John 10:11-18 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
The Fourth Sunday of Easter Sunday, April 25, 2021 “Connected to the Shepherd”
It’s déjà vu all over again. Maybe you have heard that quote said to have been spoken by baseball great Yogi Berra, who was also famous for having many interesting and humorous quotes. He clearly noticed that things somehow seemed to repeat themselves, so he described the situation that way, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” Of course, the reason that quote is lighthearted and fun is that déjà vu is in and of itself the feeling that you have experienced something before. It’s redundant to say “déjà vu all over again.” I wonder whether we sometimes look at things that way, perhaps even in our church services and church year. Every single year, though some of the details change as to how we do it, we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus and several months later celebrate Easter. I am definitely not complaining. In fact, thank God that we do celebrate these holidays year after year. But perhaps sometimes it feels repetitive. It feels like we have done this before. We might even think to ourselves, “What Easter was that” when a certain something happened? Or “What Christmas was that?” It’s déjà vu all over again. We celebrate Jesus’ birth and his life and his resurrection. Some weeks after Easter, you may have noticed, we celebrate Jesus being our Good Shepherd. We observe Good Shepherd Sunday. I suppose you could even make the case that every Sunday could become a bit of “It’s déjà vu all over again” because every Sunday does, or at least it should, share this same good news of salvation in Jesus. There seems to be a lot of this “It’s déjà vu all over again” connected to our Savior’s words to us from John 10 this Good Shepherd Sunday. He tells us that he is a shepherd who knows his sheep. And when he speaks that way about people like you and me, that is saying something. The fact that he knows his sheep means that he knows how much like sheep we can be and often are. He knows our sins. He knows how often for us it is déjà vu all over again as we fall into the same selfish habits, continue in the same destructive sins, have the same frustrations, the same foolish and ungrateful attitudes. We are just like sheep that love to wander, sheep that would be completely helpless on their own and without a shepherd. But Jesus doesn’t just know this about us. He knows it and he loves us anyway. In fact, when Jesus says that he knows us, he is saying something much stronger than that he is aware of us. He compares his knowing his sheep to the Father knowing him and him knowing the Father. This is a loving attitude. He knows his sheep because he wants to know them, because he loves them. Not because they are so lovable, but because he is so loving! He is truly a Good Shepherd! And having a truly good and loving Shepherd is an amazing thing. It is different than having a hired hand, a hired man in charge of the sheep. The one who doesn’t truly love the sheep is going to put his own interests over theirs. He is going to run away from danger and leave the sheep in that danger. He’s going to be motivated by other factors than his care and concern for the sheep. He is simply looking to make his money. Unfortunately, the people of Israel had a history of such hired hands. So many of their kings, whom God had instructed to care for the people both physically and spiritually, had led them into evil and toward danger instead. Too many religious leaders throughout history had allowed the sheep to wander into danger and didn’t warn them of the risks. Our first and second lessons today spoke about how important it is to the Good Shepherd that those whom he puts in a position in his flock care about that flock the same way that he does. And he proved just how much he cared for the sheep by laying down his life for them. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. . . I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . And I lay down my life for the sheep.” And if it seems like déjà vu for the death of Jesus to be brought up once again, that is with incredibly good reason. Jesus predicted his death for his disciples several times. And he did so because his death was so important for them. His death was and is the reason that their sins are forgiven, the reason that they are indeed safe with him. The Good Shepherd dies for his sheep. He takes their sins on himself and suffers the consequences. He offers his pure, innocent, holy blood to wash sins clean. He makes with them the great exchange where his righteousness and holiness becomes the possession of his people, and in exchange he receives their sins and the