“You Have Been Entrusted to the Good Shepherd”

a The 4th Sunday of Easter a

John 10:22-30

There are specific times in our lives when, for one reason or another, we must entrust ourselves to the care of
another. Infants are completely dependent upon their parents for every basic human need: food, clothing, shelter,
protection, because they can’t provide any of those things for themselves, and without those basic necessities of life,
the infant cannot survive. On the other end of the spectrum, often there comes a time when the Lord has granted
an individual many years on this earth, when the decision has to be made for “assisted living” because it has become
evident that the person can no longer provide for their own basic care without the constant fear that they are going
to hurt themselves.
Of all that ways that the Bible pictures the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, that of the Good
Shepherd and his sheep is probably the most well-known and the most treasured among God’s people. In that
portrait, Christians are sheep – simply forward moving things (as the Greek word indicates) – sheep who, on their
own could never find their way to the green pastures of heaven, who could never defend themselves against the
attacks of the wolves, wandering around in complete oblivion until they are snatched up by a vicious predator. We
are sheep! And because we cannot provide for our own basic spiritual care, (despite whatever delusions we might
convince ourselves of), our souls, by grace through faith, have been entrusted by the Father to the care of the Good
Shepherd who watches over his sheep, protects them, and leads them to springs of Living Water. Friends, you have
been entrusted to the Good Shepherd. Follow his voice, because it resounds with familiarity. Look to him for
guidance, because he knows all of his sheep personally, and therefore knows how best to care for them. And trust in
his loving care, because the relationship that we enjoy with Jesus is not just personal, it is eternal – and he safeguards
us in the faith until we are brought to the everlasting green pastures.

I. His voice resounds with familiarity

When we were little, one of the things that our parents and teachers used to always tell us is that we should
never talk to strangers. That was good advice, because there are many people in our world who are out to harm
others, to harm children, and will use any means possible to bring about that harm. We learn very early on that
“strangers are dangers,” and that when a stranger tries to talk to us or to get us to go with them in their car, that we
run to a family member, we run to a parent, find a police officer, anyone that we know or trust in order to be safe
and sound.
Sheep never follow strangers. While children are taught not to talk to strangers or to follow strangers, sheep
naturally stay away from unfamiliar voices, because to a sheep, “strangers are dangers,” and the determining factor
for whether a shepherd is genuine or fake is the sound of the voice. If the voice is unfamiliar, that equals danger,
triggering the natural instinct of the sheep to simply stay away, to run away and listen for the familiar voice of their
shepherd, the one who has constantly provided consistent and trustworthy care. A sheep’s natural instinct tells them
that nothing good can come from following an unfamiliar voice.
 How plainly Jesus speaks to the unbelieving Jews: “You (continue to) not believe, because you are not my sheep.
My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.” Take a lesson from the behavior and instincts of sheep,
nothing good can come from following an unfamiliar voice! And, oh, how many voices fill this world, each one
offering a unique enticement to lead us away ever so slightly and gently from the care of the Good Shepherd, each
one convincing us that we are not in need of his protection, his guidance, offering the delusion that everything that
the Good Shepherd gives to us by grace we can figure out and obtain on our own without him.
What a lie, one that hearkens all the way back to the Garden lie! Be aware of the dangers that lurk around
every corner, fellow sheep. Be aware that the Good Shepherd’s voice is not the only voice that is resounding in this
world. Open your ears, and listen carefully with great discernment, following the familiar voice of the gospel and
forsaking all others– the voice that doesn’t sent you off on your own to discover truth for yourselves, but the voice
that reveals plainly what truth is – the voice that doesn’t send you off to find spiritual sustenance on your own, but
feeds you freely, graciously and consistently in his Holy Word – the voice that doesn’t make requirements of you
before bringing you into his sheep-pen, but opens up the gate and invites you to receive his spiritual care and
protection, for he knows that you are in need of it. Listen to the familiar voice of your Good Shepherd, and follow
in immeasurable faith the one who tends to every need of his flock - by laying down his life for them, so that they
will never be “snatched out of the Father’s hand.”

II. He knows his sheep personally

There is more, fellow sheep, to take comfort in on this Good Shepherd Sunday. Not only does the voice of
the gospel sound continuously so that sheep may follow the Good Shepherd in faith, but Jesus assures us that he
knows all of his sheep personally and intimately, which is one of the reasons that this portrait of the relationship
between Jesus and his disciples is so treasured throughout the ages: it shows our Savior to be intimately involved in
our lives, making it his work to know every single thing about you so that you may be cared for tenderly and
thoroughly.
He says to the unbelieving Jews: “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them...and they follow me.” The Good
Shepherd knows his sheep, he knows them perfectly. He is not a God who sits on the sidelines and simply observes
as the sheep are attacked and devoured from one side and the other by predators. He is not a God who is sitting on
his throne in heaven unconcerned about the welfare of his elect. No, our God is a God of loving compassion and
action, intimately and personally concerned about you, about your life, your lives of faith under the cross of Christ
and your lives under the heavy burdens that come with living in a sin-filled world.
Your Good Shepherd knows! He knows when you are hurting, both physically and emotionally. He knows
when our bodies, deteriorating because of sin’s plague, cease to function in the way that they were created to
function. He knows when our hearts and minds are troubled with worry and heartache. He knows when we
struggle in our spiritual lives with temptation, with apathy, with tendencies to stray from his fold, with spiritual
discernment...he knows. He knows when we fail miserably as parents, as husbands/wives, as fathers and mothers, as
children, as employers and employees, as managers of his blessings, as members of a church family...he knows how
often we have strayed and how far we have strayed, he knows! Your Good Shepherd knows!
Give thanks for that fact today, fellow sheep, because, while that could be a very disconcerting thought that
our Good Shepherd knows everything about us, it also means that he knows how best to care for us in our time of
need, and that is a wonderful comfort. Whenever we are lonely, whenever we are depressed or anxious, whenever
we are burdened heavily with guilt and shame, whenever we are tired from the worries of the world, whenever we
are struggling with temptation, whenever we are so caught up in the business and busyness of life that we forget who
we are, the little lambs of Jesus, whenever we are in need, there is our Good Shepherd, always knowing, always
caring, always ministering with his comforting rod and staff, voicing the same gospel invitation to the weary soul:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

III. He safeguards his sheep eternally

There is one final encouragement that the Holy Spirit offers to us on this Good Shepherd Sunday from the
words of Jesus. He tells the Jews: “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater
than all; no one can snatch out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
It is for the child’s safety that they are taught by parents and teachers, “Never talk to strangers,” or “strangers
are dangers.” It is for their safety that they learn not to get into cars with strangers or to open the door for strangers,
because we know what a dangerous world we live in. We live in a world where it isn’t safe anymore for young
children to walk to school, the way that I used to every single day even as young as 9 in the city of Saginaw. It isn’t
safe for them to play on playgrounds without any supervision because anyone can come and snatch them away
without any indication of where they’ve been taken or what has happened to them. The world isn’t safe.
The spiritual element of this world is just as dangerous, if not more so. Danger lurks around every corner
for the sheep of God, something that Peter tells us so plainly in his first epistle: “Satan prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.” And you can be sure that, like a pedophile that is scheming any way he can to
get his next fix, to obtain his next victim, going to any length necessary to satisfy his disgusting habit, so the “father
of lies” is scheming against you, trying anything under the sun to lure you away from the protecting care of your
Good Shepherd, offering you anything, offering you the whole world if you would just exchange your soul...after all
how much is that worth to you right now?
Run to safety, fellow sheep. Flee to the protecting arm of your Savior Jesus, because he makes it his work to
safeguard you for eternity. He laid down his life unto death to rescue you from sin, to save you from sin’s greatest
consequence, hell, and to show you the lengths to which he will go to fight off the wolves. Gaze upon Calvary’s
cross, and there you will see just how intent your Good Shepherd is to bring you to the green pastures of heaven,
and know that, as Paul says to the Romans, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he
not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
As you leave this house of God today to enter a world full of wolves and strange voices, remember who has
given you faithful and consistent care – your Good Shepherd. Keep listening to his voice, because his voice is the
only voice which sounds salvation. Trust his care – going to him in prayer with every request because he knows you
personally and knows how best to serve you and to care for you, his sheep. And know that the relationship which
he established with you by his blood on the cross and by his Holy Spirit, is not just an intimate personal
relationship, it is both personal and eternal. Follow the Good Shepherd to whom you have been entrusted, and
know that “goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Amen.