Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - Jn 16:5-15

 

   Easter 5

                                                                                                            Jn 16:5-15

                                                                                                            5/3/26

 

            Last Sunday, today, and for the next two Sundays, the Gospel lessons for this time in the season of Easter are taken from John chapters 15 and 16. These are words that Jesus spoke to the disciples after the Last Supper on the night when he was betrayed. We hear them during Easter because Jesus speaks about what is about to happen after his death – the time that we are now celebrating.

            Last Sunday Jesus said, “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me.”  The Lord told them that while they would weep and lament and the world would rejoice.  He was speaking about what was going to happen in his crucifixion and burial.  But then he explained, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” The disciples could not understand it yet, but Jesus said that after his death and burial he would rise from the dead. The disciples would see the risen Lord. They would rejoice because Christ had defeated death and demonstrated that the cross had been means by which God has given the forgiveness of sins.

            In our text for today, Jesus is again speaking about what will happen after his death. But this time he refers to something that will happen after his resurrection. He describes how he will return to the Father. And while this may sound like a bad thing, he explains that it is instead a good thing for them – and for us.

            Jesus begins our text this morning by saying, “Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”  Our Lord announces that he is going to be leaving.

            Christ repeatedly declared that he had come down from heaven and that the Father had sent him.  In chapter six he said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” Then he added, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” John frames the events of the Last Supper in terms of Jesus returning to the Father when he writes: “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

            Christ says that he is going to the One who sent him, and he acknowledges in our text: “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” The disciples didn’t want to hear that Jesus would be leaving them.  Jesus speaks about his ascension that took place forty days after Easter.  In this event Christ withdrew his visible presence as he was exalted to the right hand of God.

            The disciples experienced sorrow because Jesus said that he was leaving them and returning to the Father who had sent him.  For that matter, so do we. We often think that we would be better off if Jesus was still here with us in the way that he was during is earthly ministry.

            But in our text, Jesus corrects any such idea. He says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” The Lord says that it is actually better for us that he goes away. The reason this is so is that only by returning to the Father can he send the Helper.

            Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as the Helper. This is a difficult term to translate. Sometimes it is left as the Greek word Paraclete. It is also translated as “Encourager,” “Counselor,” and “Comforter.” All of these capture some aspect of the word. The Spirit is the One who is going to help, encourage, and comfort the Church.

            The Lord explains how it is necessary for him to go away so that he can send the Spirit. This necessity is located in the very nature of God’s working. The Father sent forth the Son as he was incarnate by the work of the Spirit. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the incarnation. The Father sent forth the Son in the fulness of time in order carry out his saving will.

            We now understand that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was here in order to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil. He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world in his sacrificial death on the cross. The holy God could not simply ignore sin. He is, after all, the just God. And so the Father sent the Son to receive his judgment against sin in our place. Jesus cried out “It is finished” as he was dying on the cross because in his death he accomplished this work the Father had given him to do.

            It was sin that brought death for Adam and for all who have followed him. Jesus was here to overcome all that sin had caused. And so on the third day he rose from the dead. Jesus had said, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” The charge – the command – the Son had received did not simply involve his death.  It also included the resurrection as he defeated death.

            Jesus accomplished this. But that was not the end of God’s saving work. Instead God’s work continued in a way that reflected his own nature. The Lord tells us that as the Son it was necessary for him to return to the Father. Then as One exalted to the right hand of God he would send forth the Spirit.

            Christ has now done this. Forty days after Easter he ascended in his return to the Father. He withdrew his visible presence. And then ten days later on Pentecost, Christ poured forth the Spirit. He sent the Helper.

            Now as I stated earlier, we are probably inclined to disagree with Jesus. We think it would be better if he had stayed here. But Christ tells us that we are wrong. Not only is his departure part of God’s plan of salvation, but it is better for us.

            We think that our experience of Christ’s work is diminished by his ascension. But as you sit here in Marion this morning, do you really think you would be better off if Jesus had not ascended and returned to the Father? The resurrection appearances of Jesus in the New Testament all continue to be located in one place at a time. He is with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He is in the locked room with the disciples on the evening of Easter, and a week later when Thomas is present. He is with 500 believers at one time. He is with the seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee. Each time we hear about his appearance in one place.

            You aren’t located in Israel. How would we be with the risen Lord if things still worked in the way it did after his resurrection? Would we all go to Israel? Would it be necessary for everyone person in the world who believes in Jesus to go to Israel? That sounds pretty crowded.

            Instead in the economy of God the Son has returned to the Father, and sent forth the Spirit. The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. He is the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Spirit is the presence of Christ with his Church in all places. He is the presence of the Father’s saving work in Christ.  No longer is the saving work of the incarnate Lord limited to one place.  Instead, the work of Christ goes on everywhere the Spirit is present. Christ and his saving power is present everywhere his word is proclaimed – more on that in a moment.

In our text Jesus states that when he returns to the Father he will send the Spirit. Then he says, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

The Spirit convicts the world of sin because to reject Jesus is to reject the forgiveness of sins. Jesus told the Jews who were opposing him, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

The Spirit convicts the world concerning righteousness because in his resurrection and ascension, Christ has demonstrated the truth that in him the saving action of God to put all things right has occurred. To reject Jesus is to reject God’s salvation.

And he convicts the world of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. Jesus announced during Holy Week, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Christ defeated the devil’s rule over a fallen world by his death on the cross when he won the forgiveness of sins. To reject Jesus is to remain under the devil’s power and receive the eternal judgment that will be his as well.

Thus far our Lord’s words about what the Spirit will do are call cast in the negative. But in the remainder of our text we hear about the positive side of the Spirit’s work, and what he means for us today.  Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

It was true that at that moment – on the night when Jeuss was betrayed - the disciples were not capable of hearing and understanding all that Jesus had to say. They could not yet fully understand who Jesus is and what he had come to do. They were not yet ready to understand the work in which he would use them. Only the death of Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter could begin to change this.

But that time would come, and when it did the Spirit would be the One who would be at work in giving them understanding.  He is the One who would use them to reveal Christ to others – to reveal him to you.

Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” The Lord says that the Spirit will guide them into all truth.  He will provide insight and understanding about who Jesus is; what he has done; and how he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

The Lord says, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” In this statement we gain critical insight into the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. His work is to glorify Jesus. It is to take what belongs to Jesus – the salvation that he has won for all – and to make it known to us.

The Spirit always points to Christ. The Spirit’s work is always focused on Christ. When people want to place great emphasis on the Spirit himself – when they want point to things they say the Spirit is doing in them such as speaking in tongues and make that the definition of a full and real Christian – they have lost sight of what the Spirit does. The Spirit never points to himself. He is always explaining Christ. He is always making Christ known.

In the previous chapter Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” The Spirit’s work is to bear witness about Jesus. And then the Lord added, “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Christ said that the apostles would be drawn into the work of the Spirit that bears witness to Jesus. We learn more about what this means when Jesus says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Christ – is the One who caused the apostles to remember and understand Jesus’ words. He did this as the apostles shared them – the very thing we are experiencing this morning. In the Gospel of John we encounter the work of the Spirit making Jesus known to us. This is true of all of the New Testament for it is the inspired word of God. The Spirit guided the authors in what was written. They are the Spirit produced word through which the Spirit continues to make Jesus known to us. There is no Spirit-less word when we are dealing with Scripture. The Spirit has given it through the apostles, and the Spirit is at work through it.

This means that the Spirit is the continuing presence of Christ’s saving work in our midst. We do not have to go to Israel to encounter the risen Lord. Instead, the ascended and exalted Lord is present and at work through his Spirit whom he sent. Wherever in the world his word is read and preached, he is present giving salvation. That is true this morning in Marion. It is true in South Sudan. It is true everywhere, for the work of the risen Lord is no longer limited by place.

You may be inclined to respond: “But not everyone believes this word in which the Spirit is at work.” To which I answer: “And how is that any different from the response that Jesus received during his earthly ministry?” Rejection occurs because fallen man is able to reject the salvation found Christ. They rejected it when Jesus was present performing miracles. They reject it now when the Spirit reveals those miracles in the Gospels. But none of that changes the fact that it is the same Lord at work, both then and now. The same power to create faith and bring salvation is present.

So what does this mean for you? It means you need to understand who is present in the word of God as it is read and preached. It is the Spirit of Christ, sent forth by the ascended and exalted Lord, who is creating and sustaining faith. It is the Spirit taking what belongs to Jesus and making it known to you. So read the Scriptures at home in your devotions each day. Come to the Divine Service to hear it read and proclaimed. Understand that it is your greatest treasure because there the Spirit sent by the Lord enables you to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, so that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - 1 Pet 2:11-20

 

   Easter 4

                                                                                                            1 Pet 2:11-20

                                                                                                            4/26/26

 

            In our text this morning, the apostle Peter calls the Christians in Asia Minor – what is today Turkey – “sojourners and exiles.” He began the letter by addressing them as the “elect exiles” and in the previous chapter he described how they should live “throughout the time of your exile.”

            Now it is clear that the majority of people whom he addresses are Gentiles. They are people who live in these areas – they aren’t foreigners who have been displaced. They are from places like Pontus, and Galatia, and Cappadocia, and Asia. That is their home.

            Yet Peter calls them “sojourners and exiles” because through baptism and faith they are now Christians. And this means that they are different. They no longer fit into the world. They are now separate and distinct as they belong to God. They don’t belong in the world, and that is going to be seen in the way they live.

            Peter’s words apply directly to you, because as Christians you are sojourners and exiles in this world. Now we need to be clear about what we mean by the term “world.”  Peter is not saying that that we are sojourners and exiles trapped in this physical creation. He is not saying that our goal is to escape our bodily existence and this material world because heaven is our real home.

            God made this material creation and declared it to be “very good.”  He created us as a unity of body and soul, and only in that way can be we what God intends. The ultimate proof of this is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Son of God became flesh – he became man and lived a bodily existence in this world. He did this not only to give us forgiveness, but also to free us from what sin had done to our bodily existence and creation itself.

            Instead, the term “world” describes the spiritual power that controls things. Since the disobedience of Adam this has been a fallen world. It has been a world ruled by the devil – a place of sin and death. All people are conceived as those who are spiritually dead and enemies of God. We enter into this world as people for whom the devil is lord.

            Yet in his love, God did not abandon us and leave us there – trapped in sin and under the lordship of the devil. Instead, he acted in his Son, Jesus Christ. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, he is true God and true man. By his death on the cross he freed us from sin. Peter says in the previous chapter that “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

            This action by God in Christ is his end time saving work. Peter says, “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

            We are celebrating during the season of Easter that God did raise Jesus from the dead. In Christ’s resurrection God defeated death and began the resurrection that we will experience when Jesus returns in glory. Peter begins this letter by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

            Through the work of the Spirit you have been born again. Peter says that “you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” He did this through the preached word of the Gospel.  And he did this through the water and the word of Holy Baptism. It is to this action by God that Peter calls our attention when he says bluntly: “Baptism now saves you.”

            And so in the verses immediately preceding our text Peter says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

            That is what you are.  You are a chosen race; a royal a priesthood; a holy nation; a people for his own possession. God called you out of the darkness of sin and the devil’s lordship. And now Jesus is your Lord. You belong to him. He ransomed you from sin by his death and resurrection.  His Spirit gave you the washing of rebirth and regeneration in baptism.

            And so, you belong to God. You are his. To die is to be with Christ. If Christ does not return first, you will die. But that will not be the end of your body. Instead, on the Last Day Christ will return in glory to raise your body and transform it to be like his.

            Because of Christ you are different. And in our text, Peter lays out some of what this now means for you. He says, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

            Peter warns us to abstain from the passions of the flesh.  Certainly this includes all disordered desires that are contrary to God’s will. A little later in the letter we get a few more details about what this involved as he says, “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

            Sex and alcohol are clearly in view here. Then, just as now, they often went together. The apostle says that Christians are going to be different from the world. It’s not surprising that sexual conduct is a recurring topic of discussion in the New Testament. Christ’s apostles proclaimed an understanding of sex that was completely different from the Greco-Roman world.

            Scripture does not teach that sex is bad. Quite the opposite, it was part of the very good world God created.  He made man as male and female. He formed Eve from Adam as the helper who corresponded to him – the one without whom things weren’t very good. Jesus taught that God instituted marriage as the one flesh union of man and woman. We learn in Genesis: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

            And in fact, God commanded husband and wife to have sex.  He established the one flesh union of husband and wife to produce children and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.”  Sex is good. It is the physical expression of the spiritual reality that exists before God. We have learned that biochemically it serves God’s purpose of creating and sustaining a bond between man and woman.   It is a necessary thing in marriage. And it serves the purpose of creating life from that union.

            But the fallen world takes this blessing and perverts it in every possible way. In the first century world it was considered completely normal that a man would have sex with his female slaves. It was normal that he would have sex with a prostitute if we wasn’t wealthy enough to have female slaves. It was normal for a man to use a boy for sex. The only real limit was that it was shameful for a man to be on the receiving end from another man. The claim that the ancient world widely accepted homosexuality as it is practiced today – a sexual relationship between two men who are equals – is nonsense.

            In the face of this Christ’s apostles proclaimed that sex was only to be shared by a husband and wife in marriage. Only this was true to God’s will. And any other practice is sin that brings God’s judgment. Paul told the Corinthians: “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

            Peter reminds us this morning that because of Christ and his Spirit we are sojourners and exiles. We are different from the world and so we look at things differently from the world. Once again, just as in Peter’s day, the world says that people can use sex however they want. The world assumes that people who are dating will have sex. It assumes that people will live together before they are married. It assumes the use of pornography. It assumes that homosexuality is normal and acceptable.

And here things today are actually worse than the first century because at least it did not accept homosexuality as it exists today. The first century absolutely didn’t believe the absurdity that two men or two women could be married. And it never would have imagined that a same sex couple would have children as a “family.”

The world doesn’t just assume these things. It expects them.  It promotes them in every possible means through what we see, hear, and read. If you don’t act in these ways, you will stand out. You will be the subject of jokes and mocking. If you speak publicly the truth of God’s word about these things you will be attacked.

Peter addressed these words to the Christians in Asia Minor because this presented a great challenge. We need to hear them because we face a great challenge as well. So I say to all of you – but especially to the young people – save sex for marriage. Don’t make sex part of dating, and don’t live together before marriage. Not only is this sinful, but when you don’t do things the way God created them to work it vastly increases likelihood that it will not turn out well for you. There is so much research that demonstrates this. It’s really hard to go against the way God ordered his creation to work.

I say to all of you – don’t use pornography. Jesus meant it when he said, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Pornography is addictive. It rewires the brain. It will bring harm to you and to your relationships.

The need to take actions that confess the truth about God’s gift of sex occur in the setting of family. We cannot say that living together is sinful, and then interact with the couple as if nothing is wrong. More broadly we cannot say that homosexuality is sinful, and then attend a wedding for a homosexual couple. And to bring this closer to home, we cannot say that living together is sinful and then attend the wedding of a couple that is doing so. Such a wedding does not do away with sin. Instead, having a wedding in the normal fashion while living together says that there was no sin for which couple needed to repent. And remember, where there is no repentance, there is no forgiveness.

We do this because of what God has made us to be in Christ. Earlier in this letter Peter says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” God has called us and made us holy in Christ. He has free us from sin. But as Peter says in our text, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

Living in God’s way and speaking the truth of his word will bring the world’s rejection and disdain. Yet Peter offers encouragement as he says, “But keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”  The world will condemn you now for doing what is right – for doing God’s will that he has revealed in his word. But our perspective is always framed by God’s end time action in Christ that we have already received, and which will reach its consummation on the Last Day.

Peter tells us that we act in ways that are true so that as those in the world see us doing this they will glorify God on the Last Day.  They will be confronted by the truth of the Gospel and the truth of God’s will. In an act of vindication they will have to to glorify God because you did what was right.

This morning Peter tells us that as Christians we are sojourners and exiles. We are different and don’t belong to a fallen world that is ruled by the devil. Instead in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God has given us forgiveness and called us to faith through the work of his Spirit. God has called us to be his chosen race chosen race; his royal priesthood; his holy nation; the people for his own possession.

Because God has done this, Jesus is our Lord. We are different from the world, and so we live in different ways – God’s ways. So abstain from fleshly lusts that wage war against the soul. And walk in the ways of the Lord for they are a blessing to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter - Jn 10:11-16

 

    Easter 3

                                                                                                                        Jn 10:11-16

                                                                                                                        4/19/26

 

 

            On Good Friday an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down while flying a mission over Iran. Both the pilot and the weapons system officer ejected. The pilot was rescued relatively quickly. The weapons system officer managed to evade capture. He climbed a ridge line and hid himself in a mountain crevice.

            And with that, the race was on as Iranian forces sought to capture the Air Force colonel. If they could do so, it would be huge propaganda coup. They would be able to torture, interrogate, and broadcast images of the American in order to humiliate the United States and use him as leverage in negotiations.

            The U.S. military set into a motion a massive operation in order to rescue the airman, whose call sign was Dude 44.  Armed forces members who face the possibility of being behind enemy lines and captured go through a training called SERE school – Search, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. As some of you know, my son recently graduated from SERE school. He couldn’t tell us much about the training. But one message he received there was clear: We will come and get you. No one is left behind.

            Those who took part in the mission were willing to risk their life in order to rescue Dude 44. Air Force A10 Warthog pilots and Army helicopter pilots flew in the midst of ground fire that damaged their aircraft. Special Forces soldiers fought to protect the pilot. Air Force Pararescue Jumpers helped to extract him – a force whose motto is, “That others may live.”

            This complete dedication to the mission, and a willingness to lay down one’s own life to save another is what we find in Jesus’ words this morning. Our Lord describes himself as the Good Shepherd. He says that he is the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

            Our text this morning finds Jesus in Jerusalem as he contends with the Pharisees.  He has just said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”  Our Lord described the nature of his mission. He was here to give spiritual sight to those who were blind in their sin. But those who thought they saw – who thought they had God all figured out – would find themselves blind in unbelief.

            Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. In their rejection of Jesus, they thought they saw matters correctly. But Jesus said that in their rejection of him, they were blind as they remained in the guilt of their sin.

            Jews like the Pharisees are rejecting Jesus. So in this chapter Jesus uses the metaphor of a shepherd to describe his action, and the response of those who are being saved. At the beginning of this chapter he says, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” 

            Jesus called you by name.  He did it in Holy Baptism as the pastor said your name and poured water on you with the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Through the work of his Spirit, Christ has called you to faith. This recognition of the Good Shepherd’s voice is not something that you worked in yourself. Instead, it was God’s action to save you. Earlier Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

            When we hear language like this, it is natural that our minds begin to turn to the question of those who don’t believe – those who think they see yet are blind like the Pharisees. But this is to ignore the reason that Jesus speaks these words to us.  It is meant to comfort you.

            Now there is no doubt that God wants to save all people. He learn in chapter three, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” God’s purpose in Christ is to save all. And there is no doubt that Christ died for all. John says in his first epistle, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

            The only answer you will find in Scripture for why people don’t believe is their own sin and fallenness.  We know that people are able to harden their own heart against the Gospel. We also know that like Pharaoh, God can harden people in this condition as they set themselves against God.

            But what we need to realize is that language about hearing Jesus’ voice – the voice of the Good Shepherd – is not meant to give an answer to our question about why some and not others. That is in fact an answer that only God can understand. Instead, this language is meant to comfort you with the knowledge that God has called you to faith. You hear Christ’s word and believe him because God has called you as his own.  Jesus says later in this chapter, “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.”

            Jesus describes himself as the shepherd whose voice the sheep hear. He is the one whom they then follow. So what is this shepherd like? Our Lord says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Jesus calls himself the “good” shepherd, and then explains whey he is good. He is good because he lays down his life for the sheep.

            In our text, Jesus contrasts the good shepherd with the hired hand. The one who does not own the sheep has no investment in them. Watching the sheep is simply a job – it is a way to get a paycheck. And so when there is a threat like a wolf, he abandons the sheep. He doesn’t care about the sheep.

            Jesus is the good shepherd. He is the good shepherd because he does not abandon the sheep. Instead, he loves and cares for them as those who are his own. Christ says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

            Those who took part in the mission to rescue Dude 44 were dedicated to saving him. However, almost none of them knew this individual. They didn’t know whether he was a great guy or a complete jerk.  All they knew was that there was an American service member in danger and so they were going to do everything in their power to save him.

            Jesus did everything to save us. He lay down his life. But unlike those who took part in the rescue mission in Iran, he knew exactly what kind of people we were.  St Paul told the Romans, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

            Jesus knew that we are sinners who reject God all the time. We put our interests ahead of God. He gets the leftovers of our time, attention, and money. After we have looked out for ourselves, then maybe there is some left over for him. We put our interests ahead of our spouse, family, and neighbors. I am going to take care of me first, and then others can have some of what is left.

            Jesus knew that we are like this. In fact, Jesus lay down his life because we are like this.  Paul told the Romans, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Jesus lay down his life because our sin meant that we were not able to have life with the holy God. We had been created in God’s image for this purpose. But sin took away our ability to know God as he wants to be known, and to live perfectly according to his will.  Instead, as sinners who sin we were storing up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment of God. Because of sin our lives could not escape the final earthly consequence of sin – death.

            Jesus Christ lay down is life for the sinful sheep who wander from God. He lay it down for you when he died on the cross.  God laid on him the iniquity of us all – he made Christ to be sin for us.  He condemned your sin in Christ as he suffered and died.

            Because of love for the Father, and love for us, Jesus carried out the mission given to him. He lay down his life for the sheep in order to redeem us – to free us from sin.  But immediately after our text Jesus goes on to say that death on a cross was only one part of the saving work the Father sent to carry out. He says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

            During this season of Easter we rejoice that on the first day of the week the tomb was empty. When the women went to the tomb, instead of the body of Jesus they encountered angels who said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

            Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we now have life. We have life with God through the forgiveness of our sins. We have resurrection life because Christ is the firstfruits of our resurrection.  Baptized into Jesus’ death and receiving the body and blood of the risen Lord, we know that we will be raised as well.

In the verse just before our text Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Christ gives the abundant life of fellowship with God restored. He gives the abundant life that has no end for already now we have eternal life. He gives the abundant life that we will experience as full resurrection life when he returns in glory and raises us up.

And that abundant life found in Christ already now is present and active in us through the work of the Spirit. This life demonstrates itself in love. At the Last Supper Jesus, said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The life of service directed towards others is the presence of Christ’s love in us.  It is the abundant life lived in Christ through the work of the Spirit.  As John said in his first letter, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

In our text Jesus says, “And 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.” Christ points beyond Israel and the Jews because God had promised Abraham that in his seed all nations would be blessed.”

The Spirit borne voice of the Good Shepherd continues to sound forth through the Gospel. Jesus says in this chapter, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out, When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” His voice continues to call sheep to follow him – sheep who receive forgiveness and life as they are joined together with the body of Christ.

This morning we hear that Jesus is the good shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep. Although we were spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God he did this for us to give us forgiveness. And then after he lay down his life, he took it up again. This charge he had received from the Father. He accomplished it so that all who believe in him have abundant life – eternal life that will be resurrection life.