Jesus doesn’t call Himself “a good shepherd.” No, He calls Himself “THE Good Shepherd.” He is unique; no one else is like Him. And the sheep of the Good Shepherd’s flock don’t belong to just any old shepherd. They belong to the God who became man, Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd Himself.
Jesus knows His sheep. He knows who they are. And He knows what makes them tick; after all, He is the Creator. The transcendent God, who lives in that unapproachable light that no one can enter, became a man. He became our brother. He knows our weaknesses, for He felt them. He knows our sins, for he suffered because of them. He knows what we are like.
But more than that, Jesus knows us as His sheep. Did you notice that Jesus didn’t say, “I know the sheep”? No, He said, “I know MY sheep.” That’s because the sheep of the Good Shepherd belong to Jesus. They are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
The flock is His because God chose them to be His own. Now, someone doesn’t become a part of Christ’s flock because of his own initiative. A sheep doesn’t infiltrate himself into Jesus’ flock. No, God the Father chooses them and gives them to Jesus.
That’s why Jesus says:
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. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand (John 10:27-29).
Jesus calls Himself the “Good Shepherd,” and calls those whom the Holy Spirit has brought into the Church “His sheep.” A sheep’s connection to his shepherd is like the Christian’s connection to Christ. A shepherd leads His sheep to wholesome pasture, where they eat nourishing grass and drink clean water.
So for us, what is our pasture, where our Good Shepherd feeds us? It is the Word of God and the Sacraments of Christ. The pure and wholesome Word of God is our daily bread. When we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, we receive the spiritual food that Jesus gives us for eternal life.
But we would do well to consider these facts about sheep. Sheep aren’t the brightest animals in the animal kingdom. They don’t have reliable judgment. For sheep are followers and they’ll follow another sheep straight into danger. That’s what sheep do, for they don’t know any better.
But sheep do have sharp and discriminating hearing. Oh, they may be too stupid to realize that following another sheep may bring them to ruin, down some jagged ravine. But sheep can learn to recognize the voice of their shepherd, to recognize it from other voices.
A Christian is like a sheep. And like a sheep, he is not naturally smart–at least when it comes to what is spiritual. For we are, by nature, spiritually foolish. Most of our foolishness revolves around not recognizing our foolishness for what it is. Even more, it’s our own spiritual folly that causes most of our spiritual problems.
If left on our own, we will follow one another into faith-killing ways of life. We are like sheep, after all. That’s why the Good Shepherd must teach us. Whenever people come up with their own version of “spirituality,” you can know that it’s wrong in some way, just like a sheep choosing his own way to go.
Religious people often confuse morality with spirituality. They think that if they follow certain, accepted rules, which is what morality is, they will find true peace with God. By this, they think they will know God. By doing what is within their abilities, they think that they can somehow connect themselves to God.
But such thinking and reasoning is wrong. Now, to us, our works contributing in some way to our salvation just makes sense. It makes sense because of our inborn, spiritual blindness. That’s why all world religions–except the true Christian faith–essentially are the same. They all promote salvation by works. They all reject that, on our own, we are spiritually helpless. They all teach that, in some way, our salvation depends on ourselves, on what we do and do not do.
If that were true, then we wouldn’t need the Good Shepherd. But we do need Him! We need Him to lay down His life for us. We need Him to rise from the dead. We need Him to speak to us, and we need to hear what He says.
So, how do you know if you are a sheep of the Good Shepherd? You hear His voice. Jesus said, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).
The “other sheep” are the Gentiles who had not yet heard the Gospel. Jesus was born a Jew; He was even the King of the Jews, fulfilling the promise of King David’s line. He came to be Salvation for the whole world, not just the Jews. All the sheep of the Good Shepherd’s flock are there on the same terms–they hear His voice.
But what does it mean to hear the Shepherd’s voice? It means that they literally hear it. It means for Christians who are not deaf, who can hear, that they hear the spoken Word. They go to where the Word of God is preached in its purity. They listen, and they pay attention to what they hear.
Choosing not to hear the proclaimed Word, to ignore the preached Word, is the same as ignoring the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus. For that is how He still speaks to His flock today. Can you not see the sin one chooses when he chooses not to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd?
To hear the Shepherd’s voice also means to believe it. To hear doesn’t simply mean to have sound waves striking your ear drums. It also means to believe what you hear. So, the Shepherd tells His sheep that He lays down His life for them–and they believe it! They believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead for them. They believe that Jesus did this to take away their sins and give them eternal life.
Christians believe everything God says–but their faith especially focuses on God’s love, shown to them on the cross. They trust everything that God says. But their trust especially focuses on the promise of the forgiveness of all their sins, which the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ gives to His sheep.
The sheep of the Good Shepherd aren’t supposed to listen to the voices of other shepherds. They are to hear the truth that comes from Jesus. That’s why Christians need to be trained to hear the voice of their Good Shepherd. For if not, how can they avoid those who preach and teach what is false? If not, what is false and dangerous can lead them astray into eternal death.
To hear the Shepherd’s voice also means to follow where His voice leads them. And the Shepherd’s voice that promises forgiveness of sins also directs them on to paths of living that will keep them safe from spiritual harm.
The Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep does not foist on them a burden they cannot bear. He leads them gently. He doesn’t beat them with a rod. After all, He is the Good Shepherd. “God is faithful. He won’t allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. Instead, with the temptation, he will also provide a way out, so you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). That’s what God promises, even if the way out may be death to bring you into His eternal presence.
Jesus may demand that you travel a different road than the crowd. For sheep–being the foolish creatures that they are–all-too easily follow others into danger. The Christian needs to know this. Why? So he will follow His Good Shepherd, even when the crowd is taking another road, even if the crowd may include your friends.
We may not know exactly where our Good Shepherd is leading us. But this we do know: We do know the path to take! For when it comes to our faith, we don’t listen to any old voice; no, we listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. Rely on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. For that is why, before God in heaven, you are washed clean of your filthy sins with the blood of Jesus.
We hear the Gospel and, like sheep crying out for water, we cry out to hear more of the Gospel. For on this side of eternity, we never stop sinning, and so we never stop needing God’s forgiveness. That’s why we never outgrow our need to hear our Good shepherd’s voice, who gave His life for His sheep.
When it comes to our life, God sets the standards. He tells us what is valuable and what is not. He set up the boundaries of what love does and does not do. And then, the One who loved us from eternity, who chose us to be His own, who patiently suffered for us to take all our sin away, shows us how to love.
The Holy Spirit whom Christ has sent, who brought you to faith in the waters of baptism, will pour such love into your heart. This love defines your life. This love even makes all that God has given you to do worth doing.
Yet, when your love falls short, the love of the Good Shepherd cannot–and does not fall short! So, listen to the voice that preaches the love of Jesus to you. Rely on it. For such are the ways of the Good Shepherd. Amen.
