Pastor Timothy Patoka 4 Sunday of Easter: Good Shepherd Sunday; May 12, 2019 Simply Safe John 10:22-30 th
1) Because Of Who Jesus Is 2) Because Of What Jesus Gives Today is Mother’s Day, the day when we celebrate and give thanks to our mothers who give so much of their time and love to their children. Perhaps you plan to celebrate it with a reservation at her favorite restaurant. Maybe you’re going simpler and just plan to do something in house. Or maybe you didn’t know it was Mother’s Day until now and all of a sudden you’re thinking about what you can do after the service to let your mom know that you care about her. But no matter how you’re celebrating it, Mother’s Day is a big day in our country because it’s when we thank our mothers for all that they done and given to us. Today is also Good Shepherd Sunday. While this Sunday may only be observed in Christian churches, it is a big day for us as it’s when we see our Savior in one of his beloved roles – as our loving shepherd who watches over us and gives us far more than what we sheep need or deserve. While there are many ways we could talk about Jesus being our Good Shepherd, what we’re going to focus on this morning is the assured feeling that we are simply safe. And we get that assured feeling first because of who Jesus truly is and second because of what Jesus gives us. 1) Because Of Who Jesus Is We find Jesus in Jerusalem celebrating the Festival of Dedication, or as it’s better known to us, the Festival of Hanukkah. There are a lot of people in Jerusalem for Hanukkah and many of them already knew about Jesus. Some even thought him to be the Christ, the Savior that God promised from the Old Testament. Sadly many of them had the wrong idea about the Christ and what he would do. They were looking for a hero to restore independence to the Jewish nation and lead them to the glory days of King David. Not someone to save them from their sins. Evidently, there were some Jews who wanted to know what Jesus thought about himself, if Jesus thought he himself was the prophesied Christ. So they asked him, “‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I am doing in my Father’s name testify about me’” (John 10:24-25). Jesus knew he was the Christ and had already told people as such. And if that wasn’t enough, he also did a number of miraculous works to further support his identity. I did some looking in the first 9 chapters of John’s Gospel to see how many times Jesus said and did these things. By my count, there were 12 times that it was done in words. Usually it’s Jesus doing it where he calls himself the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, or the Christ himself. Sometimes it’s other people, like John the Baptist who called him the Lamb of God who would 1
Pastor Timothy Patoka 4 Sunday of Easter: Good Shepherd Sunday; May 12, 2019 be sacrificed for our sins as lambs were typically sacrificed in the Old Testament worship life. When it comes to miraculous works, I counted 9. You have the wedding at Cana where Jesus changed the water into wine, the Sea of Galilee where he walked on water, a handful of healings, and some other things. th
All these words and actions point us to what Jesus said about himself in John chapter 10 – he is the Christ! He is the promised Savior! But he wasn’t going to be a political Savior like what the people wanted. Rather he was going to be the Savior we need due to sin, to save us from a problem far worse than any government or living conditions. But do you know who alone gets this? It’s his sheep, the ones who are under Jesus’ watch and care, only those who call Jesus the Christ, their Savior. If a person doesn’t agree with this, then they are not his sheep and they will suffer eternal doom because of that. That is a strong statement, to say that only those who believe in Jesus for salvation are called his sheep. We live in a politically correct world that goes out of its way to be accommodating to all people. And when Jesus says that only those who are his sheep are going to eternal life, there’s a clear line that’s drawn in the sand. On the one side are those who have faith: believers, Jesus’ sheep. On the other side are those without faith: unbelievers, the goats (borrowing from Matthew 25). Our sinful world would like to accommodate to all people by lowering the requirements to be one of Jesus’ sheep. It would like to say that a person can be a sheep provided they at least respect Jesus. It would like to say that people with Christian background or Christian association, even if it’s not current, are among Jesus’ sheep. Perhaps it’s not just from the world you hear such things. Maybe there are some within your family who say such things. Perhaps you wonder it yourself. We get ourselves into eternal trouble when we take what the Bible says about faith in Jesus being a requirement to be his sheep and switch to faith about Jesus. And the sad part is that if a person falls out of faith, they are falling out of Jesus’ sheepfold and away from his blessings. While we do not budge on faith being a requirement to be one of Jesus’ sheep, we can take comfort in the assurance of who Jesus says he is. He is the Christ! The promised Savior! His words and actions proved it before Jesus celebrated Hanukkah in John chapter 10. And they continued to prove it in the later episodes of his life. When Jesus was on trial before the Jewish ruling council,(right after he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot in the Garden of Gethsemane), Jesus had lived a perfect life. Not a single wrong could be credited to his case. That’s why the corrupt religious leaders had to bring in false witnesses to make up crimes that Jesus never committed. Only the Christ could live such a perfect life. The sole charge they could place on him was this. “The high priest said to [Jesus], ‘I place you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘[Yes,] it is as you have said’” (Matthew 26:63-64a). On the cross, Jesus did what only the Christ could do – he gave his life to pay the price for our sins as the Lamb of God. It was also there where he said, “It is finished” 2
Pastor Timothy Patoka 4 Sunday of Easter: Good Shepherd Sunday; May 12, 2019 (John 19:30)! His mission to win our salvation was done. And then he rose from the dead to show us that what he did and said is the truth – he alone is the Christ! th
If you’re wondering if this Christ is your Good Shepherd, if you are one of his beloved sheep, ask yourself this: do you believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the promised Savior, who lived a perfect life, died an innocent death, and rose from the dead to free you from your sins? If your answer is yes, then I have good news for you. Jesus is your Good Shepherd. You are one of his sheep who is simply safe because of who Jesus is. 2) Because Of What Jesus Gives You are also simply safe because of what Jesus gives. After telling the Jews in Jerusalem what makes a person one of his sheep, he goes to list 3 blessings the Good Shepherd gives to his sheep. “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). The first blessing is that the sheep know and are known by their Good Shepherd. The second blessing is that the sheep have an eternal life to look forward to. And the third blessing is that no one will steal Jesus’ sheep away from him. Now how can these 3 blessings make us feel simply safe? Let me explain. First, because we know our Good Shepherd, we know that Jesus is also the Christ who has taken away our sins. And he knows us because he has personally given his forgiveness to us. Second, because we have an eternal life in heaven to look forward to, death need not make us afraid because we know what will happen after we close our eyes one last time. Third, because we will never be stolen away from Jesus’ hand, nothing and no one can overpower Jesus and enact their will on him. As long as Christ stands with us, we are unbeatable. But life in this world may not always seem simply safe. We have real and tiring responsibilities, put up with physical pains and emotional highs and lows, stress when people wish us evil so they can get ahead of us. We can even feel a lack of safety in these same blessings that our Good Shepherd promises to us. If God knows me, then he knows all the wrongs I have done, even the ones that no one else knows about. If I have an eternal life waiting for me, why do I still fear death or get so attached to things in this temporary world? If no one can steal me from Jesus’ hand, then why does it feel like I’m on a slippery slope to fall out of Jesus’ sheepfold and to fall away from his blessings? Living in a sinful world can have us doubt the very blessings that God gives to us and can tempt us to think that we would find better safety in the here and now of this world instead of in God. Don’t let your emotions or doubts tear you away from the status and blessings you have as one of Jesus’ sheep. Rather go to God’s Word and listen to what he says to you in black and white. Not only will you review what God blesses you with so that you can feel simply safe, but 3
Pastor Timothy Patoka 4 Sunday of Easter: Good Shepherd Sunday; May 12, 2019 you will also review who it is that’s giving you these blessings. It’s not just God the Son. As Jesus tells us, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:29-30). If it wasn’t enough to receive these promises from God the Son, we also have them from God the Father. God isn’t going to lie to you or promise something that he deliver on. If he says that he will bless his sheep so that they can feel simply safe, he will. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been his sheep for 100 years or 100 minutes. If you are his, he is yours. If you are his sheep, he is your Good Shepherd. th
As much as we may give praise and thanks to our mothers on this Mother’s Day for all they have done for us, we give even more to our Lord who makes us simply safe. That is due to who Jesus is. He is the Christ as attested with his words and actions. No one else can be our Savior or give us the assurance that we have salvation. Those who call Jesus the Christ and believe in him for salvation are privileged to be among the beloved sheep who the Good Shepherd cares for. And as his sheep, our Good Shepherd and God the Father help us feel simply safe with their blessings of comforting knowledge, eternal life, and divine protection. As you leave here this morning, I encourage you to take a look at the stained glass window that’s over our balcony. It’s there you’ll see an artistic representation of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Let that stained glass window not only have you thank God for allowing it to beautify our sanctuary, but let it also remind you that your Good Shepherd is with you and blessing you wherever you go. Amen.
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