“False Shepherds, True Shepherds, and the One Shepherd”
John 10:1-10
INI
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is commonly referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” It is customary each year on this Sunday to hear a reading from John 10 where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” We sing hymns like, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.” Sometimes our Introit will have the words of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Pretty much every Christian is familiar with the idea of Jesus as our shepherd. I don’t think there’s a person in this room that hasn’t at some time or another seen a picture of Jesus as a shepherd, carrying a little lost lamb in his loving arms. I’ll bet many of you know all the words to Psalm 23. You might even know the words to “I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb.” Lots of us treasure the image of Jesus as our Shepherd.
Yet today’s Holy Gospel for this year is a helpful one. It’s in John 10, verse 11 where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” for the very first time. Today you and I get to hear the ten verses that come before that. As a matter of fact, you and I don’t hear Jesus’ words “I am the good shepherd” in our readings. But these verses will help us understand Jesus as our shepherd that much better. Instead, this day is where Jesus says, “I am the door of the sheep.” We don’t have many songs about that one…it’s kind of hard to have a painting of Jesus as a door. Maybe you and I don’t get that one quite as well.
Here’s what the text tells us…there are some who try to enter the sheepfold by means other than the door…they are “thieves” and “robbers.” “Shepherds” on the other hand, enter the sheepfold by means of the door. The gatekeeper lets them in. The sheep “hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” And Jesus says, “I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Supposedly in the days of Jesus, a “sheepfold” or a “pen” was a high stone wall that kept out wild animals and “thieves.” A gatekeeper would guard the door…and perhaps several shepherds would keep their sheep in the fold. Each morning, the shepherd would come to the sheepfold and call to the sheep…each group of sheep would know the voice of the shepherd, and when their shepherd called, they would follow him out into the pasture to eat. Jesus reminds us that there are two competing voices out there trying to lure the sheep. Sheep know the voice of their shepherd…and when they hear it, they follow. However thieves and robbers try to lure the sheep towards following them. They are the “false shepherds” who try to get into the pen by other means and get the sheep to follow them towards danger and death.
It is therefore essential that each and every one of us, sheep of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, know the difference between the voice of the false shepherd and the voice of the true shepherd. Jesus told the Pharisees to whom he was speaking in our Gospel, that there had been “thieves and robbers” who had come before him. And indeed in the prophets of the Old Testament, you and I read about false teachers…false prophets…false “shepherds” who led Israel astray with their false teaching. Ezekiel 34 has God condemning the false teachers…who though they were charged with feeding the sheep of Israel, “eat the fat, clothe themselves with the wool, slaughter the fat ones…but don’t feed the sheep.” God is very unhappy with those false shepherds. IN Zechariah 11 is where God paints a picture of shepherds who have no pity on their sheep but let them follow wicked ways to their destruction. God doesn’t care for those shepherds either. Certainly as Jesus stood there that day conversing with the Pharisees, he had them in mind as well! Though they were the great “teachers” whom everyone admired because of their wisdom and piety, they were really “thieves and robbers” who led the people of God astray.
6. False shepherds serve themselves and their own interests. They entice people away from Jesus. They don’t enter the sheepfold by means of “the door”…through Jesus…they attempt to snatch the sheep away by other means. And that means a harsh realization for you and me. Just because someone comes along dressed like a shepherd…doesn’t mean it’s a true shepherd. Just because someone gets up in front of the people in robes and vestments doesn’t mean that’s a true shepherd. False shepherds lead the sheep elsewhere. True shepherds lead point people to Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for the sheep. False shepherds will not take the sheep to the pasture. They lead them into destruction and death. A true shepherd leads the sheep into the pastures where Christ feeds them on his Word and Sacraments.
For the sheepfold is nothing other than the Church—and one gets into the Church through the door, Jesus Christ our Savior. The false shepherds are all those who lead the sheep anywhere other than to Jesus. Sure, some of those “false shepherds” are easy enough to spot. But most of them are “thieves and robbers”…and “thieves and robbers” are skilled at not being detected. They sneak and prowl to try to catch the sheep off guard. But as long as sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd…as long as they know the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, they don’t need to fear the false shepherds and Satan, the old prowling wolf who sends them in to do his dirty work.
The church of the apostles knew the voice of their shepherd. In our first reading it says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The apostles’ teaching…the doctrine of the apostles’ was what kept the church focused on Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, the one Peter called the “Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” The apostles’ teaching pointed the church to Jesus who dies on the cross to pay for sin…who rises on Easter morning to grant to us eternal life. You know the apostles’ teaching. You know that you need to be pointed to Jesus. You know to expect that from your pastors. You know to expect that from your church. Nothing should ever try to drag you from the sheepfold of Christ’s church. You know the voice of Jesus that says, “Your sin is forgiven.” You know the voice of Jesus that says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” You know the voice of Jesus that says, “I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for you…my sheep.”
The word “pastor” comes from a word that means, “shepherd.” That’s one of the pastor’s primary jobs…to shepherd the people. But every shepherd needs to know his place. He is to be a true shepherd, not a false shepherd. His job is to lead people to the Good Shepherd…the One and Only Shepherd, Jesus Christ. He is to point them to the cross where their sin is forgiven. He is to teach them the apostles’ teaching that keeps Christ crucified at the center of all things. He is to speak to them in the voice of Jesus…and he does that by telling them the promises that Jesus has given them. Sin forgiven…guilt taken away…death defeated. You, the sheep, know that voice. And you’d be wary to follow any other.
I read a story recently about a father who bought his two-year old daughter a small aquarium with a couple of fish in it. After about a week, the daughter found one of the fish dead in the branches of a little plastic tree inside the aquarium. The father was at work, so Mom and daughter took the fish out and buried it in the back yard and had a funeral for it. When they called Dad at the office, the little girl got on the phone with her father to say, “Daddy, please keep me from getting caught in the bushes.”
A cute little story that rings all too true…branches…or thieves and robbers seeking to catch the sheep and steal them away from the Good Shepherd. There is after all really only one Shepherd…our only Shepherd is Jesus Christ our Lord who calls us by name in our Baptism, in the forgiveness of sins and we follow. He appoints others…pastors…to shepherd his people while on earth…and they call forth with the voice of the Good Shepherd…with the apostles’ teaching…feeding them with the breaking of bread. The sheep know that voice. You know that voice. It’s the voice of your Shepherd and your Master…calling you to forgiveness and protecting you from all that would harm you in this world. In Jesus’ name…Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
