Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

Dear fellow sheep of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, dear fellow redeemed,

The story is told of a sheepfold that had one young ewe (a female sheep), that was particularly assertive. She was so assertive that the other sheep in the pen thought she knew something they didn’t and they began following this assertive little lamb. They followed her right through an opening in the fence and out of the farmyard. Though this little lamb acted like she knew what she was doing, she had no idea where she was going. She didn’t know what water was safe to drink or what plants were safe to eat. She didn’t know where the pack of hungry coyotes could be found or which path led to danger.

How foolish, right?! How foolish that sheep would follow a young ewe, just because it seemed like she knew something they didn’t. Foolish, yes, but how many times have we followed someone or listened to someone’s advice just because it SOUNDED like they knew what they were talking about? How many religious leaders like Joel Osteen, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer or Beth Moore come along with their television shows and book tours claiming to have all the answers to your problems and people follow them because they think they know something?

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we consider how Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. Jesus is such a good shepherd that He laid down His own life to save His sheep. He rose from the dead so that He could continue to care for His sheep. As true God, our Good Shepherd knows the truth. As the first born from the dead, He can lead us safely through the valley of the shadow of death.

This morning in our text we will hear Jesus say that He is also the DOOR of the sheep pen. In Jesus’ day, shepherds would often construct a sheep pen out in the fields to keep their sheep together at night. These sheep pens would only have one door in and out of the sheep pen. Jesus says He is that door. Through Him legitimate shepherds come to care for His sheep, through Him the sheep are saved, and through Him the sheep can go safely in and out to graze. We hear of this in John chapter 10, verses 1 through 10:

¹ “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (ESV)

So far the Word of God.

THROUGH WHICH LEGITIMATE SHEPHERDS ENTER

Our text begins with Jesus warning of some who sneak into the sheep pen. Those who sneak into the pen, obviously don’t mean well—Jesus calls them thieves and robbers. At the time of our text, that was the Pharisees. They did not care for the sheep, they only cared for their positions of power and authority. In John 9, when Jesus healed a man born blind on the Sabbath, they kicked that healed man out of the church for saying Jesus was sent from God.

Genuine shepherds, however, those who really care for the well-being of the sheep, enter through the door. Jesus says that He is the Door. Rather than sneaking in, they are granted access to the sheep through Jesus.

This is true of our pastors. Take, for instance, one of our recent seminary graduates, Jonah Albrecht. Jonah did not go to our congregations in Seattle and declare that he would be their pastor, instead those congregations prayed to Jesus for a pastor and told the leaders of our church body that they needed a pastor. Those leaders then prayed to Jesus for help and extended the call to Jonah. He is now their pastor. And “pastor” means “shepherd.” Jesus is the one who opened the way for Pastor Albrecht to shepherd these sheep of Jesus in Lynnwood and Tacoma. They can welcome him in Jesus’ name, because Jesus is the one who sent him. So too with all legitimately called pastors—they don’t sneak into the flock, but are let in through Jesus.

Jesus tells us some other things about legitimate shepherds. Take a look at verses 3 and 4: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” Notice what the sheep pay attention to—“the voice.” Sheep don’t pay attention to what a shepherd wears or even looks like, they pay attention to the voice. If it is a voice they don’t recognize, sheep will run from it because it is unfamiliar and they don’t trust it.

The same is true of Jesus’ believers. Have you ever heard someone try to tell you something about Jesus or about God that just didn’t sound right? This week I heard Victoria Osteen say in a sermon, “When we obey God, we’re not doing it for God, we’re doing it for ourselves.” Huh? Does that sound like the voice of your Good Shepherd?

The true shepherds, the legitimate shepherds of Jesus’ sheep, are called by God to “Preach the Word.” That is the focus of the pastoral ministry—to preach the Word, to say, “Thus says the LORD.” Jesus’ sheep know the voice of their Good Shepherd. The sheep hear the voice of Jesus in Scripture, and they trust it. Jesus’ voice is the voice of the One who loves them and laid down His life to save them. And so when a legitimate shepherd comes through the Door, through Jesus, and speaks Jesus’ word, the sheep listen to the voice of that shepherd.

Jesus also says that the legitimate shepherd knows his sheep by name and leads his sheep. This too is an important part of caring for Jesus’ sheep, His believers. The pastors Jesus has called will want to know the individual needs of Jesus’ believers—their strengths and their weaknesses. He needs to know which sheep needs correction and which sheep needs encouragement.

While we don’t deal with the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, there are plenty of strangers that are trying to sneak into the sheep pen to rob and kill. BEWARE OF THEM! It may be someone on television or the internet who claims to have a special revelation from God. Or it could be the man in a gown standing in your pulpit. Be on guard against those who are trying to get you to follow them. Follow only the voice of your Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Know His voice from His Word. Knowing His Word, you will be well equipped to recognize wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus is the Door. Follow only those shepherds who come to you through the Door speaking to you the Word of Jesus.

THROUGH HIM THE SHEEP ARE SAVED

In northeastern Minnesota last March, a fire broke out in a pole barn housing sheep. At the time of the fire, the owner was away from the farm. You can probably imagine the result—since the sheep had no way of escape and no one to lead them out, all 70 sheep died in the fire. What a vivid reminder of our natural condition. “All we like sheep have gone astray,” we heard from Isaiah earlier. As sheep that had wandered from God, we were headed to the eternal fires of hell where we would have perished forever.

Praise be to Jesus who says in verse 9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.” Jesus is the door through which we will be saved from the impending doom of hell. Remember—there is only one door to the sheep pen—only one way in and out. Jesus is that door. Jesus is the only emergency exit for sinners. Only through Him are we saved. He is the only one that has made the sacrifice to atone for sin and gives us a right relationship with God. Peter says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Jesus is the Door to eternal salvation.

THROUGH WHICH THE SHEEP CAN SAFELY GRAZE

But the blessing of Jesus as the Door doesn’t just impact us upon death, this Door is a blessing for the sheep right now. When the Door of the sheep pen is closed, it is for the good of the sheep. Maybe there are coyotes or wolves nearby that would make a quick snack of a defenseless sheep wandering around. With the Door shut, the sheep would be safe in the pen. Once it is safe, then the Door of the sheep pen is opened, and the sheep are allowed in and out to graze safely.

Remember, Jesus cares about His sheep—He cares about you so much that He died to save you. If He cares that much about your eternal life, He also cares about your daily life. Again, in verse 9 and 10 we read, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Through Jesus we have an abundance of life. We have the sure and certain hope of life forever with Him in heaven. But we also have the blessing of life through Jesus right now. Through Jesus our lives have daily meaning and purpose. As we go out in Jesus’ name, we can serve our spouses and our children, our coworkers and our neighbors. Through Jesus we can love and forgive our enemies, because we know that no matter what happens to us in this life—NOTHING can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Through Jesus we can rejoice in tribulation and in suffering, because we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. Through Jesus we can safely graze in this dangerous world.

That ewe didn’t know where it was going, yet those sheep were willing to “follow the leader” because they didn’t know where to go and it seemed like she did. Let us learn to listen to ONLY the voice of our Good Shepherd Jesus. He knows the way to green pastures, still waters, and paths of righteousness. He knows the way because He came from heaven and has returned to heaven to give us abundant life. Furthermore, by His life, death, and resurrection, He IS the way of abundant life. By Him we are saved and by Him we can go in and out safely to graze. Rejoice in the care of your Good Shepherd, Jesus, through whom we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever! Amen.

—Pastor Nathan Pfeiffer

Berea Ev. Lutheran Church
Inver Grove Heights, MN

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Ministry by Mail is a weekly publication of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Subscription and staff information may be found online at www.clclutheran.org/ministrybymail.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.