, leads us through this life, and death, to life everlasting. Now alive again, the Good Shepherd gathers his flock (vv 14–16). The whole flock is gathered to die with Jesus so that they might also live with him. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (Jn 12:32).
14. The crucified and risen One continues to preach his Gospel and administer his Sacraments through His Church in order to gather the “other sheep” into his “one flock” (v 16). We, too, will listen to the living voice of Christ, who by his vicarious death delivers us from the evil one and gathers us into his fold.
15. The field of dreams has been built, the fans are gathered, and the game is going on. Archie Graham, the farm boy Kevin Costner picked up who’d always wanted to hit in the majors, is getting his chance. But then Costner’s daughter falls; her windpipe is blocked. One person knows how to save her, but if he crosses the line and leaves the field, his dream of playing in the bigs will be over. Graham does it, willingly, giving up a life in baseball for a career as a small-town doctor—and to save this little girl.
16. To sheep surrounded by wolves on every side, the Good Shepherd calls out: “Here is my blood and body, which I have laid down for you for the forgiveness of your sins. I have taken it up again that you may have abundant life. Take and eat, that you may safely graze in the green pastures of my kingdom.” Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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