John 10:11-18 THE GOOD SHEPHERD WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU
This morning, I would like to describe someone to you, and I want you to tell me who this person is. This person has been taking care of you long before you even understood who this person was. This person has endured many sleepless nights because of you. When you were hungry, this person fed you. When you got hurt, this person did everything possible to make you feel better. When you were far from home, this person was thinking of you. This person has made more sacrifices for you than you’ll ever know. This person is even willing to die for you. And, on days like today, this person appreciates it when you acknowledge everything this person has done for you.
Who am I talking about? If your answer is “a mother,” you are wrong. This is not who I’m talking about. It’s true that a mother fits this description, and since today is Mother’s Day, these thoughts are not far from us. But the person I am talking about is Jesus Christ, the person who cares for you far more extensively and far more perfectly than even the best of mothers possibly could.
As your Good Shepherd, Jesus has been taking care of you long before you really understood who he was. Jesus has suffered many sleepless nights for you. Think, for example, of the night before he was crucified – he suffered all night to take away your sins. When you were hungry, both physically and spiritually, Jesus has fed you, through the people in your life. When you were hurt, Jesus was there, working through doctors and caretakers to heal you. When you are far from home, Jesus does more than worry about you - he sends his holy angels to protect you. And as far as sacrifices go, you and I will never fully understand just how much he has sacrificed for us. And, on days like today, really every day, Jesus appreciates it, welcomes it, when you acknowledge everything he has done for you.
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year in the Christian church, three weeks after Easter, we celebrate the picture of Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd. Sometimes this day falls on Mother’s Day, and when that happens, we spend the majority of our energy focusing on this picture of Christ as shepherd, and less energy focusing on motherhood, although those thoughts aren’t far from us today.
Why is this picture of a shepherd so common in the Bible? Today, in our society, shepherds are very uncommon – you could go through your entire life without ever seeing a live shepherd. But that wasn’t how it was back then. Every time you traveled, you would see flocks of sheep dotting the hills, and shepherds watching over them. Just as the 18 wheel truck is a very common sight as we travel from place to place today, so also then, the shepherd and his flock were very common sights as people traveled from place to place.
Back then, sheep-herding was a very common trade. Most shepherds were hired to watch over someone else’s flocks. And these hired people were paid to basically to one thing – keep the herd alive. You did this by leading them to water, and you did this by leading them from pasture to pasture. After one area of grass was all eaten up, you would lead them to another area of grass, another river of water. You would call out to them, and after awhile they would begin to recognize your voice and follow you. Leading them was one of your main jobs.
Your other main job was protecting them. Wild animals would prey on the unsuspecting flock. Thieves would try to pick one up here and there. King David, who at one time was a shepherd early in his life, recounts how he would fight off lions and bears in order to protect the flock. Now, for those hired shepherds, this wasn’t their favorite part of the job. Many of them would run off if the threat was too much – it wasn’t worth risking your life to protect one lousy sheep.
Jesus compares himself to a shepherd when he says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” This picture of a wolf attacking the flock is a picture of Satan attacking the church. There are leaders in the church, shepherds, who will abandon the church when things get difficult, when the Devil is doing everything he can to destroy the flock of God.
But not Jesus. He never abandons the flock. And that is one of the main lessons we learn from this picture of Christ the Good Shepherd: Jesus never abandons the flock. On Mother’s Day, when we remember the good things mothers do, we are also reminded of the bad things some mothers have done. Perhaps the worst thing a mother could do is abandon her child – you hear stories of mothers who dump their children in garbage cans and run away. Why does this happen? Often it’s because that mother realizes that she is not able to make the sacrifices necessary to be a mother. “I can’t do it,” she thinks.
Any mother would tell you that motherhood is a life of sacrifice. You lose sleep, money, time, energy, you have to sacrifice many of your own goals – a lot of sacrifice – and some mothers, when they catch a glimpse of this, when reality hits them, they run away and abandon their child.
As your Good Shepherd, Jesus knew what he would have to sacrifice a great deal in order to keep you as his own. He knew that you and the rest of the flock had been contaminated by sin. The flock was unfixable, and really, should have been exterminated. Every time one of the sheep fell into a certain sin, and you and I do that every day, it was all too evident to Jesus that his flock was sinful, contaminated, in trouble. There was only one solution to this problem, and that solution was this – if the shepherd wanted to keep his flock, he would have to sacrifice himself for the sheep. That’s how he could save the flock from extermination.
And so that’s what Jesus did. Think of the sacrifices Jesus made for you! He gave up his throne in heaven. He gave up the praise of angels, and became a peasant who endured the insults of man. He gave up the use of his divine power. He gave up his honor, his glory, and finally, his life. He refused to abandon you, no matter how much it would cost him. No matter how great the sacrifice. That’s what Jesus is talking about when he says in verse 14: “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Perhaps the most well-known symbol of the shepherd is the shepherd’s crook. There’s a picture of it on your bulletin cover. As I said in the children’s sermon, the shepherd would use this staff, this crook, to bring in the straying sheep, and to fight off the wild animals. What would the staff of Jesus Christ look like? Well, perhaps, instead of having a curved end, as you see in the picture, it would have a line drawn across the top – the shape of a cross. That’s the tool that Jesus used to save you, to rescue you, to get rid of that sin in your life, to earn for you God’s forgiveness. The cross – that’s what Jesus endured. He refused to run away. He refused to abandon you. He made the ultimate sacrifice, to keep you as his own.
But after they buried him, you know what happened next. Look at verse 17: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” After laying down his life, Jesus took up his life again, rose from the dead. Nothing, not even death, could keep him from being your Good Shepherd.
There is another lesson here for us to learn, and that lesson is this – since Jesus has risen from the dead, he is still your shepherd today. He is still watching over you today, still feeding you, still protecting you, and he will never, ever abandon you.
There will be days when you will feel abandoned. Satan will bring all kinds of problems into your life. Whether it is a medical problem, or a personal problem, or a job problem - there are all kinds of problems the Devil will send your way. Just when you feel that you have your life together, something will happen. And then you feel alone. “Where is God?” you ask yourself. “Where is the Good Shepherd?” You feel like a sheep that has wandered into the woods where there is no food, no water, and you can hear the wolves howling and see the glow of their eyes in the darkness, and you feel all alone, and utterly helpless.
But then to that sheep’s surprise, the shepherd is right behind it, and lifts it up on his shoulders and carries it back to the flock and back to safety. When you feel abandoned, when you feel like you are in the woods and the wolves are closing in on you, remember that your Good Shepherd is right behind you. He will never abandon you. He lifts you up on his shoulders and he carries you to safety. And on the way, you pass by an empty cross, and an empty tomb, proof that Christ, the Good Shepherd will never abandon you.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful poems about Christ as the Good Shepherd is found in your hymnal, number 375. Turn to that for a moment – look at the words – “The King of Love my shepherd is, whose goodness fails me never; (he never abandons you) I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever.” “Where streams of living water flow, My Savior gently leads me; And where the verdant pastures grow, (talking about the Word of God) With food celestial feeds me.” “Confused and foolish oft I strayed, But yet in love he sought me And on his shoulders gently laid and home, rejoicing, brought me.” We just talked about that.
Even in death, Jesus is your Good Shepherd: “In death’s dark vale I fear no ill With you dear Lord beside me; Your rod and staff my comfort still, Your cross before to guide me.” Here we have a picture of heaven: “You spread a table in my sight, A banquet here bestowing; Your oil of welcome my delight; My cup is overflowing!” “And so through all the length of days, Your goodness fails me never. Good Shepherd, may I sing your praise Within your house forever!”
May God bless you with the joy and comfort that this picture of Christ as Good Shepherd provides. Amen.
