The Third Sunday of Easter

SERMON

INI

Text: John 10:11, 17-21

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep….Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

In Christ Jesus, the Son of God and our Good Shepherd, dear fellow redeemed:

“I am Jesus’ little lamb.” Did you feel a bit strange singing that hymn? It is, after all, a child’s hymn expressing very simple spiritual truths. Some might suggest that it is not quite fitting for an adult worship setting. Yet, it was Jesus who said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” (Mark 10:15). But why should we listen to Jesus? There are many in our world who do not—individuals who are viewed as brilliant, powerful, or both. Religion has been called at different times “the opium of the people” (Karl Marx), “the idol of the mob” (Frederick the Great), “a disease” (Heraclitus), “the art of animal training” (Arthur Schopenhauer), and even “a species of mental disease” (Benito Mussolini). It should not surprise us, therefore, that the world has also always been and always will be divided in its opinion on Jesus Christ. It certainly was in Jesus’ day as our text indicates. We are told, “There was a division again among the Jews because of these (Jesus’) sayings. And many of them said, ‘He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?’” Let us consider that question today, for the answer we give will either justify our faith in Jesus or demonstrate that we are fools! WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO JESUS? Our text provides two answers: you should listen to Jesus, first of all, because He is the Good Shepherd; and, secondly, because He is the Son of God!

I.

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” There is perhaps no other animal as dependent upon its caretaker as a sheep. Consequently, there is no other animal caretaker of whom more is required than a shepherd. King David speaks of the relationship of a shepherd to his sheep in Psalm 23, which we heard as our Old Testament lesson. The shepherd must lead his sheep out to the green pastures and must be sure to provide opportunities for the sheep to secure sufficient water. The shepherd must protect the sheep from natural predators, for sheep have no natural defenses and so are easily harmed. The shepherd at times has to prepare the pasture lands by removing noxious weeds and must provide antidotes to flies and various forms of disease. Being a shepherd requires individuals to be out in all types of weather and requires that they be watchful at all times of the day and night. It is not an easy job, and those who perform it must have a love for the animals under their care.

If they do not have such a love, they are not good shepherds. In fact, Jesus speaks of such shepherds when He in this chapter speaks of the “hireling” (cf. John 10:12-13). The “hireling” does not own the sheep and so has no vested interest in them. They are a means of profit for the hireling, and so should the hireling be confronted with a choice involving danger to himself and safety for the sheep or danger to the sheep and safety to himself he will chose the latter. He will flee to save himself and allow the wolf to catch the sheep and scatter them. Jesus, however, is “the good shepherd” who is willing to give up His life for the sheep!

This picture, of course, speaks to the blessed relationship that you and I have by faith with our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are Jesus’ sheep, and He is our Good Shepherd. We are like sheep in so many ways. As Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way” (53:6a). We have sinned against God’s holy law, choosing to disobey His commandments and resist His directives. Consequently, we find ourselves judged by our own actions and subject by nature to the spiritual predator, Satan. By nature and on our own, we are helpless to defend ourselves against Satan, just like sheep are helpless in the face of a wolf. Yet, in spite of our rebellious natures, our God has loved us and sent Jesus to be our Good Shepherd.

Jesus came down from heaven into this world and assumed our human nature, so that He could be close to us. He did not shy away from our predator, Satan, but confronted him personally in the wilderness and overcame his temptations. When confronted by Satan’s minions, the demons, who controlled the minds and lives of many in His day, Jesus cast them out. When faced with the prospect of death in defense of you and me, He chose to give up His life for us and this He did willingly going to the cross and suffering the anguish of hell to pay the price for our souls, so that our sins might be forgiven and our eternal future secured.

WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO JESUS? You should listen to Jesus because He is the Good Shepherd! There is no one who loves you like Jesus—not your husband or your wife, not your father or your mother, not your son or your daughter, not your neighbor next door or your friends at school or in the workplace. No one has ever chosen to leave the realm of heaven in order to become your Brother other than Jesus! No one has ever chosen to suffer the punishment you deserve for every sin you have ever committed other than Jesus! No one has ever willingly given up His life for you so that you might have life—not just here but after you die and throughout eternity other than Jesus! As the hymn-writer so poignantly expressed:

Yes, if anyone ever deserved your attention, it is Jesus! He is your Good Shepherd, who gave up His life for you. But there are those who in Easter-ignorance might ask, “What good is a dead shepherd?” If Jesus, as the Good Shepherd died, why should we now listen?

II.

You should listen to Jesus because He is the Son of God! Jesus said, “My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” The “Father” of whom Jesus speaks is God the Father in heaven above. He is the one, true God of the Bible. He is “the LORD of hosts,” our “Redeemer,” “the First,” and “the Last”—the only true God (cf. Isaiah 44:6-8). Jesus is His Son, come down from heaven to become man, but remaining at the same time ever true God! He possesses all power and authority in heaven and on earth by virtue of His deity. He received from His heavenly Father all power and authority in heaven and on earth in His humanity (cf. Matthew 28:18).

This Jesus clearly maintained during His ministry on earth. In fact, this was the final charge rendered against Him by those who ultimately had Him put to death. When it appeared that Pilate only intended to scourge Jesus and let Him go, His accusers cried out, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). Now either Jesus was clearly delusional, if not borderline insane—someone to whom you should never listen, or He was who He claimed to be—the One to whom you should always listen! The resurrection miracle of Easter demonstrates that Jesus was not delusional or insane, but rather the one He claimed to be. The apostle Paul, when addressing the Roman Christians, claimed, “God…declared (Jesus Christ) to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (1:4). From the words of our text, spoken before that blessed event, Jesus assures us that He was no passive object of the power of another, but rather as the Son of God He both lay down His life on Good Friday and took it back again on Easter Sunday. Jesus had the power, as He Himself claimed “to lay it down and…to take it again!” His whole purpose in coming into this world can be summarized with these words, which express His overwhelming power and authority over all things: “I have come that they (you believers) might have life, and that they (you believers) may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Now Satan and his evil hosts want to strip you of this gift of life, and therefore we must protect ourselves from them. This was the message of the writer to the Hebrews, who in our New Testament lesson spoke of the blessed “rest” Jesus is preparing for us—a rest, which is eternal life by the grace of God through Christ—a rest we can lose if we do not listen to our Savior! Down through the ages, Satan has misled many individuals and so deprived them of their eternal salvation. The writer to the Hebrews points to the example of the entire generation of Israelites who left Egypt in glory, but whose corpses littered the wilderness of Sinai because they refused to listen. He concludes his thoughts with this powerful appeal: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:11-13). You and I will one day stand before God. Satan will on that day condemn us for our sins. WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO JESUS? You should listen to Jesus He as the Son of God has the power to give you life on that last day!

No one has the power and authority to remove your sins other than Jesus! No one has the power and authority to defeat your greatest enemies—death and the devil other than Jesus! No one has the power to raise your body from the dead on the last day other than Jesus! No one “is the way, the truth, and the life” for you and for me other than Jesus! “I am Jesus’ little lamb”—I surely hope so, even as I pray that each of you here this morning will sing those words with the deepest conviction! As His lambs, we need not fear the present or the future. As His lambs, we are guaranteed His blessing now and throughout eternity. As His lambs, we not only should, but will want eagerly to listen to Him, because He is the Good Shepherd and because He is the Son of God! Amen.

Soli Dei Gloria!

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting