In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

 Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd."  In Latin the word for shepherd comes into English as "pastor."  So Jesus is saying here, "I am the Good Pastor."  He is your real pastor.  Those of us who bear that title are simply undershepherds of Him who is the Chief Shepherd, given to carry out His bidding.  In the Epistle, Peter wrote, "You were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."  Your true pastor and bishop is Jesus.

 So what is it that makes Jesus the Good Shepherd, the Good Pastor?  Well, first of all, Jesus is not like a hireling.  The hireling doesn't own the sheep; he's just there to earn a paycheck.  He doesn't really care at all about the sheep, but about providing for himself.  And so when the wolf comes to attack the sheep, the hireling flees and runs away.  He's not going to sacrifice himself for these miserable sheep.  Let them fend for themselves.  He's going to do whatever it takes to save his own skin.

 This is the picture of all so-called pastors who are only in it for personal gain and self-advancement and the honor it brings.  As long as all is going well, everything is fine for the hireling-pastor.  But when the wolf comes, when the false teacher and the false teaching enters into the fold, the hireling-pastor avoids the conflict and doesn't do what it takes to defend the flock.  Instead of exposing the wolf and his lies and half-truths, instead of condemning sin and calling for repentance, the hireling-pastor seeks dialogue and compromise and in the end allows the saving truth of Christ to be watered down and diluted, to the great harm of the sheep.  He flees the battle and seeks peace and growth at all costs so that his own desires and agendas will continue to be fulfilled.

 The Lord condemns this through His prophet Ezekiel, "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves!  Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?  Behold, I am against (such) shepherds, and . . . I will deliver My flock from their mouths."  The image that is pictured here is one where the shepherds aren't feeding the sheep, they are feeding on the sheep.  They don't bring them into the rich green pastures of God's pure Word, but instead allow them to be fattened up on pop spirituality for the benefit of their own appetites.  Every pastor, including myself, should be brought to repentance through these words of the Lord.

 Jesus is not like a hireling.  He is the Good Shepherd who cares deeply about the sheep, who created and formed the sheep, who loves them as His own.  On one occasion it is written that when Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

 Unfortunately, that is what we are by nature.  It is written, "All we like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way."  We don't like following a shepherd.  We want to choose our own path, run our own show, go our own way.  But in the process of doing that we become like mindless sheep, following the crowd to destruction.  Untended sheep will always follow each other, circling over the same paths until that pastureland is completely trampled and useless.  They'll starve before they know what's happening.  In the same way, when we follow the broad path of the world, we eventually find ourselves spiritually empty and starving and lost.

 But even though we have gone astray from our Shepherd, Jesus does not leave us alone to fend for ourselves.  He comes for us.  He seeks us out.  For He knows that we sheep have no real way to defend or save ourselves.  Sheep can't run fast to escape from predators.  They have no powerful paws or jaws to fight with.  In the end, they're an easy meal for a bear or a wolf or a mountain lion.  So also we are defenseless against the predators: sin, death, and the devil.  We can't run; we can't fight for long.  In the end Satan and the grave would devour us.

 But then our Good Shepherd steps in.  He has compassion on us.  When the predators are set to attack us, He steps in between to protect and save us.  That's ultimately what Jesus was doing for us on the cross.  The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  The predators lunged at us.  Sin and death and the devil attacked and sought to destroy us.  But Jesus stepped in between and took the ravaging in our place.  He bore the full brunt of the attack so that the flock would be left unharmed.  Like David the shepherd boy who killed both the bear and the lion with his sling and his knife, so the Son of David, our Lord Jesus brought our predators down to the place of death and overcame them by the power of His blood, rising victoriously over them on the third day for the life of His sheep.

 In fact, Jesus Himself actually became a sheep in order to renew the life of His flock.  After all, is He not the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?  Jesus is the Shepherd who is also a sheep.  He is God who became man so that we might be restored to fellowship with God again.  Jesus is the Passover Lamb whose shed blood causes death to pass over us who believe.  That's why we sing in the liturgy, "For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign.  Alleluia!"  Jesus now reigns at the right hand of the Father as our Good Shepherd.  It is written in Revelation 7, "The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd and lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

 A traveler in Europe once noticed a carving of a lamb on a stone on the tower of a church.  He had seen such carvings of a lamb before, but never in such a place.  Asking for an explanation, he was told that in the days when the church was being built, one of the workmen lost his footing and fell from the scaffolding just when that particular stone was being laid.  His fellow workmen thought he would be dead or severely injured, but when they hurried to the ground they were shocked to see the man standing there brushing the dust from his clothes.  He had fallen into the midst of a flock of sheep that was passing by.  Pointing to a lamb at his feet, the workman said, "That lamb was crushed, but I live."  The workmen carved a lamb on that stone so that all might remember the miraculous escape of the workman.  In the same way, the curse of our sin and death fell on Christ, and by His death we live.  And so we still sing to the risen Jesus, "Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us."
 

 In the Gospel Jesus says, "I know my sheep."  That doesn't just mean that He knows who you are, generically, but that He knows you intimately.  He knows your struggles and heartaches and joys.  He knows you better than you know yourself.  Of course that means that He knows your sin, too.  But even that is good news.  For the fact that Jesus knows your sin doesn't just mean that He's aware of it from a distance, but that He's embraced it and made it His own and taken it from you.  In knowing you intimately, Jesus grasped your sin from you, buried it deeply within His body, and put it to death forever on the cross.  Jesus knows you as a true friend does.  He knows you and still loves you to death.

 Shepherds in Jesus' day would often mark who their sheep were by cutting an identifying mark on one of their ears.  So also Jesus knows His sheep by the mark that they bear, that He has put on them.  Through water and the Word, you have received the sign of the holy cross both on the forehead and the heart to mark you as ones redeemed by Christ the crucified.  The Good Shepherd knows you individually and even calls you by name at the font.

 Jesus also says, "My sheep listen to my voice."  The voice is crucial.  Two shepherds can utter similar words, but the sheep will follow the one and not the other because they know and recognize His voice.  So also, we have been brought by the Holy Spirit to know and recognize the Gospel voice of our Good Shepherd, the sound of His Gospel, and to ignore other voices which would lead us away from Him.  We want to listen to Jesus' voice; and we hear the sound of Jesus' voice in His preaching, and in our devotions and meditation on His Scriptures.

 Finally, Jesus says, "(My sheep) follow Me, and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish.  No one can snatch them out of my hand."  Those who have followed Jesus to death will inevitably also follow him to life; His companions in shame will be his companions in honor, just as those who have partaken of His suffering will partake of His glory.  Jesus' flock will follow Him through the grave to new life in heaven and a bodily resurrection on the Last Day.  And there is no power in the world which can overcome Jesus' promise.  For again, of His sheep Jesus says, "They will never perish.  No one can snatch them out of my hand."  No predator, not even death can cause us any lasting harm.  It is written, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Eternal life is assuredly ours in Him who is the Resurrection and the Life.

 Therefore, knowing the kind of Good Shepherd we have, we rest safe and secure in His hands, even in the midst of this fallen and troubled world.  He leads us beside the still waters to drink of His refreshing Spirit, returning us to our Baptism to hear and drink in His absolution.  He guides us with the rod and staff of His Law and His Gospel.  He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, the altar from which we receive His holy body and blood for our forgiveness.  Confident in our Good Shepherd's care, we boldly confess with the Psalmist, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me . . . Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit