Of all the pictures that we have of our Lord Jesus Christ, the picture that is painted for us in the words of the 23rd Psalm are perhaps the most well known and the most comforting. One of the stained glass windows at St. Paul, McConnellsburg has this picture of Jesus as a shepherd surrounded by sheep. If you notice in my office, in the window sill by the desk, you’ll see a statue of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, holding a lamb. Usually when I find myself at the bedside of a Christian who is dying, I will read these words to that person, and they find great comfort. Of all the funerals I have officiated at in my career, only once has the 23rd Psalm specifically not been requested. What is it about this particular Psalm that makes it perhaps the most well known, and why we take a Sunday out of the Easter season each year to look at this Psalm and a Gospel reading where Jesus describes him as our Good Shepherd? This morning, we’re going to find out why Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, and how we, as His sheep, delight to hear His voice to us.
The first thing that’s going to help us this morning to really understand this shepherd/sheep analogy our readings for today set before us, is to review a few characteristics of sheep. First, sheep tend to look the same to the casual observer. While they may be different shapes or sizes, for the most part, once you’ve seen a sheep, you’ve pretty much seen them all.
Another characteristic of sheep is that when left on their own, they’re pretty helpless animals. They need to be guided and kept from danger. They easily fall prey to the savage wolves out there who wish to devour them. Thus, part of the shepherd’s job is to keep watch over the sheep and keep them together in the flock. When one strays, it’s the shepherd’s job to bring that wandering sheep back into the safety of the flock.
One thing that sheep do have is a keen sense of hearing. They’re able to differentiate between different voices. Sheep can recognize the voice of their shepherd, and actually distinguish it between the voice of someone else, or the shepherd of another flock.
So with these characteristics of sheep in mind, let’s look at what Jesus has to say about us, His sheep, in today’s Gospel reading. He is talking to some Jews who are gathered around Him in the temple at the Feast of Dedication, or as some of you may know it by its’ Hebrew name, Hanukah. The Jews gather around Jesus and say “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (v. 24) They ask him essentially “Jesus, there are these rumors going around that you’re the Christ. Enough with the parables and this speaking in riddles; if you are the Christ, just come out and tell us already if you are or you are not” And what is Jesus’ response to them? He says “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (v. 25-28)
So what is Jesus saying? He’s telling the Jews that there are things He has been doing that point to the fact that He is the Messiah. If they really were a part of His flock, they would recognize that by His Word. The Old Testament Scriptures told of things that the Messiah would do. What Jesus is saying is this: “I am the Word made flesh. Look back in the Scriptures at the things that would point you to who the Messiah is, and look at what I have been doing. My teaching, my healing, my raising people from the dead, is all foretold. These are the signs that I pointed you to, yet you refuse to listen to me. Thus, because you don’t listen to me, you are not a part of my flock. You won’t recognize that I am the Christ. My actions speak in accordance with my Word.” The Jews are not a part of His flock because they see the signs, yet refuse to believe that Jesus is the true Messiah. Part of their problem is that they are looking for a political Messiah, someone who will save them from the oppression of the Romans. They’re not looking for someone who will save them from sin, death, and the devil.
What Jesus is saying is this: you want to know what I am talking about? Look in my Word. Listen to what I will do. And in the 23rd Psalm, we get a glimpse of what Jesus was sent to do. Just listen again to those words: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Notice who is doing all the work in that Psalm. It is not the sheep doing the work, it is the Shepherd. Jesus is the one who will do all of this for us by His suffering and death for us, and give us His victory over sin, death, and the devil by His resurrection. That is how He goes about leading His sheep to still waters, reviving their souls, comforting them, and bringing them goodness and mercy, and ultimately to deliver them to the house of the Lord for eternity.
So the real test of being a sheep of the Good Shepherd is this: Do you listen to the words of the Good Shepherd? Are you so concerned about what you are doing and what you think, that you skip past the Messiah, and fall prey to the ravenous wolves of sin, death, and the devil by relying on your works, emotions, and words to save you, instead of listening to the voice of your Good Shepherd? That’s the point Jesus is trying to make to those Jews gathered around Him in the temple that day.
But these words don’t just apply to Jesus’ day. They very much apply to us yet today.
Remember early on when we were talking about characteristics of sheep. If you were to drive by a pasture where sheep from different flocks had intermingled with each other, you wouldn’t be able to figure out which sheep belonged to which flock on your own. Likewise, we can’t see who truly belong to the flock of our Good Shepherd or not just by outward appearance. Christians do not have some special glow or aura about them that distinguish them from non-believers. Likewise, just because someone may appear to be a part of the Good Shepherd’s flock on the outside, doesn’t mean that they are truly a part of the flock of Christ, for in reality, they may not truly listen to the Shepherd’s voice, but the voice of another false shepherd in the world, proclaiming to them a different message.
The true test is whether or not the sheep listen to the Shepherd’s voice. Today, our Good Shepherd speaks to us through His Word. We come here to this place to hear the Pastor, His under shepherd that He has called to this particular time and place, speak His Word to us. But part of the problem is that there are sometimes false under shepherds who speak not the word of the Good Shepherd, but some other word, which will not save us, and threatens to lead us astray from the flock of our Good Shepherd and into the mouths of the ravenous wolves of sin, death, and the devil, which threaten to devour us.
This happened already in the Old Testament. For such false shepherds, God has a very strong warning. In Jeremiah 23, we read: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore, says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD.” (v.1-2) While such shepherds may have sheep that follow them, if they are not declaring to them the word of the Good Shepherd, and simply feed the sheep what their itching ears want to hear, instead of what their souls truly need to hear, which is God’s Word of Law and Gospel, they are scattering the sheep of God’s pasture. But this isn’t limited to the false shepherds of the Old Testament in Jeremiah’s day. It’s not limited to the Jews who wouldn’t listen to Jesus’ words in our Gospel reading. It happens today. All too often, there are those who seek to be shepherds, who outright abuse the flocks entrusted to them, by declaring to them something other than God’s Word. They refuse to warn sinners with the Law, and instead, call what is evil good. In doing so, they are leading sheep out of the care of the Good Shepherd, and into the traps of the ravenous wolves of sin, death, and the devil, which are just waiting to devour such misguided sheep. All too often, when such a false under shepherd makes his or her way into a local congregation, indeed, the flock of Christ is scattered and often driven away, left to fend for themselves. And remember, sheep don’t fend for themselves very well when left on their own. They’ll easily fall victim to some sort of enemy, waiting for the first chance to devour them.
That’s why our Lord gives us a true test of the under shepherds that make their way into our churches today. Is that person pointing us to the voice of our Good Shepherd in His Word? Is that shepherd encouraging us to listen to our Good Shepherd’s voice which warns us to stay away from sin, and when we are caught in that sin, sends us His Word so that He came come to us through it, and deliver us out of the danger of that sin, and back to His flock through confessing our sin, and hearing that Christ, our Good Shepherd, delivers us back to the still waters of His flock? You see, the faithful under shepherd of the Good Shepherd will point you to that familiar picture you see depicted in our stained glass window at St. Paul. There, you see Jesus, the Good Shepherd, surrounded by His sheep, leading them. In one hand, He has His shepherd’s crook, his staff. Shepherds would carry such a stick to ward off ravenous wolves and other animals which would threaten to devour the sheep of his pasture. The curved end, the crook, could also be used to hook around a sheep in trouble and guide them to safety. In Jesus’ other hand and arm, he’s carrying a frightened little lamb, back into the safety of His presence. When He went to the cross, He willingly allowed Himself to go astray from His father in your place, for all of the times where sin led you and I astray. He willingly suffered and died when you and I should have been the ones to do that. No false shepherd would ever be willing to do that for a sheep. Yet, our Good Shepherd does exactly that. He willingly dies for us, and rises for us, so that we can have His victory over sin, death, and the devil. As you hear that message of Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you, you are that little lamb that Jesus is brining back to the fold each week. Where you’ve run off in your sin, He’s reached out and brought you back from those ravenous wolves of sin and death. He has the “battle scars” in his hands and feet to prove it. Not only that, but to strengthen and nourish His sheep, He lays out a banquet table, where He feeds His sheep by saying “Take and eat, this is my body, take and drink, this is my body and blood, that I have given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of all of your sins.” No other shepherd does that. No other shepherd loves and cares for His sheep like the Good Shepherd.
And that is who a real under shepherd of Christ points you to, and whose voice you should listen to, because in listening, you are hearing the voice of your Good Shepherd. In fact, He promises later on in Jeremiah 23 after rebuking the false shepherds that “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold…I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed” (v. 3-4) Anyone who proclaims another Jesus to you, a Jesus who is not a good shepherd, but merely a friend, or moral teacher, but not a savior, is nothing but a wolf in sheep’s clothing, looking to devour you and snatch you out of the flock of your true Good Shepherd.
The picture of our Lord we see in the 23rd Psalm gives us great comfort. As sheep of His pasture, we delight to hear our Good Shepherd’s voice. We delight to hear Him speak to us when His word is read and proclaimed, and when we study it on our own during the week. We delight in knowing that where we are tempted to go astray by the ravenous wolves of sin, death, and the devil, that He seeks us out, and reaches out to us, to bring us back into His fold and where He restores us as His children. And when our days in this life come to an end, we joyfully hear that description of our Good Shepherd in the 23rd Psalm, for He promises that even when we have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need not be afraid, because our Good Shepherd is there, once again, taking us into His arms, to lead us, His sheep, to our eternal home, where we will find a pasture that is safe forever. So the next time you look at a picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, remember all that He has done for you. Give thanks that He sends under shepherds to be His voice to you yet today. And give thanks that He brings you into His fold here in this place, where He feeds you, nourishes you, and keeps you safe until it’s time to lead you home. Amen.
