Sermon for 5/11/25: Fourth Sunday of Easter (c)

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Contrast

John 10:22-30

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

The Gospel reading today offers a striking image of Jesus, that of being our good Shepherd. This is the kind of image of Jesus most of us would want to see. We would much rather see Jesus as a shepherd standing among His sheep, than to look at the Jesus we saw during Holy Week: brutalized and beaten, mocked and kicked and slapped and spit upon. In fact, such an image draws criticism because most would rather see a peaceful image of Jesus. We have grown so accustomed to those beautiful images that we don’t want to consider the ugly ones. That’s why many church buildings lack a crucifix anywhere. The Good Shepherd, peacefully standing in the field watching over His sheep, compared with Jesus, a bloodied, filthy hunk of human flesh being crucified: which would you rather see?

There are a number of such stark contrasts in the Christian faith. One of them is how Jesus, both God and Man, could stand right in front of the religious leaders of that day, and they could not recognize Him! Quite simply, they did not recognize Him because they did not want to. Their minds were so clouded with their own power and prestige that they would not recognize Him. If they were to acknowledge Him for who He really was, they would have to give up their false notions of what their Messiah would be, and they had too much invested in that view to give it up.

And we deal today with the same sort of thing. The Church, though a spiritual communion, still has earthly trappings. It is God’s institution, yes, but it is filled with sinful human beings. And so within this institution we find power struggles and misuse of power, gossip and slander, back-biting and fighting for control. What a contrast! Jesus is the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep and brings them forgiveness and peace! Yet, sometimes, it seems the Church is the least peaceful place on earth. In fact, the Church can make people more upset and irritated than anything else.

In the midst of these contrasts comes the wonderful promise of Jesus in this text. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” This isn’t being spoken by just anyone, but by the Lord of the universe, the God of all creation. Our God is all-powerful, and this is the all-powerful God saying that no one can remove us from His gracious hand. What a wonderful contrast! In a world where it seems that the only sure things are death and taxes, we find that the ultimate sure thing is the protection of God Almighty, and that we personally belong to Him. He not only knows your name, but in Holy Baptism has put His own name on you, with all the blessing that includes. When you stray—and you do stray—the Good Shepherd is there, calling you back to Himself. He calls to you through His Word and blessed Sacraments, and these means of grace speak to a whole variety of circumstances and situations that you face every day.

Yet another wonderful promise of Jesus is that He gives you eternal life. What a contrast! In a world where it seems that the only thing ultimately that will happen is death, Jesus says that your ultimate destination is life: eternal life with our great God who knows you by name. When your journey in this life is over, you will hear the voice of the Shepherd calling you into eternity. Compare that with the sadness death brings. What a contrast!

Do you hear the voice of your Good Shepherd? He has called you by name in Holy Baptism. You who are born sinful, who are filthy with sin, deserving nothing but eternity in Hell, are called by God and declared to be as holy and righteous as He is, and that you are to inherit eternal life in heaven with Him. God claims you as His own, even when no one else will. The Good Shepherd, who is also the almighty, all-powerful Lord God of heaven and earth, assures you that because He has called you by name, you belong to Him, and no one can take you away from Him.

What changes and uncertainties are you facing? Are your children moving on to another phase of their lives? Or maybe you are contemplating marriage, or having a child or grandchild getting married. Maybe it’s the imminent birth of a baby and all the changes that will bring. Maybe retirement is just ahead and, suddenly, you are without what defined your life for so long. Maybe you struggle with coming to terms with death. Maybe you see your congregation trying to figure out what its future will look like. Or maybe it is just as simple as feeling that you don’t matter to anyone anymore. Whatever the change in life, these words of Jesus tell us about a wonderful contrast, the certainty that comes from the voice of our Good Shepherd, who knows each of us by name, and promises that nothing and no one will take us away from Him and that eternal life He has promised. God be praised for His wonderful gift of life in Jesus Christ! ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!