The first line of Psalm 23 sums up the theme for today: “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” All three of the Scripture readings for today echo this theme. In the Gospel text we hear Jesus saying that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him, that He knows them and gives them eternal life, and that no one can snatch them out of either His or His Father’s hand. In the reading from the book of Acts we hear the Apostle Paul telling the Ephesian pastors to take care of the flock of Christ whom He obtained with His own blood. And from the book of Revelation we hear that the Lord has gathered His sheep from every nation, tribe, people, and language, that they are clothed in robes which have been washed and made white in His blood, and that He feeds and protects them, leads them to springs of living water, and wipes away all their tears. And so, the focus for today is on our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and His Sheep - how they become His sheep, what He does for them, what He gives them, and what they do in response.
But who are His sheep? We might just call them Christians, but this leaves things a little vague. Jesus lets us know who His sheep are by describing their characteristics. Just because some may look like sheep doesn’t mean that they are in fact sheep. They might be wolves masquerading as sheep. But the true sheep of this Shepherd do things like listen to His voice and follow Him. They believe His words. They have been washed and cleansed of their sins in the waters of Baptism, where the blood of their Shepherd was sprinkled upon them. They are clothed with the robe of their Good Shepherd and His righteousness, and they eat of the Living Bread and drink from the springs of Living Water which He gives them. This is how you can distinguish between the Lord’s sheep and wolves. And yet, we can be fooled. We may not know for certain whether one is a sheep or a wolf. But the more important thing is that the Shepherd knows who His sheep are.
He knows them, because He’s the one who made them His sheep in the first place. None of His sheep ever decided to become one of His sheep on their own. None of them chose Him to be their Shepherd, though many of them would like to think that they did. No, these sheep were all wayward sheep, wandering away from the Shepherd, not towards Him. They lusted after strange food and drink, and were not satisfied with the Bread and Water their Good Shepherd provided for them. They paid no attention to His voice when He called. Instead, they were enticed by the words and promises of false shepherds, who only wanted to kill and destroy them. The Lord’s sheep didn’t go looking for Him. Rather, He went looking for them. He found you; you didn’t find Him.
Having been found by Him, the Shepherd’s sheep can now do what they do because of what He did for them. First, He laid down His life for the sheep. Jesus let the wolves have Him instead of us. The blood in which the robes of the sheep have been made white is the blood which He shed on the cross to atone for our waywardness. It is with this blood that He purchased His sheep for Himself. Having purchased us, He then came to us with His words of forgiveness and His promise of eternal life. He wooed us with His love. And it was that love that turned us around, gave us a new heart, and opened our ears, so that we might hear His words, trust in them, and follow Him. Now He feeds and protects us. He leads us to springs of living water. He wipes away our tears. He gives us eternal life and keeps anyone from snatching us out of His and His Father’s hands.
The Lord’s sheep are His sheep, because of what He has done for them, not because of what they have done or do for Him. Even when the elder in the book of Revelation states that the sheep have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, it is not because the sheep decided to do this for themselves, but because their Shepherd led them to these still waters, the waters of Baptism. Whether they were still infants at the time or adults when they were brought to these waters, none of them can say that they baptized themselves. Baptism is not a work which we do in order to be saved; it’s a work that God does for us. The Lord’s sheep don’t take any credit for having washed themselves. Instead, they talk about their Baptism as something that their Shepherd did for them. He washed us, sanctified us, and justified us, as the Apostle Paul writes. Though our sins were as scarlet, He has made them white as snow, as the Prophet Isaiah writes. He has purged us with hyssop, and made us clean. He has washed us, so that we are now whiter than snow, as King David writes. Salvation from beginning to end is all the work of the Shepherd and not the sheep. To Him alone goes the glory.
It is because of all that their Shepherd has done for them in purchasing them with His blood, running after them with His love, bringing them back to His fold, and leading them to the green pastures and still waters of His Word and Sacraments, that the sheep now listen to His voice and follow Him. They don’t follow Him because He always says things they like to hear. Jesus says a number of things that are not only difficult to understand; they’re also difficult to accept. Many people follow those who tell them things they want to hear. When our current president was campaigning, he promised people change. It was a message that appealed to many. And so, given this promise, they voted him into office. Today, some of those very people don’t follow this president anymore because he didn’t give them the change they wanted. Jesus makes promises, all of which He keeps. But some of these promises aren’t what we want to hear. We like His promise of eternal life. We don’t like His promise that we will be persecuted by the world for confessing Him. We don’t like His words that we must deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow Him. Some of His disciples left Him when He started talking about eating His body and drinking His blood. They said these words were too difficult for them to accept. Unfortunately, many of the Lord’s sheep choose to abandon Him when they don’t like what they hear from Him, get tired of following Him, or don’t get what they want from Him.
And all of the Shepherd’s sheep are tempted in these areas. All of us wander away from our Good Shepherd from time to time, whether it’s because someone else is saying things our itching ears want to hear or because they’re offering us better food than we are receiving from the Lord. But the Shepherd doesn’t abandon His sheep. He continues to run after you with His love, bring you to repentance, and lead you back into His fold with His rod and His staff. Sometimes the rod and the staff hurt. No one likes discipline. But the Good Shepherd disciplines you out of His love for you and for your good, so that you might not fall away from Him into unbelief, abandon His protective hand, and be lost for good. Hell was created for the devil and his angels, not for us. And so the Good Shepherd wants all to repent and come to a knowledge of the truth. He is unwilling that any should perish but that all be saved.
And once you are in His hands, you have the promise that no one can snatch you away from Him. Yes, the wolves are going to continue to attack. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour. Our Shepherd promises us that in this world we will have tribulation. But He also says that He has overcome the world. Martin Luther rejoices in this in his hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Though this world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none. Though this world take our life, goods, fame, child, and wife, though these all be gone, our victory has been won. The Kingdom ours remains. And St. Paul writes, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?.. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors though Him who loved us.” Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can snatch you out of His hand.
The Good Shepherd who has purchased you with His blood and rose again from the dead continues to work to keep you in His hand today. This is why these readings are given to us during the season of Easter, because the crucifixion was not the end of our Good Shepherd. He wasn’t defeated by His death on the cross. Rather, by way of His crucifixion and resurrection He defeated death, sin, and all those who would try to snatch you from His nail-pierced hands. Jesus has saved you. Now He continues to shelter you with His presence. He feeds you on His body and blood at His Table and gives you to drink from the springs of the Living Water of His Spirit and His Word, so that you might never hunger or thirst again. He protects you from the scorching heat of God’s wrath. He will walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death, and in the age to come He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Until then, His goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, because you belong to Him. You are His precious sheep. He purchased you with His blood. He washed you in His blood. He grants you eternal life. He holds you in His hand, so that you might never perish, but dwell with Him, the Father, and the Holy Spirit in His house forever. Amen.