The Shepherd King

“Now,” he said, “you are accustomed to seeing the shepherd following his sheep through the English lanes and byways. Out in the East, however, things are different, for the shepherd always leads the way, going on before the flock. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

The party reached Palestine, and, to the amusement of the tourists, almost the first sight to meet their eyes was that of a flock of sheep being driven along by a man. The guide was astonished and immediately made it his business to accost the shepherd.

“How is it that you are driving these sheep? I have always been told that the Eastern shepherd leads his sheep.”

The man responded, “You are quite right, sir. The shepherd does lead his sheep. But you see, I’m not the shepherd. I am the butcher.”

He is risen!....

The text that encompasses us today on this Good Shepherd Sunday is the 23rd Psalm. “The Lord is my Shepherd.” What an awesome thing. That our God, the One who spoke creation into being is our Shepherd. God is not as some people think of Him as the one who may have set in motion the things that caused the evolution of our planetary system, our own planet and even life itself then leaves that to develop on its own through the survival of the fittest. Those who think this way perceive God as one who is not at all involved with His creation. He is far off and aloof.

Do we feel the same way? Do you feel as if God is so far removed from you that He is just out there somewhere, not caring, not loving, not involved with you? David says that He very much is. Our Lord is our Shepherd. That indicates a very close relationship.

As in our opening little story, the tour guide is right. Shepherds in the east have a personal relationship with their sheep. He names them and is involved in their growing up from the time they are born. This is how the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice.

Jesus says in , “The sheep hear His voice, and He calls is own sheep by name and leads them out [of the sheepfold]. “…When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” Later in , Jesus declared Himself to be the Good Shepherd. “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

Our Good Shepherd laid down His own life for the good of His sheep. He was crucified by the enemy, the wolf that prowls at our door, looking for someone to devour. Satan was at work that Friday, when he inspired the Jewish religious leaders to rile up the crowds to have Jesus crucified. He was innocent of any and all charges brought up against Him, yet this was the will and the pleasure of His Father in Heaven.

It was through His violent death on the cross that God reconciled all things unto Himself (). Jesus laying down His innocent life, shedding His innocent blood reconciled you and me to the Father. Jesus was the innocent bloody sacrifice that appeased His Father’s wrath against sin and sins affects on His creation. And through His sacrificial death on the cross, God has given all authority in Heaven and on Earth to Him. He is our victor King!

Our Shepherd King has named us in Baptism as He made us a part of Himself. Being crucified with Him in a death like His we were also raised with Him in His resurrection (). As Paul says in , “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. We are very much a part of our Shepherd, and we have a wonderful relationship with Him that is strengthened and support through prayer, Word and Sacrament.

As Christ is our Shepherd King, we are no longer in want. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” the text says. As Jesus has done everything for us and for our Salvation, what is there that we need? Nothing. For “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides the still waters” (v 2). As His sheep, we lack no good thing. He provides for all our needs, the grass of the pasture is far more than just a comfortable bed to lie in. It is also the sheep’s sustenance. And leading the sheep beside still waters is also the Shepherds provision for His sheep. He daily and richly provides for all our needs of body and soul.

However, sheep are prone to wander. There is a story of shepherds and sheep in Europe. There was an issue one time in villages near by where the shepherds were letting the sheep graze. The sheep would wonder off and go into these neighboring villages and eat the gardens of the people who lived there. So, the shepherds devised a plan. They put something similar to cattle guards, you might know what those are, or you might not. They are metal grates put across roads to keep cattle from straying onto busy roads without having to put up an actual gate. Cattle are naturally afraid of these as their hoofs’ could get stuck in the grates. So the shepherds placed something like these cattle grates around the sheepfold.

However, sheep are not as stupid as many people think they are. They are prone to wander, and grates or no grates, they were going to figure out how to get to all those luscious flowers and vegetables and fruits. So, one sheep figured out that if he lay on the grates, he could roll himself across, and not get stuck. Of course, he had an audience, and the one bad sheep, led the others to do the same thing. next thing the shepherds knew, there were many angry villagers and many lost sheep.

Even though we are prone to wander, much like these sheep, we have a Good Shepherd who will come and find us. The Law of God, the Ten Commandments are much like these cattle grates. We are not saved by the Commandments themselves, but they are like fences or cattle grates to keep us in God’s Grace. You see, we are saved not by the fences or grates, or literally by the works of the Law (&3), the sheep are already saved by their gracious Good Shepherd who lay down His life for His sheep. These Commands are guides for us to live a God fearing life. They are the answer to the “now what?” question of being saved by grace through faith in the merits of Christ our Good Shepherd. We are saved already, and now this is how our life should look.

The sheep who got out of the fold, were outside of the Shepherds love and protection. When we purposefully wander outside of God’s grace, we place ourselves in spiritual danger. The sheep who wandered away by rolling over the grates, were now in danger of predators and angry villagers, they could lose their life. When we purposefully wander outside of God’s grace by purposefully living contrary to God’s fences or Commandments, we put ourselves in great danger of being ripped apart by Satan. He will lead us down paths of unrighteousness, into the valley of the shadow of death, and we can find ourselves being circled by nasty predators who would kill us spiritually and physically.

When we were in Israel, there is a physical place that has historically, even to this day, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It is a very deep and narrow canyon east of Jerusalem. That canyon is at least a quarter mile to half mile deep, and is extremely narrow. Yet that is where water flows, in the midst of a very dry and uninhabitable land. It is named that because that because since that was the place where water flowed, travelers would have to go through that canyon; and many evil and ruthless men would hide themselves in the natural caves of the canyon and would ambush travelers stealing food, money and much needed supplies. Many were left beaten or even killed in that valley.

So when we go wandering off on our own, we may very well find ourselves traveling that valley of the shadow or death. Our Good Shepherd, sends His Holy Spirit to lead us to repentance. He takes His rod and staff and protects us. With the rod, He beats off the predator of sin and death; and with His staff He pull us out of the snare of sin that we have fallen into. He places us back on His shoulders and carries us back into His sheep fold. He talks with us all along the way back, so we can listen closely to His Words and better follow Him as “He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name sake.

As baptized and redeemed children of the Shepherd, we sheep have been marked by His name. And His Word is what leads us in paths of His righteousness. It is not for our names sake that He does so, but for His own. This becomes a second commandment issue. When we attempt to work out our own righteousness, which is always self seeking and motivated by sin, a lack of trust in His perfect work on the cross, we defame His Name. Likewise, when we deliberately sin and go against His Commandments, we also defame His Name by which we are marked, Christ-ian. Only traveling in His paths are we made righteous. Only His paths, following Him and His Word, are we safe from the predators of sin, death and the devil.

David goes on to reassure us that “He prepares a table before [us] in the presence of [our] enemies” (v 5). Our enemies are our sinful nature, that leads us to wander, Satan himself who entices us and makes sin look very exciting and joyful, which leads not only to physical death, but also to everlasting spiritual death. His table is ready for us again today, where we feast upon His very body and drink of His blood that has been given and shed for you for the remission of sin. Partaking of true food and the true drink of Christ, we are given once again His forgiveness as we participate in His work on the Cross ().

Because we partake in this Holy Meal even in the presence of our own unworthiness as sinners, He anoints our head with oil and our cup over flows. The anointing of the head with oil is a Holy Anointing of blessing and consecration. Jesus reiterates our baptismal faith in the Holy Supper, strengthens our faith in the forgiveness of our sins. We as unworthy sheep who are prone to stray, have only a cup that is empty, and we are nothing more than spiritual beggars. Not only is our Shepherd gracious in giving of Himself for us, by filling our cup, His mercy is greater than our own sin. It overflows our empty cup of unrighteousness filling it up to overflowing of His righteousness.

The outcome of all this our Shepherd King does for us is that “…goodness and mercy shall follow [us] all the days of [our] life, and [we] shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This is the fulfillment of our Good Shepherd, our Shepherd King, for us. All who die in the faith and love of Him, will be raised and we shall abide in His house forever. Jesus promises His disciples in , “Let not your hearts be troubled, Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (vv 1-3).

Yes, each of us will travel one more time through the valley of the shadow of death, as we all must go through our own death, that gate by which the righteous must go through to enter eternal life. But we shall not be afraid, because our Shepherd King will be with us even through that journey, taking us to be where He is, where we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.