Misericordias Domini (Easter 3), 2024

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. John 10:11-16

Misericordias Domini

April 14, 2024

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

The Christian religion, the Church, and the Christian faith, to use an analogy, may be rightly compared to a sheepfold or a flock of sheep. We are brought into this holy religion, this Church, and we come to faith not by our own efforts or flexing of the will or works. Because we believe that we cannot, by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him. Rather, it is the Holy Spirit, Who has called each and every one of us by the Gospel, enlightened us with His gifts, sanctified—that is, makes us holy—and keeps us in the one true faith.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in this one true faith. We are not the only Christians on earth. We are joined together and united with other Christian believers throughout the world and throughout time and history in the Holy Communion. There are other sheep that Jesus has that are not of this fold; them also He brings, and they also hear His voice. Thus, there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Just as there will be one flock, so also, there is only one true Shepherd of this flock. I am not the shepherd. Though the office I fill is that of “undershepherd,” as St. Peter writes in his first epistle, yet, I am not the Shepherd. Pastors—undershepherds—are not good in and of themselves, nor are they called to be the Good Shepherd because they can’t be. Pastors are sinful. All pastors fail at times. This is why Jesus can call Himself and only Himself the Good Shepherd. We are all part of His flock by grace. He is our Good Shepherd on account of what He has done for us in dying and rising again.

We do not join His flock by our own goodness or righteousness. Just as little lambs are born into a flock, so also are we born into the flock of the Good Shepherd. This happens when we are born again of water and of the Spirit in Holy Baptism. This flock, what we call “The Church,” is a place of refuge and protection. Our Good Shepherd defends us from the adversaries and foes that seek to destroy and consume us. Just as foxes, coyotes, and wolves seek to pick off and feast on the lone sheep who strays from the fold, so also does the devil madly seek our overthrow. But as long as we are in this fold, as long as we remain in the Faith, he cannot harm us.

Now, of course, we know that sheep are not the smartest of animals. Sometimes, they stray from the fold. They want to do their own thing, go their own way. Often, it’s just out of ignorance because again, sheep aren’t all that smart. The same is true for us. I’m not saying we’re not smart or dumb or something, but we often are prone to thinking that we know more than we do. We sometimes think we’ll be ok if we don’t make Church a priority, when we don’t take care and time to learn our doctrine and what we actually believe—meditating on Scripture, brushing up on the Small Catechism, praying, and the like. We’re prone to thinking that we’ll be ok, that we can take on the devil by ourselves. But we are not as equipped in our faith or strong or trusting as we think we are. Sometimes, we stray from the fold. And often times we do this willingly, by giving into sins that we know we should not be doing. Sin separates us from the fold. Sin separates us from God. Giving in to sin willingly is the most dangerous thing we as sheep can do because when we stray from the place of God’s harbor, of His protection, then we become easy targets for the devil. Sometimes our courage faints. Sometimes it seems as though the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh will triumph and we are prone to anxiety and despair. But we need not despair because we have a Good Shepherd Who seeks to restore us to His fold, time and time again. He does this because we belong to Him. In sheepfolds, sheep are protected, fed, safe and sound from all adversaries, from foxes, coyotes, and wolves.

Because our Good Shepherd brings us in, He will continually, time after time, take our cause into Himself. Because of this, we ought to be of good cheer. He avenges our wrongs; leave it to Him. God’s Word is true. Nothing against us will or can prevail. The hymn of the day sings that our enemies’ might and power is “A joke, a mere façade! God is with us and we with God—our vict’ry cannot fail.” God, in Christ Jesus, remains true to us, even we fall, even when we fail, even when we stray from His love. He fights for us over and over again.

This is exactly why He is the Good Shepherd. This is why He alone is Good. Now what does “good,” in this sense truly mean, other than the opposite of “bad”? Because sometimes, often, when this word for “good” comes up in the Bible, it is meant as if something is “good,” then it is “attractive in outward appearance, beautiful, handsome, fine,” and we simply gloss over it, “Well yeah, I know Jesus is good. Of course He’s good.” But again, this is one of those cases where it’s important that we understand this little word because it shows us and it helps us understand the nature and work of Christ. So in this case, in this sense, the word “good” really doesn’t mean “attractive in outward appearance, beautiful, handsome, or fine.” Of course, this is true, but it really doesn’t fit. What “good” means here, in the case of the Good Shepherd, is that Jesus is the “Useful Shepherd; the Blameless Shepherd; the Excellent Shepherd; the Competent Shepherd.” This is because He is not a hireling, He is not a hired hand who doesn’t own the sheep, who sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. Rather, Jesus owns the sheep. He owns us. We are His. Though He doesn’t own us as slaves, but as His beloved. Jesus sees the wolf coming, He sees the devil stalking around, outside the Church, tempting us day and night in order to lure us away from His flock and meets him head on in battle. Jesus meets our satanic foe at the cross and lays down His life for the sheep. This is why He is Good. This is why He is competent, because He is the only one Who can do it. Though the devil struck His heel, Jesus crushed his head.

The devil tempted Eve to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit so that he could have a chance to take a bite out of God’s sheep. But instead, Jesus intervened and laid down His life for His sheep. The devil, in his pride and arrogance smote the Shepherd and the sheep scattered. But three days later, the devil lied there, his teeth broken, and Jesus gathers us together once again. He calls to us once again, despite our arrogance, despite our love for our sins, despite our pride and our desire to do things our own way, to go our own way. He calls to us once again, on this new day, the eighth day, the day of new creation, this day when we again, celebrate His victory over sin, death, and the devil. He calls to us and we hear His voice. As the Father knows Him, even so, He knows the Father, we hear His voice and know Him and are beckoned to come home to Him.

In +Jesus’ name.